Help Needed From Owners (For Research)

[Beardomania]

Well, haven't found you to be extremely impolite.
Not gonna say that everything I do is perfect, in fact, if I said everything I did that was imperfect it would be an incredibly long list.
I also won't say that I haven't been wrong, but I won't say that you have been right on much either.

Maybe sketchy and shady were the wrong wordings, and if they are, that's my fault, and I'll say it right here and now.

As for explaining things, no, maybe he doesn't.
He also doesn't have to, but it'd make more sense if he did.

And for the last thing, coming from a very weird household, I would like to tell you that "grilling" is not the term you're looking for.
"Grilling" is called asking at least 3 times, then being broken down because you didn't answer quick enough.
"Grilling" is called being broken down emotionally by angry people, none of which are here, you neither I have done that.
And, if either of us have, (Or anyone.) then shame on them. (Which I still believe none of us have.)

I'm an extremely honor driven guy, something I'm sure none of you know after this.
Today... could have been better.

But, asking for a second time after not getting a correct answer is just life.
You ever dealt with kids?
Well, lemme tell you something if you haven't.
You don't just ask once, and if they don't answer you, go, "Oh well."
No, you ask a second time.
So, am I "grilling" my child?

Yeah, okay.

Again, I won't tell you that I'm 100% correct, but I will stand by the fact that he should have listed before what his "work" is.
All I asked was if he owned a BD and what his "work" is.
Nothing more, nothing less.
To you, I ask, is that "grilling"?

I have no quarrel nor grudge against either of you.
In fact, I love his idea of the book/database he has planned.
To me, that's absolutely genius.

So, with all that said, good day.

Thanks,
BDD

He's not your kid and if an adult doesn't answer you, you accept that that's how it is. It doesn't make his actions sketchy. You asked him if he even owned a bearded dragon, the answer to which determines nothing. Then, you asked again, saying that he still hasn't told you as if he's dodging. It's not a physical sit-down like the police would have with you type of grilling but it's about as close as you can get on this forum.

Anyway, let this be over. The reason this didn't sit well with me is that there is so much misinformation and hearsay out there when it comes to bearded dragons. It's impossible to really figure out what's a myth made from conjecture and what's actually true. There are people advocating lighting situations and feeder diets saying that absolutely nothing less will do, sometimes telling people to throw out expensive equipment and get new ones simply because they think that the way they raised a beardie is the only way. OP didn't think like that. OP came asking for experience from people to find the real truth rather than take what any website writes as gospel. As a scientist, I love that attitude, and his desire to publish his findings was even better. (I have many research ideas as well on figuring out the actual dietary and lighting requirements of bearded dragons that I'll likely never be able to do because I'm not a herpetologist and can't get the funding.) And what he got was an earful from you telling him that he needs to credit people or they'll get angry and that he can't write a book on beardies unless he specifically affirms to you that he owns them, and that he's shady for not offering more info about himself to start. That just sounds so hostile and unhelpful to a real and rare scientific effort. We all have bad days and I get that you didn't mean anything so let this be over.

 

[BeardedDragonDude]

He's not your kid and if an adult doesn't answer you, you accept that that's how it is. It doesn't make his actions sketchy. You asked him if he even owned a bearded dragon, the answer to which determines nothing. Then, you asked again, saying that he still hasn't told you as if he's dodging. It's not a physical sit-down like the police would have with you type of grilling but it's about as close as you can get on this forum.

Anyway, let this be over. The reason this didn't sit well with me is that there is so much misinformation and hearsay out there when it comes to bearded dragons. It's impossible to really figure out what's a myth made from conjecture and what's actually true. There are people advocating lighting situations and feeder diets saying that absolutely nothing less will do, sometimes telling people to throw out expensive equipment and get new ones simply because they think that the way they raised a beardie is the only way. OP didn't think like that. OP came asking for experience from people to find the real truth rather than take what any website writes as gospel. As a scientist, I love that attitude, and his desire to publish his findings was even better. (I have many research ideas as well on figuring out the actual dietary and lighting requirements of bearded dragons that I'll likely never be able to do because I'm not a herpetologist and can't get the funding.) And what he got was an earful from you telling him that he needs to credit people or they'll get angry and that he can't write a book on beardies unless he specifically affirms to you that he owns them, and that he's shady for not offering more info about himself to start. That just sounds so hostile and unhelpful to a real and rare scientific effort. We all have bad days and I get that you didn't mean anything so let this be over.

All I will say is my thought process.
I have had bad misinformation that almost killed my BD before, so I agree with your thought process.
But, any man can take good info and re-word it/mess up the writing to accidentally hurt someone. (Or BD.)
The reason I asked about his "work" is for that reason.

Maybe this whole thing was unnecessary, and I have for sure tainted my reputation because of this, something I probably deserve.

Thanks,
BDD

 

[Beardomania]

All I will say is my thought process.
I have had bad misinformation that almost killed my BD before, so I agree with your thought process.
But, any man can take good info and re-word it/mess up the writing to accidentally hurt someone. (Or BD.)
The reason I asked about his "work" is for that reason.

Maybe this whole thing was unnecessary, and I have for sure tainted my reputation because of this, something I probably deserve.

Thanks,
BDD

Meh, whatever. You didn't kill anybody. Tomorrow's a new day.

There is so much misinformation on beardies accepted as mainstream that I'd love to test out. I was quite accepting of what was conventional wisdom on reptiles until I had conversations with my friend and my girlfriend which blew my mind. I went in there thinking I was head honcho cus I knew so much about what was generally prescribed as reptile knowledge but they ended up blowing me away with real life experience. My friend told me that he raise a turtle from a hatchling to the size of a football without any UVB, Herptivite, calcium, or heating! He just kept it in a bowl then a plastic tote with an inch or 2 of water and fed him leftover people food! Then my girlfriend told me that she raised a bearded dragon from hatchling to a beautiful large red adult feeding him only celtuce leaves and superworms, dusting with only calcium and never Herptivite or any vitamins. She also used an off-brand/knock off MVB without ever changing it until it goes out completely. Even crazier was that she said her uncle once had a baby tortoise escape only to be found alive living under the couch and several times his baby size 10 years later!! And no, they weren't messy as hell with food/salad scraps all over the ground. So I came in there telling them about the absolute need for 6 month interval changes on MVB bulbs for the UVB and supplementation with Herptivite and a varied insect diet and I got schooled! There are so many experiments that I'd like to carry out to learn more about what they said and what is truly the needs of a reptile (more specifically a bearded dragon.)

 

[Yvonne G]

My gosh, folks! Settle down, for Pete's sake!

 

[Bailey]

Don't take my word for it.. but I know of a YouTube (LizardGuru) who says she actually knows somebody who lost a bearded dragon due to feeding mealworms. Not supers, mealworms. I don't know people say that can't really kill them but I trust her word she takes great care of her babies.

 

[Beardomania]

Don't take my word for it.. but I know of a YouTube (LizardGuru) who says she actually knows somebody who lost a bearded dragon due to feeding mealworms. Not supers, mealworms. I don't know people say that can't really kill them but I trust her word she takes great care of her babies.

Yeah, there's lots of anecdotal evidence out there that gets spread around and then people take it as set in stone but I haven't seen solid scientific evidence that mealworms are bad for beardies. You might know someone who choked to death eating a chicken wing but that doesn't mean that people should never eat chicken wings. I've also seen beardies take down whole mice, and baby quail, and also baby/small juvie beardes eat full size 2 inch NYC cockroaches and never become impacted so it's really just a game of chance and perhaps beardie genetics. Maybe if you have a beardie with congenital gastrointestinal problems and you exclusively feed it full-sized mealworms when it's a baby, you run some risk of impaction (maybe the risk is significant and maybe it is nearly none) and those few cases are enough to get the wildfire of rumors started. I don't know; I need to see scientific data. If 100 normal healthy baby bearded dragons are fed exclusively salad and dusted mealworms, how many become impacted? How quickly do they grow on average? What is the average size attained? This is data I need to see before I can say that mealworms are good or bad.

 

[Kristin relac]

Hi guys,

I’m conducting some research for some work I’m doing on bearded dragons and I would really appreciate the help of as many owners as possible.

I’m researching what is the average age bearded dragons live to in captivity.

This is extremely important as a lot of information available at the moment is thought to be inaccurate and if we can collect real-world data from real owners we can have a better understanding.

If anybody has owned a beardie in the past that has sadly passed away I would really appreciate it if you could:
A: State the age they sadly passed away
B: State the reasons, for example, old age or what illness etc.

I understand that this might be upsetting for some owners, so please only reply if you feel comfortable doing so.

Your input will be extremely valuable and will help to provide accurate data to how long beardies really live in captivity, rather than a lot of guesswork that isn’t backed up by any real-world data.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Ours are 3yrs and going strong. But, I was somewhat unnerved to find out the difference in natural sunlight versus bulbs. It actually made me feel these animals are not meant to be kept in captivity as pets. Ours are extremely sensitive to any changes in their habitat and part of me feels it’s just not good practice. Selfish!! We should just let them be free in the natural habitat

 

[Kristin relac]

Don't take my word for it.. but I know of a YouTube (LizardGuru) who says she actually knows somebody who lost a bearded dragon due to feeding mealworms. Not supers, mealworms. I don't know people say that can't really kill them but I trust her word she takes great care of her babies.

Yes I would absolutely believe that. It’s not Anything in the worm them selves per say, but it’s their shells Or exoskeleton. It’s too hard and it can leave a lot of that buildup in her stomach creating a blockage and yes, eventually death. Same could be true for super worms but since they’re bigger there is more meat in them. But, that’s exactly why we were advised by many different people don’t ever feed them too many “super or meal worms” at one time.

 

[BeardieMama86]

Hi guys,

I’m conducting some research for some work I’m doing on bearded dragons and I would really appreciate the help of as many owners as possible.

I’m researching what is the average age bearded dragons live to in captivity.

This is extremely important as a lot of information available at the moment is thought to be inaccurate and if we can collect real-world data from real owners we can have a better understanding.

If anybody has owned a beardie in the past that has sadly passed away I would really appreciate it if you could:
A: State the age they sadly passed away
B: State the reasons, for example, old age or what illness etc.

I understand that this might be upsetting for some owners, so please only reply if you feel comfortable doing so.

Your input will be extremely valuable and will help to provide accurate data to how long beardies really live in captivity, rather than a lot of guesswork that isn’t backed up by any real-world data.

Thanks in advance for your help.

So my first bearded dragon passed away from ovarian cyst that exploded at the age of 2 years old . But I know people who have had them live for 12-13 years

 

[FinniansMom]

Hi guys,

I’m conducting some research for some work I’m doing on bearded dragons and I would really appreciate the help of as many owners as possible.

I’m researching what is the average age bearded dragons live to in captivity.

This is extremely important as a lot of information available at the moment is thought to be inaccurate and if we can collect real-world data from real owners we can have a better understanding.

If anybody has owned a beardie in the past that has sadly passed away I would really appreciate it if you could:
A: State the age they sadly passed away
B: State the reasons, for example, old age or what illness etc.

I understand that this might be upsetting for some owners, so please only reply if you feel comfortable doing so.

Your input will be extremely valuable and will help to provide accurate data to how long beardies really live in captivity, rather than a lot of guesswork that isn’t backed up by any real-world data.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi there. Wow, there are some people with issues on this forum, sorry about that. One question went crazy. . In my research, which isn’t extensive, I found the oldest “documented “ bearded dragon was ‘Sebastian” from the UK, who was 18 years, 237 days old when he passed peacefully in his sleep, presumably from old age. There are people who claim to have dragons 20 years old, but I have never found source info or tecirds to back their claims. Most dragons seem to live approximately 10-12 years in the wild, 10-15 years in captivity, though husbandry habits make a HUGE difference. I have a rescue that is 6 years old and going strong, and a 7 mo juvenile also growing enormously! They are subject to disrases of sging similar to ours, including arthritis, gout, cancer, etc., that can shorten their lifespan. Hope this helps!

 

[Zontar’s Mom]

My daughter rescued Zontar when he was 4. He will be 10, May 12th 2021.

 

[doki_doki_dragon]

Hi guys,

I’m conducting some research for some work I’m doing on bearded dragons and I would really appreciate the help of as many owners as possible.

I’m researching what is the average age bearded dragons live to in captivity.

This is extremely important as a lot of information available at the moment is thought to be inaccurate and if we can collect real-world data from real owners we can have a better understanding.

If anybody has owned a beardie in the past that has sadly passed away I would really appreciate it if you could:
A: State the age they sadly passed away
B: State the reasons, for example, old age or what illness etc.

I understand that this might be upsetting for some owners, so please only reply if you feel comfortable doing so.

Your input will be extremely valuable and will help to provide accurate data to how long beardies really live in captivity, rather than a lot of guesswork that isn’t backed up by any real-world data.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Wow, a lot of drama for a simple question. Be adults guys, they were just asking how long our beardies have lived. It doesn't have to be some conspiracy.


I've had three bearded dragons. Two of them have passed before they were even fully grown. This was due to poor living conditions (these ones weren't exactly mine they belonged to my dad), they didn't have enough food/water, they were neglected, and their tanks would always be disgusting, because they would never clean it. This is why they died at a young age.

I have a bearded dragon we got when I was young, he was treated the same way but he slept through most of his beginning life. As I got older I was able to see how terrible he was living. I took him under my wing and now I feed him every day, with veggies and sometimes crickets. He gets baths frequently, and he's allowed to roam freely whenever he wants (basically).

He is about 5 years old. He is healthy now and very happy.

 

[Kribensis28]

A neighbor of mine had one that passed away at about 10 years old, and another at 9. From what I've read, it seems that about 7-12 years is the norm.