My last two beardies, both from different clutches, lived to be 16 and 17. Losing them after that many years was particularly hardhitting. I believe there were several important factors that went beyond standard recommended husbandry that contributed to their longevity. One: they didn’t gorge on protein as adults. Too much protein can contribute to gout and a shorter lifespan, so I was very selective with their insect meals. Waxworms, Mealworms, and superworms were rarely (if ever) on the menu, and while I can’t definitively say this was a big contributor to their longevity, it does seem noteworthy in hindsight. My current generation of beardies now get superworms as a rare treat, but for the most part when they do get insects these tend to be dubias, BSFL, hornworms, and silkworms.
<<< I'm doing the same for guys .... in my case it's crickets & silkworms as staple insect (some every day) for BTs and beardie, and BSFL and only a few mealworms for the current water skink.
I was also vigilent about not feeding these insects high protein diets or foods that I wouldn’t want my beardie to eat. I’m always surprised when someone recommends feeding dubia roaches dog food or even hamburger, the kind of diet that can create high levels of uric acid over time (and cause the reptiles that eat these insects to develop gout). So I’m adamant about being just as vigilent with my feeder insects’ diet as I am with my beardies.
The other factor of note was that my lizards got a lot of exercise, and were still active and adventurous until the day they died (the day before my 17-year-old died I took a video of her charging around my house like a 6-month old. I had no idea that would be our last interaction, and from that video no one would have ever been able to guess that this beardie was seventeen years old, let alone about to pass on the next day). I’d often set up a basking station on my floor in my bedroom so beardies could run around and then get warm/recharge at their leisure. But when allowed to roam they took full advantage and got a lot of consistent exercise. Many people assume beardies are lazy because they spend so much time basking, but when given the opportunity, my experience has been that they love to run around like kids on a playground when the environment is ideal. One other element I also strongly believe contributes to my beardies’ longevity: each of them get an annual vet exam with a fecal test. So many health issues that affect these lizards can be treated if found in the early stages, so I’m a big believer in a yearly physical with a specialized herp vet. It’s great to have someone that knows your animal’s history, that you can review your husbandry with, and that can check for early signs of gout, MBD, etc.
Some of the tips in the first post will be really helpful to people struggling to find info on how to adjust their husbandry as their beardies age (adjusting cage furniture so that an elderly beardie won’t risk injury struggling to climb a high perch is a good one). With my current baby and subadult, I’m very eager to replicate the scenarios that allowed my other two beardies to spend half my life with me. I’m by no means an authority on beardie health and aging, but hopefully some of my personal experiences with raising very old lizards prove helpful and contribute to a thread on a topic that’s underrepresented online. Beardies that live almost two decades do exist—and I’ve owned several.