First of all thank you for rescuing her, I know how difficult doing this can be. I had decided I wanted a second beardie about 3 months ago (my girl that I got as a baby is now 9 months old) so I went onto Craigslist thinking it would be better to rescue with all the people trying to rehome them (there were literally over 100 adult bearded dragons on Craigslist within 80 miles of me), but I absolutely refuse to pay $200-$300 or more for equipment that people want to sell with their beardies that I either don't need or is completely inadequate and just plain wrong for a beardie, and is the reason their dragon is sick). I seriously could not find anyone out of all those beardies being rehome that was willing to either just rehome their beardie by itself or would take $100-$150 for everything. They don't care about their pet, even the very sick ones, they only want to make money. So I ended up buying a male baby leatherback that was 4 weeks old from a couple who rescued 3 clutches of fertile eggs that were going to be thrown away.
So the day before I was to drive the 2 hours to pick him up, a very nice, concerned, loving woman contacted me because she saw my add on Craigslist saying I was looking to adopt a beardie. She said that she and her husband had come into a terribly hard financial time, and their family beardie, Nix, was purchased as a baby in October from Petco, had been sick for a while, had severe MBD and wasn't eating or pooping, and they couldn't afford to get him to a vet. She asked me to please adopt him and get him help. I couldn't say no, her two small children were so responsible, they wanted him to get well because they lived him so much. They lived about an hour and a half beyond the people with my new baby, so the next day I left early and drove the two hours and picked up my baby, Dee Dee. Then I kept going another hour and a half or so and met this woman and her two very young kids, and they gave me Nix.
It's been a struggle, Nix was extremely impacted with wood mulch, and had very extreme MBD. I've spent a small fortune at my certified reptile vet with him, but it was worth it. It took 2 weeks of laxative slurries twice a day and 3 separate HUGE poops to get all of the wood chips out of him, I've never seen anything like it...He never had a
UVB light at all until about a week before I got him because the Petco employees told them they only needed a really expensive basking bulb and a heat mat...They finally found out about the
UVB light and bought a Zilla 50 Desert 18" tube, which was mounted inside his tank about 6" away from him, and they removed the plastic cover from the Zilla Slimline fixture, so actually the UVB setup they got him wasn't horrible because they knew it needed to be inside and close to him, unobstructed, and the Zilla package was $40 and all they could afford. They gave me everything they had for him for free, his tank, both lights and fixtures, all of his tank decor and basking platforms, all of his Calcium and multivitamin powders, their probe thermometer, everything for free, didn't ask me for a thing except to please try to save his life. He was only about 8-9 months old when I got him, he was slightly stunted in length but not horribly, a bit thin but not horribly (until he lost almost 100 grams total after the 3 biggest poops I've ever seen in 2 weeks), but his MBD is so bad...
He was flipping over onto his back while simply standing on the flat floor and trying to take a step. His front arms were always, constantly folded up underneath him, and he drug both his back legs completely, no movement or strength at all. He had a massive hump in his spine right below his neck, and then a huge curve in his spine right above his hips. He had no underbite or bone deformities visible at all, his head looked normal, facial bones normal, etc. which was odd to me, I've never seen such severe MBD without severe stunted growth and an underbite along with all kinds of bony deformities in the head in face. But he could hardly stand still without flipping onto his back, the poor guy had a great appetite but couldn't take a step to eat...
After 2 weeks of impaction care he passed everything, so then started his long road through treatment for MBD. He's been with me for 3+ months now, has been to my certified reptile vet for 3 x-rays and 4 sets of blood work, and I give him Calcium injections once a week. My reptile vet asked me if I would try a treatment he was working on for severe malnutrition and MBD that involves one daily syringe feeding of a nutritional "Drench" he created to treat beardies in his condition, and I said yes after researching what was in it. I was familiar with the term "Drench" as it pertains to a nutritional liquid given to livestock, like goats, cows, sheep, etc. where they actually inject the liquid right down their esophagus, he calls this a drench because it basically consists of the same ingredients, but it's not force fed, he hates it, it smells like vitamins and I'm sure it tastes awful, but he takes it every day. Basically it gives him extra daily nutrition like calories, protein, fat, carbs, fiber, etc. along with vitamins, minerals, extra Calcium, and several other supplements such as Bee Pollen, Milk Thistle, etc. Nix has put on over 100 grams, has not flipped over in over a month, has no hump in his spine at all and the curvature is barely visible, he has full use of his back legs now, they are still weak but they function normally, and his front arms are fully functional now. He can hold himself up, walk, climb, and eat his BSFL on his own out of a bowl. He now basks on his own and drinks water from a bowl. He still keeps his front arms folded underneath him at times, but it's much better. He's taken no medications at all, no antibiotics, no antifungal meds, no antiparasitic meds, nothing but Calcium injections weekly and his daily nutritional drench, combined with an 18" Reptisun 10.0 T5 High-Output UVB tube. That's it.
The reason I told you my rescue beardie story is to let you know that this is never an easy situation, and it's a very, very slow process. It's a struggle every day, even though Mix has gotten better he has setbacks all the time. Luckily for me I had a huge advantage in that Nix has always had an appetite. It sounds like your girl isn't eating normally yet, but she will. Now that she's in a proper environment with appropriate temperatures, under proper lighting, and is being fed a healthy diet, she will eventually start eating on her own. And once that happens she'll improve daily. The family that I adopted Nix from seems to be a rare situation, based on what I've seen both here and especially on Craigslist, in that they really loved him as a family pet, and before they went and bought Nix as a month old baby they went out and bought everything they needed for him and got everything set up for him. Unfortunately they went to Petco and asked their "reptile expert" to help them put together everything a bearded dragon needs, and the Petco employee gave them horrible advice. The truly sad part of his story is that at the time they got him, Nix's family had no financial issues and was willing to spend as much money as necessary to get him the correct lighting, enclosure, food, etc. And the Petco "reptile specialist" didn't even mention a
UVB light. UHG...
I wish you the best of luck with your girl, she'll come around, they heal and recover so slowly and it's so easy to become discouraged, I know. But we thank you for giving her a chance at living a good life, and any questions you have, please don't ever hesitate to ask..
