LucisAbsentia
Hatchling Member
Recently I took in an adult bearded dragon that has not eaten any protein in a long while. From what I gathered, he's been fed greens like collard and mustard, but only those. This beardie looks very, very thin - can see clearly defined bones by the hips, and the spine is obvious in his tail.
On a plus side, this beardie is still heavily active and alert! He moves around his tank just like a healthy beardie, and when I have fed him with a syringe, he lunges at it as he would an insect, so he has lots of energy.
In preparation, I purchased stage one butternut squash baby food and chicken baby food for when he seemed able to take protein again. I also bought gatorade for electrolytes (wanted pedialyte but couldn't find any). I also ordered critical care.
The intent was the normal 'use critical care and baby food until you can confirm urates are white' and then was going to switch to the chicken baby food, and finally back to live feeders. However, it appears that for as skinny as he is, his urates are actually perfectly fine! Fecal matter is also normal. Where would you recommend I start? Should I forgo the butternut and go straight to chicken baby food to test how he's doing with proteins? Should I try live feeding? Obviously don't want to shock his kidneys, just was surprised at the fact that his bowel movements look fine.
(I do intend on taking him to the vet! But obviously, with everything going on right now, it is difficult to get an appointment, so it may not be for a few days!)
On a plus side, this beardie is still heavily active and alert! He moves around his tank just like a healthy beardie, and when I have fed him with a syringe, he lunges at it as he would an insect, so he has lots of energy.
In preparation, I purchased stage one butternut squash baby food and chicken baby food for when he seemed able to take protein again. I also bought gatorade for electrolytes (wanted pedialyte but couldn't find any). I also ordered critical care.
The intent was the normal 'use critical care and baby food until you can confirm urates are white' and then was going to switch to the chicken baby food, and finally back to live feeders. However, it appears that for as skinny as he is, his urates are actually perfectly fine! Fecal matter is also normal. Where would you recommend I start? Should I forgo the butternut and go straight to chicken baby food to test how he's doing with proteins? Should I try live feeding? Obviously don't want to shock his kidneys, just was surprised at the fact that his bowel movements look fine.
(I do intend on taking him to the vet! But obviously, with everything going on right now, it is difficult to get an appointment, so it may not be for a few days!)