Adopted neglected beardie

[dechainechel]

Hi guys, I haven't needed to post anything for awhile. I have a 13mth old girl named Phoenix and she is great. I love being a beardie mom. I recently was shopping Craig's list for a new, bigger cage for my leo, when I ran across an ad that said Lizard+cage=$100. Thinking, "that's scary" I let curiosity get the best of me, and clicked on it. Anyway this couple had to get rid of their 5-yr old male beardie, and his cage. I looked at the pic and thought he looked alright, so I called them. I went to see the beardie, and got very upset! They were obviously starving him and neglecting him. I Talked them down to 50 bucks and took the poor creature home. They didn't have a heat or UVB light on him at all! He was very agressive at first with me and my boyfriend, but he never bit us. It has been a little over a month now and he is beautiful! He is sweet unless our female is around, and has gained a very healthy amount of weight. He is doing so well
I have too concerns that you guys can hopefully help me with:
1. He almost always beards us, not black, just puffed out, whenever we first go up to his cage. I've never owned a male, is this normal?
2. He has a weird lump behind his front leg. It is solid to the touch, but doesn't seem to bother him. Should I be worried? The vet didn't notice it when we brought him in, but he's filled out a lot since then. I'll try to post a pic.
Look right behind his front elbow. It is poking out in a weird way. sorry for the bad pic.

Dragon after his first bath, he was soooo sweet, I wanted to share!

Thanks for any help or advice, I'll go back to the vet as soon as possible, but I'm super poor right now, and x-rays are expensive!

 

[vickson420]

Hi
I am sorry those pics didnt come through but I will try to help either way.I am guessing since he had no uvb/heat then it is possible that the bone either broke or was deformed because of MBD(metabollic bone disease).Did the vet do any bloodwork?What was his diagnosis at the time in general?
As for the puffing its most likely just because he still doesnt quite feel comfortable around you guys just yet.Give it time he will calm down eventually.They do generally puff out when they are scared or generally unhappy.Occasionally they puff out just to stretch as well.

 

[dechainechel]

Thanks for your reply, sorry about the pics. I've been having trouble w/Geocities. The vet just did a parasite test and that was fine, he said that dragon was malnurished( they only fed him a pinkie once a week along with iceburg lettuce and the occassional cricket) and may show other signs of neglect later on. He told us to bring him back if we had any other problems. Until I noticed the lump there weren't any.
I think you may be right about MBD, I was concerned about that. What can we do for him?
Any info would help! Thanks

 

[vickson420]

If its MBD then he should go back to the vet for liquid calcium injections but it could be more then that.I am kind of suprised in his condition that the vet didnt take blood to test his calcium levels.Is there any chance you can get him back there?In te meantime I would be very careful about how his tank is arranged.You dont want him to be able to climb to high because should he fall he could easily do more damage.I would like to see pics if possible.You could try opening a photobucket.com account,its free and its easier to upload and post pics with it.

 

[dechainechel]

My pictures are working for me now, I will get him to the vet as soon as I can. I'm thinking of going somewhere else. The vet I have doesn't seem that great, since he didn't check that. His cage is pretty basic, nothing is too high. He seems fine, not at all in pain.