Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, This is Rick, for those that remember me, I thought I post an update on my oldest waterdragon Pete. I found him dead yesterday, he had been getting slow this year, so I kind of expected it. I used to post here often but was kicked off for saying something negative about the webmaster. Old Pete lived 18 years, I feel likes an end to an era! R.I.P! I owe his long life to not over feeding him and doing the opposite of what most people recommend by making sure I could alway see his hip bones, fat kills! it kills waterdragons the same way it kills people. The life span on these animals is not 6-8 years despite the common literature. Take care and good luck with yours!

Sorry to hear that you lost a long-time "friend". Its not easy to lose them even when its expected. He definitely lived a good long life.

You are right about not overfeeding them so that they live longer. I have done this for a lot of years too. I also keep other lizards/reptiles and do the same thing with them.

Again....sorry to hear of your loss.

Hi Rick, great to see you - it's been so slow since you left. I am so sorry to hear about Pete, although it sounds like he had a long life. Did you have him the whole 18 years? I also believe in not overfeeding my animals. I do not feed my adults every day, but I am feeding the hatchlings daily of course.

Do you have other dragons as well? We've missed you, and I wondered where you have been posting, if anywhere.

CloudDancer

Hey! I have one female left, she is about ten years old, and one vine snake, that is all that is left of my once mighty collection. Since my daughter was born two years ago I haven't had much time for the hobby. Maybe when she's a little older I can her involved in it, right now most of time revolves around her activities, which currently are playgrounds and sing along books.
Me and Ava!

Oh she is just adorable! I know how that goes, I do alot of juggling around here.

Sorry for your lose, but I disagree with your overfeeding statement. Always see the hipbones? Thats UNDERfeedng. Old animal that was under weight (could see hipbones)would be weak. If it had the proper weight it probably could last a few more years.

You should not be able to see the back bones protruding, I don't see any health dragons in the wild like that.

How old have yours lived to be? How many have you seen in the wild, I am curious. Personally, 18 is the oldest cwd I have ever heard about, but I would love to hear about more.