Very poorly fed dragon

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LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Recently I took in an adult bearded dragon that has not eaten any protein in a long while. From what I gathered, he's been fed greens like collard and mustard, but only those. This beardie looks very, very thin - can see clearly defined bones by the hips, and the spine is obvious in his tail.

On a plus side, this beardie is still heavily active and alert! He moves around his tank just like a healthy beardie, and when I have fed him with a syringe, he lunges at it as he would an insect, so he has lots of energy.

In preparation, I purchased stage one butternut squash baby food and chicken baby food for when he seemed able to take protein again. I also bought gatorade for electrolytes (wanted pedialyte but couldn't find any). I also ordered critical care.

The intent was the normal 'use critical care and baby food until you can confirm urates are white' and then was going to switch to the chicken baby food, and finally back to live feeders. However, it appears that for as skinny as he is, his urates are actually perfectly fine! Fecal matter is also normal. Where would you recommend I start? Should I forgo the butternut and go straight to chicken baby food to test how he's doing with proteins? Should I try live feeding? Obviously don't want to shock his kidneys, just was surprised at the fact that his bowel movements look fine.

(I do intend on taking him to the vet! But obviously, with everything going on right now, it is difficult to get an appointment, so it may not be for a few days!)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
If he can eat on his own I would let him eat on his own -- but he does need the protein - so w/ that being said I would feed him his dubia roaches and his salads --- the Gatorade too much sugar and if you needed to give it to him water it down alot -- I would not give it to him if hes gonna eat salads -- just wash them before serving and he will get moisture from there -- a balanced diet of worms roaches and salads is going to put him back on track-- I would get some super worms butter worms and some horn worms for him and feed him sparingly as they can get hooked on them -- here is a website for nutrition
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
Unless Tracie or AHBD say different w / what and how to feed I would just try that---
Karrie
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi there,

Could you post a picture of the dragon?

When a dragon has been malnourished for so long, the most important thing starting out is to not over tax the system. This means don't over do it on food or hydration. We've seen dragons crash when fed too much, or allowed to drink too much after months of neglect.

If the dragon will eat live prey, that would still be best. Live prey and a daily salad. I would just make sure you are really limiting the live prey.

What prey do you have available to feed?

That's great that he is being active! Definitely a good sign.

-Brandon
 
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