9 year old berdie - not active, does not eat much, does not defecate

[Mlok]

Hi, I have berdie Max. He is now 9 years old. This year she stopped being active the way she always used to be. She lost appetite. She can go days and days without eating. Despite of that she has always in the feed tray freshly chopped lettuce and grated carrot generously topped with water soaked "Insect Formula Pellets for Adult Bearded Dragons" from Exo-Terra. I also add Kyorin Food (gely type of food for beardies).
I cannot remember when did she defecated last time. To help her I time to time give her a warm bath. She has a reasonable size bath in her enclosure which she occasionally visits.
She moves a little, just about foot or two in a day. She always goes to her feeding corner, fells a sleep frequently. Occasionally takes a little from her food tray.
I am not sure how to help her.

 

[HoomanSlave]

1. Lettuce is not healthy, please switch to kale, collard greens, or mustard greens. Lettuce has no nutritional value and can cause digestive issues because of the high water content.
2. Please link the commercial foods you offer, I'd like to check out the ingredients.
3. What thermometers do you use? Are her basking temps correct?
4. What are your UVB lights and basking lights?
5. Do you feed live insects? If so, which ones?
6. What kind of wood are those chips made from? Pine and cedar can cause respiratory and liver issues over time.
7. The amount of food in the picture looks like a very small serving. Is this what you normally offer (if so, how many times a day), or did she already eat some?
If your husbandry is all correct, it may just be old age. You may need to talk with your vet about necessary medications, diet changes, or even euthanasia if she is suffering.

 

[HoomanSlave]

Pellets and canned food should be used as a supplement, not a staple. If you feed your beardie bugs in the form of pellets, she is missing out on many essential nutrients. Being fed pellets can be damaging to her health over time. The best insect feeders are black soldier fly larvae, dubia/discoid roaches, and crickets. Repashy or other quality gel food mixes are okay as treats or for if you run out of feeders. Dubias and crickets are both farily easy to obtain and aren't very expensive-there is no good excuse for not providing them.

If you can't/won't provide live food, you'll be better off with an herbivorous lizard such as a uromastyx (basically a vegetarian bearded dragon) or Russian tortoise. Crested geckos, unlike beardies, can thrive on gel foods and do not need live bugs.

 

[Sadie]

Please answer all the questions above before we can help and PLEASE get rid of the wood chips --- she could be impacted from those if she has ingested them --- no loose substrate please ----

 

[Emilia Thuet]

At this point because she’s not looking too good and has definitely lost some weight... take her to the vet, I promise you it’s necessary