Hi, new member, mostly posting out of concern than anything else.
I've had my Bearded Dragon, His Holiness, a.k.a. Benny (we mostly just call him Benny), for 8 years as of a couple of weeks ago, adopting him from a couple of friends when he was around 2 years old, I think. So he's currently just north of 10 years old.
Since I've had him he's been in a tank that's 46cm tall, 46cm deep and 92cm long, so about 51 gallons if I'm converting right. He has a water bowl that's regularly topped up, a secondary bowl for any vegetables he might eat, although he predominantly eats locusts, and the heat bulb at the top of one end of his tank keeps the warmer end at about 32C to 37C depending on the time of year (it tends to drop below 30 in the early days of winter when we haven't sorted out radiators to keep the house warm).
Up until, oo, I think it was some time in early November of 2016 (just around the time of a quick plummet in temperature here in the UK) Benny was regularly eating a box of medium locusts a week (about 10 or so on average, I'd say), about 5 medium brown crickets, and a small bowl of veg maybe one or two days a week. He's been a fairly greedy lizard ever since we stopped feeding him by hand (his brother used to get to all the food first so he just wouldn't chase it).
Around the time of the cold spell, though, he stopped eating altogether. Just suddenly stopped. I took all but 3 locusts out of his tank to more easily and by the time I got him to the vet he hadn't eaten in 9 days.
The vet isn't an expert in reptiles, but they couldn't spot anything wrong with him. No discolouration in his mouth or of his skin that I've noticed. Just noticeably thin around the waist and tail and despite his behaviour at the vet I think he's been slower than usual. The vet thought he might just be getting old, but with no obvious signs of any immediate issues, she didn't want to medicate him at all.
Troll that he is he proceeded to eat 8 locusts one after the other once within 2 hours of seeing the vet, with no medication or anything like that. Just trolled me.
His eating has gone down, however, over the past few months. I'd say he now eats maybe 3 to 4 locusts a week and he won't touch any veg left in his tank. At the moment I'm spending maybe a couple of minutes each day after I get back from work trying to hand feed him again (locusts), just in case, but I don't want to force feed him. He's still drinking, but I think that's more about dropping water on his snout more than him actively seeking out water.
He's still thinner than he used to be, which is understandable given his lack of eating I suppose, and his tank tends to sit at about 32C.
If it's brumation, this is far beyond anything he's been through before. He's gotten slower over winter, but I've never seen him eat this little. So I'm honestly I'm wondering if this is normal for a Bearded Dragon of his age, or if this is literally him slowing down as he's getting older.
Thanks for any help in advance,
A fairly worried, but probably overly anxious owner.
I've had my Bearded Dragon, His Holiness, a.k.a. Benny (we mostly just call him Benny), for 8 years as of a couple of weeks ago, adopting him from a couple of friends when he was around 2 years old, I think. So he's currently just north of 10 years old.
Since I've had him he's been in a tank that's 46cm tall, 46cm deep and 92cm long, so about 51 gallons if I'm converting right. He has a water bowl that's regularly topped up, a secondary bowl for any vegetables he might eat, although he predominantly eats locusts, and the heat bulb at the top of one end of his tank keeps the warmer end at about 32C to 37C depending on the time of year (it tends to drop below 30 in the early days of winter when we haven't sorted out radiators to keep the house warm).
Up until, oo, I think it was some time in early November of 2016 (just around the time of a quick plummet in temperature here in the UK) Benny was regularly eating a box of medium locusts a week (about 10 or so on average, I'd say), about 5 medium brown crickets, and a small bowl of veg maybe one or two days a week. He's been a fairly greedy lizard ever since we stopped feeding him by hand (his brother used to get to all the food first so he just wouldn't chase it).
Around the time of the cold spell, though, he stopped eating altogether. Just suddenly stopped. I took all but 3 locusts out of his tank to more easily and by the time I got him to the vet he hadn't eaten in 9 days.
The vet isn't an expert in reptiles, but they couldn't spot anything wrong with him. No discolouration in his mouth or of his skin that I've noticed. Just noticeably thin around the waist and tail and despite his behaviour at the vet I think he's been slower than usual. The vet thought he might just be getting old, but with no obvious signs of any immediate issues, she didn't want to medicate him at all.
Troll that he is he proceeded to eat 8 locusts one after the other once within 2 hours of seeing the vet, with no medication or anything like that. Just trolled me.
His eating has gone down, however, over the past few months. I'd say he now eats maybe 3 to 4 locusts a week and he won't touch any veg left in his tank. At the moment I'm spending maybe a couple of minutes each day after I get back from work trying to hand feed him again (locusts), just in case, but I don't want to force feed him. He's still drinking, but I think that's more about dropping water on his snout more than him actively seeking out water.
He's still thinner than he used to be, which is understandable given his lack of eating I suppose, and his tank tends to sit at about 32C.
If it's brumation, this is far beyond anything he's been through before. He's gotten slower over winter, but I've never seen him eat this little. So I'm honestly I'm wondering if this is normal for a Bearded Dragon of his age, or if this is literally him slowing down as he's getting older.
Thanks for any help in advance,
A fairly worried, but probably overly anxious owner.