juvenile beardie hibernating?

Question
I have a 1 year old beardie and we live on the east coast - it's starting to get pretty cold. 30 - 40's during the day. a few weeks ago our beardie started not doing too much, wouldn't come out of his cave during the day, etc... we changed his heat bulb thinking he wasn't getting hot enough. and then we started taking him out and putting him under the heat lamp. after a few weeks of this he came out on his own for a few days and about 4 days ago, buried himself under his tree and hasn't moved since.
i just want to make sure this is okay and we can leave him like this. also, how do we know he isn't dead when he's like this? is he too young to hibernate?
now that i think about it, he ate tons of food for abouta  month before he went into this tired not really hungry mode. this is our first dragon and we absolutely adore him and want to do right by him so please let us know your thoughts. thanks ever so much!
jamie

Answer
Hi Jamie,
Yep..tis the season for brumation. One of the best info sites on the subject is at http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/BDbrumate.html ) It generally does happen around a year..or after.  Just keep an eye on him to make sure nothing is in the works.
Some will go down for a week...some for a few months. Some go in and out... Most people give them a few drops of water from an eye dropper or syringe(no needle) about once a week. This also helps you know he is still fine and just doing what comes natural to the beardies. Be sure not to give any insects at all during this time...only greens if he wants to eat a bit. The insects are harder to digest so that's the reason why only greens. Its not good to have them brumate with a belly full of insects. I know its a scary thing for owners when its the first time their beardies do this.. Its always a good thing to have a fecal check done so if there are parasites present he isn't sleeping with them in his system. Reading the link above will help you understand the brumation much better.
Hope this helps!!