Dehydration? (Images of pinch test and poo)

I just rescued Molly a few days ago from a wildlife and reptile rescue in Texas. (No clue how old she is, but she’s definitely an adult—very calm and sweet, too.) She came in with a huge batch of reptiles from an estate seizure and was apparently really starved before being nursed back to health. She is a big girl length wise and her tail looks nice weight wise, but her body seems small for her and is really wrinkled.

I am trying to figure out if her main problem is dehydration or if she needs a little weight (or both)? She is eating great (lots of veggies and Dubia Roaches), and I have been misting and bathing her regularly. Also, her poop today was very runny which doesn’t seem to support the idea of dehydration. (Can you see the overly worried dad in me? ?) I am thinking about taking her to the vet this week for a check up even though the rescue claimed she’d just had a check up and is healthy.

**EDIT: I called the rescue and they stated that she’s been on insects every day with veggies just 2-3 times a week, despite being an adult. Maybe this is the base of the dehydration problem and a few more days of salad will help?***

Here are her stats and images:

Length: 17.5”
Weight: 448 grams
Examples of skin wrinkling:

Image of skin pre and post “pinch test” for dehydration:

Images of first poop in her new home (veeery runny!):

The wrinkly skin doesn't indicate dehydration. They have loose skin so they can puff out and pancake as needed. The poop indicates a decent level of hydration and is the better indicator. The messy poop may be upset stomach or may indicate parasites. I would give her a few weeks to settle in and get on a stable diet (of mostly veges) and see how that goes. She looks pretty good overall based on those photos. If her poop is still messy after a few weeks to settle in then having a sample tested is a good idea. If she is stressed out or not settled then parasite counts can be read as temporarily high and meds administered even if not necessary which I don't like. Offer her daily salads with 2-3 items from this list http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html and rotate based on what you can get fresh at the store. The more variety the better but after a while you'll find her favorites. A bug meal once or twice per week should be enough protein. Having a staple bug like roaches or crickets is good but I'd also rotate in some black soldier fly larvae, silkworms, and hornworms once in a while to provide some variety.

Hi there, I agree with Cooper, dragon looks fine. I do wonder if you have it sexed properly. The big blocky head + thick tail base looks like those of a male . [ Although those are not absolute points for gender identification. ] Can you arch the tail up high + take some pics like in this article ?

https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/sexing/

AHBD":2ytn7m0h said:

The big blocky head + thick tail base looks like those of a male . [ Although those are not absolute points for gender identification. ] Can you arch the tail up high + take some pics like in this article ?

https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/sexing/

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for pointing that out! “She” is most definitely a he! I trusted the rescue to have correctly sexed him, but when I looked myself, there is no question that this guy is a he. I wonder how they got the idea he was a she? (Of course, they also didn’t seem to give much a damn about the animals as long as they got rid of them at the reptile show—the rescue is primarily for wild animals—so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.)

I guess he needs a new name now... how about “Beau,” since I chose him over a lovely red morph mainly because the rescue workers kept calling him “the ugly one”? After all, he is a perfectly handsome guy IMHO!

It’s good to know the wrinkling isn’t a problem. When I Googled it I kept finding posts saying it meant dehydration, but that definitely seemed a paradox since his poo is so runny. I will keep an eye on his droppings since he’s only been in his home a few days and may be stressed. If it doesn’t harden up, I will take him to the reptile vet near me. Luckily he seems to be settling in well, and he is eating both his veggies and his bugs well, so I’ll cross my fingers that all is healthy!

Sorry to be the king of the poop posts, but I wanted to update with what his poop looks like today, two days after the last (runny) poop and his second poop at his new home.

Definitely plenty of excess water passing through. He isn't dehydrated. The urate looks nice and bright white. Once he gets into a routine and gets a steady diet that should fix itself I'd imagine.

The poo looks perfectly fine now. And yes that dragon looks very much male w/out even doing a tail check. Beau is a very fine name for a handsome boy.

I'm glad things are looking good. I think Beau is a fine name too