Adopted 10 yr old Henry, need tips on care.

[sjcksnmnusa]

I brought Henry home from the Herp. Soc. mtg two weeks ago. His daytime house is a tank that is 11" w x 18"h x 30"l and has a basking area and stone tile substrate. At night I move him and his basking rock into a smaller container which has a constant temp. He seems to like the set up. He is ten years old, very thin, looks like he has some tail rot or yellow fungus going on. He is in a separate room from my other dragons and I am very vigilant about disinfecting everything and avoiding cross contamination. His first poop was mostly ground walnut shells and no sign of normal poop, just a little bit of urates. His second day he ate about 40 crickets, he was starving. Then his appetite dropped, and after a few days his tail looked pinched toward the end. He has a yellow cast to his ridges on his head. I started him on baby food chicken and liquids as soon as he stopped wanting crickets so he would have nutrition and not get dehydrated. He has been on that for three days but this morning he was very alert so I gave him a few 3/8" crickets which he snapped up so I fed him until he was full. He is pooping every day and it looks clear of shells or anything that should not be there. I'm not sure what to do about the fungus. At his age and health condition, I don't think he can tolerate harsh treatments. He only weighs 250 grams and is 15 1/2". He is very wiry and moves well but has thin legs and the skin seems stretched over his skull. You can see his backbone all the way down to the end of his tail. I want to keep him comfortable and as healthy as possible for as long as he has. I have no experience with elderly dragons, so any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....how nice of you to take in this poor fellow. It's a good sign that he's eating, thankfully he did not vomit up what you gave him, since a starved animal can have kidney trouble if too much protein is introduced too quickly. Offer a smaller amount of crickets or feeders for the first week or so to avoid problems, but he should be fine. Offer all the good greens of course....if you have other beardies then you know what they love. You will want to offer extra water with baby food every day for a while since he's probably very dehydrated. If he was full of walnut shells, you can be sure he was not properly hydrated. Bathing is iffy when they have yellow fungus....you might get some Betadine and dilute it until it looks like weak tea and let him soak a bit, but don't let him drink it. If it seems that he wants to drink in the bath, then give him a clean water bath before the betadine bath. Then pat him dry + apply Lamisil or Lotrimin to the fungus areas. If he seems to get frightened or agitated by a bath, then just do it once a week so as not to stress him at his age. Be sure to be extra careful to take care of him AFTER you do the healthy dragons to lesson the chance of them becoming infected. So there are a few tips.....and please post some pics when you can !

 

[sjcksnmnusa]

Thanks for the info. Where do I get the betadine? I have been giving Henry fluids with his chicken. I am feeding him a little bit twice a day so he digest his food better. It is hard to get him to stay in the basking range. He seems to like 80 - 85 rather than a higher temp. He stays in the same range at night so he doesn't get stressed. I have been taking care of him last and also have a separate bath setup for him. I'll get pictures up as soon as I can. Figured out how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer today. Wanted a point and shoot camera for Christmas and got one with lots of bells and whistles and not very good directions. Ah Well.

 

[Esther19]

You can get Betadine at the drug store, and probably at WalMart. The generic name is povidone iodine.