Rescued 1.5yo beardie seriously ill

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ResQ

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I rescued this 1.5 yo male beardie yesterday. I just couldn’t let him stay where he was. He’s seriously dehydrated. His last owner gave him water only from a tap every few days. He’s got MBD in his legs and tail pretty bad. He’s been seriously under fed. Only 10 crickets a week. His tail was bitten. But when he went to drop his tail it was stuck by stuck shed. So for a month he’s had this rotten tail stuck to him. (I managed to hydrate him enough yesterday to unstick the shed and the tail dropped) his hind leg is necrotic. Below the knee. He looks like he’s going to loose more of his tail due to rotting. He was eating his substrate when I got him (coconut) and the pervious owner tried to tell me they only poo once a week.

His new set up with me is paper towel substrate. Basking log and a hide. Shallow food dish (his legs seriously don’t work) and a taller water dish just to have the option to drink. I didn’t fill it all the way because if he falls in he would probably not be able to get out quick enough. 100w basking light. UVB 150 for light. Humidity is between 50-60% and air temp is 92 above basking light. Cool side is 84. Previous owner fed him 10 crickets before I picked him up. So I fed him a horn worm and 5 super worms to see how hungry he actually was. Ate some veggies too. Then I dropper fed him 2ml of repashy grub pie that was mixed with .5ml of liquid calcium. Bathed him before hand and that’s when his tail finally let go.

So that was all good and dandy and he was mobile this morning. So around lunchtime I took him out for another bath and fed him his suplement. I mixed .5ml of repashy grub pie powder with 1ml of liquid calcium and 3ml water. He gobbled up the whole thing. Then he pooped two ‘logs’ (for lack of a better term) make note he pooped yesterday once. I put him back in his enclosure and he started violently throwing up the supplement.

My theory is that it was too much food. Even though I just added the tiniest bit of grub pie for him to take the dropper. And then I must have moved him too quickly after and he threw up.

My question is. How can I introduce more food without hurting his stomach? Am I trying to hydrate too much at a time? Is it the liquid calcium I should ease up on? Should I quit on the grub pie and try just water and calcium?
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kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
He needs URGENT vetinary treatment.

Better off several smaller lots of the liquid / paste type food spread out over the day than one big feed.
The issue is a dragon can accidentially aspirate the vomit ( inhale some of it ) and this will be VERY BAD especially for dragon in such obviously poor health.
 

Xanelic

Hatchling Member
I say to feed him baby food.. The soft ones so the ones for 1-4 month old babies. Try getting the chicken, apple, and papaya one. Maybe squash if you find that.

For water, have him take a 8-10 minute bath and make sure it's warm enough. If you want, add a few drops of reptisafe in if he wants to take a small drink. (I do this just in case with my baby beardie.

Make sure the uvb bulb is very strong because of MBD and mix the baby food with a bit if calcium. Not too much if the baby food already has a lot of calcium.

Massage his underside and tail and make sure he basks at least for a few hours.

Bring him to the vet right now if you can because the vet can check on him and give him the proper amount of calcium, but if you can't, this might help,
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Xanelic":7y4o90ze said:
I say to feed him baby food.. The soft ones so the ones for 1-4 month old babies. Try getting the chicken, apple, and papaya one. Maybe squash if you find that.

For water, have him take a 8-10 minute bath and make sure it's warm enough. If you want, add a few drops of reptisafe in if he wants to take a small drink. (I do this just in case with my baby beardie.

<<< unless advised to bath BY A VET , in his condition , the only bathing I would do since he's pooing , would be very dilute betadiene soaks after the vet has dealt with infected tail and leg.
<<< bathing will not help if it stresses him and chills him.


<<< as far as food is concerned - keep it liquid , I suggest Oxbow Carnivore Critical Care or VetaFarm Reptile Critta Care given as per directions by the vet using a feeding syringe Orally , small feeds several times per day.
http://vetafarm.com.au/product/crittacare-reptile/
http://www.oxbowcareers.com/resources/dyn/files/133799z89bdae07/_fn/2008+Postcard+Dosage+Chart-+Carnivore+Care+Cat-Avian-Reptile-Ferret.pdf

Nectrotic tissue means a reptile vet assessment is not optional …. as nectrotic tissue will cause a very serious systemic infection which can be fatal.


Make sure the uvb bulb is very strong because of MBD and mix the baby food with a bit if calcium. Not too much if the baby food already has a lot of calcium.

Massage his underside and tail and make sure he basks at least for a few hours.

Bring him to the vet right now if you can because the vet can check on him and give him the proper amount of calcium, but if you can't, this might help,
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, he can definitely eat normal food, just be sure any insects are on the small side and not too many at once. Cut the baths, these can stress + chill him. An initial bath to clean him up is O.K but then pat him dry + quickly put him back in the heat. And yes, limit the amount of water if he's trying to drink too much at once, space it out in to two sessions a day with a syringe. One thing that is VERY important is for the temps. to be high enough for digestion of food, otherwise that can contribute to vomiting. But I think it was too much food at one time along with the bathing.


Can you get clearer pictures of his foot and his tail ?
 

ResQ

Member
Original Poster
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I managed to soak most of the stuck shed off his tail end.

Basking spot is 100F
 

Beardeddtagonlover

Hatchling Member
i Agree take him to the vet to see if its worth saving hes life from what you described only partial tail and its rotting and the leg it can lead and will lead to cangrene from what you are saying hes in bad shape,as far as feeding and hydrating is not that hard you can use a syringe and feed him water that way and you can buy repta boost to get some nutrients in him the trowing up could be various reasons maybe you fed too much or maybe hes just sick take him to the vet please.also if your using the uvb 150 compact bulb its not emitting enough uvb get a flourescent one if you get a cheap light fixture from walmart then a reptisun 10.0 that will be much better then the compact uvb bulb
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Beardeddtagonlover":1cfombbo said:
i Agree take him to the vet to see if its worth saving hes life from what you described only partial tail and its rotting and the leg it can lead and will lead to cangrene from what you are saying hes in bad shape,as far as feeding and hydrating is not that hard you can use a syringe and feed him water that way and you can buy repta boost to get some nutrients in him the trowing up could be various reasons maybe you fed too much or maybe hes just sick take him to the vet please.also if your using the uvb 150 compact bulb its not emitting enough uvb get a flourescent one if you get a cheap light fixture from walmart then a reptisun 10.0 that will be much better then the compact uvb bulb

No good reason to give up on him , IMO he definitely can be healed and rehabilated and still have a happy and long life … will just take some time and TLC.
 

ResQ

Member
Original Poster
Vet update*
His leg is retained shed. He will probably loose his toe. But the vet said to soak him in betadine once a day for 10 minutes then soak in a bath keeping it warm for 20 mins daily. (I actually did this today and what do ya know the black part fell off!) his leg underneath looks raw and has no scales on it. Fingers crossed that scales grow back healthily.
Tail is the same thing.
His whole body actually has stuck shed and hopefully with these baths this will come off soon.
He hasn’t eaten or drank anything since I tried to feed liquid suplement yesterday. Vet said .5ml of liquid calcium a day should be enough to help his MBD and overall health along with dusting feed.

Any other suggestions are well appreciated. I thank all of you for your advise.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Try applying some manuka honey (or raw/unpasteurized honey) to the raw area of the leg. It may help it to heal and protect the area against infection.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

The poor dragon, he wasn't taken care of very well. The most likely reason he threw up was
his body isn't used to taking in much food & it didn't sit well with his system. I would start
very slow, with making a greens slurry without any protein. Just mix greens, water & calcium
together for a few days, or you can add in squash baby food until his system is working better.
Monitor his urate output also, so you can see how well his kidneys are functioning. Once he
has several more normal looking stools with a good amount of urates (white portion), you can
slowly introduce some protein for him.
What UVB light are you planning on getting for him? We recommend the Reptisun 10 tube or
the Arcadia D3 12% or 14% tube. There are also high UVB output tubes, the T5 models, which
are better quality & last longer too you could consider.
Since those areas are raw, be sure to keep a close eye on them to be sure they don't turn a
yellow, crusty look to them. Yellow fungus is a possibility simply due to the substrate he was
kept on which is notorious for harboring bacteria, etc.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is your little dragon doing today? Please keep us updated on him. I hope he makes a
good recovery for you.

Tracie
 
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