Help! Bearded dragon isn't eating/drinking & sleeps all day!

Need some help. My bearded dragon isn't eating or drinking and she always looks tired and she sleeps all the time. I've had her for about 12 years now. I don't think she's going through brumation because it's summer time here.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i9f0c72yysh93g8/AABnHdhrto-lc0dTZ5VXtiX6a?dl=0

Click the link above to see pictures of my bearded dragon and her tank/setup.

beardielover9":3isbb69x said:

Need some help. My bearded dragon isn't eating or drinking and she always looks tired and she sleeps all the time. I've had her for about 12 years now. I don't think she's going through brumation because it's summer time here.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i9f0c72yysh93g8/AABnHdhrto-lc0dTZ5VXtiX6a?dl=0

Click the link above to see pictures of my bearded dragon and her tank/setup.

Click to expand...

Wow 12 years is quite a long time for a beardie! Nice job. Because she's getting old, and that's a good life span, she might be coming to an end. Although, even though it's summer where you are, beardies can still brumate, it's strange I know, but it just happens. Can I ask how long you've had that red light though, and how many hours you put it on a day? Is the compact coil 'human' bulb the UVB? :/, 12 years is great but I really think you should've looked over your light situation when you got her, a long UVB (goes across the tank) is required. The red lights don't exactly do anything, you really don't want colored lights in your beardie's cage, as it can damage their eye sight. I'd recommend to switch off to a basking light, found in any local petstore 50-150 watts, and to get rid of the compact coil. Even if she's coming to an end, you might get another beardie in the future, and the lights will already be there when you need them. Change the lights asap, thanks. What're the temps in your tank? How has she been acting when she's awake? Does she still go to the bathroom regularly? Does she get water/hydration?

Wow, I agree with Lewis's excellent post, your dragon has lived a good long life but may benefit from a few changes of the lighting especially. I doubt she's trying to brumate, this is probably related to her age and the sub par lighting. There's also the chance that she may have ingested some sand, but if she's lived on it all her life I doubt it. Still she might benefit if you replace the sand with non adhesive shelf liner.

It's nice to see someone [ Lewis ] answering this poster without attacking or using the interrogation tactics and assumptions of mistreatment that are becoming common here every day now.

What do you mean by removing the compact coil? What is that? I haven't had the red light in her tank for that long, maybe 2 months. I had it in there because all the other bulbs I bought before burned out in 2-4 weeks. I keep her lights on all day and then turn them off with a timer during the night. I just replaced the red light with a Zoo Med 100 watt bulb. Is the vitamin bulb okay though? She is still behaving the same. She hasn't eaten or drank anything in 7 days now.

The compact/coil is the uvb bulb you have, some are known to be defective, can potentially not give off adequate uvb. A long tube Reptisun 10.0 t5 or a Arcadia 12% bulb are 2 of the best out right now.
It's good that you got the basking bulb changed to a bright white one.

Poor girl, you can try adding some fruit juice [ unsweetened grape or blueberry, mango] to water and drip on her snout very slowly to see if she'll drink some. Maybe try to blend up a smoothie with mixed fruit + veggies like collard + mustard greens. And you can ask the vet for Oxbow Critical Care supplement, some beardies enjoy that.

AHBD":byrcgefd said:

Wow, I agree with Lewis's excellent post, your dragon has lived a good long life but may benefit from a few changes of the lighting especially. I doubt she's trying to brumate, this is probably related to her age and the sub par lighting. There's also the chance that she may have ingested some sand, but if she's lived on it all her life I doubt it. Still she might benefit if you replace the sand with non adhesive shelf liner.

It's nice to see someone [ Lewis ] answering this poster without attacking or using the interrogation tactics and assumptions of mistreatment that are becoming common here every day now.

Click to expand...

Just an update. I am now feeding her baby food (rice & chicken flavored) with a syringe. She seems tired all the time, probably just due to her old age. I'll keep her going as long as I can.