When is my beardie gonna die ? :(

[diamc]

There are nice ways to make a post, no reason for anyone to be rude. If anyone doesn't have anything nice to say, please don't say anything at all.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi, your dragon is in very good shape for 10 yrs old. My oldest beardie is 8 1/2 & he looks like your guy, only not such light colouring, I just love the yellows that pop out on him. Your tank sounds like a beardie dream come true. I have 4 male beardies, the largest is in a 75 gallon tank, the rest are in 40 gallon breeder tanks. They would all LOVE having a tank as big as your guy does, if I only had the room. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment, so I've fit them in as well as I can. Sounds & looks as if he's in very good health.

As for your original question, it's really difficult to give a time. It all depends on the beardie. They can live from 10-20 years if properly hydrated & seeing a vet when he needs to. It's really difficult to know. Just enjoy him, love him & take care of him like you're doing. If he's alone on the weekend, but has access to bugs & water, he'll be fine for 2 days. He has so much room to live in, which is great for a beardie. The oldest beardie I've seen was 15 years old & still going strong, just slower, like your guy, beardies do slow down as they get older.

They also tend to hide their illnesses, but your beardie looks great & alot younger than 10 years old.
Keep up the good work & just enjoy every day with him.
Deb

 

[Esther19]

Well said, Deb. I tried to find the right words and failed.
Your beardie looks healthy and happy, sparkscarz. Enjoy his company!
Esther

 

[diamc]

That was indeed a very good post Deb.

I also wanted to add that I have a beardie over 9 yrs old who is very active most days but does have his quiet days and it is true that they tend to slow down some as they get older. Just continue to enjoy him and give him lots of loving, he may be with you for many years yet.

 

[CaptainVimes]

I have removed this post, simply because there is no way on earth, that I could edit it and make it sound better. I was completely out of order in my first post, so anything that ensued was my fault.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Nothing was said about nasty or any other such thing, just a bit strong wording, when there are other ways to get a point across. We have rules regarding rudeness & I would suggest you tone down your posts, please. We don't want anyone arguing or fighting over a thread that was just a question to begin with. If you have questions for the original OP, send a PM so there is nothing negative on the original post. That's all.

 

[kaylorin]

I am new to beardeds (and reptiles in general, lol) He looks healthy and is doing great, so the way you are taking care of him obviously suits him.

The question I have - I know there is a point in their life that you quit feeding any protein and just feed them veggies. Later on in life they can get kidney problems from any protein. I am not sure at what age that is...since he is 10, I would assume he is getting close to that.

Hopefully someone with more experience can come on and give the proper information as to when they should be "protein-less".

 

[randommonks]

I am new to beardeds (and reptiles in general, lol) He looks healthy and is doing great, so the way you are taking care of him obviously suits him.

The question I have - I know there is a point in their life that you quit feeding any protein and just feed them veggies. Later on in life they can get kidney problems from any protein. I am not sure at what age that is...since he is 10, I would assume he is getting close to that.

Hopefully someone with more experience can come on and give the proper information as to when they should be "protein-less".

I don't think there's a point where they should be protein-less. After about a year old to 18 months, they should be making the transition to 80% veggies, 20% protein, where you'd offer a controlled amount of feeders every day or every other day.

 

[sweetiepie9]

That's what I'm doing with my 8 yr old beardie Lonzo. He's brumating along with the 3 other beards right now, but he's not a greens fan, he'll eat them very rarely but he will eat squash daily & sometimes I can get other veggies in his mouth. The other dragons will sometimes eat a few green leaves, so I do make sure they get their salad every day. I won't allow more than the recommend amount of worms/bugs either. In the late summer, about a month before I'm expecting signs of brumation, I fatten my 4 dragons up as much as possible before they brumate, then only give them water once in awhile to make sure they stay hydrated.

Your beardie is very healthy, so do make sure he drinks at least 3-4 time every week. It's better that they drink water, then soak, as it has a better effect. They also abosrb water through some of their scales, so soaking does help alot. Even misting them outside of their tank, helps keep them hydrated, especially if they don't eat alot of salad when they get "elderly".

I'm hoping that my Lonzo looks as good as your guy when he's 10 years old.
Give him a hug from us,
Deb, Rubio, Lonzo, Leo & Didi
& Rocco my golden gecko

 

[noella5088]

Your setup sounds wonderful. Would you post some pics of your set up? I'm looking for VIV decorating ideas for my bearded dragon. Apart from the other comments, I leave my beardie alone when I go out for one day, I always leave something in her tank in case she's hungry. I leave her a bowl of mixed greens, beardie bites, and a shallow watering pool. I even gave her a cat yellow ball to play with. I don't see anything wrong with leaving them one day! A whole weekend: I would start worrying that maybe something might have happen to her. I would worry about Salmonella and contaminating your own beardie and yourself. If I see poop or urates, I always make sure that her tanks clean before leaving. I'd hate to see that in her tank and she'd be dragging it all over the tank. I worry about your beardie being alone the whole weekend.

Domesticated pets: Dogs, cats, birds, or anything domesticated, doesn't live long outside in the world without us. Our domesticated beardies wouldn't last one day without being poisoned by pesticides and being eaten by birds. Our domesticated animals rely on us to take care of them. You wouldn't leave a dog alone in a house for the whole weekend without letting it out and feeding it.

 

[sweetiepie9]

• It's not up to us to decide how the OP is going to take care of his beardie. His beardie looks very healthy for his age & he's well taken care of. If there is any issue it is up to the OP to handle as it is his dragon. Lecturing on the same subject won't help. There is no issue with giving your opinion, but it is your opinion, not the OP's.

 

[CaptainVimes]

I would like to say a few words.

Firstly, I have apologised to "OP" (as you keep calling him) in a pm.

Now I feel it is my duty to make a public statement.

Before I "opened my big mouth" no-one complained to "OP" about leaving his beardie all weekend on his own.

This is because no-one saw it as a problem. It was only when I kicked him for it, that other people agreed.

So, as I have been told in pm by someone, "I started the fire."

I now extinguish the fire, I'm not going to go into detail of why I said what I did, simply because it's personal to me, and unless someone ("OP" or "randommonks") decides it's necessary to "hang my undies out in public", you are not going to know. I sincerely hope they don't, but I am aware that I do deserve it.

I feel the need to apologise in public, and to confirm that...

Yes, "OP's" beardie is healthy and happy being kept how he is. Apparently there are photos elsewhere to prove it. So there is now no longer any need to dwell on the subject, it has been "unfolded", "ironed out", and now been "put back in the cupboard".

I take back EVERYTHING I have said in previous posts, I was just going to erase the content and put in something to say I had erased it, but I am not going to do that, simply because other people need to see what I said, that I'm now agreeing was wrong and out of order.

I'm now going to leave it at that.

I have apologised to "OP" and sent that exact apology to "randommonks", who gave me a good telling off in pm, so that he/she can see that I HAVE apologised for my behaviour.

Thank you for reading, you are more than welcome to pm me to discuss anything I've said, but I will not be accepting further "telling off". I have had my share thank you! :lol:

 

[Monotov]

I wasn't coming off negative at all. I was just stating that even though reptiles and dogs/cats are nothing alike as long as they're in you're care they're considered domestic

Regardless of how you take care of your beardie, at 10 years old your dragon looks healthy, and having no illness or health problems is kudos.
As far as attention getting my beardie Layla would rather prefer to be on her own, she hates to be held, no matter how many times or for how long i try to get her to like it, so she keeps to herself a lot.

My point wasn't going towards the whole love and attention, it was just the whole feeding thing.

but yes, a beardie can go 2 days without eating, but it is probably more ideal to load him up with veggies and worms before you leave, so he at least has something to munch on while you're gone.
I just put myself in his shoes and thought how bad I would feel if I didn't feed my babies for two days.

But every beardie is different and so is every beardie owner.

I think we should all respect the fact that his beardie is 10 YEARS OLD, still going strong and LOOKS healthy and beautiful.
And regard his question, because I think this whole forum turned against him all about the way he treats his beardie :roll:

I think a few answered your question for you, there is no telling when your beardie is going to die, but hey, why think about that anyways? No pet owner does.

You WILL be able to tell when a beardie becomes lethargic and stops eating.

I lost a beardie once. You will just be able to tell when their time comes, and when it does, just try to make them comfortable before they pass away.

I wrapped my beardie in a little blanket before he passed, granted he was only a baby but he died peacefully in his blanket.


Hope the best for you and your dragon.

 

[diamc]

Ok, enough said. Thought I would mention that OP stands for "original poster." I think all the questions were answered but if the OP wants to continue this thread, we will keep it open but lets get back to the original discussion now, thanks. Apologies accepted.

 

[CaptainVimes]

Sparkscarz,

Do you have any recent photos of your beardie?

I see the ones you have are 2008 & 2009. I would love to see what a 10 year old dragon looks like.