whats wrong?

Question
my beardies beard has gone black and shes gone off her food. as a first time keeper i don't know whether or not she's preparing for brumation or not because my male beardie seems fine and hes younger than her at 5 months while she's 6 months. please help

Answer
Hi Lee-
Check your tank temps especially the basking area and see if they are the same as when you set the tank up or if the tank has cooled
with the cooler temps that we are now experiencing with the advent of fall

Bearded Dragons should not be allowed to brumate under 2 years of age as they are still growing

However some decide to slow down and the only thing that you can do is wait it out and make sure that there is no significant weight loss
Fresh water should always be provided and you should still offer them food-insects and salads

My Beardies have never brumated completely during the 12 plus years that I have been keeping them
I believe that this is because I keep their photo period the same all year round
12 to 14 hours of light per day and no lights or heat on the tank at all at night

Another thing to keep in mind is that from 6 to nine moths old Beardies are having hormonal changes which will allow them to breed

This could be part of the problem with the female and she could be stressed from being housed with the male

Internal parasites are another reason for slowed down behavior and refusal to eat

Are her feces runny and smelly?

Also-if they are housed together and one has internal parasites(usually contracted from crickets) they will most likely both have them

You might want to have  a fecal exam done on a sample of her poop
Usually you can bring a fresh sample into a vet and they do not require to see the animal at that point unless they find parasites that need to be treated with meds

If these two are being kept together and you are certain that they are m/f-thy need to be separated before breeding can occur

Having the female become gravid under 2 years of age or before she is completely finished growing can cause problems for the female

Egg binding-the inability to pass/lay eggs is a common problem with young gravid females and is very costly to treat

It usually requires surgery and they do not always survive it

So it is best to keep males and females separate until they are of a good weight/age to be bred

I hoe that this has helped

Sandy aka LadyGecko