This is my first post on this website. Found it after researching what could be wrong with my newly acquired female adult beardie.
I was considering buying an adult female bearding in one of my first steps to a long process of breeding my 1 1/2 yoa male beardie. (Planning on many months of saving money and research research research).
I drove the hour to Apopka and got her from her owners. At the time it was dark and she was already sleeping, so I didn't anything of it. The next morning, I noticed that she was just laying without her head up even after her light had been turned on.
I picked her up and instantly knew something was wrong, she didn't feel right. She just felt too limp and then after I placed her down to watch her walk....or should I say ATTEMPT to walk, I all of a sudden felt sick to my stomach. Her two back legs have hardly any muscle to them; they're mostly fat, which means she hardly has any control of them. Along with that, she was very lethargic and I could barely feel any bones in her back legs. She also doesn't have all the fat that she should have in her hips. Skin is also very wrinkled.
So I quickly did some research to make sure I was correct in thinking, gave her greens with calcium. She didn't touch them, after a while I was able to get her to eat about 4 mealworms with calcium on them.
I also checked the items the owners gave me with her...the bulb in the heatlamp was a regular household bulb and she DID NOT have a UVB bulb/barlight. So after making an emergency trip to Petco to pickup those items, getting those setup, a few warmbaths (I got a bowel movement on the 2nd bath!), and taking her outside into the plain sunlight.
As of yesterday, about 2 days after I got her, she's slowly looking better. She's beginning to get color back in her. I got her on turkey/chicken and squash baby food to work on getting protein back into her. She holding herself up on her front two legs, so she's making progress. Trying to get her to use her legs more to build those muscles!
The thing is that really aggrevates me, is that she is LARGE, she's larger than my male beardie. I'm saying around 19-20". Which means, she was raised well. After texting the people I bought her from, she has always been like this (no wonder they said she was such a "sweety". -.-
I'm in the process of tracking down her previous owners just to see how old she is. Obviously she is in NO shape to breed, if ever depending on how she is a few months from now. Plus, I want to know which owner didn't take care of her correctly, so i know what I'm working against at this time.
Yes, this is a little bit of a rant, but atleast I'm glad yall would understand what I'm dealing with and it wouldn't be french to you like it would be to some family members and friends.
Also any tips would be greatly appreciated. I do have access to a vet if it comes down to it. Has anyone been successful in building back up those muscles? Again, idk how long she's been like this.
Edit: Corrected info
I was considering buying an adult female bearding in one of my first steps to a long process of breeding my 1 1/2 yoa male beardie. (Planning on many months of saving money and research research research).
I drove the hour to Apopka and got her from her owners. At the time it was dark and she was already sleeping, so I didn't anything of it. The next morning, I noticed that she was just laying without her head up even after her light had been turned on.
I picked her up and instantly knew something was wrong, she didn't feel right. She just felt too limp and then after I placed her down to watch her walk....or should I say ATTEMPT to walk, I all of a sudden felt sick to my stomach. Her two back legs have hardly any muscle to them; they're mostly fat, which means she hardly has any control of them. Along with that, she was very lethargic and I could barely feel any bones in her back legs. She also doesn't have all the fat that she should have in her hips. Skin is also very wrinkled.
So I quickly did some research to make sure I was correct in thinking, gave her greens with calcium. She didn't touch them, after a while I was able to get her to eat about 4 mealworms with calcium on them.
I also checked the items the owners gave me with her...the bulb in the heatlamp was a regular household bulb and she DID NOT have a UVB bulb/barlight. So after making an emergency trip to Petco to pickup those items, getting those setup, a few warmbaths (I got a bowel movement on the 2nd bath!), and taking her outside into the plain sunlight.
As of yesterday, about 2 days after I got her, she's slowly looking better. She's beginning to get color back in her. I got her on turkey/chicken and squash baby food to work on getting protein back into her. She holding herself up on her front two legs, so she's making progress. Trying to get her to use her legs more to build those muscles!
The thing is that really aggrevates me, is that she is LARGE, she's larger than my male beardie. I'm saying around 19-20". Which means, she was raised well. After texting the people I bought her from, she has always been like this (no wonder they said she was such a "sweety". -.-
I'm in the process of tracking down her previous owners just to see how old she is. Obviously she is in NO shape to breed, if ever depending on how she is a few months from now. Plus, I want to know which owner didn't take care of her correctly, so i know what I'm working against at this time.
Yes, this is a little bit of a rant, but atleast I'm glad yall would understand what I'm dealing with and it wouldn't be french to you like it would be to some family members and friends.
Also any tips would be greatly appreciated. I do have access to a vet if it comes down to it. Has anyone been successful in building back up those muscles? Again, idk how long she's been like this.
Edit: Corrected info