Old age or neglected?

Hi everyone!
I just adopted a bearded dragon off Craigslist this morning. I was told he was around 8 years old and the previous owner had him the entire time. When I went to pick him up he was in pretty rough shape. He is very skinny, has a few crooked limbs and seems to have an unbalanced walk. I was told his tail has been crooked for a while (owner not sure how it happened) and that it doesn't cause him problems. I asked about his diet and it has consisted of spring mix, romaine and lots of fruit. He had a 100 W ZooMed basking light and a UVB in the tank he was living in with sand as substrate.

I am just curious if he looks this way because of old age or if there is some underlying condition. I have the means to care for him, just want to get some opinions or suggestions to give him my best.

Here is a full body picture


The tail bump


Floppy arms

Well he's def. been neglected but looks like a tough little guy. Seems alert but def. has some MBD, probably been that way quite a while. Just feed + supplement him well and keep him hydrated. It sounds like he's in a good place with you.

Can you post pics of his new set up ? What type of uvb do you have ?

AHBD":2xzuf0u8 said:

Well he's def. been neglected but looks like a tough little guy. Seems alert but def. has some MBD, probably been that way quite a while. Just feed + supplement him well and keep him hydrated. It sounds like he's in a good place with you.

Can you post pics of his new set up ? What type of uvb do you have ?

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your response! He's definitely got a fighting spirit and a very sweet energy about him. I have some supplements on hand to start incorporating into his diet. I have both liquid and powder calcium along with powdered multivitamin. I'll start the process of bathing him frequently so he stays hydrated. I gave him a bath today and he handled it very well.
I have adopted a dragon before with a slight case of MBD due to no UVB in his tank so I am somewhat familiar with the treatment of it, there's always more to learn of course. Poor guy, I wonder how long he's been this way..

The UVB I have is a 15W 10.0 T8 light. Below is a picture of the current set up.

Looks good ! And some liquid calcium would probably be good in his condition.