r/BeardedDragons

His name is Shoebox

He was found in a shoebox in a dumpster as an adult about 6 years ago

Not know how old he was, I still adopted him after spending years getting to know him at the rescue I worked for

Now, after a couple of years

Much too short years

He passed on.

A creature I had told myself I’d have at least a decade with, passing so fast. How unfair is it to have lost him while he finally had a comfortable life?

God I miss him so much. He was my study buddy, my patrol officer, and my baby.

I love you shoebox.

The hunger strike for bugs is over. After about a week, she has relented and ate a huge bowl of salad. I cave, a lot. She would completely ignore anything except bugs and would absolutely not eat anything else.

Well, we were in a stand off and I finally won. She crushed her whole bowl of it!

This is Kaida. He is a 13 year old hypo. (Pics are from when he was 11, before his lengthy physical decline.)

I am looking for advice from others who have had to deal with end of life care and support for a senior bearded dragon, and how to go about it as efficiently, gently, and comfortably as possible.

How can I make sure he is? I took him to a vet a couple of months ago, once he started to slow down and withdraw. Had a perfect bill of health. Blood, calcium, bones, heart, kidneys, liver, etc. They could not find what was "wrong".

He perked back up for a couple of months, and had a bounce back, for him to unfortunately decline again, only worse this time. He recently brumated for about a week, and has now refused food for another. His weight has diminished faster than I thought even possible. He has always been CHUNKY, especially in his fat reserves on his tail and head pads, like too chunky tbh, and its all completely gone after this cycle. His tail is loose skin and bone. His belly is still super fat, but incredibly soft and fragile. His tail still has all of the excess skin, but the fat in it is just gone. Its like a 800 lb person who just had lipo if that makes any sense, like all the skin from him being fat is still there, but loose, soft, dangling on him. ( I have another rescue who was starved for about 2 years, and her skin was shrunken to her form like Yzma from emperors new groove, so I am familiar with long term starvation in these guys, and this isnt the same .)

He regularly hydrates himself (he is much thirstier than normal in his senior years.) He just has no interest in food. I am reading about making a syringe of blended liquid food to give him in tiny amounts (because they can aspirate otherwise apparently!)

I think it is his time. I can feel it. He is telling me he is ready in every behavior. I dont know whether to schedule an official euthanization appointment, or let him live his life and chill a little longer? I know people have let their seniors brumate it out until they pass naturally, but im afraid of leaving him in discomfort that much longer.

I just lost both of my parents, as well as having to put a dog down 4 or 5 days ago. The grief inside me is immeasurable and I think im posting this just seeking advice from those who have been here with their senior beardies and how they handled the situation in the short and long term. 😔

These guys are so charming and characteristic. This will be my first time losing one, and it is affecting me harder than any dog or cat has (which is really saying something, because I am a bleeding heart for animals). I have dealt with so much loss recently, and am really emotionally struggling with this one. I have had him for 7 years now.

Please share stories with me about your old men and old ladies.

The beardie ate most of the contents of the bag after the workout.

Apollo doesn't appear to be happy that his sister is home. (Any Greek mythology nerds out there get this ? Lol)

Finally, Spike decides to poop. He’s having a bit of a struggle since he hasn’t gone in a while. So please cheer him on! :3

My beardie is on antibiotics and seems to be recovering well. I was able to get a video of his head tremor (if you turn the audio on, I am sorry I was listening to an audiobook and recorded while happening so you'll hear part of it). I already sent this video to the vet, but they are closed til Monday (I live rural and we do not have emergency exotic vet options). He was recently at the vet and tested negative for Trichome and atadenovirus. His x ray showed no signs of MBD. He gets access to greens daily (he rarely eats them) and I do a mixture with safe staples like arugula, bokchoy, mustard, chard, collards and kale (occasionally). I try to ensure he has a healthy mix and all are organic/pesticide free. He also has a multivitamin, calcium with and one without vitam d (I give the with vitamin d every couple weeks).

His name is feisty named by my little brother

So far so good. Lots of side-eye. Lots of blep-ing things with his tongue. He’s gotten a lot darker over the course of the afternoon which I am assuming is from new home stress since I’m feeling good about my lighting and temps.

I love this sassy girl ❤️🦎

Hello all,

I got a bearded dragon about 2 weeks ago. He’s about 4 months old, maybe 5.

Everything has been great so far. He had a proper shed. He eats very well. His habitat is at the correct temp and humidity levels.

I was checking on him just now with the camera I have in his enclosure (4x2x2) and saw him have a total spaz out. I’m on my way home to check if he’s ok but I was wondering if this is kind of normal?! Or what could have caused this?

Thank you!

He’s been struggling to get rid of some shed and a bath last week helped a tremendous amount, so he’s getting another to help shed some scales - he did more than tolerate it this time, I’d even say he enjoyed it. 🛁🫧✨

I noticed ones mouth looks slightly deformed and the little one is just so… little 😭