Neglected Beardie in Bad Shape

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Hey everyone, I adopted a beardie this morning who's frankly in terrible shape. I already have a dragon of my own so I kmow the basics of care but I wanted to ask abour special care for very ill dragons. To my understanding, she had hardly been fed anything but superworms and didn't have a water bowl or gey any soaks.
About her, she moves with a distinct wobble and when she does walk it's in circles. She's incredibly skinny and drank a large amount of water when I gave her a soak. I also offered her some food when I got her home, which she ate with some trouble (because of that wobble I mentioned) but she pooped that food out almost entirely undigested, along with some superworm exoskeleton and a lot of water (it was also red, but I think that was because I fed her a raspberry, at least I hope it's that.)
The tank she came in was unheated and had no uvb but I moved her into a tank with a heat lamb and uvb light. Her basking spot is about 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the cool side is closer to 80.
Basically, I just want to know if I should give her special care, and what the care is if I do, or just treat her like my other beardie? And does it sound like she needs to go to the vet? Thanks everyone, I'm really scared for her but hopeful she'll make a recovery. I can post some images and video of her I'm just not sure how to yet.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at top of message box and post
It sounds like you are off to a great start -- her drinking is going to kick the appetite in along w/ the proper UVB lighting and basking temps- others on here will haft to weigh in on what exactly to do w/ the feeding - but for sure go slow - she hasnt been fed properly and I would not give her any fruit at this point --- if she can eat on her own that is good - I would get the basking temp up tho to around 97 or higher 105 --- I would feed her in small meals -- you dont want to overwhelm her w/ food - if you can make her cool side over night to around 80 that would be good --- do you have a heat emitter ?
Karrie
 

Drache613

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Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That is too bad your rescue is in such bad shape. Take it very slow with her so you don't
shock her system with too much too soon. Since she has been fed such a limited diet &
is likely dehydrated, I highly recommend getting her on daily fluids with a low protein diet.
That way, you can determine how well her kidneys are doing, & help hydrate her initially.
I hope she is able to eat on her own though.
Definitely post some pictures of her along with her tank setup just so we can see her physical
condition.
Can she walk & climb normally?
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Lots of small meals , careful with the protein ( build up s-l-o-w-l-y to ensure the kidneys don't get a sudden overload).

HerpaBoost is great for this kind of situation.
 

GoliathusRegius

Member
Original Poster
Thanks everyone, I ordered some repta boost, it should be here tommorow. She didn't seem interested in the salad I gave her, so I syringe fed her a tiny bit of squash baby food and she seemed to like that. I've been giving her daily baths and she's been drinking a lot every time. She's also been basking a lot, although it seems like it's too bright for her cause her eyes are always closed. Hopefully they'll adjust soon. I also noticed she's missing a toenail, poor girl!
The wobbling seems a little less, although she still can't walk without going in a circle. She can climb a little bit but needs me to put her feet on her basking branch before she get up on it.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

The Reptaboost should really help her out a lot. I am sure the baby food syringing will help
her out. Most of them tend to really like the squash varieties also. That's great she has been
drinking in her bath too, hopefully that will hydrate her up some too.
Is her toe infected from losing a toenail, or not?
Since she is a little wobbly, try to minimize the distance for basking for her so she doesn't have
to climb too much to bask. I hope she continues to get better for you.
Keep us posted on her.

Tracie
 

GoliathusRegius

Member
Original Poster
The toe doesn't look infected, I think that injury happened years ago.
I gave her some reptaboost yesterday, and this morning she ate a small piece of collard greens after I syringe fed her a little bit of baby food. She's also opening her eyes more so I think she's adjusting to the brighter light.
She hasn't pooped since the first very watery poop, should I be worried? My other beardie poops every day to every other day so it seems like a bit long of a time to not poop to me. I do massage her belly when she gets her baths, which helps Blaze to poop but that hasn't done anything so far.
 

GoliathusRegius

Member
Original Poster
86335-8888121605.jpg
Nevermind, she pooped right after I said that, lol.
It looked mostly normal but there's what looks like salt sized lumps in it? Not sure what it is, I froze the poop (in our empty freezer) just in case, does anyone have any ideas?
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

The urate looks a bit hard. Do you know what type of substrate she was on previously?
How is she doing today, have you gotten some food into her pretty easily? That is great she
did eat some greens with some baby food, hopefully she will start to get more energy real
soon.
If the toe isn't infected, then it will be fine. It sounds like it has healed up without any trouble.
A lot of dragons lose toes & manage perfectly without a toe.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie
 
GoliathusRegius":14f2q6vs said:
Thanks everyone, I ordered some repta boost, it should be here tommorow. She didn't seem interested in the salad I gave her, so I syringe fed her a tiny bit of squash baby food and she seemed to like that. I've been giving her daily baths and she's been drinking a lot every time. She's also been basking a lot, although it seems like it's too bright for her cause her eyes are always closed. Hopefully they'll adjust soon. I also noticed she's missing a toenail, poor girl!
The wobbling seems a little less, although she still can't walk without going in a circle. She can climb a little bit but needs me to put her feet on her basking branch before she get up on it.

My 6 year old beardie we rescued him last year. We were not told the whole truth about his care.
He was never given greens, veggies or fruit. He was only given super worms not even crickets.
He was underweight but not as bad as your beardie.
After a long month of trying everything out I ended up using Reptaboost. We loves it. I tried adding veggies and such. No luck. I now have to add baby food to the reptaboost using a syringe. He has been eating this over a year now he has gained a good amount of weight.
You may end up with a special beardie who needs the extra attention.
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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