Newbies Jen & Louis

Hi all, 6 days ago this beautiful animal came into my life & i want to give him the happiest life that he deserves. Male 2yr something Bearded Dragon. I've had lots of experience with recusing many animals but never a reptile so i had zero knowledge of how to take care of this little one but i could not igore the plea of the owner that this animal needed someone to take care of it due to the owners change of circumstances. That is where this story starts. I had a few days to research before the owner was due to bring him round. The day came & Louis arrived he was passed to me in a small towell & the little might just clung onto me for life 'he was freezing cold. I just put this down to transit. Then his existing home was brought in which had a smell i cant describe, i was given 2 packages of worms & some advice on his behaviour & made aware that his heat lamp had stopped working that day & he eats locus & kale. His vivarium less than 3ft, was 2 inch deep in calcisand & part live / dead feed, without appropriate light or heat. He is in desperate need of a manicure? His claws ribbon me everytime i try to take him off me. Whilst i was trying to address these issues, Louis spent his first 3 days & nights lay on my chest, yes he slept with me. I knew practicality he needed the heat but i felt he was showing signs of emotional needs. People may say thats crazy but i know when an animal is scared & he felt safe with me. I've changed his housing, put reptile carpet in & heating & started trying him on a varied diet of fruit, greens, veg & locus covered in calcium +vitd. Now i've been able to start inspecting him & the end of his tail looks much darker than the rest of him & the tip looks dead. Please can i get some advice & a good specialist reptile vet in Cheshire. I live in Warrington. Any advice guys would be gratefully recieved

hello! I am so happy to hear that you have become the savior for this poor Beardie! You are his gardian angel. He was obviously in a bad place, and would have not lived a very long or happy life. It sounds like you are doing the right things, setting up his environment, nutrition, etc. I rescued many animals,too...was a director of a wildlife rescue/rehab facility, and have always had various rescues in my home. Like you, I did not have any experience with reptiles, until my Beardie came into my life. I have found out that they are capable of deep emotional attachments, and love to be held, snuggled, and given much attention! You are not at all crazy in your thought that he needed emotional nurturing! In fact, that was probably as important as the nutrition and environment. My Dezi will actually pout and refuse food, if he does not get his love and attention. ( he has also fallen asleep on my chest, and we spent the night that way.) He will choose hugs over food! I have raised and cared for many types of animals, domestic and wild, and have never had another animal that is so very dear and emotionally needy. Beardies are very special creatures. And I am not the only one who thinks this--there are many Beardie owners on this site who agree, including many who have much more experience with other types of lizards. My best advice is to read all you can on this site, and do not be afraid to ask questions...there are some very dedicated owners here who will be happy to help out. I cannot advise where to get vet or other care where you live, since I am in S. Dakota, USA but am happy to answer any questions about behavior, etc. I have learned much from my close observations of my baby boy, who is now three years old! He is quite healthy, and huge..two feet long from snout to tail. So, I must be doing something right! (I learned everything I could from this site and books) What is your Dragons name? can you post photos? I will post a photo of my boy, DeziLu.

I forgot to mention your lizards tail...it may have been damaged, even broken. Mine had the tip broken accidentally.(it was an accident, but felt horrible!) I was afraid he would lose it. It turned gray, shriveled up a bit, and very stiff. I was careful to not bump it or let it get hurt again, and the tip did finally recover, it is now warm, flexible, and normal. I thought about taping and splinting it, but decided it would be more stress than good for Dezi. It recovered just fine on its own. It took several months to completely recover. If yours does lose the tip of his tail, he will be fine. Just let it fall off naturally, and watch for signs of infection. Do look at it with a magnifying lens, to see if it has some thread or something wrapped around it, that could cause it to lose blood supply, just in case. Terry cloth towels can wrap a thread around a toe or tail tip, and cut off the blood supply.

His nails can be trimmed using ordinary nail clippers. I wait until Dezi is sound asleep. then snip the nails at the very tip. Like a bird, they do have a vein and will bleed if snipped too close, so take off just a little at a time, wait a couple weeks, and do again if needed. The pet shops sell a blood stop powder in either the reptile or bird department. I keep that on hand always. In a pinch, even flour will work, but the styptic powder is much better!

Hi there, good thing he fell in to good hands. Can you post pics of him, his set up and especially his tail ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upoad pics

BTW, I strongly advise that you never fall asleep with a dragon. There have been 2 very heartbroken owners on this forum who thought they were light sleepers that smothered their beloved dragons. No one can be sure of how they move at night , if they did those 2 dragons would still be alive.

[XIMG]96734 4 31740894[/XIMG] Hi guys, just want to say a big thank you for your advice, much appreciated. Dezi looks beaitiful. I've uploaded pics of my Louis

Louis looks to be settling right in ! And he must have good genetics because despite his previous neglect he appears to be healthy + alert.

Nice cage decor, a good basking log is always the best basking option. Do you have a heat bulb ? I see the coil uvb but those don't put out any useful heat, he'l need a basking spot of about 100, the cool side can stay at 80. Be sure to get the temps. right and not keep him out of the tank too long. On the floor it will be very cool, it's comfy for us at 70-75 but that's too cold for a beardie if they're out for more than a half hour or if they've just eaten. You don't wan your new guy to get a respiratory infection.

Thank you, your advice is very helpfull. I replaced the broken heat lamp he came with, immeadiately with a ceramic heat emitter with high thermal efficiency natural infrared emission 200 watt black but that proved to be too hot so i changed it to a 150 but i'm still concerned it is providing too much heat but that could also be due to the fact his home is too small. I am purchasing a new vivarium right now L 4ft D 13inch H 16 inch. Its 18 mm mdf with high satin gloss finish. Then i thought i would fit a tube light in the cool end for sunlight / uva/ uvb rays required & heat lamp for the hot end. Could you advise exactly what i should be providing my boy with please. You sound like ypu know what your talking about & care about the welfare of Beardies. Online is just a mine field! Where as the pet stores upto now, i've found seem to just be interested in what they can sell me. One of them even tried to sell me a very tall vivarium with just a small ground level, which from what i've seen online upto now is more suitable to climbing lizards like geckos & chameleons?

Yes, sure. For starters, your coil uvb may or may not be a good one, some of those can burn a reptiles eyes. Watch closely for signs of your beardie closing his eyes a lot. The best uvb bulbs are the long tube Reptisun 10.0 t5 [ it comes in a t8 as well but the t5 is more powerful] The other top of the line uvb bulb is the Arcadia D3 12 or 14 %. Very good bulbs that put out uvb for a year, maybe longer. The other bulb you ned to check at the 6 month mark, they can stop producing uvb even though they still produce light.

For heat you don't want a CHE. Beardies thrive in a bright environment so they need a white basking bulb, you can get a regular halogen bulb from Walmart . A par 38 or similar halogen bulb, at least 72-75 watts. Return the CHE's , I know they cost a lot but you don't need them. He would only need heat if the temps. go below 63 at night, then a CHE would be useful.

Hi, AHBD, well recieved & appreciated advice. Thank you. The new vivarium i'm interested in buying is on ebay. I'll try to photo the screen shot & see what you think, if you don't mind.

louis is adorable!! He looks quite well, considering his background! and very happy, too. Thank you for the photos. AHBD is very correct to remind us of the dangers of sleeping with our dragons...I am disabled, and do not move easily without help, and stay in one position while sleeping, so forgot about that. AHBD is a true expert in dragons, I would trust anything he says as good advice. I do not believe Louis will lose that tail, it looks fat and articulates well. Is It warm to the touch? It seems to have circulation, but hard to tell from photos only. I would inspect it by gently running my fingers down the tail, to compare the temperature of the black part to the rest. If it is same, then blood is circulating properly, a good sign. Is it flexible, and moves easily? (again, very gentle manipulation.) Animals have fabulous healing abilities. I saw this, when working with injured and orphaned wildlife at a rehab center years ago...It was like an emergency room for animals, and some were in very rough shape. Amazing powers of recovery.
Your boy Louis is a lucky fellow, and handsome, too! Dezi is cheering him on! Dezi likes to play with a feathered cat toy chasing it around. He is such a wonderful friend and companion. I think Louis will be for you, too.Beardies are just fabulous creatures. They require much care and $$ to stay healthy, but are worth every bit of effort! They love deeply, and become so devoted to their owners.

You're welcome, I'm always glad to help if I can. Dezismom , you did an amazing job with your boy and I remember you have quite a severe health problem . Also you've had a lot of experience with rehabbing animals + enough love for any creature that comes your way . Dezi is fortunate to be your little Prince.

Jen, I actually didn't notice the end of Louis's tail though, can you post a few close ups of it ?

JCLEMO":22u6em20 said:

Hi, AHBD, well recieved & appreciated advice. Thank you. The new vivarium i'm interested in buying is on ebay. I'll try to photo the screen shot & see what you think, if you don't mind.

Click to expand...

13" depth is a little small for an adult bearded dragon. 4x2x2 is generally the recommended size for an adult. You can make your own pretty inexpensively. I think if you have to buy something and can't afford a 4x2x2, I would go with a 36x18x18 size then. There's actually more floor space.

You want the tube UVB light and the basking light both on the warm size of the enclosure. The sun gives them UVB and light/warmth in the wild, and this is what we try to replicate. A 24" fixture will work great for either size enclosure.

Thanks for the new photos...Louis is too adorable--love the one of him on someones bum, and also him sleping so contentedly on back of sofa! Dez likes the back of our sofa, too.

Dezi on sofa. He did not like the tiger toy, and blacked his beard at it! My hubby is LSU alumn(geauxTigers!) ...but Dezi not a tiger fan...this could be a problem.

In every photo, Louis has such a happy, smiling face! He is so obviously joyful, in a good place where he can shine...This is one of those heart warming stories, where a Beardie in trouble gets a chance thanks to someone with a heart of gold. Thank you for this happy "tail"!