Senior beardie

[Beardie chick]

Does anyone know the signs to look for when a senior beardie's health begins to fail? My daughters beardie has begun to have trouble swallowing and seems more lethargic. The vet thinks he needs supplemental calcium in his old age which he is now getting and my daughter is syringe feeding him a vitamin enriched veggie mix but even this does not seem to go down easy. He has perked up a bit with short spurts of energy but still seems slower and moving more of an effort for him. He is 11+ years old.

Thank you for any and all information!

 

[Hdrydr31]

First off wow 11+ years now that's a amazing life!! I would likely say it's possible that he is starting to show his age but I think alot of that goes by how he is acting and also by the vibes your getting.. You need to be careful with the slurries so not to cause him to aspirate any.. I would say keep doing what your doing as well his age already is wonderful.

 

[PatsyB]

11+ is a great age for a dragon. Has your daughter had him the whole time? I don't have experience yet with a senior dragon but I would think that what he's doing now is showing that he's slowing down. Just have your daughter keep what she is doing until he tells you he's done.

 

[Beardie chick]

Thank you both for your replies. Yes we have had him his whole life. My daughter bought him when she was 10. She is now 22! He has been with us through middle school, high school and college! Our baby is actually doing much better. The only thing the vet can find is low calcium which no one can fully understand. It is a possibility he is no longer metabolizing as well or that he needs a boost in old age so we have switched to liquid calcium and added an extra light to help him metabolize Fingers crossed we will be off slurries soon.

 

[Beardie chick]

And we are back on solid food and back to our old self!