I need some advice

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I rescued a 15 year old dragon from an owner who was giving her away on Craigslist. I thought she must be in decent condition with decent care if she’s lived to be so old, and I wanted to take her in since she probably doesn’t have much time left and it’s really sad that they have to give her away.

I took her in and quickly realized this was a very bad situation. The owner wasn’t even there, and had random friends taking care of her. I was given all of her things which were dirty (on ad it said they’d be cleaned) and 50% of the stuff was completely useless.

So apparently this woman had only had Ethel for a couple years, and she “rescued” her from a man who gave her no heat source and fed her only lettuce. I’m not sure when or if she’s ever had uvb in her life, in my opinion I think she’d be more deformed if she had really never ever had it.

The things they gave me were dusty calcium powders that hadn’t been touched in years, a red heat bulb with a dome fixture, a household bulb, dragon pellets, a turtle shell she cannot climb onto, dirty food bowl that I had to throw away immediately, and dirty reptile carpet that doesn’t even cover the full bottom of the tank. She told me she’s been keeping the red bulb on 24 hours a day...

She has a large chunk of her tail missing due to an infection from a bad shed, she’s supposedly been to the vet for it but it looks like it might still be infected. Her front legs and paws are very stiff and she walks on them like a gorilla with the top of her paw bent down and placed on the ground. She had pretty bad diarrhea her first night here, and she has overgrown raptor claws that get stuck in the reptile carpet. She’s also obese.

Now I didn’t realize this was going to be a rescue, so it’s taking me a couple days to get things together. I got her a huge uvb light the size of the enclosure and I have it shining inside the tank without screen covering it, I got her a basking bulb that I had as a spare for my beardie, and I ordered new reptile carpet that will fit properly and accessories that are accessible to her (they have steps) so she can bask.
I also am feeding her canned silk worms because there is absolutely no way she could catch live prey. I haven’t given her any protein yet though because she’s very overfed so all she’s had is my personal salad mix, since I figure I’ll be feeding her protein twice a week with salad every day except for one or two days where she isn’t fed at all (obese diet).

She has a vet appointment this week so I can see what needs to be done, but I wanted to ask you guys.

Am I on the right track? What else should I be doing/what are my next steps? I have no idea how she’s still alive but she can walk, she just has trouble getting around and can’t climb but still tries to. She’s prone to falling over I’ve learned since I got her (Thursday night) so I’m keeping things minimal in her tank. She also tries to eat fake plants if they have the fabric type leaves. Please leave any advice you have for Ethel’s enclosure or my care for her below, I’m new to caring for elderly/disabled dragons and am trying my best from my knowledge of dragon care.
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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
What kind of UVB did you get or have for her? I would feed her good salad mix here is a website for you to give you ideas -- •
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
The falling over is probably from calcium deficiency is my guess but I would keep her low or maybe get a ramp of some sort for her to climb to her basking area--- what are her basking temps at? and how are you taking them? There are others on here like Tracie and AHBD that have a lot of experience w/ disabled sick dragons--- they can help you out more than I w/ what to do w/ her and how to get her back on track -
Karrie
 

Bartleby218

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3nbn1v6f said:
What kind of UVB did you get or have for her? I would feed her good salad mix here is a website for you to give you ideas -- •
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
The falling over is probably from calcium deficiency is my guess but I would keep her low or maybe get a ramp of some sort for her to climb to her basking area--- what are her basking temps at? and how are you taking them? There are others on here like Tracie and AHBD that have a lot of experience w/ disabled sick dragons--- they can help you out more than I w/ what to do w/ her and how to get her back on track -
Karrie
Thanks! And I got her a reptisun 5.0 34 inch for the time being (no screen mesh over it) and have a 10.0 coming, the 10.0 I thought I had (as a spare) is actually 36 inches and doesn’t fit my fixture. Her basking spot is at a 105 at its peak and stays around 100 and I use a temp gun to tell. And yes I’ve taken away accessories in the tank that were making her fall and I’ve bought a basking spot with shallow steps. She can climb a log well, but there’s many things that made her fall over when she tried to climb them. I’m not new to dragon care but I am new to disabled dragons so I know how to create the ideal environment just not the best one for her specific case.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok so it sounds good - I will let others chime in here as I am not an expert either-- so it sounds like your on the right track w/ her
Karrie
 

SPandS

Juvie Member
How is she doing? Has she been to the vet yet? She looks pretty healthy in the pics, doesn't look obese either but maybe it's just the pics? If you feel comfortable doing it you can trim her nails, just make sure you don't cut the quick. It's the blood line in their nails. If you look close enough you should be able to see it. If you don't feel comfortable cutting them you could get a piece of rough tile that will slowly file them down if she's able to walk normally.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Poor girl is on the chubby side but not TOO bad, the way you described the feet sounds like joint damage due to MBD. The worst part is the tail. It looks like infection is creeping up under the scales and if that;'s so it can be deadly. You have a good experienced reptile vet to see her ?
 

Bartleby218

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":qfe9kv8s said:
Poor girl is on the chubby side but not TOO bad, the way you described the feet sounds like joint damage due to MBD. The worst part is the tail. It looks like infection is creeping up under the scales and if that;'s so it can be deadly. You have a good experienced reptile vet to see her ?
Yes I already did and her tail is fine but she did have mbd. She’s already starting to walk normally without the gorilla walk but she’s a lot chubbier in person - my other beardie was said to be obese and she’s bigger than he was. But she’s on the right track now I’ll post a picture of her in her new tank!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Glad to hear shes doing good --- your not using that red bulb are you?
Karrie
 

Bartleby218

Member
Original Poster
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Update: she eats live bugs decently well, and has been to the vet. She has mbd but she’s already starting to walk better because of her uvb and a liquid calcium the vet gave me. She’s on the right track so far! The vet cut her nails and I changed her to tile because I don’t use reptile carpet it’s annoying and seems itchy. Her tail is healed fine it was a little scabby so he picked a few of the scales off, and she has calcisand stains that’s the orange/red color on her tail and feet, the people must’ve gotten rid of the sand right before I got her. Her eyes aren’t damaged, and the biggest issue is the mbd. Thanks guys!
 

Bartleby218

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":zsfrvbfx said:
Glad to hear shes doing good --- your not using that red bulb are you?
Karrie
No lol did you see the pictures? Red bulb was immediately thrown out along with the useless led house bulb
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The UVB did you switch it out to the 10.0 or are you still using the 5.0? I would get the UVB in her tank - the bulb is not strong enough to get thru the screen ---- it should be 6-8 inches from basking area - and I would get something directly under the UVB so she can sit under it and be getting those full effect rays---
Karrie
 

Bartleby218

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":bd0jcimw said:
The UVB did you switch it out to the 10.0 or are you still using the 5.0? I would get the UVB in her tank - the bulb is not strong enough to get thru the screen ---- it should be 6-8 inches from basking area - and I would get something directly under the UVB so she can sit under it and be getting those full effect rays---
Karrie

Please read my full post. The fixture is not over the screen. I don’t need advice on general dragon care as I’ve previously stated - I just needed special needs advice before I went to the vet. Thank you
 
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