Older dragon

[emilybortz]

I've got an adult male coming up on his 9th birthday, healthy as can be, and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible. He has an appt. with his vet in a couple of weeks so I'm sure I'll get info from her, but what are some things that I can start doing for him to make his life longer and more comfortable? Certain vitamins? Certain foods? Thank you guys so much

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

First off, congratulations on having a 9 year old bearded dragon. Most do not live that long so you must have been doing something right all of these years. Maybe you could post a few pictures of him, also.
Older dragons do need a little less protein but still need "quality" protein with less fat. Focus on greens & vegetation with small portions of protein several times per week.
Continue with good calcium supplementation 3 times per week as well. Do you give vitamins? A good B complex vitamin would be helpful just for energy.
For older dragons, we can figure that their joints need a boost as well. Silkworms have a great enzyme in them called Serrapeptase which helps with joint pain & inflammation. It is also a good supplement for liver function as well, so it serves a good purpose.
You could feed either the silkworms or purchase the Serrapeptase powder from here:
http://www.serrapeptase.org

Making sure that he stays hydrated will ensure good kidney function as well. Does he get regular exercise too?

What type of UVB lighting are you using for him? A flourescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light, & what brand is it?
I am looking forward to seeing some pictures of him.

Tracie

 

[emilybortz]

Hello,

First off, congratulations on having a 9 year old bearded dragon. Most do not live that long so you must have been doing something right all of these years. Maybe you could post a few pictures of him, also.
Older dragons do need a little less protein but still need "quality" protein with less fat. Focus on greens & vegetation with small portions of protein several times per week.
Continue with good calcium supplementation 3 times per week as well. Do you give vitamins? A good B complex vitamin would be helpful just for energy.
For older dragons, we can figure that their joints need a boost as well. Silkworms have a great enzyme in them called Serrapeptase which helps with joint pain & inflammation. It is also a good supplement for liver function as well, so it serves a good purpose.
You could feed either the silkworms or purchase the Serrapeptase powder from here:
http://www.serrapeptase.org

Making sure that he stays hydrated will ensure good kidney function as well. Does he get regular exercise too?

What type of UVB lighting are you using for him? A flourescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light, & what brand is it?
I am looking forward to seeing some pictures of him.

Tracie

We feed him mostly veggies(dandelion greends, collards, mustard greens) with crickets a few times a week, so would it be good to substitute those for silkworms?
He gets carrots occassionally also to provide for vitamin A, and when he does have crickets, we dust them with Repcal w/ d3(heard some mixed reviews about Repcal, but so far it seems to be doing its job. Is there a better supplement I could be using?)
He has a Reptisun 10.0 bulb in his tank, but that was one that I bought quickly at the store the other week. Is there another better one that I could be using?
Here are some recent pictures(all taken within the past two weeks)

 

[athenae]

I've got an adult male coming up on his 9th birthday, healthy as can be, and I want to keep it that way for as long as possible. He has an appt. with his vet in a couple of weeks so I'm sure I'll get info from her, but what are some things that I can start doing for him to make his life longer and more comfortable? Certain vitamins? Certain foods?

my male is over 13 and i've begun posting to look for people with actual old age experience, and i'm sad to report that they seem to be few and far between. i'm not an expert, but here are some thoughts.
1) he looks healthy, so 9 isn't quite old age yet for him, but it's a good time to start watching for changes in his behavior and sorting out which ones seem normal and how you can accommodate them [from which ones indicate problems]. For example, mine changed his preference among greens as he matured [kale, mustard green, collards, and now bok choy] which may reflect his changing vitamin/mineral needs. Now that mine is definitely old, he climbs around a whole lot less, so i've revised his set-up to include fewer high perches and more ground and mid-level options, but i have an under-terrarium thermal pad, so the spot lamp isn't the sole source of heat. there's some disagreement about whether old dragons do or don't like a lower basking temp. so my suggestion is to let him decide.
2) since he's not growing anymore, too much protein may not be a good thing, especially if it's high in fat. BTW, being overweight isn't healthy and may shorten the lifespan [it definitely does in snakes], so he shouldn't gain weight at this point. since mine isn't growing or active as much of the time, i feed him fewer crickets at any given feeding than i used to, although i've always set the frequency of cricket feeding by his poop schedule. speaking of the crickets, i don't think you mentioned gut-loading them, but that's a good way to get additional supplements.
3) activity and poop: it seems to be normal for them to become less active in terms of climbing, but in terms of energy and responsiveness, he should still get excited by whatever stimulus is usual for him to respond to. [stimulus is still good]
no one has suggested to me that the composition of the poop should change.
4) the vet visit is a very good idea, as long as your vet is experienced at recognizing what lizard bones and muscle tone should be. but chances are that you're not going to develop any problems on that score at this point, if he's lasted this long.
in terms of old age issues, your vet may not be able to help [mine's never seen a dragon that's lived past middle age.]
5) mine is shedding less at any given time and less frequently, and the consensus is that it's normal since he's growing less. if the shedding takes longer, that may indicate some intervention could help -- can anyone else chime in to say whether that might indicate a dehydration issue?
hope this helps,
athena

 

[emilybortz]

The one thing I have noticed about him is that his back legs are weaker. If he's up on his feet, he's fine and can run and jump around, but if I have him on my shoulder, or on his log, he only clings on with his front legs, or clings on very loosely with his back legs.
For awhile he wasn't pooping often at all, but I introduced a bit of apricot into his salads a few times a week and they seem to be keeping him regular.
Its funny because his food tastes have changed, but now he only likes eating certain colors. Anything yellow or orange he loves, but when it comes to his kale, I usually have to wiggle it around a bit to make him go for it.

 

[athenae]

The one thing I have noticed about him is that his back legs are weaker. If he's up on his feet, he's fine and can run and jump around, but if I have him on my shoulder, or on his log, he only clings on with his front legs, or clings on very loosely with his back legs.

i noticed the same thing, but it's stabilized and not gotten any worse. yes, definitely tell the vet this and see what he says.

For awhile he wasn't pooping often at all, but I introduced a bit of apricot into his salads a few times a week and they seem to be keeping him regular.

the other natural laxatives i've used are 1) baby peach sauce puree [hand-fed dollops on a piece of leaf] and 2) exercise outside on his halter-leash. i wouldn't worry about an episode if it's resolved itself.

Its funny because his food tastes have changed, but now he only likes eating certain colors. Anything yellow or orange he loves, but when it comes to his kale, I usually have to wiggle it around a bit to make him go for it.

mine has always had color preference for yellow flowers [as in your pic (-:] -- especially buttercups. consider yourself lucky that he's eating kale at all -- mine has refused to have anything to do with kale since he stopped growing. kale is vitamin rich but not if they won't eat it (-: -- i'd suggest you give in and try collard or mustard greens, or bok choy.

 

[BadCon]

Being honest, and going off of what I have been told, most of the dragons on this site I would classify as overweight. Even with spectacular care, I rarely every see dragons that are over 10 years old. It seems most of the people posting here have dragons that are way under 10 years. I attribute this to the weight issue...as beardies love to eat, but even the largest cages are not going to provide them with the room to properly exercise. So you combine a lack of exercise with a love of food, and you have the same situation plauging the US...obesity.
I am not saying to starve your animals, but there are some diet choices that can be made that would help lower the fat intake...such as reducing the fruit and veggie servings, and choosing a low fat feeder insect and providing the right amount of protien for adult animals (most over do the protien).

To the original poster...your setup seems to be working, and your dragon looks great for being 9 years old. I would hesitate to do any drastic changes to your setup, as it might make things worse for your animal. Just make sure your UVB source is replaced often (6 months for tube lights), use reasonable feeding practices (avoid fatty foods), and let him roam around some for exercise.
More exercise might help strengthan his back legs, and some natural sunlight every now and then is great for them (your pics show him outside, this is good).

My next comment might be blunt, but I feel I should say it. Not many on this board have experience with older dragons, so some of the comments you may recieve should be taken with a grain of salt. I personally have two dragons who are about 2yrs old, so my own comments may have no relevance to your situation. While I would agree with one of the above posters in saying that 9 years isn't super old for a dragon, a simple browse through the memorium forum shows that many dragons don't make it 9 years, even with great care. So that fact your guy is 9, and in good health, is a testement to your husbandry practices. Genetics probably have a role as well, but even the best genetics can't compensate for neglect, and your guy looks great...so I feel your care has a great deal to do with your dragons health.

 

[emilybortz]

Being honest, and going off of what I have been told, most of the dragons on this site I would classify as overweight. Even with spectacular care, I rarely every see dragons that are over 10 years old. It seems most of the people posting here have dragons that are way under 10 years. I attribute this to the weight issue...as beardies love to eat, but even the largest cages are not going to provide them with the room to properly exercise. So you combine a lack of exercise with a love of food, and you have the same situation plauging the US...obesity.
I am not saying to starve your animals, but there are some diet choices that can be made that would help lower the fat intake...such as reducing the fruit and veggie servings, and choosing a low fat feeder insect and providing the right amount of protien for adult animals (most over do the protien).

To the original poster...your setup seems to be working, and your dragon looks great for being 9 years old. I would hesitate to do any drastic changes to your setup, as it might make things worse for your animal. Just make sure your UVB source is replaced often (6 months for tube lights), use reasonable feeding practices (avoid fatty foods), and let him roam around some for exercise.
More exercise might help strengthan his back legs, and some natural sunlight every now and then is great for them (your pics show him outside, this is good).

My next comment might be blunt, but I feel I should say it. Not many on this board have experience with older dragons, so some of the comments you may recieve should be taken with a grain of salt. I personally have two dragons who are about 2yrs old, so my own comments may have no relevance to your situation. While I would agree with one of the above posters in saying that 9 years isn't super old for a dragon, a simple browse through the memorium forum shows that many dragons don't make it 9 years, even with great care. So that fact your guy is 9, and in good health, is a testement to your husbandry practices. Genetics probably have a role as well, but even the best genetics can't compensate for neglect, and your guy looks great...so I feel your care has a great deal to do with your dragons health.

Yeah I've noticed that most of the dragons I see here are pretty young, but its funny to hear that 9 is so old since I've always thought that my care of Rockie could be improved a good deal. As he gets older, I hang out with him a lot more, and he's out in the sun for at least an hour almost every day. Honestly, he's rarely in his viv and spends most of his time hanging on the couch with us, lying by the pool with us, and a good portion of his diet is just dandelions that he eats when outside. It is due time for a new bulb though, but the more I hear that he's so old, the more I want to change his lifestyle so that he can live longer. Its tough though, but you're probably right, I'll just keep doing things for the most part as I am now.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Just keep up with what you are doing, He looks great seems alart and active. The key here is that you pay attention to what your animal likes wants and does. That is very smart when it comes to care. I learned from the forums a long time ago, if you follow some basic care guidelines your dragon will show you the rest. In your case that seems like living proof. Congratulations and keep the pictures coming.