Behaviour in ageing bearded dragon?

[oatmeal]

Hello! I'm just wondering if anyone out there has an older bearded dragon and could give me some perspective on behavioural changes with advanced age My buddy turned 12 this year, and I'm looking into what sort of changes I might have to make as he gets older (e.g. I'm going to start feeding him in a designated feeding area, as he is starting to have trouble catching crickets and ingesting more sand than I would like).
Anyone? What changes did you implement for your geriatric companion??
Thanks!

 

[diamc]

That's amazing that your beardie is 12 yrs old, good job. Our Judas was about 11 yrs when he passed and it was so hard to wash him go downhill.

I used to remove the back legs of the crickets as that helped slow them down. I also fed soft worms like silkies, horn worms and butterworms as those hardly move and are easier to digest. It would be a good idea to remove the sand since he is ingesting it and use a solid substrate instead as you sure wouldn't want him to become impacted since they tend to poop less frequently as they age.

I had also switched to a lower basking spot as he had trouble getting around some and I also gave him baths about 5 days a wk to make sure he was well hydrated.

Good luck with your old buddy.

 

[oatmeal]

That's amazing that your beardie is 12 yrs old, good job. Our Judas was about 11 yrs when he passed and it was so hard to wash him go downhill.

I used to remove the back legs of the crickets as that helped slow them down. I also fed soft worms like silkies, horn worms and butterworms as they hardly move and are easier to digest. It would be a good idea to remove the sand since he is ingesting it and use a solid substrate instead as you sure wouldn't want him to become impacted since they tend to poop less frequently as they age.

I had also switched to a lower basking spot as he had trouble getting around some and I also gave him baths about 5 days a wk to make sure he was well hydrated.

Good luck with your old buddy.

Thank you so much for replying I'm sorry about your Judas! I can't imagine how hard it will be when Ryu finally goes.

Picking off the back legs of crickets is a good idea.. I just recently bought some giant herp tweezers, so I could give that a go. I think after this bath of crickets I'm going to try sticking with a variety of worms as his staple and dramatically cut down on the crickets.
Unfortunately I just poured a tonne of sand in the terrarium, but I when it comes time to clean the tank again I'm going to look into some sort of repticarpet or slate tiles. The SO and I just bought some materials to build something a little more custom for the inside of his terrarium, so we will see what happens
Currently he gets fed worms and salad on a large flat dish that gets cleaned everyday, so I know in those situations he isn't ingesting any sand. It's just the crickets are sometimes too fast for him, but I think a thorough de-legging will fix that lol!
I think I'll increase bathing too... I'm more concerned with dehydration as he gets older. When he was younger (2-5) we had a few incidents with him becoming dehydrated during brumation. He bounced back well, and we haven't had issues for a long time, but I don't want to risk it!
Thank you for all your input! As I said, I just want to make the old feller comfortable and happy
Do you mind me asking what happened to Judas?

 

[diamc]

Glad to help. What you have planned sounds good. Hope it all goes well. If I were you, I would try to discourage him from brumating so you might want to think about leaving the lights & temps as they are now. As they get older, it can take them longer to recover from brumation.

Judas was our very 1st beardie. Got him from a local Pet store at the age of about a month old (we think). He slowly started declining about 6 months before he passed although he would have bouts of energy, but I knew in my heart that he was slowly losing his stamina and his age was the reason. He didn't appear to be in any pain at all and got to the point where he wouldn't eat any feeders or greens so I was giving him baby food, I was sure to keep him well hydrated. As his time got closer, he wouldn't even take in any baby food and would push it out with his tongue, it was obvious that he didn't have the strength to go on. He passed very peacefully with a little gasping but pretty much just went to sleep.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great he is 12 this year, how excellent.
As Diane says, hydration really is important, for overall health & kidney function.
The protein can be decreased some, since he is getting older. Greens & vegetation should be focused on. If he isn't eating much of the greens, you can make him a greens slurry to get that into him, daily to help.
You can also put crickets in the fridge, to slow them down also.
Bathing more frequently can help out too. It sounds like he has been doing very well.
It is never easy to watch them get older & to lose one.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[oatmeal]

Glad to help. What you have planned sounds good. Hope it all goes well. If I were you, I would try to discourage him from brumating so you might want to think about leaving the lights & temps as they are now. As they get older, it can take them longer to recover from brumation.

Judas was our very 1st beardie. Got him from a local Pet store at the age of about a month old (we think). He slowly started declining about 6 months before he passed although he would have bouts of energy, but I knew in my heart that he was slowly losing his stamina and his age was the reason. He didn't appear to be in any pain at all and got to the point where he wouldn't eat any feeders or greens so I was giving him baby food, I was sure to keep him well hydrated. As his time got closer, he wouldn't even take in any baby food and would push it out with his tongue, it was obvious that he didn't have the strength to go on. He passed very peacefully with a little gasping but pretty much just went to sleep.

I'm trying to keep him from brumating right now by keeping temps/light constant, but he/she has brumated consistently for years now (without me every adjusting tank temps), so I'm having a hard time! To compensate for the drop in ambient room temperature I've added a second heat source in the terrarium. We'll see how it works!

Thank you for sharing your experience with Judas with me. I really appreciate it, as I'm nervous about what to expect. That must have been so hard to watch, but I'm glad he was comfortable at the end. Very natural. It's so cool that you had him since he was just a wee baby

 

[oatmeal]

Hello,

That is great he is 12 this year, how excellent.
As Diane says, hydration really is important, for overall health & kidney function.
The protein can be decreased some, since he is getting older. Greens & vegetation should be focused on. If he isn't eating much of the greens, you can make him a greens slurry to get that into him, daily to help.
You can also put crickets in the fridge, to slow them down also.
Bathing more frequently can help out too. It sounds like he has been doing very well.
It is never easy to watch them get older & to lose one.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

Thanks, Tracie! I'm also spraying his salads this week with a diluted electrolyte solution (he/she is definitely trying to brumate) and giving frequent baths. Interest in salads is decreased, but live prey are very enticing, so I'm trying to strike a balance between the two. Tricky!
Crickets in the fridge is a great idea! I'll get a small batch this week and try it out
How would I ago about feeding a slurry of greens? My beardie has always been difficult to get fluids/mush into, as he won't lick anything off his nose, and doesn't seem interested if it's on a dish.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That sounds great! He is likely just trying to brumate or slow down some. While it is fine to let him rest a bit extra I wouldn't let him fully brumate. As Diane said, it takes them longer to come out of a brumation when they are older.
You can get a swab to try & gently get his mouth open to get some fluids into him if he doesn't cooperate with getting fluids off of his nose. Is he eating any of the greens?
I hope he can get some of the crickets if they are slown down. LOL
Good luck, it sounds like he is being stubborn! Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[oatmeal]

Hello,

That sounds great! He is likely just trying to brumate or slow down some. While it is fine to let him rest a bit extra I wouldn't let him fully brumate. As Diane said, it takes them longer to come out of a brumation when they are older.
You can get a swab to try & gently get his mouth open to get some fluids into him if he doesn't cooperate with getting fluids off of his nose. Is he eating any of the greens?
I hope he can get some of the crickets if they are slown down. LOL
Good luck, it sounds like he is being stubborn! Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Yeah he/she is certainly slowing down, but not nearly what his behaviour was this time last year (totally dead to the world), so that's a good thing! He doesn't seem terribly interested in crickets actually. I was worried it was an appetite decrease, but I tried a superworm and the poor thing barely moved and he was all over it! Finicky eater? He''s eating at least 1/3 to 1/2 his salads every day though And I've learned over the years to offer the salad in the morning and provide any creepy crawlies later in the day.
My fellow has always been very nervous with handling, so I'm not sure prying his mouth open would go over well. He tolerates being held totally fine (not aggressive, just skittish), but prefers to explore independently lol. I've just been misting salads a few times a day and replenishing it if it gets too dry. Between that, baths, and hornworms a few times a week I think he is doing alright hydration wise.
I'm hoping to pick up some BSFL when I go out of town this weekend. We'll see how those go over
I really appreciate your help. I've always just let him do whatever he wants brumation-wise, so actively trying to discourage it is weird for me, and every day I worry that I'm stressing him out. Today he looked more okay with it (basking and watching me and waiting for food), whereas before he spent a lot of time in his hide with me having to entice him out of it with food or bugs.
This is a wonderful forum! I'm so thankful for the internet lol!

 

[oatmeal]

Update! My little companion is doing great! I seem to have staved off brumation for the being. I replaced my old fluorescent UVB tube with a powersun (I was hesitant at first, but it's been great. His colour is better, he's basking more, and just seems perkier), and adding a less powerful supplemental heat bulb. I've been feeding a variety of dusted and gutoaded worms (supers, hornworms, silkworms, butterworms) with salads every day, and he is perkier than ever! Because of the increased temp in the tank though, I think he's looking a bit dry and is probably due for a bath
Thanks everyone for your help and input!!

 

[diamc]

Oh, that's awesome. So happy to hear he is doing much better. You're doing a great job with him.

It would be a good idea giving a bath at least 3 to 4 times a wk to make sure he is very well hydrated as as they age, they do tend to dry out quicker. Oral fluids are a big help too even diluted 100% juices (no sugar added) like cherry, grape, apple or cranberry.

Thanks for the great update.

 

[oatmeal]

Oh, that's awesome. So happy to hear he is doing much better. You're doing a great job with him.

It would be a good idea giving a bath at least 3 to 4 times a wk to make sure he is very well hydrated as as they age, they do tend to dry out quicker. Oral fluids are a big help too even diluted 100% juices (no sugar added) like cherry, grape, apple or cranberry.

Thanks for the great update.

I've been giving her frequent baths and letting her soak for at least 10 minutes She is now going through 1-2 whole bowls of salad per day (dandelion greens, mixed with whatever else I have in the fridge) and a few assorted worms. I got some organic cranberry juice for myself, so perhaps I will share it (diluted) with my reptilian companion Currently she is sitting on her rock basking like a champ! My mother came over the other day, and just started laughing at how great she is doing, and made a joke about how I'm going to have to will my bearded dragon to my future children!

I tried cooling the crickets in an attempt to slow them down... unfortunately, I put them outside and it just happened to be the first night the ground froze and I killed all of them :silent: oops! I haven't bought crickets since. We buy crickets for our crested geckos occasionally, but they're smaller than what I would normally give my beardie, so I haven't bothered. I managed to find a store that sells silkworms, so we make due with handfed butterworms, superworms, silkies, and hornworms

Again, thanks for the help everyone! I'm still nervous. 12 is properly old for a beardie!

 

[diamc]

So happy to hear he is doing so well. He sure is eating great. Bet the increase in baths have helped. Must be so great seeing him happily bask.

No, not a good idea putting the crickets outside when it's freezing. Just putting a few in a ziploc bag in the frig for a few minutes would do with helping to slow them down. You're feeding him a great variety.

Thanks for the great update, you're doing an awesome job!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is wonderful she is doing so well right now! It sounds like she is basking a lot now & eating good also.
Oh that is too bad the crickets froze! I am happy to hear she is eating her greens too.
She would likely enjoy the cranberry juice, diluted. It would be good for her kidneys too.
I hope she continues to have such terrific days.
Keep us posted on her.

Tracie