Adopted an unwanted dragon

[Magicmed]

Hello everyone I was given an adult beardie tonight, a coworkers kid didn't pay attention to him anymore. I've been considering a beardie for a long time now and I've done a lot of research on them and the opportunity arose so I took him in. Now right off the bat I was a little upset with the Conditions he was in. He did have a uvb and basking bulb, but sadly he had been housed in a 15 gallon aquarium for his entire life from what I was told. The biggest tank I had on hand for him tonight was a 30 gallon, but I've actually got a deal on a 120 gallon tomorrow off craigslist, so that problem will be solved in the morning. I do however have a few concerns. First and foremost is every now and then he will "shiver" his head. It's not a head bob, just fast vibrations of only the head. It seems to not happen as much when I'm not near the tank, but I may just not be noticing it from a distance. Before he was given to me he was fed on crickets and rep-cal adult bearded dragon food, I don't believe fresh veggies were offered so possibly a vitamin deficiency? I'm really hoping it not a symptom on mbd. He seems to move around fine and I don't see any oddities physically. I would really love your input, vets around here couldn't tell you the difference between a ball python and a Burmese.

One other concern of mine was his personality. I was worried that not having great socialization may be permanent? Don't get me wrong he's not aggressive at all, he wouldn't eat from my hand when I offered, but he tolerated some light petting on his back, no head bobbing or biting, but hes skeptical. I only picked him up to move him to the slightly larger tank and he didn't care for that at all. Squirmed and did not appreciate being picked up. Is this behavior something that can be altered late in a beardies life? Could he learn to trust and befriend me? Or is it too late? I don't know exactly how old he is but he seems rather large. About 16 to 18 inches and a big head on him.

Thank you everyone for reading and giving me your input. I really appreciate any advice you experts here can give.

 

[Beardienatic]

Hi! Good job on taking in a beardie that needs help! I'm not sure what the shivers is, but it may take him some - usually between a week and 2 weeks, although it may last a bit longer, so just give him time to adjust - both in terms of his carer and the environment, and space, as he is upgrading from a 15 gallon to 120 gallon. One common tip is to put a t-shirt in his tank that you have worn to get him used to your scent. Are you sure its a male? If not, just beware to look out for egg laying behaviours. Are there any other vets that you could get to? It's highly recommended to take them to the vet about a week after you get them, especially a rescue, to make sure that if there are any health problems you need to know about, you do, so you can give him the right care to make it right again! These are just my opinions and research, someone more qualified might be able to give you better answers. I'm sure you will have many precious memories with him!!

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from Introductions to Health

 

[Magicmed]

Thank you for the move, I apologize for posting it in the wrong section. So does anyone have any advice or opinions on the personality and head shivers?

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Usually the shivers are a sign of a calcium deficiency. What kinds of lights does he have? How are you taking the temps? He needs calcium 3x a week and vitamins 2x a week dusting his feeders. Here is a site most of us go by beautifuldragons.com. It has a color coded chart on what to feed. Congratulations on your beardie

 

[Magicmed]

Thank you much!! I upgraded his tank and noticed his uvb light they gave me with him was a 5.0 so I picked up a nice 4 foot hood and a zoo med uvb 10.0. He also came to me with a 100 watt basking bulb, which I'm guessing will need to go up to a 150 watt with his new tank size and the cold months coming up. I have 3 types of therms in the tank, one digital with probe, one digital acurite ambient temp + humidity meter, and one exo terra dial type (I have other reptiles so I have tons of therms). So I think I have his lighting and heat squared up. I'm still majorly concerned about his diet though. He was being fed crickets dusted in "rep-cal herptivite with beta carotene" can anyone tell me if this is an acceptable dust for a bearded dragon? He was also eating "rep-cal adult bearded dragon food" (the green and red pellets) but the previous owners parents said he did not like them much. I picked up some "zilla omnivore diet" hoping he may take to it, but he wasn't very interested. Any and all comments appreciated! Wanna get this big guy/gal healthy and happy!

 

[CooperDragon]

The Herptivite is fine but it's a multivitamin. That should be used on his bugs maybe once a week. The other bug feedings should be coated in a calcium powder. I'd avoid the packaged foods as they don't contain water for hydration and they have questionable contents. Instead, I'd stick with fresh veges and live bugs. You can gutload the bugs so they eat veges and have a good water content to help with hydration. Providing fresh greens will also help with hydration and providing the best possible nutrients. If he hasn't been getting calcium via dusting, I'd provide salads heavy on the calcium rich items such as collard greens.

 

[Magicmed]

Thank you cooper I appreciate that. I've been reading the recommended foods on beautiful dragons, so would it be acceptable to offer a salad containing 3 or 4 of those green colored ingredients daily? Or should I shoot for more of a variety? And I have been reading a lot of conflicting info as far as insect feeding, how often should I be offering insects? Some sites I've read say daily, some say 2-3 times per week. Pro opinion please?

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah that's plenty. I usually shoot for 2-3 items depending on what I can get fresh at the store. A staple green and then a veg or two and sometimes a bit of fruit as a small garnish for color.

For bugs, it depends on age. The info you're seeing may not be conflicting as much as it's targeted to different age groups. The little ones need LOTS of bugs as they grow. Usually 2-3 meals per day for 10 minutes all they can eat. Out around 12 months that starts to slow (depends on growth rate) so 1-2 bug meals per day is fine. As adults at 18-24 months and beyond they are mainly vegetarians so a nice big salad every day or two is fine and then bugs a couple few times per week. Adults need about 80% veg and 20% (ish) bug/protein. Since your guy is an adult, I'd focus on a nice well balanced veg diet and then rotate bugs in. It's good to have a staple bug like dubia roaches or crickets but it's also good to mix in some variety like silk worms and the occasional hornworm.

 

[Magicmed]

Ok so today he got some collard greens, some alfalfa, and I threw in some yellow and red bell peppers for some color. I also put just a few superworms in his salad, he's kinda skinny I was hoping a little fat would help. Dusted rather heavily with calcium as advised. He didn't seem very interested in his salad but after some hesitation took a superworm. Hoping he goes back and munches on the salad.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'd keep the salads fresh every day so he gets used to them. It will take some time for him to adjust to them most likely but it sounds like you're offering some good stuff! Keep rotating and eventually you'll find a favorite of his.

 

[Magicmed]

Thank you cooper I really appreciate that. I have actually wanted a beardie for a very long time, I was always just very intimidated by the care requirements, I always assumed it would cost a ton to get every thing set up for one and that feeding would be really difficult , so I stayed with my ball python, crestie, and fish. I learned about this guy and knew he needed some help, and to my delight, I only have about 200 into his 120 gallon setup, lighting, and suppliments, and feeding isnt as bad as i thought as far as selecting proper food. Thank you craigslist and beautifuldragons lol. Can you recommend a good staple insect? I've heard good things about dubia, but I would really like something I can order and keep a larger quantity of to save on trips to the petstore, and I believe dubia have a short lifespan? Also maybe a recommendation to safely fatten him up? Once again thank you for all the help

 

[Magicmed]

I took a picture of the big guy this morning, I'm sure you can see why I'm worried about him being too skinny. And I'm sure it frustrates you folks just as much as it did me knowing he was in a 15 gallon. The previous owners said he's 4-6 years old and aside from the obvious problems, he's actually
Quite a sweetheart. He's vigorously eating superworms, and he will occasionally grab a bite or two of salad, hoping he takes to it more over time. I was hoping you folks could kind of look him over and tell me if there's anything I might want to be worried about. (I would like to give him a bath but with his health and new surroundings with the chilly weather we have had I figured I shouldn't)

So here he is, the so far unnamed beardie!

 

[CooperDragon]

Dubia roaches are a great staple. You can keep them in a tank or large rubbermaid bin and they will start a colony. I've had mine for over a year now and they're going strong. They are much tougher than crickets are and they're easier to care for in my opinion. If I had to choose, I'd use them as a staple bug.

He does look a bit skinny and dehydrated. I'm glad he has a good home now. Offer him plenty of water dropped onto his nose or try warm baths once he's settled in a bit to give him a chance to drink. Keep up with the bugs and fresh salads and he should start to put on weight.

 

[Magicmed]

Just wanted to give an update, he seems to be doing very well, I have been offering him fresh salads every day, but I noticed he eats much more salad when its not dusted heavily, I have been offering 5 or 6 superworms each day and he seems to LOVE the worms even with a healthy dusting of calcium or vitamins, so I have taken to dusting the worms and putting them in his salad, he grabs a few bits of the salad when he goes for the worms and I notice the amount of salad left at the end of the day gets a little smaller every day.

His tremors have not stopped completely but they seen to have decreased in severity and frequency which makes me very optimistic. His poop looks pretty healthy from what I've seen, solid, dark, with urates, nothing runny. His personality is AMAZING for what he's been through. He's no longer squirmy or skittish when he's handled, hes very chill and he will just sit on my leg when I watch tv. In the tank his activity level seems to have increased, he is more responsive to things like food and me turning on his uvb and day bulb in the morning. It's amazing to me to see this much improvement in just one week. It really says something about these animals.