First Time Owners, Adopted Adult Beardie :)

[bethfaye96]

Hi there all!
My boyfriend and I decided to get a pet together, as we're both besotted by my corn snakes we did our research and decided to get a beardie. Our lil dude was up for adoption in the nearby area and we're already in love after 3 days. I named my corns after Greek gods and goddesses, so we stuck with that theme, calling him Hephaestus (god of blacksmiths and fire, often depicted with a large beard) or Feisty for short as he is really determined and, well feisty! He's a 3yr old dragon with bright eyes and loads of energy but we have noticed a few problems we feel has been caused by his previous owner not having handled him for a year (as a reptile owner, I found this devastating!).
We tried to leave him to settle in for a few days but he was constantly scratching at the window wanting out, particularly wanting to fall asleep on my shoulder.
He wasn't fed for two days when we picked him up so we fed him hoppers with calcium and vitamins when we got him and made sure he had a little selection of fruit and veg, which he hasn't touched. We refresh it daily anyway but he's still not interested. He's also had a bit of diarrhea but we're assuming it'll be stress from the move as it is starting to solidify.
We've also noticed bits of shed still stuck to him, not a lot but still. We're bathing him tonight and increasing the humidity in the viv a touch for now. The main worry is his claws! They're clearly overgrown and have started to kinda corkscrew. We trimmed them and they were a bit splintery, we filed them down a bit so he won't get hurt for now but we couldn't do too much as we cant really see where his quick ends. We put slate and fine sandpaper down around his basking area and plan to trim his nails weekly but we're unsure of what else to do.
Any advice on any issue would be appreciated, if anything we're doing is stupid, please tell us! We're going off suggestions we've seen online and we want what's best for our baby Thanks!!

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad to hear you're able to give him a happy home! It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things from the start. I agree with giving him a few weeks to settle in and adjust to a good, steady diet. If his poop is still messy after that, a fecal test would be a good idea but it could just be stress/diet related so best to wait a bit until he settles in.

The warm baths should help with his stuck shed after a while. You could also try putting some plain aloe on the affected areas and see if that helps them loosen up a bit. Don't pick at it though, just let it loosen up on it's own. He may also be thirsty depending on what his previous diet was and how wet his poops are. I would offer drops of water on his nose (in the bath or otherwise) and see if he licks it up. Keeping him well hydrated will be beneficial for his overall health.

As far as his nails go, you did what I would have done. It may be tough to set them right since they've already started to corkscrew but keep them filed the best you can and that should be OK. An experienced reptile vet may be able to do more but I wouldn't consider it critical. If you can find some ceramic/slate tile that has a bit of texture to it, that would make a good substrate and will also help keep his nails in check.

It may take him a while to get used to salad if it wasn't a regular part of his diet before. Be patient and continue offering a salad every day. Rotate what you offer depending on what looks fresh at the store. You may strike on a favorite and he'll start to dig in. Leftovers can probably go to the hoppers if you keep them in bulk. At his age, he should be eating mostly veges (about 80% or so overall) so be patient and try to get him used to a healthy diet.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is quite a neat name, indeed! I am sure he has earned it, too. LOL
It sounds like he has found a great new home with you. That is sad how he was not handled for so long. He is probably attention deprived which is why he wants out so bad to go to sleep on you.
People don't realize how emotional of creatures they really are, when domesticated. They really are very sweet.
I agree, it will likely take a little while for him to fully settle in but he should eventually feel at home even more than he does now. As for the greens you definitely have your work cut out for you there. It will be challenging to get him to eat them, but keep working at it & mixing the greens up to find what he likes.
When the nails get too long & twist, trimming then filing is all you can immediately do. They should grow out more & you can trim & file again if needed.

Let us know how he is doing!

Tracie

 

[bethfaye96]

Hi again!

Thank you so much for your advice, it's nice to know we're doing what we can!
The first update we really have is that we looked up how to determine the sex and we're pretty sure our boy is a girl! No sign of lumps for the hemipenes, just one small lump above the cloaca. Guessing this isn't a sure fire way to tell but I wouldn't know how else to be certain without going to a vet and having her probed, which can sometimes be stressful in itself. Either way, she's still our Feisty and she seems really happy now she's settled in
Bath time went well, don't think she'd ever had a bath before as there was so much packed in dirt on her feet! She wasn't sure at first but after a while she loved it!
Also, we've found a favourite food for her, she absolutely loves blueberries, I'm not even kidding when I say she could eat a whole punnet if left alone with one! Still trying her out with different things, but blueberries are her favourite. Poops have solidified, we're curious as to whether this too could have been a fault of the previous owner as the calcium he gave us was 5 years out of date, it was a brown chunk compared to the same brand we picked up that looked just like icing sugar!
As for the nails, we're gonna keep trimming and filing, if they ever look like they're causing her trouble, we've found our nearest exotic vets and we'll be straight there!

Thanks again,
Beth