BLIND baby beardie - help!

Hi! I recently adopted a baby bearded dragon who is blind in one eye and can only partially see out of the other. She keeps her "seeing" eye closed most of the time.

Her name is Hiccup, she is only a few months old (the place I rescued her from wasn't sure).

She HAS BARELY eaten since being here, almost a week. I've tried organic baby food in a syringe (carrots, mangos, butternut squash, etc. The baby food is only one ingredient and no added sugar. I've been mixing it with calcium and other vitamins. When she doesn't swat the syringe away, she'll eat for a little and then just stop.

I've also tried baby dubia roaches, the smallest I can find. I've tried holding them right next to her, touching her face/mouth with them, attempting to open her mouth (gently), etc. I also tried soft baby mealworms, which she wouldn't eat either. I know mealworms are bad for them, but the place I got her from said it was all she was eating at the time. I am no longer trying to use them.

I've soaked her, kept her clean, and tried to let her adjust. She likes to walk around her tank and explore, and she's still pooping which gives me hope. However, she seems so skinny and seems to have some stress marks since living here.

Also, her tank has all the correct lighting, UVB, temperatures, substrate, etc. I own another beardie named Slinky, and I've had him for almost two years. I make VERY sure to keep their tanks clean and ideal for them. (They do NOT share a tank).

Please help! Any advice?

Relocation stress is one--- please tell me the correct lighting you have --------brand and bulb and where in tank is it? What are her basking temps and how are you taking them-- all this info is needed so we can better assist you thanks
Karrie

You are going to have handfeed her to ensure she gets the nutrition she needs.

I've had a rescued skink who lost an eye in a cat attack (I rescued it from the cat who was in hot persuit).
It had a lot of trouble aiming at insects and food items.

Hiya otaytita,

So, as it happens I also have a mostly blind animal, a rescued leopard gecko named Dora. When I got her, she was 100% syringe fed for over three yeas. Now I feed her normally, with a syringe feeding once every month or two just to make sure she's getting what she needs.

Honestly the key here is patience. Like some other folks said, she's probably got a bit of relocation stress right now. Keep doing what you're doing and make sure she at least has access to food, even if she's not eating.

To start out with, I would purchase some Jump-Start Caloric Supplement & Appetite Stimulant... It's fairly common, you can probably buy it from your local pet store. It comes with a syringe and directions, just feed her like you are with the baby food and see if she takes it. Guacemole and Dora both LOVE this stuff, and when they're off feed it seems to get things going again.

Once you get a couple meals worth of Jump-Start into your blind dragon, I would suggest trying to tong and/or hand feed her. If you can get her to accept anything, you're doing great! Eventually you're going to want to move on to offering conspicuous feeders that aren't hand or tong fed. For instance, try feeding her waxworms (which are white) on a dark surface. That's how I started Dora hunting again, and once she had a good success rate with waxworms, I moved on to meal worms and small hornworms as well, then dubais and crickets too. Now Dora will eat anything a normal leopard gecko would.

Starting now you're going to want to offer salads daily, as well. Chop them up extra fine and, since she's blind, try to use at least one "fragrant" bearded dragon safe additive in each salad in addition to your normal greens/fruits/veggies. While BDs don't have the best sense of smell, but they can "scent" things to a limited extent. My go-tos for fragrant additives are cilantro, parsley, and bee pollen, but you could use basil, lavender, mint, oregano, rosemary, thyme or sage, too. Just make sure it's clean, pesticide free and beardie safe! Odds are she'll show almost zero interest in them, but try to leave them on the cool side of her cage all day, that way she might munch on some greens even when you're not looking.

There is, of course, a chance that you'll never get her to accept food except for syringe feeding. If this is the case, then you're going to want some Oxbow. You'll need both their Carvivore Care and their Critical Care (which is for herbivores). I've heard people have good results with a 2:1 ratio when they're young, moving to a 1:1 ratio for 1 year to 2 years old, and then swapping to 1:2 when the dragon is old enough not to need the extra protein.

I really hope you have good luck with her! Please update the thread when you can!

Thanks,
-Ellen