Please help! Rescued adult dragon who won't eat

Hello!
I am new to bearded dragons. I got my first little guy, a juvenile about a month ago. He's doing just great!

A few days ago, I got word that someone I know was wanting to get rid of a bearded dragon that he had. He had been given the bearded dragon maybe two years ago, and was tired of taking care of him I guess? I personally know that this man is TERRIBLE at taking care of animals. He had a large breed dog a couple years ago that I personally called and called animal control about for the purpose of trying to get the dog taken away, because he was abusing the poor dog. (Can you believe that animal control did NOTHING? I tried calling multiple times naming all the things he was doing to the dog, from taping its mouth shut to locking it in a closet to hitting it). Luckily he finally took the dog to an anti-cruelty society so that she could be adopted by someone else.

Anyways, that's another story. The second I found out he didn't want this bearded dragon, I asked if I could see him. I wasn't planning to have a second dragon, especially after just recently getting my first, but if he was taking care of the dragon similarly to how he was taking care of the dog, I thought I'd better check it out.
The second I saw the poor thing, my fears came true. The bearded dragon wouldn't stop black bearding/opening his mouth to bite, and the man would just hold his mouth closed to "show him who was boss." The dragon was skin and bones and cold to the touch. The proceeded to "teach me about bearded dragon care" (I know more than him after a month than he does after a year, of course. Everything he told me was downright wrong). A rundown of what he told me: The dragon often goes a week or two without eating, it's been a couple months since he's had crickets (or any live food for that matter), he feeds him only fruit when he remembers like pineapple or bananas, he gives him a bathtub full of water to 'swim in for about an hour' once a week, he has a heat pad on the bottom of one side of the tank, a red night light that he likes, and his 'day light' "just burned out maybe a couple of weeks or so ago'". :shock: I immediately said I wanted him. I got him and his enclosure for free. It's a 40 gallon and actually set up pretty nicely, however it had NO LIGHTS except for the red night light!!! No UVB light, heat/basking/day light burned out for who knows how long.

I have him home with me now. His new name is "Ivan". Ivan is roughly 3-5 years old. Although he had his black beard and open mouth to bite the whole time his previous owner was around, in just one day with me he only displays this behavior the minute I first put my hands near his cage. As soon as I pick him up and stroke him, he puts it away. He obviously trusts me already, or at least realizes that I'm not his previous owner. He cuddled on my shoulder for about an hour just the day after I brought him home.

Anyways, I went straight to the store to get him a basking light. I'm waiting for the UVB light to come in the mail. Something interesting- I thought he was a completely different color when I got him. He was light yellowish sort of, and I thought he was a cool color, but anyways- his coloring COMPLETELY changed after being under his new heat light for a couple of hours! He's more of the coloring of a typical dragon you'd see in the store now. He has some brown on him now, but didn't before. Does this mean anything??

I bought a bunch of crickets, thinking he would gobble them up immediately. But he hasn't!!! He won't eat anything. Not crickets, not worms, not vegetables, not even fruit which he has been used to eating. He also hasn't pooped since he's come to live with him. I don't know what to do to get him to eat! He's skin and bones and needs to eat SOMETHING! The weird thing is, I've tried dropping worms/crickets/veggies in his open mouth and he'll kiiiind of making a chewing motion, only to basically spit things out. It's like he doesn't know HOW to eat. He also seems weak, which makes me wonder if he's in the beginning stages of MVB. Especially wondering this since it's been who knows how long since he's had his cage the proper temperature. Who KNOWS if he's ever even had UVB!! Any advice or anything you can recommend that I do?? Any help is appreciated!!! Thank you

Hi Rihug, so nice of you to care about this poor dragon. If he's really emaciated he may not be able to handle protein. And if you can see in his mouth, check to be sure his gums aren't very red or there's pus . He may go for some slurries [ smoothies ] or baby food like squash, chicken, green bean with nothing added. Add water to anything you give him by syringe, he may also be dehydrated. You might also order some Oxbow Critical Care or Carnivore Care online. After he settles in + hopefully eats a bit you can set up an appt. with an experienced reptile vet. Can you post pics of him ?

Yes, here are some photos of him. It is hard to tell, but you can see all of his ribs. His skin sort of bunches up in spots because that's where fat should go. Also doesn't he seem small for being a few years old? I tried feeding him some baby food last night, but he was not interested. I got one spoonful in that he swallowed. Otherwise, I couldn't get him to open his mouth and he wouldn't lick it off of his nose. Later on while he was basking, he had his mouth open and I was able to squirt a little water in his mouth that he swallowed. He is completely uninterested in eating and very weak. Is there anything else I can do??

I also included a picture of his poop (sorry, gross I know), but it looks very strange. What do you guys think??

He's pretty bad but not too emaciated. There's no telling what sort of health problems he may have, but the only thing you can do is keep him warm, comfortable + keep trying the feedings. At least you got a bit of food + water in him, so good job on that. Other than these things he'll need to be seen by an experienced reptile vet .

That poor baby So glad you have Ivan now! My Evee was in a similar state when I first had her. I would have to syringe feed her a mixture that I made of protein supplement, baby food and vitamins (calcium with D3 for SURE). Maybe try that. I used a normal syringe, but a crop feeder can be handy too as it gets it down further and has a lower risk of aspiration (Evee had NO issues with that though). Sounds like he knows you saved him <3 I wouldn't rush the feeding though, a bit at a time to start. I know I tried feeding Evee a bit too much the first day or two, but she vomited it all up, then I knew to take it slow (we have no reptile specialist in my area, but my vet would often consult with one after I was able to take Evee in).

Good luck with him!

Have you tried liquid calcium drops? You can mix it into a slurry with chicken baby food and drop it onto his nose so he can lick it up. A calcium deficiency can cause him not to want to eat.

I have not tried that, but great news! I think the bit of food I was able to get into his mouth (it was actually the mix for crested geckos), and the bits of water I was able to squirt into his mouth, as well as daily baths really helped him! He seemed to have a new energy last night and was very active in his cage. We tried putting a cricket in again to see if he'd have any interest, and he ran over and gobbled it up! We let him have as many crickets as he wanted without forcing him or anything, and he chased down and ate maybe 6 or 7 crickets! I also got a bit more water into his mouth. I think he's going to pull through! Thank you everyone for your advice.

That's awsome news! I and many others here are so glad you got him, he's gonna be much happier now.

YAY! That's wonderful news!