Extremely malnourished bearded dragon!!

[TorTor]

Hi all, I received this extremely malnourished bearded dragon from a family friend, I’ll be honest, I don’t know the origins of her, she’s a fully grown adult, they said about 4 years of age, and I couldn’t be too certain she’s a girl but she’s very malnourished. She still has an appetite for bugs but not many at once, enjoys her crickets. I’m going to get her to a vet ASAP!! But I’m looking for help in the meantime, I’ve given her some egg and mixed calcium powder in it, she doesn’t like greens at all, won’t eat salads offered. I don’t know the name of her lighting setup but her hot side is about 100° and cool side about 80°.

 

[hdochow]

if you look on the lightbulbs, it should say what they are and what wattage etc they are. see if you can figure that out and post that information along with pictures of your set up. i don't have an answer for you, but the people that can help usually want to know that information.

good luck to her!

 

[KarrieRee]

She need a good UVB a long tube fixture like a this
24" for a 40 + gallon tank https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html w/ this bulb 22 "https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-t5.html the fixture will come w/ a 5.0 hang onto it for a back up -
you need basking temps of 95-100 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-digital-thermometer.html get two of them
and a bright white basking bulb https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-basking-spot-bulbs.html start w/ a 100 watt but make sure you have that probe thermometer to get the actual temp--- place the probe on the spot where she bask wait 10 min get the temp---- when you get the UVB please post back on here so I can help you get it placed
website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html feed fresh salads every morning rinse the salads before serving so she gets hydration -- make sure your dusting her insects w/ calcium D3 5 x per week ONCE per feeding dusted lightly - start there for now
the basking temps and the UVB are the two most important things in that tank and its whats going to heal her and get her to eat --- PLEASE GET THE UVB order ASAP --- these people are good and fast in the mean time get her outside for some good UVB place her in a plastic tote NO GLASS direct sunlight / partial shade or on you for 15 minutes longer on you DO NOT leave her supervise her -- you dont want to burn her up ----

 

[kingofnobbys]

Yes - sort the heat gradient & establish a good basking spot ON THE FLOOR of the tank ( if this poor dragon is too weak to climb ) .
Yes - make sure you have adequate UVA flux and UVB flux at the basking spot & a good long photo period ( 15 hrs per day I'd recommend ) , and in this cases an tank not cooler than 30 degC over night ( to help boost it's metabolism, food digestion, and immune system (which will be compromised now ).

Careful with feeding, a rapid influx of large volumes of food will be dangerous and will overwhelm it's kidneys and liver , lots of small easily digested meals per day while you have the poor dragon in at home intensive care .
I suggest for now move to a nonsolid diet given by syringe , a few droplets of honey to start each feed ( I find this works a treat for my wild lizard rescues and they are soon licking food off my fingers ).

See my post here for emergency high nutrition food substitutes and supplementation for lizard IC
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=260279
If its not willing to eat , you may have to restort to force feeding viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687

 

[AHBD]

Poor neglected thing ! As the previous poster mentioned, focus on hydration more than food or the kidneys can easily crash, unable to handle protein. The bit of raw honey in water is a great idea. Very small amounts of insects at first and nothing that is too large, go with medium. Repashy grub pie would be worth a try as well.

 

[TorTor]

She need a good UVB a long tube fixture like a this
24" for a 40 + gallon tank https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html w/ this bulb 22 "https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-t5.html the fixture will come w/ a 5.0 hang onto it for a back up -
you need basking temps of 95-100 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-digital-thermometer.html get two of them
and a bright white basking bulb https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-basking-spot-bulbs.html start w/ a 100 watt but make sure you have that probe thermometer to get the actual temp--- place the probe on the spot where she bask wait 10 min get the temp---- when you get the UVB please post back on here so I can help you get it placed
website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html feed fresh salads every morning rinse the salads before serving so she gets hydration -- make sure your dusting her insects w/ calcium D3 5 x per week ONCE per feeding dusted lightly - start there for now
the basking temps and the UVB are the two most important things in that tank and its whats going to heal her and get her to eat --- PLEASE GET THE UVB order ASAP --- these people are good and fast in the mean time get her outside for some good UVB place her in a plastic tote NO GLASS direct sunlight / partial shade or on you for 15 minutes longer on you DO NOT leave her supervise her -- you dont want to burn her up ----

Thank you!! I will also get those ASAP, the owner gave me coil bulbs but from what I’ve read they’re not good quality or liked in the community, my friend reccomended the strip lights that he has, the long ones, his dragon is very healthy so I’ll try and get the same ones as him once I’ve got enough money, my next paycheque is in two weeks so hoping she is okah for now. Would blended veggies be okay? I’ve offered what I can she’s not willing to eat any on her own.

 

[AHBD]

That's good that you're trying to help this dragon ! Syringe feeding of veggies is fine, greens like turnip, mustard, collard, bok choy, arugula, kale [ no spinach or swiss chard ] But you can add something sweet to the mix like strawberries or blueberries so the dragon is more ;likely to take it. , even a tiny bit of apple juice but the mixture should be runny. And again, this dragon needs hydration badly so use a syringe with water + a bit of raw honey or a tiny bit of apple juice.

 

[TorTor]

Yes - sort the heat gradient & establish a good basking spot ON THE FLOOR of the tank ( if this poor dragon is too weak to climb ) .
Yes - make sure you have adequate UVA flux and UVB flux at the basking spot & a good long photo period ( 15 hrs per day I'd recommend ) , and in this cases an tank not cooler than 30 degC over night ( to help boost it's metabolism, food digestion, and immune system (which will be compromised now ).

Careful with feeding, a rapid influx of large volumes of food will be dangerous and will overwhelm it's kidneys and liver , lots of small easily digested meals per day while you have the poor dragon in at home intensive care .
I suggest for now move to a nonsolid diet given by syringe , a few droplets of honey to start each feed ( I find this works a treat for my wild lizard rescues and they are soon licking food off my fingers ).

See my post here for emergency high nutrition food substitutes and supplementation for lizard IC
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=260279
If its not willing to eat , you may have to restort to force feeding viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687

Ah smart, thank you I didn’t know I was giving her a little scrambled egg because I thought she must be starving and it’s filling and good on vitamins and protein, read it was okay sometimes for them. I put her in a warm bath because I heard it helps them hydrate and she started drinking the water on her own, had her face in the water and everything. If I can find a picture I’ll show, it was very surprising. I’ll try some honey and water with a syringe to get her used to it and see if I can get her to take blended/Puréed veggies

 

[TorTor]

That's good that you're trying to help this dragon ! Syringe feeding of veggies is fine, greens like turnip, mustard, collard, bok choy, arugula, kale [ no spinach or swiss chard ] But you can add something sweet to the mix like strawberries or blueberries so the dragon is more ;likely to take it. , even a tiny bit of apple juice but the mixture should be runny. And again, this dragon needs hydration badly so use a syringe with water + a bit of raw honey or a tiny bit of apple juice.

Thank you! I will try this out in a few, she’s taking a nap under her heat bulb atm on her rock, last night I tricked her into thinking a blueberry was a bug (which is how I got her to eat egg but she didn’t mind it) and she got very mad when she realized it wasn’t a bug, so I’ll try blending it up with some water!

 

[KarrieRee]

In the meantime get her out in the sunlight for some good UVB--- either sitting on you for as long as you can stand the heat or place her in a plastic tote NO GLASS in direct sunlight / partial shade for 15 minutes --- make sure you supervise her do not leave her alone do this every day or other and she will get some good UVB till you can get it ordered -- when you get the UVB please post back on here so we can help you get it placed in the tank w/ correct distance and placement I recommend getting a 24" fixture NO Zillas or Thrive fixtures --- I can help w/ the UVB --

 

[AHBD]

It's O.K if she eats a few medium crickets and since she's drinking on her own that's a great step forward. A little bit of scrambled egg is O.K as well, not too much though because of how rich it is. You probably won't need to use a syringe very much, only if she won't drink .

 

[TorTor]

Poor neglected thing ! As the previous poster mentioned, focus on hydration more than food or the kidneys can easily crash, unable to handle protein. The bit of raw honey in water is a great idea. Very small amounts of insects at first and nothing that is too large, go with medium. Repashy grub pie would be worth a try as well.

Sorry it took so long to respond, just copy pasting this in response to all.... she’s passed on to a better life, it happened awhile ago before I could bring her in to a vet, had an appointment, she didn’t make it.. we don’t have any animal hospitals that I know of otherwise maybe she could have made it

 

[TorTor]

In the meantime get her out in the sunlight for some good UVB--- either sitting on you for as long as you can stand the heat or place her in a plastic tote NO GLASS in direct sunlight / partial shade for 15 minutes --- make sure you supervise her do not leave her alone do this every day or other and she will get some good UVB till you can get it ordered -- when you get the UVB please post back on here so we can help you get it placed in the tank w/ correct distance and placement I recommend getting a 24" fixture NO Zillas or Thrive fixtures --- I can help w/ the UVB --

Sorry it took so long to respond, just copy pasting this in response to all.... she’s passed on to a better life, it happened awhile ago before I could bring her in to a vet, had an appointment, she didn’t make it.. we don’t have any animal hospitals that I know of otherwise maybe she could have made it

 

[KarrieRee]

Her organs probably shut down --- I rescued / gotten a rehomed dragon 2 years ago and she was too far gone too - the owner starved her to death - I did get her into my reptile vet and she said the same thing malnourished -- she lived for 2-3 weeks but she gave up and I think her organs had shut down - it is sad when this is so preventable and cruel ---- I am sorry

 

[AHBD]

Aw, I'm also very sorry to hear this. You tried to help but she was too far gone. It's sad, every life is precious.