Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Irwin, my 5 year old male beardie, seems to be missing crickets a lot. His accuracy is about 50%, much lower than when he was 2 or 3 years old. I end up hand-feeding him a lot cause he misses so much, lol. He also seems a bit clumsier than when he was young. Yet he is healthy, large, bright-eyed and active, doing head bobs all morning long, varociously consuming food, basking in glory.

For those who own old dragons - do they get senile? Also, are males this age still good breeders?
-----
- Andy Gottscho
www.toothandscale.com - herp and underwater photography
andy@toothandscale.com

1.0 Sandfire x Yellow Bearded Dragon - "Irwin"
0.1 Albino Black Ratsnake - "Misty"
0.1 California Mountain Kingsnake (multifasciata) - "Bandit"

We still have the first dragon we bought from Sandfire in 1994. Here is a picture of him taken last year. He is not nearly as “robust” as he was in his hay-day or as colorful but he is still happy and healthy. He even fathered a full clutch of babies last year (figured the worst thing that could happen is he would go with a smile on his face). He is not much for chasing crickets anymore but will grab one if it walks in front of him. He mostly eats veggies and XL Mealworms (I hate supper worms). Of course, we supplement and he has good lighting etc. We also have an older female we bought as an adult of unknown age in 1997. She has some arthritis and looks old but manages. We would not attempt to breed an older female at all. Five is still in his prime if you ask me.

-----
Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

there are alot of changes as a dragon grows older. some are n ot as active, don't eat as much, seem to lose overal vigor, may seem stiff in the joints etc.

from what you described, it is possible he is d eveloping vision problems. he could be getting cateracts or other vision problems. it may be a good ideal to take him to a vet for an examination. the reason for his inability to catch crickets may be due to vision problems or just getting too slow to catch them in time. the vet will be able to suggest anything that could be done to improve him, or if there can be anything done. make sure the vet is very good with reptiles and bearded dragons.

as for breeding, it is a stressful time for male dragons, many forget all about eating when in pursuit of a female and mating with her. also, he may not have as effective sperm count at 5 years than he had at 2 years. though he may very well have no problems at all mating with a female or females, getting a vet check is still a good ideal, to determine overall health. then if you do wish to breed him one more time, or for the first time, you can try but watch carefully, if he he seems to be straining or having difficulties catching the female, it may be best to remove him and put him back in his old cage and look for a younger male to breed. if he does the job without showing signs of health problems, then you should be ok to continue for the season. but i don't advise breeding him again after he is 6 years old.
-----
PHLdyPayne

i have some older dragons, i had one who died not to long ago at 15, she was the toughest girl, untill about the week before she died she was my best feeder and would get mad as can be when you messed with her in the tub! she was bred by someone else before i got her for many years, having clutches of 22 on ave. my 8 yr old male has slowed down a bit, but is still a good hunter (just started really likeing the roaches) so id probably get the vision checked like the other poster suggested. the other thing it i never hand fed any healthy dragons, so he may just be lazy!
good luck! keep us posted
-----
hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!