Rescued two neglected dragons

Hi guys,

I’m new here! I’ve had my baby Draco for over a year (he’s 2 now) and he is thriving!

However, shortly after getting Draco, a family member decided to get a beardie, too. They put it in a fish tank that only had one light area (I found out a long time after as the fish tank lid covered the lights entirely and I just assumed they were doing the right thing) so it NEVER had uvb and only had a red light. After a few months, they got another beardie.

By then they were over the lizards and the expense. The babies rarely got insects and were just given apples everyday, which they barely ate. No calcium powder or anything. Their substrate was sourced from their backyard. Their entire environment was not cared for whatsoever.

A couple of days ago, I went to this persons house. There were no lights on whatsoever. I asked why and the kids explained that the only light they had “blew ages ago” and thus the lizards were living in the dark. One was asleep in a glass cup. I looked closer and the apples looked soupy and disgusting, and there were flies in the enclosure.

I took them straight out into the sunlight (which they loved) and explained that I was taking them home. We pulled hundreds from our holiday savings (which we fly out tomorrow, mind you, so yay for budget holidays) and got them a tank, lights, enrichment, etc and took them home. They are now in a beautiful tank with everything they need and more.

That’s when I realised how bad of a shape they were in. The older one is completely immobile. He does the equivalent of army crawling to get anywhere. He has an okay appetite but not much energy and is, of course, stunted and malnourished.

The other is the size of a baby beardie when it’s approaching it’s first birthday, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s got some energy but is hardly eating. This morning it passed quite a few stools full of undigested insects (what it’s received from us these past couple of days).

So my question is, what do you guys suggest I do? They’re getting a bath each day and I take them outside twice a day. I’m misting then down hourly (they’re so dehydrated!) and everything is heavily dusted in calcium and the alike (they’re getting leafy greens, mango, raspberry, woodies and mealworms but they’re only in eating the insects ugh).

If I figure out how, I’ll attach photos.

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Wow... I wish I knew what to advise you, but good for you for getting these two poor dragons out of a bad situation and into a place where they stand a reasonable chance of recovery, if they aren't too far gone.

My only suggestion would be to get them into separate tanks as soon as you're able. I've never heard of anything positive coming out of having two such differently sized dragons together... probably they've been doing okay only because they've been in such sorry condition, but once their strength starts coming back, you could be looking at potential problems.

Hope someone with beardie nursing experience chimes in!

I'm so glad you were able to get them out of that situation. It sounds like at least the older one is suffering from metabolic bone disease. Getting them under proper temp ranges and offering very high quality UVB exposure is critical and should go a long way to helping them recover. I would offer them plenty of water and ease them into a normal diet. Are they eating on their own at all at this point? If not, you may need to make slurries for them. If they are eating on their own, go easy on the bugs at first and try to offer a wide variety of veges. Calcium rich foods like dark greens and maybe some black soldier fly larvae are a good choice to begin with. I agree that they will eventually be best off on their own, but if they both have access to good basking spots and high levels of UVB then that should be a good start for now. Please keep us posted on their progress!

Some people should be banned from purchasing pets. Thank you for saving them.