Was given a beardie today (you know what's coming)

So, long story short I picked up a free dragon today:




I don't know anything about it except that the owner who surrendered him had him for just under 2 years, and before that he was a rescue. Apparently, according to the lady who gave him up, he was in rougher shape than this when she first got him. Not sure if I believe that.

I don't know if he's been to the vet recently; I don't know what he ate; substrate; lighting; nothing at all. Apparently he has been eating recently, but I don't know when he last ate or if he's had a BM recently.

When I picked him up I took him to the vet (no appointment, as this was a surprise thing that happened today) on the off chance that I could get pain meds/xray/something at the last minute. No such luck, as the herp vet had gone for the day. They did give him a vit D shot, and I spoke with the herp vet on the phone whom the staff had sent photos to. He said, frankly, that he looks like he won't make it, but I could give him a shot and see how he does. I came home with some carnivore care and a very sad little friend!

Any info anyone can provide who may have dealt with a beardie in rough shape like this? I'm letting him settle in the terrarium with UVB/heat. It's all flat, as he can't climb well. He does more around and appears to be glass surfing (Slowly) at times.
Both his eyes are closed at all times, and one appears to be covered with crust. His notrils look blocked. I'm going to take some tap water or saline and try to soak his eyes later. He's just so frail, I'm afraid to move him too much.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Not super clear in the photos, but he has virtually no fat reserves anywhere on his body. His skin hangs off him Also: Will the carnivore care be dangerous, or should I have grabbed critical care? I have baby food+electrolytes I can use until I can grab some if that's the case.
This was just bad timing, as I heard about this dragon in the afternoon, picked it up in the evening, and tomorrow is a stat holiday :S

Aw, poor guy. Who knows what has happened to him....I don't see bone deformity's [ as in MBD ] in the pics, does he have any that you can see ? Good idea to do the baby food like squash/green bean with water + electrolytes mixed in and possibly just a bit of the carnivore care. At least he's moving around a bit, that's always good. Hopefully you can get his eyes to open and get him eating and see how he does from there. So nice that you took him in, I wish the best outcome for him [ and you ] I'm sure others will reply tonight with helpful suggestions.

AHBD":a2gl8z92 said:

Aw, poor guy. Who knows what has happened to him....I don't see bone deformity's [ as in MBD ] in the pics, does he have any that you can see ? Good idea to do the baby food like squash/green bean with water + electrolytes mixed in and possibly just a bit of the carnivore care. At least he's moving around a bit, that's always good. Hopefully you can get his eyes to open and get him eating and see how he does from there. So nice that you took him in, I wish the best outcome for him [ and you ] I'm sure others will reply tonight with helpful suggestions.

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Thanks for getting back to me I'm just so nervous. He's clearly in a delicate position. The vet on the phone said that usually with a dragon so malnourished he would be put on a tube feed, but without knowing his history it's hard to know what to do. He's estimated to be about 9-10 years old.. which is a good age I know, but still..

I ended up soaking each eye with wet gauze, and it almost looks like his eyes are dried up... I thought his right eye was crusted over, but when I soaked it it swelled up, and appeared to be coming from under his eyelid. Could it be his eye??? It looks very bizarre. His other eye looks yellow/green and dry inside and soaking it didn't do much. I just tried to cleanse the area, as I don't want to go poking around inside his head.. his nostrils are mostly closed off too, and soaking those I got some of the crust out.

He had approx 0.5ml electrolyte water and 0.5ml carnivore care. At that point I decided to give it a break, but he took it well and looked very thristy. I'll post pictures of his eyes..

left eye:



right eye:

Poor guy! I hope you're able to revive him. Hydration is very important. The carnivore care is good but I would water it down and not offer a ton of it because of it's relatively high protein content which may be a shock to his system. Offer some of that and some veg baby food like squash and green beans all in very small amounts at a time. Hopefully he will respond and gain some energy soon.

CooperDragon":y7h2vxty said:

Poor guy! I hope you're able to revive him. Hydration is very important. The carnivore care is good but I would water it down and not offer a ton of it because of it's relatively high protein content which may be a shock to his system. Offer some of that and some veg baby food like squash and green beans all in very small amounts at a time. Hopefully he will respond and gain some energy soon.

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That's what I was thinking. On the phone the vet said critical care or carnivore care... I'm going to stick with hydrating and veg baby food for now then try the carnivore care again. He seemed upset about 10 min after the carnivore care (flailing around) and looked like he spit something up (saw a small amount of fluid in his mouth but he never spat it out). Just giving him an eensy bit of electrolyte water now. He drinks really well. I think he is thirsty thanks for your help! At his age, with his sketchy background I'm not sure if there's much hope. He is very lethargic most of time (doesn't even hold his head up when he's picked up, and I swear I can feel his spinal column through his belly)... Just want to give him a good chance. Sorry, typing this on the phone whilst he's on the couch with me.
You guys are all wonderful . I appreciate the advice and the moral support!

Yes, the emphasis on water with a wee bit of baby food + electroltes mixed in. For his eyes you might try raw honey mixed 1-3 parts water. Raw honey is an antimicrobial. If you use it, warm the water just a bit, that softens the honey and is not shocking like a cold eye drop . Just a dab in each eye....who knows if it may help clear an infection like it did for one of my babies. [ Although this may be very long standing] You don't even have to pick him up to do it, and be very gentle.

Keep up the good work...little bits of hydration, warmth + comfort.

So sorry to hear about your little fella. I hope you can get him through this. I would suggest ReptAid, it's not only helped my girl, but from what I read from the reviews, it helped quite a few other beardies with lethargy. According to the description, it's supposed to also be good for eye infections. I'm not a fan of Amazon, but if you have Prime, you can get the item really quickly.

http://www.amazon.com/Reptaid-XL-1-..._UL160_SR115,160_&refRID=19CE6Z4QHV83MCV3BV3A

Best of luck!!

My baby dragon was dying and squash baby food with Carnivore Care was a life saver - she ate nothing but that for two months (with an occasional fruit baby food as well)! Since yours is old, you could try with just the squash baby food at first and after he has had a chance to rehydrate and get used to eating, maybe add the Carnivore Care in then. Since you are mixing it yourself, you can slowing increase the amount of the Carnivore Care over time. Who knows - he might still have a few good years in him with TLC. Clearly if he is 9 or 10, he is a fighter to have lived that long in that condition through two rescues! Best of luck - I will be thinking of you!

Oh, the poor thing. Thanks so much for rescuing him. You must have been so shocked when you saw him.

I agree with the others, the biggest thing right now is hydration with a little bit of baby food and electrolytes. It's possible he didn't like the consistency or the taste of the carnivore care, probably has never had anything like it. Is he willingly liking the food off his nose? Would be a good idea to make sure he is swallowing it well by gently rubbing his beard to make sure he isn't holding it in his mouth, wouldn't want him to choke. The raw honey is a good thing to try for his eyes too and sure can't hurt.

Would recommend keeping him about 80 overnight with a CHE to help boost his immune system.

Good luck with him. Some TLC can certainly go a LONG way and I'm sure he already knows that you care. Thanks again for taking him in.

diamc":2uia805f said:

Oh, the poor thing. Thanks so much for rescuing him. You must have been so shocked when you saw him.

I agree with the others, the biggest thing right now is hydration with a little bit of baby food and electrolytes. It's possible he didn't like the consistency or the taste of the carnivore care, probably has never had anything like it. Is he willingly liking the food off his nose? Would be a good idea to make sure he is swallowing it well by gently rubbing his beard to make sure he isn't holding it in his mouth, wouldn't want him to choke. The raw honey is a good thing to try for his eyes too and sure can't hurt.

Would recommend keeping him about 80 overnight with a CHE to help boost his immune system.

Good luck with him. Some TLC can certainly go a LONG way and I'm sure he already knows that you care. Thanks again for taking him in.

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Thanks so much! I was very shocked... Apparently he has been "taken care of" for the past few years, and the impression I got is that he is "sick" (no hx of vet visits or anything) and just deteriorated. However, over the past few days I'm seeing he looks horribly neglected: suspected hardened urate obstructing vent; filthy and smelly (baths have helped); femoral pores completely blocked.. it looks like he's been neglected for a long time. I'm going to head back to the shop today and see if there's any info my friend can give me, or if she knows who the person is who dropped him off.

I phoned the vet this AM re: setting up an appointment, and they're double and triple booked today, as we had a stat holiday yesterday. So tomorrow I'm taking him in to get some sq fluids, and may be coming home with some syringes and injectable fluids. I mentioned the carnivore care and my concern re: protein, and he suggested I hold off on the carnivore care until he gets some sq fluids and can be assessed in person. Today will be a day of electrolytes and baby food and baths!

He does swallow when I feed him (I drop it in very slowly with a 1ml syringe) and hold him slightly vertical on my chest. For the eyes I've been washing them several times a day with sterile saline and applying a lubricating eye ointment to protect everything. I have to head out today and pay pick some raw honey up in my travels! Thank you They eye lubricant seems to be helping though; he opened his right eye a bit for the first time last night, but almost looks like there's something obstructing his eye.. couldn't see his pupils or anything.
I've been consulting with a reptile rehabber over the past few days, and he's been very helpful; especially as I haven't been able to get in to the vet.

I've got a CHE on him at night that kept the tank around 77 degrees overnight, and a fresh 100w powersun that keeps his 'basking area' in the mid-high 80's. Higher than 90 and he gets squirmy, and (slowly and blindly) tries to move away. The rehabber I spoke with suggested keeping the basking spot lower until we can get some abx and fluids into him.

Poor little sucker. I'm certainly thankful for all the resources I've had at my disposal. You guys on the forum are just amazing; the rehabber has been so incredibly patient with me and this case; and the vet has been very accommodating.
I'm just so incredibly grateful. Thank you all so much.

It sounds like he's getting the best care possible and has the best chance at rebounding with you. Thank you so much for putting your effort into helping him! Please keep us posted on his progress and feel free to bounce any ideas off of us =)

CooperDragon":2e7hpot0 said:

It sounds like he's getting the best care possible and has the best chance at rebounding with you. Thank you so much for putting your effort into helping him! Please keep us posted on his progress and feel free to bounce any ideas off of us =)

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Thanks so much for your support and input! I really, really appreciate you, and everyone on the forum. I can't imagine going through this alone!

Unfortunately, today I noticed a sizeable lump on his abdomen. Didn't see it yesterday, as he was so squirmy I had to wrap him in a towel to flip him over and check out his vent yesterday. Unsure right now if it's an intestinal mass or liver? Trying to procure a BM tonight. We'll see how it goes. Could be a game changer

He did drink on his own today, and was more resistive to me prying his mouth open to give fluids, so we'll see how the vet appointment tomorrow goes!

Oh dear, hope it isn't a mass or a serious issues of any kind. Good luck at the appointment, hope you get some encouraging news.

he was so squirmy I had to wrap him in a towel to flip him over and check out his vent yesterday.

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I wanted to mention that beardies don't have diaphragms so it makes it very hard for them to breathe on their backs so it can really stress them out or cause panic when in that position.

That is good that he drank better today. Keep up the good work. We are all pulling for him. Thanks again for giving him a good home with lots of attention & caring.

100% critical care should be used over carnivore care at this stage as you dont want to overdose him with vits , critical care keeps everything simple like hydration and also stimulates natural apetite! I wouldnt over do the carnivore care though until you fully no what your dealing with

My dragon was suffering liver disease 3/4 years ago and critical care is what turned him around but it was a very stressful time i had to administer 5mls of critical care everyday for 4 or 5 months seemed never ending but he is still here today so all good, i wouldnt suggest as much as 5ml for you but i would suggest at least a couple of mls until you know whats up as long as he has food in his tummy (criticalcare) then you have a great chance because you will keep his little organs functioning the longer without energy and food at that stage wouldnt be good

Good luck to you both