Please Help! Inexperienced owner with sick beardie

Hi all! This might be kinda long so bear with me...
Last night I decided to take in a very sick bearded dragon. Her previous owner, who is an acquaintance of mine, told me she bought the bearded dragon on August 28th from petsmart. This acquaintance, while well meaning, obviously doesn't have the knowledge, time, or resources to take care of any animal, especially a sick one. About a month ago, Jenny the beardie stopped being able to open her eyes and now they seem to be swelled shut. At the same time Jenny stopped eating... I have a hunch that she stopped eating because she couldn't see, but at this point it's been a month that she hasn't been eating and she looks very underweight. The acquaintance brought Jenny to the vet (I'm not sure when) but the dr did not specialize in exotics and was only able to say Jenny doesn't have any impactions but beyond that the doctor didn't know what is wrong with her.
When I brought her home last night her body seemed completely deflated and flat to the ground. I've been trying to feed her a mixture of squash baby food, zoomed repti calcium, and pedialyte. I started by dripping a little bit of the mixture onto her nose so she could lick it off, but she wasn't responding to it so I decided to force feed her. I just got her to eat 2.5 mL of the mixture via force feeding, she wasn't happy about it but got it down (the mixture is extremely watery). Her body seems a little less flat now , even when she lays down.
Let me be clear, I've never owned a lizard before. The acquaintance who gave her to me knew I had rehabilitated small mammals in the past so decided to give her to me because she could see that Jenny was getting progressively worse. Right now I'm keeping her in a 10 gal tank with a 100* basking temp and 20% humidity.
Please don't tear me apart if I'm doing something wrong, I'm trying my best and need advice on what to do. Attached are imaged to show the tank and swollen eyes:

Aw, poor little Jenny does look sick. How nice of you to take her in + try to get some help and no one should bash you one bit. For her eyes you can try VERY gently to irrigate them with saline solution [ not the contact lens kind ] Then put some raw, unpasteurized honey that has been diluted wth just a bit of warm water + apply with a Q-tip or feeding syringe directly on the eyes. It's a natural antimicrobial that can be used directly in the eye. [ I've used it when my dragon had an eye infection ]

She'll need some proper uvb, a Reptisun 10.0 t5 or Arcadia D3 12% are good bulbs, these are long tube, not compact. It's very hard to get a heat gradient in the 10 gallon so try to get a bigger tank if you can. Keep offering the mixture via syringe but see if you can get some Oxbow critical care formula from the vet. You can also try smashing a cricket until the guts come out [ small crickets only ] and rub lightly on her snout. That can sometimes get them to eat. Best wishes for you + little Jenny !

Thank you for taking her in and trying to help. I would continue with the baby food and water for now. Go easy on protein especially but focus on hydration and offer small meals more frequently rather than large meals. The 10g tank will work as an incubator for now but she will need a larger tank and high quality UVB so I'd invest in that as AHBD mentioned. Please keep us updated on her progress.

Poor little beardie , he's in a bad way.

Was the vet a registered / trained herp/reptile vet or a general vet , or an exotics vet ?

A lot going on :
>>> dehydration
>>> malnutrition
>>> stunted growth due to neglect by prior owner
>>> insufficient UVA ==> lack of apetite & lethargy
>>> insufficient UVB ==> no vitD3
>>> early stages of MBD
>>> very insufficient levels of dietary calcium
>>> temperatures not right <<< dial style analog thermometers are worthlessly inaccurate
>>> very likely because of her condition and lack of food intake over several weeks , her kidneys are compromised.

I'd set her up in a hospital tub set up as shown here : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=233480

My cheat sheet will help you work out how to set up her lights and feeding schedule (when she's well) : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=234738&p=1806050#p1806050

Regarding forced / syring feeding - this will give you guidance - viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687

Is very important to know her weight , as you can then work the correct volume for her feedings or liquid foods , 1-4 ml/ 100g body weight.

Awe, poor thing, I'm thankful you took her in and want to help her. She most likely stopped eating because she has no UVB light, without a proper UVB tube, just like AHBD mentioned (compact or coil UVB bulbs are not adequate for bearded dragons, being desert reptiles they need a lot of strong UVB light for at least 14 hours each day, along with the bright white basking bulb for 14 hours every day). They completely lose their appetite without a proper long UVB tube, it must be at least an 18" long tube, and must absolutely be a 10.0 strength (never a 5.0 or 2.0). The Reptisun 10.0 T5HO is what she needs soon, ASAP, because even if her eyes recover and she can see again she will have no appetite without a proper UVB tube. I'd buy both at least an 18" or 24" long Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tube and matching length long tube fixture (an 18" Reptisun 10.0 T8 UVB tube and matching length fixture will work if you can't find a 10.0 T5HO, but the T8 strength is much weaker and must be mounted underneath the mesh lid, as it will block up to 50% of the UVB light from the 10.0 T8 tube; the T8 also must be mounted within 6" of her basking spot to be effective). I'd also spend $10 on a proper digital probe thermometer at Petco or PetSmart when you go to buy the UVB tube and fixture, as if you're using any type of stick-on thermometer, like those round ones, they are typically off by up to 20 degrees at the least, and you have absolutely no way to measure her basking spot surface temperature at all with one. The digital thermometer with a probe on a wire can be set right on top of her basking spot for 20-30 minutes, then read the temperature, and it will be a very accurate basking spot temperature. This is going to be a must in a 10 gallon tank, because the absolute maximum temperature inside her tank should be 110 degrees, anything over that is in the lethal range. In such a small tank if you don't have a digital probe thermometer it's very dangerous, that 100 degrees you're reading on the stick-on thermometer is only an ambient air temperature, not the basking spot surface temperature, and it could actually be an ambient temperature of 120 degrees because those things are so inaccurate. This will not only cause heat stroke, but she surely won't want to eat.

I don't know if money is an issue for you, but the long Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube and fixture is not optional here, nor is the digital probe thermometer or the Oxbow Critical Care, so I'd buy those first, then worry about buying at least a 40 gallon breeder tank once she is better, eating, and growing. As AHBD already described, you can use a saline-only eye drop or eye wash and a Q-tip (new, clean Q-tip on each eye) to flush both her eyes out and gently wipe away any conjunctivitis that might be keeping them shut. Then dilute some raw, unpasteurized or Makuna honey with warm water and apply a little of the mix to each eye with a Q-tip. Do this procedure twice a day and her eyes should open up and be much better very quickly.

If you can find some Oxbow Critical Care it's very good to get her nutrition back on track, you may have to order it online, and in the meantime you can keep feeding the baby food and pedialyte slurries 2-3 times a day. If you have a blender it would be even better to go and buy some collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, bok choy, or chard and throw some of them in the blender along with the squash baby food and the pedialyte, along with a pinch of calcium and a pinch of reptile multivitamin, like Herpavite or Repashy Calcium Plus, and blend it all up, that way she's getting the much needed healthy greens too.

Since she's not licking the slurries off her snout on her own yet and you're having to "force feed", which can be very stressful for both her and you, I have a very easy method to do this that is not really stressful at all on either of you, and once you do it once or twice it's very easy. Give this a try:

Mix up the slurry and fill the oral syringe you're using...if the syringe you're using doesn't have a tip on it you'll need to buy one that does, a regular, disposable Leur-Slip syringe without a needle (obviously) works really well, Tractor Supply sells a box of 6 Leur-Slip syringes in 3ml or 6ml for like $3. They work very well...anyway, fill the syringe (BE SURE YOU'RE HEATING THE SLURRIES IN THE MICROWAVE FOR A MINUTE, THEY EAT THEM MUCH MORE READILY IF THEY ARE WARMED; MICROWAVE FOR A MINUTE, MIX VERY WELL, THEN TEST ON YOUR WRIST LIKE A BABY BOTTLE). You want to take the tip of the filled oral syringe and put it under her upper lip, on the side of her mouth/head, back by her ear. Then you're going to slowly slide the tip of the syringe up the side of her mouth towards her snout, keeping the tip of the syringe under her upper lip the entire time. Once the tip of the syringe reaches the tip of her snout she will automatically open her mouth up. Be sure that you have your thumb on the plunger of the syringe while you are sliding it up her mouth towards her snout, so you're ready to gently push some of the slurry into her mouth when she opens it up. When she opens her mouth, gently but firmly push some of the slurry into her mouth. You don't want to push a lot in at one time, you don't want her to aspirate any into her lungs. Once you do this a couple of times you'll get a hang of how much you can comfortably push into her mouth at a time. When you push some of the slurry into her mouth she will start to chew/swallow it. Make sure she has swallowed it all, then you need to start over again by going back to the side of her mouth, back near her ear, and again insert the tip of the oral syringe under her upper lip. Just keep repeating this process until you get 2-3ml of the slurry into her in each feeding. I'd do this 3-4 times a day, as Cooper mentioned, you want her to eat small amounts often, not large amounts all at once. You can give her the Oxbow Critical Care or any other liquids or slurries this way, and it has always worked well for me without causing the dragon much stress at all.

Hopefully after you get her eyes cleaned out and she can see again she will be more apt to eat on her own, but without proper UVB/UVA light it will be tough. Please ask any questions you have at all, anything we can help you with we will.

Thank you so so much to everyone who has replied!
A little update on Jenny-
I was able to get a veterinarians opinion on her eyes (again not an exotics vet but I can't afford a vet consultation right now so all I have to work with is the connections I have) and without examining Jenny the Dr said malnutrition could be the reason Jenny's eyes have swelled closed. I hope this is the case because then her eyes will fix themselves as I get her nutrition back on track.
I ordered Oxbow Critical Care for carnivores and got it in the mail last night so this morning was Jennys first feeding with the Oxbow included so currently she's getting a slurrie of a spoonful of Oxbow, spoonful of baby food, pinch of calcium power, a drop or two of liquid vitamin, pedialyte, and water. I feed her 2.5 mL twice a day, but I'm lucky if she gets half of those 2.5 mL in her at each feeding. I was also able to get my hands on a bigger tank (I think it's 40 gal? correct me if I'm wrong) and a ReptiSun 5.0 UVB light. I know that it's still not exactly what I need but it's the best I can do until I can get my hands on a 10.0 UVB. I'm also bathing her for 10 min once or twice a day and gently wiping her eyes with a raw honey and water solution once a day.
I still need a thermometer but as you can probably tell money is a little tight for me so most of the supplies I have are things I've borrowed from my friends who have reptiles until I can get the supplies myself.
My main question now is if I'm feeding her correctly. I've been able to get a scale so now I know she's about 15 g, but I don't know how much a healthy 15 g beardie normally eats so I don't know if I'm feeding too much or too little.
If theres anything else in Jennys schedule I need to adjust or anything I'm still missing please let me know!
It's also worth mentioning the last two days after feeding her she's cracked open her less swollen eye. She doesn't keep it open for very long but it's a small improvement and the actual eye looks healthy as far as I can tell. Again thank you to everyone for commenting, you guys are amazing and please keep giving me advice! I know it's pretty obvious I'm not someone with reptile knowledge, I've owned rodents for the last 8 years and have been involved with rat forums for a significant amount of that time. Dealing with an animal where I'm second guessing every decision I make is a new feeling for me and I hate the fear of doing something that would unintentionally hurt Jenny because I didn't realize it was harmful.

Here's a pic of her updated tank-

Everything sounds good so far, you're doing an amazing job. If she eats 1-2 ml.s 2-3 X a day to begin with that's reasonable, she's not used to eating much . Baths only 2-3X a week if she's drinking. Honey on the eyes daily.


Is the Reptisun 5.0 a t5 or t8 ? Since it's a weaker bulb than the 10.0 it would be good to mount it under the screen using some wire. I can't tell from the pic [ too dark] if you did. Here's how I did mine with wire through the screen.
.
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30028/full

Things are heading in the right direction, that's awesome!

Very, very important, that Reptisun 5.0 UVB tube absolutely must be under that mesh lid to do anything at all for her, the mesh blocks up to 40 % of the already way too weak UVB light, so right now she isn't getting any UVB light at all with it on top of the mesh. So as AHBD has stated, you need to strap that UVB tube fixture under the mesh by poking small holes in the mesh lid and then using either wire or long plastic zip ties to strap it to the underside of the mesh lid. THEN ONCE YOU HAVE THE UVB TUBE STRAPPED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF THE MESH LID, PLEASE FIND SOMETHING TO USE AS HER BASKING SPOT PLATFORM THAT WILL PUT HER WITHIN AT LEAST 4" OF THE UNOBSTRUCTED 5.0 UVB TUBE. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THAT THE 5.0 UVB TUBE IS GOING TO BE BENEFICIAL TO HER, AND SHE REALLY NEEDS IT IMMEDIATELY. BUT THAT PARTICULAR STRENGTH UVB TUBE JUST HAS TO BE UNOBSTRUCTED BY ANYTHING AND SHE MUST BE ABLE TO GET WITHIN 4" OF THE UNOBSTRUCTED TUBE TO GET ANY ADEQUATE UVB LIGHT THAT WILL HELP HER!

Also, please be sure to leave both her bright white basking light and her UVB tube (once mounted under the mesh lid and getting her basking spot within 4" of the unobstructed UB tube) on for at least 14 hours every single day, that is the minimum photoperiod for a bearded dragon. So if you turn her lights on at 7:00 a.m., please leave them both on until 9:00 p.m. A 14 hour photoperiod will help to compensate for the weak UVB, especially once she can get within 4 of the the tube and it is not being obstructed by that mesh lid. This combined with cleansing/wiping both of her eyes out with saline eyedrops and a Q-Tip twice a day will perk her right up and increase her appetite tremendously!

Also, please still use the saline eye drops or saline eye was and the Q-tips to clean out each of her eyes twice a day, then apply the raw, unpasteurized or Makuna honey dilute with warm water to each eye after you wash them with the saline. I know that the general veterinarian you know told you that they thought that her eye problem is being caused by "malnutrition" so this made you think they will heal on their own, but actually it is very common for dragons to have this happen to their eyes due to inadequate or improper lights, it's called "photoconjunctivitis", and the thing is that as soon as you clean both eyes with saline eye drops and then apply the raw honey to each, she will be able to see! This must be done twice a day...YOU CAN BUY REGULAR SALINE EYE DROPS AT ANY DOLLAR TREE FOR $1, AND THEY ARE ALSO CHEAP AT WALMART...PLEASE CLEAN HER EYES OUT TWICE A DAY STARTING ASAP, SHE WILL FEEL SO MUCH BETTER AND RESPOND VERY QUICKLY IF SHE CAN SEE!

AHBD":3cd72n00 said:

Everything sounds good so far, you're doing an amazing job. If she eats 1-2 ml.s 2-3 X a day to begin with that's reasonable, she's not used to eating much . Baths only 2-3X a week if she's drinking. Honey on the eyes daily.


Is the Reptisun 5.0 a t5 or t8 ? Since it's a weaker bulb than the 10.0 it would be good to mount it under the screen using some wire. I can't tell from the pic [ too dark] if you did. Here's how I did mine with wire through the screen.
.
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30028/full

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I'll reduce bathing a bit. It's a compact fluorescent lamp so I don't think it's either? But I'm going to run to the store in a bit to get wire to hang it inside the tank and hopefully by the end of the week ill get to petsmart to get a proper thermometer and UVB.

EllenD":2vqcfo72 said:

Things are heading in the right direction, that's awesome!

Very, very important, that Reptisun 5.0 UVB tube absolutely must be under that mesh lid to do anything at all for her, the mesh blocks up to 40 % of the already way too weak UVB light, so right now she isn't getting any UVB light at all with it on top of the mesh. So as AHBD has stated, you need to strap that UVB tube fixture under the mesh by poking small holes in the mesh lid and then using either wire or long plastic zip ties to strap it to the underside of the mesh lid. THEN ONCE YOU HAVE THE UVB TUBE STRAPPED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF THE MESH LID, PLEASE FIND SOMETHING TO USE AS HER BASKING SPOT PLATFORM THAT WILL PUT HER WITHIN AT LEAST 4" OF THE UNOBSTRUCTED 5.0 UVB TUBE. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THAT THE 5.0 UVB TUBE IS GOING TO BE BENEFICIAL TO HER, AND SHE REALLY NEEDS IT IMMEDIATELY. BUT THAT PARTICULAR STRENGTH UVB TUBE JUST HAS TO BE UNOBSTRUCTED BY ANYTHING AND SHE MUST BE ABLE TO GET WITHIN 4" OF THE UNOBSTRUCTED TUBE TO GET ANY ADEQUATE UVB LIGHT THAT WILL HELP HER!

Also, please be sure to leave both her bright white basking light and her UVB tube (once mounted under the mesh lid and getting her basking spot within 4" of the unobstructed UB tube) on for at least 14 hours every single day, that is the minimum photoperiod for a bearded dragon. So if you turn her lights on at 7:00 a.m., please leave them both on until 9:00 p.m. A 14 hour photoperiod will help to compensate for the weak UVB, especially once she can get within 4 of the the tube and it is not being obstructed by that mesh lid. This combined with cleansing/wiping both of her eyes out with saline eyedrops and a Q-Tip twice a day will perk her right up and increase her appetite tremendously!

Also, please still use the saline eye drops or saline eye was and the Q-tips to clean out each of her eyes twice a day, then apply the raw, unpasteurized or Makuna honey dilute with warm water to each eye after you wash them with the saline. I know that the general veterinarian you know told you that they thought that her eye problem is being caused by "malnutrition" so this made you think they will heal on their own, but actually it is very common for dragons to have this happen to their eyes due to inadequate or improper lights, it's called "photoconjunctivitis", and the thing is that as soon as you clean both eyes with saline eye drops and then apply the raw honey to each, she will be able to see! This must be done twice a day...YOU CAN BUY REGULAR SALINE EYE DROPS AT ANY DOLLAR TREE FOR $1, AND THEY ARE ALSO CHEAP AT WALMART...PLEASE CLEAN HER EYES OUT TWICE A DAY STARTING ASAP, SHE WILL FEEL SO MUCH BETTER AND RESPOND VERY QUICKLY IF SHE CAN SEE!

Click to expand...

I've been giving her 12 hours of light each day but I'll make it 14 from now on. I forgot to mention in my update post I've also been cleaning her eyes with saline once a day but at a different time than when I wash her eyes with honey. I'll start doing both of them at once 2x per day.
Since she is still blind right now, she doesn't walk around her tank much and I doubt she would climb onto a basking spot if I set it up. Would it be okay if I hang her UVB light 4" above the bottom of the tank while her eyes are still closed so all she has to do it walk under it?

Uhg, we didn't realize it was a compact 5.0 UVB...that's tough, even the Reptisun 10.0 compact UVB is completely inadequate for a bearded dragon, as it is only a 13 watt bulb and does not emit nearly enough UVB light for a beardie...

Just as an FYI (in case you were thinking of buying a Reptisun 10.0 compact UVB bulb, which would be pointless, it's no better than the 5.0 you already have), the ONLY compact UVB bulb that is adequate for a bearded dragon is a 26 watt compact UVB bulb, the only one I'm aware of is the Exo Terra 200 26 watt UVB bulb. That's it for compact UVB bulbs for bearded dragons, and YOU CAN NEVER USE ANY COIL BULBS AT ALL FOR A BEARDED DRAGON, AS THEY ALL CAUSE SEVERE EYE DAMAGE EXACTLY LIKE SHE ALREADY HAS.

So if your goal in buying her a proper UVB light was to be able to use the dome fixture you already have and buy a compact or coil UVB bulb, you cannot ever use a coil bulb at all, none, and the only compact UVB bulb worth buying that will fit your dome fixture is the Exo Terra 200 UVB compact bulb that is 26 watts. Most all bearded dragon owners and all breeders use long, 10.0 UVB tubes, usually either an 18", 24", or 36", which obviously require a matching length tube fixture with a reflector behind the bulb...the reason for this is not only because the 10.0 long tubes are basically the only UVB lights that emit appropriate UVB light for bearded dragons (desert reptiles), but also because they are larger lizards that require larger enclosures, so the UVB light must fill the entire enclosure and still be concentrated directly down on the basking spot they are mounted above...so the long 10.0 tubes with a reflector behind them fit the bill...

For now, yes, take the mesh lid off (she's not getting out) and see if you can lower the 5.0 compact UVB bulb within 4-6" of where she is spending most of her time. Once her eyes heal up that is going to change obviously, but for now I'm assuming she is probably just sitting in one main spot, so see what you can do about getting that compact light down close to her...

Mini Jenny update-
Today has been a really great day for Jenny! She's had both her eyes open nearly all day which is a major achievement considering the longest I've seen her eyes open had been 5 minutes when I'd agitated her enough during feeding for her to force her good eye open. The good eye opens more than the bad one, but it's a start! I also got my Reptisun 10.0 18" UVB in the mail today so I got that set up this evening. I'd like to start introducing some greens and insects to the tank ad lib in addition to her slurrie via syringe to see if she'll start eating on her own, what kind of foods do you guys think would be best for the state she's in right now? I've looked online but honestly I trust forums more than any other source (as I've said, I've been involved in my rat forum for years so I know y'all very very rarely steer a pet owner wrong). I'll post pictures and maybe another update in the next few days~

That's great, quite an improvement already ! Offer very small crickets , it's important that they be no longer than the space between her eyes. At her size that would be the 1/4" to 1/2" , probably closer to half inch but no bigger size. When I raised beardies I bought hundreds of 1,000's of those buggers . They must be very small, can't sress that enough. Babies CAN swallow bigger bugs but they can't digest them and if too big, the food items press on the spine + can cause paralysis. Offer them by hand OR put a few in a jar with a pinch of calcium powder, shake them up until they're weak + dizzy + drop 1-2 at a time near her. Let her eat 5-6 at a time twice a day to begin with if she will, then increase the amount daily. If she doesn't go after them, squish one until the guts come out , then rub lightly on her snout.

Another very good option are Phoenix worms, she'd be fine with medium or large ones because they are small maggots so even the medium size are fine. Grrens like turnip, mustard collard [ collards are tough so must be finely chopped ] can be offered but she may have no interest. All my babies ate greens because I offered them from the time they were about 2 weeks old + they loved them. Don't give any chunky veggies, babies lack the jaw strength to chew a piece of carrot, so don't bother with anything hard unless it's finely grated, but again she may not be interested. Getting protein in her is more important, so try the bugs that I mentioned.

Go little Jenny !

AHBD":17bj7q1x said:

That's great, quite an improvement already ! Offer very small crickets , it's important that they be no longer than the space between her eyes. At her size that would be the 1/4" size. When I raised beardies I bought hundreds of 1,000's of those buggers . They must be very small, can't sress that enough. Babies CAN swallow bigger bugs but they can't digest them and if too big, the food items press on the spine + can cause paralysis. Offer them by hand OR put a few in a jar with a pinch of calcium powder, shake them up until they're weak + dizzy + drop 1-2 at a time near her. Let her eat 5-6 at a time twice a day to begin with if she will, then increase the amount daily.

Another very good option are Phoenix worms, she'd be fine with medium ones because they are small maggots so even the medium size are fine. Grrens like turnip, mustard collard [ collards are tough so must be finely chopped ] can be offered but she may have no interest. All my babies ate greens because I offered them from the time they were about 2 weeks old + they loved them. Don't give any chunky veggies, babies lack the jaw strength to chew a piece of carrot, so don't bother with anything hard unless it's finely grated, but again she may not be interested. Getting protein in her is more important, so try the bugs that I mentioned.

Go little Jenny !

Click to expand...

Would crickets/ phoenix worms (if available) from petco or petsmart be okay to buy? I know both chains get their pets from terrible breeders, but I'm not sure about the quality of their crickets? I'd like to avoid ordering online because I know if my landlord happened to see a box of live crickets being delivered to our mail room she would be very displeased- lol.

I guess if that was your only option. Just be sure they don't try to sell you the wrong size, they may claim that a small dragon can eat big crickets. Be sure they're right around 1/2". Maybe you could buy online + shipped to a friend or relative .