I feel horrible

[RockyPlusBen]

The past half of a year I haven't been taking care of my bearded dragon like I used to and just haven't been into it. I'm not sure what I was thinking I think I just didn't really care anymore. I've been debating whether I should keep him or not and I said dangit I'm doing to keep him and I'm not going to lose my focus on taking care of him.

I probably fed him like once every other week and I KNOW, that's REALLY bad. There was a period of time where I didn't feed him for 3-4 weeks probably.. I know you guys are like because I would have been when I was into it. Rocky is about 4 years old.

Anyway, I promised myself (and him) I would give him baths at least once a week, feed him when I wake up before school and put greens in his dish, and go out and buy crickets on fridays, gutload, and give them to him of saturday. Today I got superworms to fatten him up as he is pretty skinny.

Again, I feel horrible and I lost site of him somewhere along the way...

So now my question is... How long will this take away from his life and how much longer can I expect him to live?

 

[TASTIGER]

its hard when you are busy with school and homework so we understand but if you arent able to care for him properly meby its time to find him a new home...

 

[Claudiusx]

I don't think anyone can answer that question, but the length of time he lives means nothing, its how happy he is during the time he is alive that means everything.

It may be tempting to give him all the superworms he wants to eat to fatten him up, but at his age you really should be limiting the protein and have him eating mostly salad. I would say don't go over 5 superworms a day. If he is eating his salad, I would say only feed maybe like 8 superworms every other day.

High amounts of protein is tough on old dragons livers, so thats why we need to limit there protein and keep them eating their greens.
Make sure everyday you make him a nice nutritious salad! I bet he will really enjoy that.
I think you should also spend some time with him, get that bond with him. I guarantee you, if you keep a bond with him, you will not let your husbandry slip again.

Just show him you love him, and he will get better as long as you care for him, and give him what he needs to live a healthy life.

In case you haven't seen it, here is a great website for what is healthy and not healthy greens for them. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

-Brandon

 

[NightmareDisco]

Well, I'm not going to be mean because you already know how irresponsible you have been. Unless you are sure that you are back "into it" I would seriously consider giving him to someone that can provide him with what he needs. Do not fill him up on supers like crazy because if the poor thing isn't used to being fed, you can give him kidney damage. I would really suggest taking him to a vet, you will need some critical care and baby food.
I can't tell you how much time you've hacked off of his life because I don't know his condition, but I hope you will do the right thing.

 

[RockyPlusBen]

I wasn't planning on giving him a ton of superworms, just a few a day like you said.

But with crickets, how many should i let him eat at a time.

Like I said, I'm planning on giving him a salad every morning and then every saturday I was planning on letting him eat as many crickets as he wanted. Is this ok?

 

[NightmareDisco]

I really wouldn't overload on the crickets just because his body may not be able to take it. The best thing to do would be to order some critical care and get some stage 1 baby food to mix with it (squash or peas is good) and syringe feed him each day. Maybe give him a couple crickets a day but for now I'd stay clear of the supers just because they are fatty and have little nutritional value.

 

[RockyPlusBen]

Oh, and I don't think he needs "critical care" He is perky since I've been taking care of him and looks alright. It's not like I completely abandoned him. a couple weeks I fed him 5 days strait if that makes anything any better and I've fed him good before these six months and really want to continue that even during the busy times which throw me off. what really threw me off is my brother getting cancer this past year, so that was a tough time. He is mostly better now. Plus I had school+wrestling season. I realize this isn't a full excuse, just thought I'd let you know I'm not a completely irresponsible person...

Anyway, i'm not going to give him away, I couldn't stand that. I can take care of him and I won't lose site again. I'm just wondering your opinion of how long he will keep living. A year? Three years? I don't think I completely wrecked his life...

Another question. could I have forced him into burmation? or maybe he was already burmating for a few months period within that period?

 

[Claudiusx]

It possible, but can't really be sure if it was brumation, or just lethargicness from improper husbandry.

-Brandon

 

[NightmareDisco]

Well, the only reason I suggest the critical care is because it has lots of good vitamins that he probably needs. How old is he now? I don't have an intelligent guess on how much time of his life will be affected, it all depends on his ability to recover and the set up in which he is kept.

 

[RockyPlusBen]

He's about 4 years old. I got him at 6 months from a breeder.

 

[RockyPlusBen]

Is it ok to let him eat like 50 crickets in one sitting once a week?

 

[Claudiusx]

No. Definitely not.

That will be way too hard on his system.

You need to start up slow, even when he gets to full health, a dragon of that age should not be fed that much protein in one sitting.

-Brandon

 

[RockyPlusBen]

Thank you guys so much for your responses and support, I really appreciate it.

So I could do 8 a day and after a month 16 everyday maximum until 50 crickets for that week are gone? and along with that I'll give him 3-5 superworms about an hour after he eats crickets mixed with salad (unless it's after 7 and he wouldn't be able to digest it very well because his lights go out at 9)

Everyday the salad I'm planning on giving is a mix of collard greens and mustard greens 2x a day (once in the morning, once before cricket feeding or superworm feeding).

Is this fine?

 

[herpgirl2510]

I think it took courage to come on a forum and admit that you have not een giving him the right care but you are here now trying to fix it and that is what matters.I can't give you much advice because I am pretty new to beardies but there are some really great people on this site who will help you out. You have been given some great advice. I don't know if this was asked ut what is yourset up like also what kind of uvb are you using. I replace mine every 6 months. Good Luck and I hope you will remain committed to your dragon.

 

[Claudiusx]

I still don't think you should be giving 16 crickets a day and superworms. My girl is 4 years old at the moment and I am trying to help her put back on weight, and the max I will allow her to eat is 5 superworms a day. And of course she gets salad, and has recently started getting Critical Care, and she has started gaining.

Your dragon is old, it can't handle food like it could when it was younger, and it definitely can't handle that much food after his body basically shutting down for so long.

Start it, and keep it, slow. Maybe like 3 or so superworms, and a couple crickets. He probably will still act hungry and want more bugs, but he really shouldn't have more than that.

The Critical care that was suggested earlier would be a great thing, I really think you should get it.

-Brandon