Rescued Bearded Dragon Help

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Jayjaydrag

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Hi. I recently got a bearded dragon from a friend who didn’t really know what they were doing. I have had bearded dragons in the past and currently have another and thought it would be no problem. This bearded dragon is sick. I have a vet appointment set up but he can’t be seen until next week and I’m trying to figure out what to do in the meantime. My friend told me that he refused to eat for him so he stopped trying. When I got him last week, he seemed lethargic and a little underweight and his feet bent inwards like he had the onset of MBD. I was able to get babyfood and pedialyte down him a few times a day and he seemed to be doing better. I know my friend had him in a tank without uvb light and sand. He’s now in a proper set up and has been for the past week. Reptisun 10.0, proper heating temps (102 in basking and 82 on the cold side. Night temps don’t usually drop colder than 70) and he’s now on reptile carpet. Things seemed to be getting better for him but then yesterday, I heard a commotion and saw him flailing himself around in his tank and literally doing barrel rolls. He had turned this really whitish yellow color and his beard was suuuuper black. He was pretty lethargic and barely moving but now all the does is slide around on his belly cuz he can’t really use his feet and his mouth is open a lot. He refuses to eat or drink anything for me now, even when I let it sit on the tip of his nose. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him or what to do. Like I said, I have a vet appointment set up, but the reptile expert isn’t available until next week and I really don’t want to lose this guy. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 

Jayjaydrag

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I’ve also been giving him warm baths. He has had a couple of BMs but it took a quite a while to push them out and they were super runny and the little white part (I forget what it’s called) was this weird mucusy yellow color. Now when I give him a bath, I have to fold a towel up and prop his chin on it just so he won’t drown himself.
 

CooperDragon

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I'd probably hold off on the baths for now and keep handling/stress to a minimum. Keep offering drops of water and baby food on his nose and try to get him to drink and eat a little bit. Giving him time under proper temps and strong UVB should be helpful. There isn't a whole lot to do beyond that at the moment though. If he is having trouble moving around I'd lower the basking areas to make them easily accessible etc. If it's nice out and he's OK with being held a bit you could try bringing him outside for some natural sunlight but only if it doesn't seem to stress him out. Stress isn't good for him at all if he's sick. Hopefully he will start taking some food again soon and start to bounce back.
 

Jayjaydrag

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Original Poster
He doesn’t want to bask at all. He just scoots around using just his back legs and then gets under the reptile carpet and thrashes around and destroys his entire setup. I’ve taken a few high ramps out of his cage cuz he’ll scoot onto them and just fling himself off. I tried to pick him up to take him outside since it’s a good day here and he just thrashed around so much that I almost dropped him. So I’m just leaving him be. No water or food take at all. He’s still really yellow/white and his beard is the blackest beard I have ever seen. I’m hoping he’ll make it until I can get him to the vet next week.
 

CooperDragon

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The black beard shows discomfort. If he is thrashing around I agree that letting him be might be the best bet for now. Just keep everything flat and easy to access so he can scoot around. Keep trying with the food and water though. If he won't take it then there isn't a whole lot else I can think of at the moment.
 
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