*Updates* Wow, just wow... Warning sad story and pictures

ok, i am hoping the pictures i took will be good enough or else i will try and get more tonight. however, here it goes.

So i went to look at this "male" bearded dragon for a friend of mine that was supposed to be a full grown adult leatherback for free. The guy said it was a little underweight and it is supposed to be het translucent and possibly het snow. The beardie is supposed to be just under a year, though i am wondering if that is true, from a would guestimate i would put it around 14-15 inches long. He said that he only had the bearded dragon a couple of weeks and that he got it from a friend who didn't take care of it. The guy then proceded to tell me that he only put his beardies in their cages at night and that he let this one and another male run around together all day even when he wasn't home. Needless to say i was not happy by the time i pulled my truck away.

I got "him" from the guy and decided that i didn't care what my husband said i am helping this poor creature. You can see the leg bones, the back bones, and the hip bones. The tail also has a couple of kinks in it. I took it in to a reptile vet to see if they had time to give me a quick weight and while they would not let me weigh her they did decide to criticize me and say that she had no body mass to her at all. This is a vet that i go to regularly and it was a new girl working the desk who had never seen me before. I did check to make sure it was a male, and it is looking female to me as well as 2 other really good reptile people i know. My friend doesn't have enough experience to be able to nurse an adult beardie back to health in fact i don't think she could even afford it, though she had also been hoping he came with tank and everything. I am trying to get ahold of my second choice of vets and see if i can make an appointment this week. i am told the baby doesn't like dubias so i bought a bunch of wax worms and crickets and superworms today. I am getting one of my 33 gallons set up for now and have my eye on a 55 at a local thrift store for 20 though as i was not intending to get another reptile right now i didn't grab it yesterday and i don't know if it is still there.

Here is how my homes are set up:
Ruberized shelf liner for the flooring as it is easy to clean and i have checked the temp of it while my heat light has been on and there have not been any issues with the smell or anything but i keep a close eye on it. My husband works from home so i would think he would notice an odd scent in the air. i then have something for them to bask ontop of that is within 6-8 inches of my florescent tubes which are replaced every 6-8 months. I feed crickets, superworms (depending on beardies size), wax worms, pheonis worms (when i can get them), and dubia roaches. I also offer free range of pelleted food which they hardly ever eat except for kramisha who loves it so i measure hers out every day. Then they also get a mixture of fruits and veggies, today is turnip greens, mango, bell pepper, and celery. They also have free acess to water. I keep my house at 80 degrees and my beardies heat up to 105 for the tiny babies and the adults closer to 98.

Any advice to help her gain weight? The guy wouldn't let me see his other beardies or go into his apartment and see the cage where this gal has been living.

Also, What about pedialyte? would that help add fluids into her, i tried soaking her in luke warm water for half an hour but she wouldn't drink or poop.

Also everyone i am thinking about calling her Argo or Xena (she had been named Captain hook by the guy who gave her to me because of her hooked tail) , Anyone have any suggestions, i want a name to help give her the strength to pull through it. She is a fighter, she just sat on my shoulder the entire time we were driving and walking around my local reptile stores and every time i put her down she jumped back on my chest and crawled up to my shoulder. I have already decided this is a fight we are gonna win and i feel she is the one that told me that we will win it and that she is mine.

So in the last week i have added 3 new beardies with another on the way and the 2 babies i added last week ate on their way to the vet because it looks like they are pooping blood, this is just what i needed while moving into a new house...

I will post pictures of her tank as soon as it is ready but for now these are the pictures i have of her :

Oh my... That’s terrible. Poor thing, a big thanks for rescuing her though. what you said about not drinking water from the bath- Most beardies won’t drink from standing water, but they do absorb water through their vent, so a half-hour soak is perfect.
I hope some others chime in.

As for names; how about Hope? Or Maia? I love the name Xena though.

Good luck! Will keep you two in my thoughts!

thank you... yeah she has a vet appointment next week after i get finnished moving so that my vet can assess what she needs. He is really worried about a specific parasite. She is a fighter though i was feeding everyone and like to pull them out and hand feed them their insects for the night and when i was done feeding her hers she decided to run over to my superworm container and head butt it then try to climb in it. i only fed her 3-4 because i didn't want to over load her system. So far that is the only thing i can get her to eat though. I was supposed to pick up dubias from a local guy but when i got up there he wouldn't answer his phone. he didn't call me until i had driven the 45 min. home. she loves riding around with me though, none of my others like to be on my shoulder or with me more than 10 min. but she will ride around with me all day.

Ok,
So the guy didn't have the hatch date but said she was under a year old. He also said that he let her run around with another male loose in the house all during the day. then again he also thought this was a male. Should i be worried about her laying eggs at all? I really didn't want to deal with eggs at all but i am just a little parinoid. comming up with another $110 for a vet visit right now is streatching my budget almost beyond its max but i am cutting other expenses off so hopefully it will balance out, though i will do what i have to do. Maybe i will see if my vet can work out a payment plan with me, though i am also applying for care credit right now. i just want to get this girl completely healthy and then we shall see what she truely looks like after she starts shedding properly.

Hi there....well, she's skinny but I've seen much worse in these forums. So nice of you to take her in + try to get her in to good condition. First off, she's most likely this thin simply from lack of food and running around loose with no good lights, etc. If she is eating willingly, then you can hold off on a vet visit. Let her get used to her new home, get her on some regular meals [ and yes, go slow on the supers, try medium dubia as well] And get her hydrated. If you can get some Oxbow Critical Care, that will do some good, but you can also get chicken + squash baby food, add about 5 cc's of water along with a pinch of calcium powder [ liquid calcium even better ] and give her some every day. It's easy to get a plastic syringe into the side of the mouth, just dribble a little bit of the mixture on her snout + she should start licking it, then gently insert the syringe in the side, not the front. If you can make slurries with veggies, that would be good, too. No need to try to fatten her up too quickly, slowly but surely is better. Once she gains some weight + is settled in, then you might get a fecal test to check for parasites but for now it may be worse in her condition to start her on some meds. that might ruin the appetite that she has. As for drinking in the bath, some do, some don't, but since she's probably not used to them, keep them to about 15 minutes tops. And please be careful of the " shoulder rides ". Even long time beardie owners have dragons fall or jump, and in her condition it could easily break bones. I hope all goes well and she gets to be a healthy, happy beardie !

ok, i'm a nervous momma but I want to make sure I am doing the best by my babies... so I have been worried she has only pooped once since I got her (it was dirrahea three days ago) and her appitite comes and goes. I haven't gotten her to eat veggies but I am going to the store tonight for more supplies. I can try to make a veggie slurry though I can't find my blender since we just moved. All my reptiles are in one room where they can keep the tempature up around where it needs to be, though the last couple of days dear hubby has gone in and opened up the windows. I can't find any chicken and squash baby food, I can find chicken and sweet potato though or just squash. I also am worried about getting electrolytes into her, even dropping water onto her nose I can't get her to drink. My normal vet is out of town and the other vets all want to charge me 90 just ot look at her that's not saying any fecal testing or anything else. when she does the "shoulder rides" I always keep a hand on her unless I am sitting on the couch that way it helps prevent any problems. I do the same with my other beardies. Also, I can't get ahold of the Critical Care but I do have this product about 3 blocks from my new house:

http://www.petco.com/product/117291/Flukers-ReptaBoost-Insectavore-And-Carnivore-High-Amp-Boost.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

I know the vets used to recommend it to us when I worked for petsmart if we had someone not doing well, it is higher in fat and protein but lower in fiber, could I just mix it with some squash baby food to up the fiber? I haven't had this one that bad, she is getting natural light for atleast an hour every day (all of my beardies are) and the rest of the day with a brand new uv bulb turned on. what insects I have been able to get her to eat have all been dusted with calcium or multivitamin powder. I did try smaller dubia and she just spits them out, though I am hoping that is because she is after other foods and waning veggies instead, though I haven't found anything yet that she will eat consistently.

I also have some crested gecko diet that is made up for my crestie and gargoyle, it has a bunch of fruit in it so I was wondering if it would be ok to try and get fluids into her. I am not reading anything that should harm her and one of the local reptile stores reccomendded it but I am not sure and though I would get a second opinion. My vet wanted me to put her in my smaller tank for now until he gets back he is worried about her spending too much energy and not gaining the weight she needs, her basking spot it hitting 105 and has been regulating herself.

Will pedialyte be ok for her to mix into the mixture every couple of days or even once a week. I always have some on hand for my gecko slurries and my nieces when they are in town.

Oh thanks for easing my mind about the water, my other two big beardies won't drink unless it is in the tub while they are soaking so that is why I was worried.

Thanks for the input everyone!!!

ok, so my vet reccomended trying the reptaboost until next week when his office gets more critical care in. so i was feeding her and she had her second poop since i got her and it was almost all liquid. note that today was the first day she has gotten any of the reptaboost and it was one - two min. after that that she pooped. i have been having trouble getting her to eat as well as getting her to drink though today she had 1 cc of the reptaboost, 3 superworms and a wax work. still not wanting the veggies though. should i just focus on truing to get her to drink every day. i only knew she was going to the bathroom because my office started reaking. please any tips, i will post in the health section as well...

Hi there....too bad the poor girl has such diarrhea. Be sure to keep her away from all your other dragons and don't bathe them in the same tub or anything like that. Does the Reptaboost have much sugar ? If she likes the stuff, you can make it healthier by diluting it with a bit of extra water, some baby food chicken and some pureed greens such as turnip, mustard, collard, dandelion. That might be better for her, and hopefully the diarrhea will ease up. She may have parasites, or some other health problem, but hopefully she'll start doing better. If the liquidy poos continue you'll need to take a sample to the vet in case she has a terrible parasite load. By the way, will she eat crickets or dubia, or is she only taking the worms ? At least she has some appetite, even if only a few bugs at a time.

she ignored the crickets and spit out the dubia so I am doing the best I can by her right now. she is on the complete other side of the room and I am bathing her in the bathroom sink instead of the tub and both are getting bleached after each bath session to prevent the spread of anything. I also noticed her watching as I passed out the pellets that they are allowed per day so I decided to give her some and she has eaten out of the amount I gave her so I am going to just keep giving her small amounts of that to help out. The reptiboost has no sugar that I can tell of in it it is high in protein though at a 25 percent min. an 17% fat min. I did just pick up some squash baby food and some chicken+pumpkin baby food (both organic it was the best I could find unless I just did chicken and rice) they didn't have any greens that weren't lettuce so I have to wait on their truck to come in tomarrow.

Oh, good, then the Reptaboost sounds like it's pretty decent. If you add a little extra water then she'll stay very well hydrated. And the superworms are fine as long as she can handle them, I think 3 is about all you might want to give her to be sure she keeps them down. That's interesting that she likes the pellets, that's good too. And the baby food will be good for her....is the chicken + pumpkin mixed together ? If not, just give her the chicken since the pumpkin works as a bit of a laxative and she doesn't need any help to loosen her bowels. But even if it's mixed together, it should be fine. You're doing a great job taking care of little skinny girl.

yeah the chicken and pumpkin is mixed together. i know with dogs pumpkin is good for both dirrahea and constipation as it is fiber and just kind of helps to regulate the stools (i work doggie day care) so i was thinking that maybe a little bit of that might help. i know another grocery store has chicken and sweet potatoe available. I am trying to do the best i can. i had a spell of wasting disease go through my leopard colony awhile back when i listened to the breeder and it spread through my rack system really fast. i lost all but 2 leopards. So i am really trying hard not to ever lose anymore if i can help it. i just can't wait until my vet gets back into town so i can talk with him face to face.

So i came home on lunch today and she was running around her little enclosure, fought to get out of her cage to eat and was just more alert with her head being held up and looking around, i have a feeling we are going to kick this thing in the butt

Also - We decided to name her Xena Warrior Princess for her fighting demeanor. she hasn't touched veggies or the veggie puree but we are getting better bit by bit. she is up to 3 cc or reptiboost. still only the 2 poops though even with a bath every other day.

Also she has started clicking when eating - not with breathing just eating.

Thanks everyone for your help, i know it will be a long journey but i am not backing down and i don't think she is either.

Sorry about the 3 posts in a row but she just pooped again, this poop is much better, still dirrahea but is not pure water like the last two have been. It looks as though it is starting to form up and does not smell near as bad. also after giving her the reccomended amount of Reptaboost for her size and 4 supers she is still acting hungary. I have her some veggies so i am hoping by the time i get home she will have munched on them.

Well that sounds like a bit of improvement. You might add an extra worm or two a few hours later....and while she's munching on them try to slip a piece of greens in her mouth. Hopefully your girl will start putting on some weight soon, but slow + steady is the way.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, so this is a small step, but i am excited about it. ok, 2 steps...

1) she ate all her veggies yesterday, my local store has had some bad mustard greens comming in so none of my beardies have gotten any. They got a good shipment in finally and the produce manager called me right away so i finally got everyone's favorite greens. So i diced them up yesterday along with some raddish that i got from my local farmers market (he does all organic produce so i support him whenever i can). I am very excited, this is the first time she had shown any interest in veggies at all, i know it was only one day of veggies but it is a step right?

2) She pooped last night and it Wasn't dirrahea? it was moist but formed like it should be.


I know it's small steps, but they are in the right direction right?

She doesn't want the reptiboost right now except for a tiny bit (like .5 cc maximum) per day, though if she is eating more of what she needs health wise then she doesn't really need as much of the reptiboost, right?

Yay ! That is a good step [ or two ] in the way of progress . Glad to hear that she's eating more normally, and hopefully she'll fill out slow + steady. Good for you both !