Rescued Beardie With Head Injury

[iamjvc13]

So I just took in a female bearded dragon who is about 4 months old and according to her previous owner was bit on the head my an adult female he had her caged with. I don't know how long ago this happened. She seems to walk fine, although she seems maybe not mentally all there compared to my 4 two month olds (who are housed separately). The problem is she is having an insanely difficult time feeding. Her temps, housing, uvb, everything is fine, she just isn't eating greens and can't catch bugs. We've had to trick her into eating lettuce by slipping it in her mouth after dripping water on her nose, but she's a growing girl, and she needs her bugs! The problem seems to be that her one eyeball is pointed forward, like she's trying to see her own nose. So she sees the bugs but when she goes to eat them her aim is way off. Is there anything that can be done for this? I had beardies for years when I was younger and am starting with them again, but I have never seen anything like this. The poor thing is trying so hard to get them but she can't. She also has what I think is either a tiny bit of mouth rot or any abrasion from being bit, any recommendations for this, I'm hesitant to use betadine on her mouth. I did just order nutribac and bee pollen to try and help her recover.
PS. I am a college student so money is tight and vets are really expensive, however if anyone knows of a good herp vet in the Los Angeles area on a starving students budget, I'd be grateful.
THANKS!

 

[zebraflavencs]

Okay, here is what I would do, since I understand budgets being tight.
First if this little fellow isn't already in a separate enclosure, move it there first.
Second, here is a wonderful list of foods to help you choose the healthiest diet for baby:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
Third, humor us and please list all the lighting, temps and how you measure those temps, as well as substrate and complete daily diet ( for a typical day).

Now, you can use the iodine, but in the bath. Once baby has done drinking the bath water/ and or has poo'd, refill bath with fresh warm water, and add a drop or two of the iodine, enough so the water resembles a weak tea color. Let baby soak, and using a cotton ball or Q-tip, dampen with said water/iodine and blot gently on the effected area.

That is great you got the bee pollen on the way. Lots of good results with that !
Hope this helps you out !
Janie.

 

[Loganator]

Will she eat the crickets if you hold them for her and hand feed her? I've read how some people will put them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before a feeding to slow them down. Or others have pulled the back legs off before feeding so they don't jump or run. What about long tweezers?

 

[iamjvc13]

Yeah she's already in a separate enclosure, a) because she's bigger than my others and b) quarantining is just essential when you bring home any new herp. I love that nutrition content list, I go by that like crazy. I ordered silkworms because they are so highly recommended on there with the serrapeptase. I have her in a 70 qt steralite clear plastic container (14-2/5Hx16-1/4Wx26-1/10L) with the lid off (making a custom screen top this weekend). I have her on paper towel. For light I have a reptisun 8.0 on one end of the enclosure and she has a approx 8"tall rock under it. Then there is a ceramic heat emitter on that side as well. Hot side is 105-110 and the cool side is 85-90. Temps are measured by a temp gun. Dopey get sprayed down and also has a small water bowl available, I'm hoping she'll learn to drink from it like my babies did. For diet she always has collard greens and escarole (or other lettuces from the nutrition content list) available and also chopped cactus pads or fruit every other day, but as I said she isn't eating it. I have also been putting in different bugs, trying to entice her every day. First day I put some crickets in there, but took them out after an hour of watching her not catch them (didn't know the fridge trick though!), then tried my baby's fav pheonix worms for 3 days in a row, tried putting them on the paper towel (and sitting there putting them back in front of her over and over),in a small bowl and using tweezers. Yesterday I was picking up crickets for the little guys and saw wax worms, which are not the best, but I bought them just to try and see if those would be easier for her, last night I tried all three feeding methods with no luck. She eats about 1/4-1/2 a piece of escarole a day using the water drip method until she refuses to participate anymore. We got her to eat a tiny piece of cactus fruit the other day but have not been able to do it again. Last night I took a spoonful of organic squash baby food (no sugar, just pureed butternut squash) any mixed in a little calcium powder and she ate a little of that. I will definitely try the bath idea. Thanks!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

So good of you to take in the unfortunate little one.
Your setup doesn't sound too bad. I don't think Reptisun makes an 8, do you mean the Reptiglo 8 flourescent tube bulb? How close is it to her? What type of basking light are you using, a bright white light or a colored light? The Reptiglo 8 if it is still made, is a decent UVB light, & should be 6-8 inches from her, with a bright white light directly beside it.
The temp gun should be fine to measure the temps with. The basking temps are perfect, but you may want to bring the cool side down a little to 78-82 & no higher than 85. Otherwise she can get overheated.
The bee pollen should help her immune system out quite a bit. If you think she could have a little mouth rot, try getting some betadine & dilute that down to clean her mouth out daily. The increase in temperatures, daily swabbing of the mouth "should" get rid of it if it is not too widely spread in her mouth.
The serrapeptase enzyme found in silkworms is excellent for her yes! I see you have done some research for her which is excellent.
Since she has a possible head trauma, she might not be 100%, or she could come around & improve back to 100%. Time will tell with that type of injury. She has a great chance now though with you helping her.
Keep trying to get food into her & her appetite should improve for you. What type of calcium will you be using for her?
You can check here to see if you can find a vet if you need to:

http://www.herpvetconnection.com

Keep us posted on her.

Tracie

 

[iamjvc13]

The reptisun 8 is unused, but probably a little old (as in bought a while ago). It is 8 of a little less inches from her. Yes it's the tube bulb. We're in the middle of a heat wave here, so the room temp is high, making the cool side a bit high too. I gave her a bath with the betadine today and used a q-tip to put some on her mouth, but she licked it off, which concerns me, even though it wasn't a lot or anything. We went to the Anaheim show and they were giving away zoo med repti calcium with d3 so I've been using that.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It has to be the Reptiglo 8 tube bulb because Zoomed Reptisun doesn't have an 8 model. That is ok, the Reptiglo 8 is a decent bulb, no problem. The 8 inches of distance is fine as well. That light should last for 4-5 months, then you can upgrade to the Reptisun 10 tube bulb.
A slight little bit of diluted betadine shouldn't hurt her, she will be fine. That is awesome you got a free container of Repcal calcium with D3 at the Reptile show. I hope you had a good time there.
How is she doing today?

Tracie

 

[iamjvc13]

Yeah it probably is reptiglo, I get confused with all these repti this repti that and I don't have the box anymore She's still trying really hard to eat, but her aim is way off and she tries to go for the food and sometimes stops half way like "where'd it go?" But she is active and alert so I'm just going to try to keep working with her, I'm hoping she'll figure out how to work with her condition, animals tend to be quite adaptable and figure out how to keep going with all kinds of problems. My 4 little babies were all free from a breeder who had a big problem with cannibalism, everyone of them is missing at least their tail and a foot but you'd never know it, they still zoom around after their crickets like lightening, so I'm hoping with a little tlc she'll end up the same way....

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is ok! They do get confusing, repti this & repti that!
Do you know how old the UVB light is though? They will lose their effectiveness over time, so keep that in mind. She may need a new one here pretty quick.
How is she doing today? Is she eating a little bit for you I hope?
Great she is active & alert those are good signs anyway. She has excellent spirit!

Tracie

 

[iamjvc13]

The bulb is new,as in just taken out of the box, but purchased awhile ago. She ate some lettuce and one silkworm, I think her stomach shrunk from not eating, so I'm going to let her digest a bit and try again.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Yes, you can feed her also on the same meal amounts as a baby... I tend to feed my babies ( well I'm currently down to one, since all the others grew up ) 4-5 times a day, as much as they will eat in 15 minutes. I also feed roaches as my staple insect. When Silks are back, I'll add those , but for now, roaches. Best insect for feeding in my humblest opinion... More protein/fat ratio than any other feeder I have used. And I have biiiiiig kids .
Janie.

 

[iamjvc13]

Ok so today I took her out with me to spend a little time basking in the sun (since I figure the sun has got to be superior to a uv bulb any day) and after just a couple minutes she ran to the side with a little shade and started gaping, then her head started to vibrate. Not bob, I'm well familiar with that. Just her head was vibrating so hard that when I picked her up not only could I see it vibrating but I could feel it (felt like when my cell is on vibrate). I noticed her do it one other time, the first day I got her, but this was the first time since. What on earth is it? :? It doesn't sound like the limb twitching descriptions of MBT that I've read, it's literally a super fast sort of side to side vibrating of just her head. Any ideas?

And also, since she seems to be able to get the silkworms (one at a time, and it takes a while, but at least it's something!) does anyone know of someone who sells them in the Los Angeles area, online costs a bunch plus shipping .