Adopted a neglected beardie, need help!

[MichelleMyBelle]

While visiting my mom and siblings yesterday, I noticed my brothers bearded dragon was looking very unwell, and begged them to let me take her, so that I can help her have a better life (my poor soul was crumbling just looking at her!). Here is what I know of her life up until last night...

They were feeding her infrequently for who knows how long. Mixed dehydrated veggies that you soak in water, and meal worms. She hasn't had crickets in a while.

Very minimal light, when I was there her light wasn't on at all. No UVB, just a regular household lightbulb.

I'm assuming she's dehydrated, her water bowl was super grimy and they hadn't been misting her. No baths in who knows how long, and her tank was filthy.

She is pretty lethargic, and very skinny. Lots of loose skin, hardly any energy. After handling her for a while, she perked up quite a bit, and now looks around and is semi active when I'm talking to her or visiting her, so that gives me some hope. She has a lump at the base of her tail that really worries me, from what I have read and researched, it seems like it may be MBD

I have no idea where she is on her bowel movements, I haven't seen her have one since I have had her, but none looked fresh in her tank before I cleaned it.

What I've done so far is cleaned her entire cage and everything that goes in it. I've been giving her company, which seems to help. I have veggies in her tank right now, but unfortunately no live critters, as my family only sent me home with meal worms, and I have read that those aren't very healthy for her. Unfortunately I didn't get home with her until pretty late last night, and worked early this morning, so I'm counting down the seconds until I'm off, so I can run to the pet store and get her some yummy crickets, proper lighting and UVB, a multivitamin (I already have the calcium), and thermometers so I can monitor the temp.

My biggest worry right now is her eating. She hasn't shown any interest in the veggies, but I know she needs the nutrients! Does anyone know of a way to get her to eat? Any other suggestions to help her transition and recover would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm doing all the research I can, trying to do everything in my power for this poor girl, but I'm very very worried and heart sick about it

I'll try and get some pictures of her tonight, see if you guys notice anything too alarming from the look of her, and get you a look at the tail lump.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Michelle....you'll get a lot more views + responses if you post this in E.R. It sounds like she needs a lot of help but hopefully the good people here can get her to a healthier state.

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

I will, thanks! For some reason this site confuses me, I just kinda went for it haha

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

While visiting my mom and siblings yesterday, I noticed my brothers bearded dragon was looking very unwell, and begged them to let me take her, so that I can help her have a better life (my poor soul was crumbling just looking at her!). Here is what I know of her life up until last night...

She is about 2 years old.

They were feeding her infrequently for who knows how long. Mixed dehydrated veggies that you soak in water, and meal worms. She hasn't had crickets in a while.

Very minimal light, when I was there her light wasn't on at all. No UVB, just a regular household lightbulb.

I'm assuming she's dehydrated, her water bowl was super grimy and they hadn't been misting her. No baths in who knows how long, and her tank was filthy.

She is pretty lethargic, and very skinny. Lots of loose skin, hardly any energy. After handling her for a while, she perked up quite a bit, and now looks around and is semi active when I'm talking to her or visiting her, so that gives me some hope. She has a lump at the base of her tail that really worries me, from what I have read and researched, it seems like it may be MBD

I have no idea where she is on her bowel movements, I haven't seen her have one since I have had her, but none looked fresh in her tank before I cleaned it.

What I've done so far is cleaned her entire tank and everything that goes in it. I've been giving her company, which seems to help. I have veggies in her tank right now, but unfortunately no live critters, as my family only sent me home with meal worms, and I have read that those aren't very healthy for her. I've misted her a couple times, and she licks it off her cute nose, so that makes me giddy happy haha. Unfortunately I didn't get home with her until pretty late last night, and worked early this morning, so I'm counting down the seconds until I'm off, so I can run to the pet store and get her some yummy crickets, proper lighting and UVB, a multivitamin (I already have the calcium), and thermometers so I can monitor the temp.

My biggest worry right now is her eating. She hasn't shown any interest in the veggies, but I know she needs the nutrients! Does anyone know of a way to get her to eat? Any other suggestions to help her transition and recover would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm doing all the research I can, trying to do everything in my power for this poor girl, but I'm very very worried and heart sick about it

I'll try and get some pictures of her tonight, see if you guys notice anything too alarming from the look of her, and get you a look at the tail lump.
MichelleMyBelle
Newbie Poster

Posts: 2
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

I think I'm going to give her a bath once I'm home tonight, I read that putting pedialyte in the water helps, any feedback on that? Also, I read that baby food can help her eat if she's having issues. Some chicken, green beans, maybe sweet potato. Dropping some on her nose, see if she licks it up. Again, do you guys think that would be ok?

Of course the lighting is a huge concern right now. But there isn't much I can do on that until I'm off work sigh.

I can't stop thinking about her, I just want to get everything I need and help her start to truly recover ASAP! I've almost cried a few times today thinking about it haha, I'm a boob.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad you were able to take her out of that situation and give her a chance. It is important to get her hydrated. I would pick up some feeding syringes and offer her some Oxbow Carnivore Care (you can likely get this from a vet. it comes in a bag of powder that you mix with water). You can also offer some baby food via syringe to provide some hydration and nutrients. I've had good luck with squash and green bean baby food. If she hasn't eaten a lot in a while it may be best to go easy on the live bugs for a bit. Keep track of her weight using a kitchen scale so you can track her progress more easily. Until you are able to get good lighting in place, give her some time outside in natural sunlight if the weather allows for it. The natural sunlight is great for them.

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

I was thinking of doing the baby food thing, but I wasn't sure if I should. I'll definitely try to get the Oxbow Carnivore Care, but with my crazy work hours, it may be hard to get to a vet's office in this upcoming week. I'll definitely try the baby food if I can't get ahold of some, hopefully she will go for it. I want to get crickets to try to reintroduce her to them, maybe 1 or 2 here or there, see if she's interested. But I definitely don't want to make her sick giving too much too fast! I'll have to research a healthy weight, I'm pretty clueless, but keeping track of that is a great idea. Unfortunately the weather here has been overcast and rainy lately. I think it's too cold to have her out, especially if she hasn't had the proper lighting and heat for a while. When I first picked her up yesterday, she was freezing! I'll keep my eye out for good sunny weather tho.

 

[SDragon]

Well done for taking her, ehat is her weight and length?

I would focus on hydration and feeding small amounts, too much protein too quickly could cause problems. I'd use some veg baby food see how she responds to the crickets but only try a couple at first once she is hydrated and has the correct basking temperature. You can worry about getting her eating greens once she is on the road to recovery, feed them to the crickets though.

Bathing and unsweetened pedialyte is a good idea (clean her off after) please note that bathing only works if they drink, the soaking doesn't help in itself. Make sure she can keep her head above water and doesn't aspirate water. If she doesn't drink, keep giving her fluids on her nose. At some stage it would be a hood idea to get a fecal check, however you want to be careful treating a weakened dragon.

If your are somewhere warm some time in direct sunlight outside (not in anything that could overheat) would be good if she has been deprived of uvb. You may need to consult with a vet though. Are her limbs deformed in any way other than the tail lump.

Also it's nice you helping her, and I'm sure she will become very tame, but give her time to recover and interact with her just for food, hydration and maintenance whilst she settles into her new and improved life. She won't have the same concept of company as a human.

 

[CooperDragon]

Sounds good. Don't be too concerned with the actual weight as that varies between dragons. You may want to start a spreadsheet/chart etc just to track her weight every day and watch for trends. If she's responsive to the food then you will probably see a relatively quick uptick and then a gradual leveling off of the weight. You want the trend to increase and be on the lookout for trends of weight loss.

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

Well here is my progress tonight...

I stopped by the store and got some lighting, a reptisun 10 uvb. Unfortunately they only had 18", and I would have preferred bigger because I have a 40 gallon tank, but I figured it was better than nothing. Picked up fixtures to mount it in the tank, and got it all set up. Thermometers are added, Crickets are stocked and hooked up with some greens to start fattening them up for Lizzy.

I tried feeding her some baby food, and it took a while to get her interested. Finally she started licking at it, I found the best way was to glob some on a toothpick and feed it to her as she licked (very carefully of course, and not with the tip!) But even then her licks seemed.. Weak is the best way I can describe it. I have to be honest, it made my heart heavy! Another alarming thing, I noticed the tip of her tongue is white with a black spot in the middle. Does anyone know what that could be? It has me insanely worried

After her messy meal, which she ate a decent amount of, I gave her a bath with some Pedialyte. She was nervous at first, but calmed down quickly. She eventually started drinking, and continued for a couple solid minutes.

Small victories, but I hope they are the first of many!

I took quite a bit of photos, which I'll post next. Pictures of her tail, a leg I'm worried about, her back, etc. But I also took some short videos of her eating and drinking, showing her tongue better. Does anyone know how I post the videos?

I forgot to pick up a scale to weigh her, but I'll try to do that soon. I feel like her belly already looked a little fuller after dinner, so hopefully the food and water helped some.

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

I'm embarrassed to admit I have no idea how big she is and how much she weighs. I've only had her for 24 hours, and all my time has been taken with work and trying to get her settled. I'm wanting to measure and weigh her soon tho.

I got the uvb setup done tonight. I fed her some baby food, which took a while just to get her interested. When she finally started licking, they were very slow links, and I noticed the tip of her tongue is white, which freaks me out! Should I be worried? She ended up eating a decent amount tho, or at least I think so. I'm not really sure what to expect from her while she's feeling bad, so I'm happy with the progress.

I then gave her a bath with Pedialyte. She was nervous at first, but calmed down pretty quickly. After a bit, she ended up drinking for a couple solid minutes. Small victories, but I'm grateful.

I took a few photos, I'll post those next. I took video of her eating and drinking, and it shows her white tongue a bit better, so I'll have to figure out how to post those!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor girl, she is lucky you took her home!
The end of their tongue's are normally a whitish/grayish color so no worries there.
Remember to go slowly with feeding too many feeders so her kidneys have time to adjust since she hasn't been fed well for awhile.
Which UVB did you gett for her? The lump at the base of her tail is most likely an indicator of metabolic bone disease. I would gget calcium into her 4-5 days per week to try & get her levels up.

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

Her skinny stomach, sorry the pic isn't great!

Her front arms and shoulders. Both her front arms have a lump, and her left shoulder concerns me. It seems like it protrudes where the other doesn't.

Her lumpy, crooked tail

A close up of her right arm, which concerns me the most. It seems like she lays on it funny almost all the time

Here's a top view of her

Her first poop! Happened while I was at work yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it looks unhealthy, dang it. But I guess to be expected

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

I gave her one cricket this morning, and she actually ate it! She isn't very mobile, she is laying down constantly, and when she does move, she kinda drags herself along. I'm hoping it is in large because of an energy/weakness issue, but it definitely makes me nervous. So because of that, I gave her the cricket with some tweezers. When I opened the tank and she saw what was going on, she got all excited haha, started wiggling around. Only the one tho, I'm nervous to do too much more. I may try for one more again tonight, but mostly stick with the baby food for now. Could I put the calcium powder in with the baby food? I'm wanting to get her started on that ASAP, but I'm not feeding her enough crickets currently to get it to her that way.

I got a Reptisun 10 UVB. Only an 18", that's all they had. I would have preferred a little bigger, because I've got a 40 gallon tank, but I figured it was better than nothing. I'm still trying to get the overall temp in the tank up to standards, it may take a bit of playing to get it right.

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

A view of her skinny stomach, not the best quality picture

Her front arms and shoulders. Both front arms have a lump, and her left shoulder concerns me, it seems like it protrudes quite a bit, where the other doesn't at all.

Her lumpy, crooked tail

Her right arm, which worries me the most. Of course the lump, but it seems like she lays on it funny almost all the time

Here is just a general top view of her

Her first poop! Happened yesterday while I was at work. Unfortunately, I'm pretty confidant it's unhealthy, dang it. But I guess to be expected.

She isn't very mobile. She moves around very minimally, and when she does, she kinda scoots, I have yet to see her pick herself up. I'm hoping with time that will get at least a little better, but I can't help but worry. I fed her a cricket this morning, just the one. Since she isn't up for hunting, I fed it to her with tweezers. When she saw what was going on, she got excited and started wiggling around haha, too cute! It was a proud mama moment I may try for one more tonight, but I'm going to go mostly with the baby food for a while, and maybe she will start to eat her greens soon. Could I put her calcium in the baby food I feed her in the meantime? I'm antsy for her to start getting more calcium, especially with my fears of MBD, but I'm not feeding her enough crickets yet to do it that way.