starved beardie, Patty passed away, 4-6-2014

[Bwalter]

I picked up a starved beardie on Friday, got her to the rescue and to the vet. Nothing is wrong but starved. I am fostering her and got her back that day. Yesterday I gave her a few baths, 50/50 water/pedalite. When the water was a little warmer she would wake up enough to lick baby food with calcium, bee pollen and other stuff. She won't open her eyes or wake up now. I need to get some food in her but at a loss how to get her awake to feed her. She took a poop last night so things are working. I am asking everyone any suggestions, I don't want to lose her .
While at the rescue she got a bath and did wake up to eat, and I got her to eat some food Saturday morning twice, but nothing Saturday afternoon, she just got her lights turned on this morning so I am not sure how the day is going to go.

 

[Bwalter]

I did get her to eat a bit a few minutes ago, and will keep trying every couple hours today.

 

[Taterbug]

Sorry to hear about the poor dragon! She sounds very tired, the poor thing.

Did your vet or the rescue have any recommendations for a starvation protocol (therapy foods, frequency, administration)? She will need to be well hydrated in addition to fed so make sure you offer water frequently as well. You may need to be be careful and slow about introducing food, too much can make things worse for her if she is badly starved.

You can use oral syringes to administer food and water, but I would consult with the vet or rescue to get an idea of how much and how often is appropriate given her specific condition.

 

[AlwaysAK]

My L.L (Little Lizard) was a hard eater when he was young. If you have a blender grind up any food you give him. I used to put in the blender calcium powder, greens, banana and mealworms/crickets. Get a syringe with no needle of course or a eye dropper and gentle place it on the side of his mouth to get him to open and basically feed it to him SLOWLY. I did this 2x a day to get him to eat. When he was up I the gave him VERY fine chopped veggies with small living mealworms. Praying for you and her :|

 

[Taterbug]

I am assuming your poor girl is pretty bad off, hence my suggestion to work with a vet. Underfed is different from starved, and I am assuming the later.

So considering that, I want to add caution for adding supplements while you are trying to get her eating again. If she has gone a long time with no food or supplements, they can wreck havoc on her systems and make her recovery more difficult.

 

[Bwalter]

To give everyone a little more information. I have rescued before and got the last one well again, but I have never had a problem of a beardie not waking up or trying to eat. I have a mixture I have been trying to feed her, it has everything in it she needs and I know not to do protein at all. The vet said nothing more wrong besides being starved. I have been giving her baths and I know hydration is very important with a rescue. I am at a loss on trying to get food in her. The thing that worked yesterday was a little warmer bath and it woke her up, but now that won't work, so I decided to try with a q-tip to part her lips on the side, enough to get a little food there so she can taste it and will lick so then I put some on her nose and she will lick it, so I am guessing that is what I can keep trying until that doesn't work any more (I hope not tho), thank you for all the suggestions, maybe something I didn't think of will work for this poor girl. She did a poop last night so I know her organs are working, she is just very weak

 

[Taterbug]

To give everyone a little more information. I have rescued before and got the last one well again, but I have never had a problem of a beardie not waking up or trying to eat. I have a mixture I have been trying to feed her, it has everything in it she needs and I know not to do protein at all. The vet said noting more wrong besides being starved. I have been giving her baths and I know hydration is very important with a rescue. I am at a loss on trying to get food in her. The thing that worked yesterday was a little warmer bath and it woke her up, but now that won't work, so I decided to try with a q-tip to part her lips on the side, enough to get a little food there so she can taste it and will lick so then I put some on her nose and she will lick it, so I am guessing that is what I can keep trying until that doesn't work any more (I hope not tho), thank you for all the suggestions, maybe something I didn't think of will work for this poor girl

Sorry to go overboard on you, I'm glad to hear she is in good hands! Good luck with her and hope she has a good recovery!

 

[Bwalter]

Don't be sorry at all, I am not mad, its good that you covered everything. I should have added more information on this post. Some new people might not know what needs to be done with a starved beardie .

 

[Tonja]

If she's not eating or eating from a syringe you may need to tube feed her, I don't even know how to insert a tube to feed her but maybe your vet can help you if you don't know how. Its the only way I know to get the much needed nourishment into her and it stay in her. I would also up your temps 5 degrees to boost her immune system.

 

[sammmycakes]

sounds like you will need to tube feed her. talk with your vet on how to do it or maybe they will do it for you. I have a great vet and he taught me how to tube feed dragons and it's quite easy once you get the hang of it and get there mouths open right.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Bwalter]

She seems to be doing better today, had her head up and eyes open for a bit. She is eating a little from the syringe so for now, she is hanging in there. Poop every day. I will see how she is when I get home from work, if she is starting to eat I won't worry about the tube feeding , but I will keep in mind if by chance she takes a turn for the worse. Saturday was the worse day, Sunday was a little better and this morning so far is a little better. She just had anther poop and moving around her tank a bit

 

[Bwalter]

Patty is doing a lot better today, she is getting more energy and eating a little more, poops every day, she has stayed awake for about 10 minutes today , better every day now.

 

[Esther19]

That's wonderful news! Always so nice to see them hold up their heads. Keep up the good work!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great news she is doing much better today!
How are her colors looking?
Patty is such a cute name for her. Go slowly with her & hopefully she will continue to improve for you.

Tracie

 

[Bwalter]

Patty's colors are good, vet cleared her of everything except being starved. She is doing better day by day. So I am hoping she makes it. I am not having to force feed her any more, and she keeps her head up and eats for about 10 minutes by syringe, she is worse off then little Cassie that I brought back from almost dead. She did gain 3 grams in 5 days, lots of baths, sun and everything she needs. Here she is the day I picked her up.


This is her on Tuesday night when she is up for about 10 minutes. Her eyes look big only due to her head being sunken in. Sorry about the baby food on her face.