I adopted a bearded dragon a few days ago and he seems to have some major problems. The previous owner (a 13 year old boy who lost interest in the pet) does not know the age of the dragon (perhaps 5 years he said?) and did not provide UVB lighting. The dragon was kept in a 20 gallon tank and fed 4 non-gut-loaded and non-dusted crickets/day along with some lettuce. My beardie now has some issues with walking and stumbles around his cage when chasing crickets and occasionally trips and falls. I am trying to feed him gut-loaded and dusted crickets and expose him to sunlight. I am not sure what else to do to help him recover as quickly as possible, or at least ease his symptoms. Can someone please help?
I don't think that you can completely reverse the affects of MBD but you can try to stop and maybe get some reversal. You need to get a "Repi-sun 10.0" florescent tube light. The best place to get it is "petmountian.com" I think they are 20 dollars. If you don't have a ballast for the bulb, you can get one from wal-mart for 12 dollars of so. Is he still in the 20 gallon tank? The min recommended is 40 gallons. The stumbling and falling is part of MBD. It sounds like you are making the right steps to help the BD. I would not feed lettuce anymore. There is a great site named "beautifuldragons.com" I'm pretty sure that is the name, they have a whole color coded layout that thells you all the great things that your BD can eat. I really hope that the information helps and that you BD can make a recovery. Good luck.
Thank you so much for your replies. I have moved him into a 40G tank and taken him off his lettuce diet. I will keep you posted on his newest conditions!
I would also recommend his being seen by a vet to check for parasites and to get some liquid calcium. You can supplement his diet with squash babyfood fed to him from an eye dropper or syringe (without the needle). Getting him under a good UVB and feeding him the right kinds of food will help move him back toward health. Make sure the viv is set up to recommended specs (temps, substrate, etc) and give him regular baths. These things seem to be very effective when rehabilitating a rescue.
Thank you, I will try hunting down a reptile vet. I have him on reptile carpet right now and he seems to really enjoy basking under his reptile light. As for a staple diet, I found a mustard green called "xue li hong" in a nearby Chinese supermarket. Does anyone have experience with this plant and whether it is ok for beardies?
How is your beardie doing? I have no experience with the veggie you mentioned but if it is a mustard green it should be healthier than the lettuce he has been eating... my local supermarket sells dandelion and mustard greens which are pretty inexpensive... also many types of squashes are in season right now depending on where you are, my dragons love acorn and spaghetti squash, spaghetti squash is particularly high in calcium which sounds like your beardie needs. Another very healthy live feeder is phoenix worms, they are rich in calcium, and do not need to be gut-loaded or dusted, the best place I have ordered them from is http://www.phoenixworm.com. Also silkworms are nutritious and help beardies to absorb calcium, you can get both silkies and phoenix worms at http://www.mulberryfarms.com.
Aw geez I sound like a darn commercial I swear I don't work for either company :wink: Just rooting for the health of your beardie!
Keep us posted,
I notice a few changes in my beardie:
He is eating more veggies
He can actually catch crickets now (without my help)
He can actually prop himself up on his front legs
I am hoping that these are signs that his condition has stopped deteriorating. That said, he still stumbles a lot when he walks and has fallen a few times... the worst was when he rushed off his basking rock to his food dish and landed on his back
I gave him a warm bath yesterday (his fourth bath since I have gotten him) and he really enjoyed it (he closed his eyes). This is the first time he didn't try to escape from his tub!
Right now I am using a UBV light source from Zilla. I think I will put in an order for the megaray, thanks!
I lost my first beardie with a Zilla light, just FYI. It also made our second beardie really sick. We moved to a reptisun 10.0 because I wasn't confident of my ability to properly regulate the Megaray. (I have a thirty pound cat I have nightmares about jumping into the viv. Having the lights lay on the screen helps keep him uninterested in exploring his options)
Hello, sorry to hear about Beardie's digestive issues, hopefully the change in color is a good sign! I'm glad to hear you're taking him to the vet. Keep us posted and be sure to post pictures when you're over all this worry!
AHHH! I woke up today to a giant puddle of diarrhea... today I am only going to feed him mustard greens to see which food may be causing this problem. I set up an appointment for the vet on Thursday... hope he can hang in until then =( I fear that his is getting dehydrates becuase that was a lot of water...