New to Dragons - Meet Rocky

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velvettte

New member
Dear All,
After much pestering, we allowed our daughter to get a Central Australian Bearded dragon. She saved up money, then we were advised that given our inexperience with lizards, we would be better served buying an adult lizard as there are copious numbers on swap/buy/sell websites (gumtree here in Australia) - or through an animal rescue site (RSPCA). So.... we did. We found one for sale with its enclosure - after a few missed opportunities - so when the guy said it was available - we agreed to buy it 'unseen'.

The seller was special needs, and didn't have great communication skills - and my husband and daughter didn't know what they were looking at. When I got home - I saw that the front feet were turned outwards, the lizard walks on his forearms predominently. We took him to the vet (a specialist in reptiles) the very next day - he said that all things considered, our lizard is in reasonable health. Was probably subjected to poor nutrition as a juvenile (he is pretty small) and his front feet are likely a genetic abnormality from poor breeding, rather than MBD (which was what I was worried about ). So now we need to work on his enclosure to give him a flatter basking area.. and learn all we can about lizards! Kind of feel like we bought a 'rescue' unintentionally - but now we just need to make the best of it... His name is "Rocky" :)
106959-2095538173.jpg
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Welcome to the forum and its good you have come here for help w/ Rocky----- a lot of people on here the moderators can help you alot--- for one we need to start out w/ Rockys set up his husbandry- can you post pics of his tank and lighting and what kind of decor is in there please--- does he have a hard time getting around - we can help w/ placement of decor for him so hes not straining to get to his UVB and basking areas--
Karrie
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
Hello, and welcome to the website! :)

From what you described, Your Beardie's condition is almost the exact same as one of my rescues. In which he previously had a bad case of MBD as a juvenile which also caused him to be a bit on the smaller side and have sorta deformed limbs and everything.And his back legs are locked in a permanently closed position so he kinda wobbles around.

He is perfectly healthy now and gets around well, but he will always be a bit deformed but it doesn't really bother him at all.

What I've been doing so far that has been greatly helping him get healthier and improve is that I've been giving him calcium every other day in his food, Gave him a Proper UVB (Reptisun 10.0 T5HO) that is on for 12-14 hours a day, I give him Liquid calcium or Calcivet every now and then, I keep him on a paper towel substrate and have mostly easy to climb things in his tank, and I shower him in love daily.

So I'd say your Beardie will still have a great chance at living a healthy and normal Beardie life if you give him the proper care and love. :)

Mulder says hello!
View media item 61070View media item 60370
 
I'm a first time beardie mom and unfortunately I can't give too much advice, but I will say Rocky is one of the sharpest beardies I've seen. I mean just give him horns, fangs, and wings and he could have the potential to be a fiery dragon in a fantasy movie. A very handsome boy.
 

velvettte

New member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":o0ifc4zo said:
Welcome to the forum and its good you have come here for help w/ Rocky----- a lot of people on here the moderators can help you alot--- for one we need to start out w/ Rockys set up his husbandry- can you post pics of his tank and lighting and what kind of decor is in there please--- does he have a hard time getting around - we can help w/ placement of decor for him so hes not straining to get to his UVB and basking areas--
Karrie

Hi Karrie and everyone:) thanks for the welcome!
This is Rocky's set up:
106959-9434940693.jpg
It is 3ft x 1.5depth x 2ft high. The basking spot is about 1ft (30cm) below lights.

Here are the lights:
106959-2408131347.jpg
106959-4338375251.jpg
The basking light is a 150watt basking UVA light in a dome, sitting on the metal mesh top. At the same end of the enclosure is the bar UVB light with shield - again on top of the mesh

The decor is a bit improvised - The substrate is a green felt type material recommended by pet shop as easy to clean etc(actually I think this causes some issues with his forearm scales catching/sticking to it like velcro). We felt the basking platform was not close enough to the heat/uvb, so I have just raised it with bricks. I also cut off the thinner branches of the log as impractical.

This kind of shows what I did:
106959-8754034447.jpg
106959-9483687882.jpg
Rocky's favourite place is actually off the back of the platform in this almost upright position.
106959-8626136267.jpg

With regards to his legs:
106959-730451923.jpg
106959-6148451241.jpg
This is typically him. Everything moves as it should - no impingement of any of the joints or muscles, his front feet just appear to be in the wrong direction. The vet doesn't think it is MBD - and also doesnt think it bothers him. He actually moves really fast, jumps and loves exploring!
Anyway - long post.... :)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The UVB is the most important for Rocky now - what are you using for the UVB ? I see it is a tube what brand and bulb are you using?
Karrie
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Welcome Rocky!
As a new beardie slave, I have no advice but want to say he is quite the handsome boy!
-Dee
 

velvettte

New member
Original Poster
DragonPete":1o2zrnnv said:
Welcome Rocky!
As a new beardie slave, I have no advice but want to say he is quite the handsome boy!
-Dee
Thanks Dee :)

We think he is pretty darn handsome! :D

KarrieRee":1o2zrnnv said:
The UVB is the most important for Rocky now - what are you using for the UVB ? I see it is a tube what brand and bulb are you using?
Karrie

We are in Australia - so not sure how the brands etc compare - a brand new UVB bulb was the first thing we bought though from a pet store that specialises in reptiles - so I have to assume its appropriate. I might ask my other questions about Rocky in other threads ... eg food/shedding/ how to clean their enclosure and with what etc..... :)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
If your UVB is a T 8 it needs to go inside the tank approx 6-8 inches from basking spot - if its a T 5 it can go on the top of screen but then again basking spot needs to be 6-8 inches from basking spot--- inside the tank 12-15 inches from basking spot --------------NO cover over the bulb -- it needs to be exposed -- the screen will filter out 30 % of the rays ----- thus a T 8 is not strong enough to go thru the screen -- you can find the bulb T 8 or T 5 on the bulb itself --
Karrie
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
velvettte":1iw5o2jm said:
KarrieRee":1iw5o2jm said:
Welcome to the forum and its good you have come here for help w/ Rocky----- a lot of people on here the moderators can help you alot--- for one we need to start out w/ Rockys set up his husbandry- can you post pics of his tank and lighting and what kind of decor is in there please--- does he have a hard time getting around - we can help w/ placement of decor for him so hes not straining to get to his UVB and basking areas--
Karrie

Hi Karrie and everyone:) thanks for the welcome!
This is Rocky's set up:
106959-9434940693.jpg
It is 3ft x 1.5depth x 2ft high. The basking spot is about 1ft (30cm) below lights.

Here are the lights:
106959-2408131347.jpg
106959-4338375251.jpg
The basking light is a 150watt basking UVA light in a dome, sitting on the metal mesh top. At the same end of the enclosure is the bar UVB light with shield - again on top of the mesh

The decor is a bit improvised - The substrate is a green felt type material recommended by pet shop as easy to clean etc(actually I think this causes some issues with his forearm scales catching/sticking to it like velcro). We felt the basking platform was not close enough to the heat/uvb, so I have just raised it with bricks. I also cut off the thinner branches of the log as impractical.

This kind of shows what I did:
106959-8754034447.jpg
106959-9483687882.jpg
Rocky's favourite place is actually off the back of the platform in this almost upright position.
106959-8626136267.jpg

With regards to his legs:
106959-730451923.jpg
106959-6148451241.jpg
This is typically him. Everything moves as it should - no impingement of any of the joints or muscles, his front feet just appear to be in the wrong direction. The vet doesn't think it is MBD - and also doesnt think it bothers him. He actually moves really fast, jumps and loves exploring!
Anyway - long post.... :)
Alright so his setup looks good, And he overall looks good too, I'd say he definitely had MBD in the past but he recovered from it and is doing pretty well now. Which is also the same situation for my Dragon.

But as Karrie said, get the UVB underneath the screen and at least 6-8" away from him. That's going to greatly help him by having the best exposure to UVB.

Also since y'all are in Australia I'd recommend getting the Arcadia 12% bulb.
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
Hello,

How is Rocky doing today? I just wanted to check up on him and see how he was doing. :)
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
HippieLizards":2ti0mnc1 said:
Hello,

How is Rocky doing today? I just wanted to check up on him and see how he was doing. :)
Yeah, we want more pictures! :D

-Brandon
 
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