Hi, I have had two bearded since last Summer. Both were previously owned. The first owners for our male were kind and told me about their dragon. He is still a happy fella. Our second bearded dragon was purchased from her owner a few months later. No information about her background or habits. They do live in the tank together and rarely have problems. Every once in a while they get sassy but nothing to talk about and they are usually snuggling for hours. She has laid eggs but I couldn’t tell even through candle-lighting if they were fertile. Today, this is her. I scribbled on the photos. Not sure if you will be able to read them.
She falls over a lot. It’s like she has no strength in her back legs. We thought maybe she had been impacted so with some warm baths and massages it helped her some. Once she laid her last batch of eggs a couple of weeks ago, she has been able to lift her back end up for the first time in a long time. She was army crawling. I think having a rubbery bottom in the tank has helped with that a lot. She can grip it better. But otherwise when she would get herself in a situation, like the other lizard would just turn himself around with his legs and tail strength and she sits like a person with her tail between her legs, like she’s sitting on a couch. And then she falls on her back and needs our help to flip her back over. There has been times when we had been gone and she laid there for who knows how long, beard black and eyes closed, barely breathing. When she walks, she walks on the top part of her back left foot. It doesn't seem to phase her. Her paw looks like it’s going to lose its finger? Her arm is inflamed. She first lost two of her nails and we thought maybe she was swollen because her body was preparing her to grow some new nails. But then things took a wrong turn one day. I'm not sure what changed it or pushed it. Could the skin have not shed properly around her fingers? I noticed her right wrist is also swollen. The spots on her, look like bed sores almost. They have been there for a while and I just thought it was dead skin build up. But then I was googling and reading it could be a disease? I forget what it was called now. Was her tail in a door? I know that sounds like of funny but seriously, what's up with the crooked tail?
From what I have read online, so far, my plan is to get new UVB bulbs. Ours have been gone and we just have really hot bulbs in there right now so they're warm. I don't have a thermometer attached to the tank. I've been going by how the lizards act and look. If they're dark they're cold, if they have their mouth open, they're hot. The tank is a 90 gallon that they share. Substrate at the moment is wood shavings. I put a rubber mat underneath them to help her get some grip while walking. We would like to purchase Vita-Sand but I've been reading up on it, and in the end... what is the RIGHT substrate to use. Because they all sound like they can lead to impaction in the end. They eat a variety of greens chopped up very very small, the bearded dragon buffet stuff you can buy in a container, and some crickets and worms when we buy them, more for a treat. Am I supposed to be putting a calcium powder over top of their worms? Dried food too? We read calcium may help her hind end situation. The warm baths and massaging help her poop every time and that alone helps her pick her back end up from the ground significantly. I'm hoping with the above changes in their tank that she will overall improve. Her foot and arm are bothering me though. I have no idea what she went through at her previous home. I was passed her through the door with a 'she eats whatever, whenever' and that was pretty much it.
Anyway that’s enough of a story I will post the pics, they hopefully speak for themselves. We were told she was around 3 years old. I thought I'd try a warm bath with a tooth brush to get any loose scales off or encourage them to shed if that needs to be done. Betadine warm water solution for her foot? 2 or 3 x a day for as long as she will let me with a minimum goal of 5 minutes? Seems like a good amount of time for soaking. I don't have raw honey anywhere local near me, what else could I use to put on afterwards and what do I use to wrap it? I could put newspaper or tissue paper or something in the tank and take the wood shavings out. But I need something on the bottom to help her have grip. It's like watching someone on a treadmill otherwise. She goes nowhere.
She falls over a lot. It’s like she has no strength in her back legs. We thought maybe she had been impacted so with some warm baths and massages it helped her some. Once she laid her last batch of eggs a couple of weeks ago, she has been able to lift her back end up for the first time in a long time. She was army crawling. I think having a rubbery bottom in the tank has helped with that a lot. She can grip it better. But otherwise when she would get herself in a situation, like the other lizard would just turn himself around with his legs and tail strength and she sits like a person with her tail between her legs, like she’s sitting on a couch. And then she falls on her back and needs our help to flip her back over. There has been times when we had been gone and she laid there for who knows how long, beard black and eyes closed, barely breathing. When she walks, she walks on the top part of her back left foot. It doesn't seem to phase her. Her paw looks like it’s going to lose its finger? Her arm is inflamed. She first lost two of her nails and we thought maybe she was swollen because her body was preparing her to grow some new nails. But then things took a wrong turn one day. I'm not sure what changed it or pushed it. Could the skin have not shed properly around her fingers? I noticed her right wrist is also swollen. The spots on her, look like bed sores almost. They have been there for a while and I just thought it was dead skin build up. But then I was googling and reading it could be a disease? I forget what it was called now. Was her tail in a door? I know that sounds like of funny but seriously, what's up with the crooked tail?
From what I have read online, so far, my plan is to get new UVB bulbs. Ours have been gone and we just have really hot bulbs in there right now so they're warm. I don't have a thermometer attached to the tank. I've been going by how the lizards act and look. If they're dark they're cold, if they have their mouth open, they're hot. The tank is a 90 gallon that they share. Substrate at the moment is wood shavings. I put a rubber mat underneath them to help her get some grip while walking. We would like to purchase Vita-Sand but I've been reading up on it, and in the end... what is the RIGHT substrate to use. Because they all sound like they can lead to impaction in the end. They eat a variety of greens chopped up very very small, the bearded dragon buffet stuff you can buy in a container, and some crickets and worms when we buy them, more for a treat. Am I supposed to be putting a calcium powder over top of their worms? Dried food too? We read calcium may help her hind end situation. The warm baths and massaging help her poop every time and that alone helps her pick her back end up from the ground significantly. I'm hoping with the above changes in their tank that she will overall improve. Her foot and arm are bothering me though. I have no idea what she went through at her previous home. I was passed her through the door with a 'she eats whatever, whenever' and that was pretty much it.
Anyway that’s enough of a story I will post the pics, they hopefully speak for themselves. We were told she was around 3 years old. I thought I'd try a warm bath with a tooth brush to get any loose scales off or encourage them to shed if that needs to be done. Betadine warm water solution for her foot? 2 or 3 x a day for as long as she will let me with a minimum goal of 5 minutes? Seems like a good amount of time for soaking. I don't have raw honey anywhere local near me, what else could I use to put on afterwards and what do I use to wrap it? I could put newspaper or tissue paper or something in the tank and take the wood shavings out. But I need something on the bottom to help her have grip. It's like watching someone on a treadmill otherwise. She goes nowhere.