A Weird Tale and a Mystery History

[Coyoteskip]

Hi! I got my first beardie Charm back in April of this year from a previous owner who had posted him (her? Who knows!) on Craigslist. According to her, he was approaching a year old, ate everything in sight, and had no previous health issues. I'm now not so sure she was honest with me, and have no way of contacting her. Before I go further, I am in the process of becoming a new client at an Exotics vet, so Charm will be checked out soon.

Charm took over a month to fully settle in with me; during that time, he didn't have much of an appetite and pooped rarely to the point I was panicky. But since he's gotten comfortable, things changed for the better. Behavior-wise, Charm seems great. He's energetic and curious, if not a bit quick to puff his beard and hiss (though he calms down almost immediately and allows me to handle him if I scoop him properly). He also poops regularly and just completed his first shed with me (yay!) But I have two concerns:

One: Although the previous owner said he'd eat anything put in front of him, I've found he really only goes for live Phoenix worms. Once he's snapped up all the living worms, he'll then accept some handfed dried grasshoppers and crickets, but getting him to regularly eat any veg/fruit has been a no-go. As a consequence, I'm a little concerned about his hydration. I do bathe him, drip water on his nose, and have started pre-soaking the worms, but would love to know if there's a trick to getting some greens into him!

Two: my greater concern is his tail. I've researched tail rot and am decently certain (again, getting that vet appointment!) he doesn't have an active case of it, but after seeing images of other beardies' tails I've realized Charm's looks different. His tailtip is blunted, almost like a piece was cut off at some point, and the last inch or so of his tail is definitely duller, and seems significantly darker in water (though he doesn't love baths and I wonder if he's just darkening out of irritation). I've attached a photo of his dry tail (as well as a couple of him lounging) and am hoping someone on here can give their thoughts. Is it possible he has or has had tail rot at some point in the past and the former owner neglected to tell me? Should I be worried? Again, he seems happy and active, and I'd like him to stay that way.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Lobretto]

For question one, you just gotta keep offering it. Put a salad in in the morning and leave it most of the day. At his age he shoukd definitely be eating his fair share of greens. Have you tried things like repashy beardie buffet? Sometimes something like that will help the transition. If all else fails stop feeding bugs for a couple days and eventually he will get hungry and give in. This works better on adult dragons as skipping a few meals isn't a big deal for a non growing adult.

For question 2, looks like he had his tail nipped by a sibling as a baby. Very common to see beardies missing the tip of their tail, toes, even limbs on occasion from aggressively feeding siblings. I see nothing that would make me think tail rot. Remember tail rot is necrotic, the tail is dieing and rotting it aways. It is very very common to have the tail of a young dragon be a different shade then the rest of the body, they shed their tail less often then their body so it always seems to be shedding and dual when the rest of the body is nice a vibrant.

 

[xp29]

I agree with Lobretto, it looks like a tail nip( it looks like it healed well so nothing to worry about)
As far as the greens you can try adding bee pollen, it can be bought on amazon or sometimes local reptile stores.
Hydration can be tricky beardies are incredibly stubborn. I use an eye dropper with mine. I mix in just a little bit of NONE citrus fruit punch to give it a little flavor. It works more than it doesn't. Two thoughts on the dropper. 1 be careful not to aspirate them with it. Go as slow as needed. 2 keep a wet paper towel on hand to wipe their faces afterwards. You don't want to take a change the juice causes bacteria to start growing in their scales.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

There are a lot of dragons that have had initial tail nips due to bites from tank mates, etc. It
looks like it has healed up really well! Your tank looks really nice, he has to be happy with his
surroundings there.
They can be very picky with greens. As suggested, try the bee pollen sprinkled onto it. You can
also try mincing up some squash, apple or bell peppers, for variety. Give him time & keep trying
with the vegetation & hopefully he will start eating more of it.
He definitely doesn't have tail rot though, it has healed up well!

Tracie