Found bearded dragon outside

[sisserydoo]

So my daughter was driving the other day, and found a bearded dragon in the middle of the street being attacked by birds. We live in Illinois, so it can't have been outside for more than a few months. He is an either an adult or very nearly one, about 16" head to tail. We own a bearded dragon, so we had extra lamps and stuff to get him set up.

He has a few obvious issues. He has a large open sore on his chin, but it does not appear to be infected. It is very dry and scabby looking. Any idea what this might be? He also has some dry gunk in both ears. He has some smaller scaring around his head and tail.

The good news is that he's a great eater. He eats his greens (unlike our other dragon) and any treats I put in right away. Staple insect is dubia roaches, although his chin seemed a bit bendy when he ate the adults, so I'm giving him smaller ones and feeding more of them. We've got him under UVB and I'm dusting all the bugs because I figured he might have that bone disease. He's very perky and active, so that's good.

My main questions are: Can I over-dust the bugs? It does have D3 in it. And what could the sore be? An injury? Abscess? I can post a pic tomorrow maybe, if I can figure it out!

We are trying to get the funds together for a vet visit. We didn't really plan on adopting an orphan dragon!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....this dragon is fortunate that you found him. You might put fliers up to see if anyone lost it, but you'd think they [ owners ] would have done so themselves. For any wounds you can use raw honey [ from health food store ] , it's a natural antimicrobial and helps with tissue granulation. If you use honey, just don't leave any loose insects in the tank that would then be attracted to the wound + honey.

It's good that he's eating well, but you can hold off on the D3 since he's been in the sun for all this time you don't want to overdo it. Regular light calcium a few times a week will suffice. Hopefully he is healthy + the wound is healed by the honey.....his having a good appetite is a good sign.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad you found him! I echo AHBDs comments about treating his wounds with honey and holding off on the D3 for the time being. If you can upload photos of him it would be helpful for us to try and assess his situation. You can upload photos using the image upload manager https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and then post them to the thread using the XIMG button.

Which part of Illinois are you in? There is an excellent veterinary hospital in Urbana.

 

[sisserydoo]

We are in Melvin, near Gibson City. It's a tiny town of about 200 people, and we have checked the couple of places where people leave notices here in town. Are you talking about the U of I or All Creatures? We are planning on taking him to All Creatures.

Thank you for the link to the upload manager. I was looking around trying to find out how to post photos and couldn't find anything! I'll try it today.

 

[CooperDragon]

I was thinking of UI. Both of my dragons have gone there for treatment and I've found the doctors there to be very knowledgeable and they have access to some very advanced equipment and techniques if needed. I don't have personal experience with All Creatures but if they have a vet on staff who has experience treating dragons that may also be a good choice.

 

[sisserydoo]

Hope this works!
This is a side shot showing both the open sore on his chin and the problem ear. Other than this, he is in pretty good shape. He has no fat pads on his head, does that mean he is under weight? Does that sore look like something you would try honey on?

I called All Creatures yesterday, and they said they do treat them. My husband is being kind of a poop right now, not wanting to spend the $$$, especially since we already have to buy him a new UVB. He's using an old one from the other dragon, and it probably doesn't have the proper output.

 

[sisserydoo]

Here is a top view of him. Kind of skinny, right?

And we don't want to leave our other dragon out. Here is our handsome boy, Xerxes!

 

[CooperDragon]

He does look a bit scruffy and skinny. I wonder how long he was outside. It's a good sign that he's eating. Provide him with as many veges as he wants for now and try offering him a bath to see if he'll drink. Hopefully the fat pads will build back up, especially if you slowly introduce bugs to his diet. The mouth sore is a bit concerning. I'd definitely get that looked as well as the inside of his mouth as he may have some stomatitis (mouth rot) going on in there. Does he appear to have any trouble moving around? As far as UVB goes, he should be OK for a little while without a new light. He has been outside and the weather is nice so he's probably been getting plenty of it. You can bring him outside (well supervised of course) for some natural sunlight for a bit every day and that should do the trick for now. I would also try and get a fresh poop sample so you can have a fecal test run by the vet. If you post some flyers with photos of him in the area, perhaps his original owner will reach out (assuming he's a runaway).

Xerxes is a happy looking little guy! =)

 

[AHBD]

Aw, poor little dude, but again, it's a great sign that he's eating. They usually don't eat once they have mouth rot [ makes their gums very sore and is a serious infection that kills the appetite ] Can you get another pic of his chin from underneath ?

And Xerxes is saying....hold on a minute, look at me. I'm still the king here as my name suggests. Don't let them get near each other or let Xerxes share any items ....the new guy may carry something contagious or parasitic[ I doubt it ] but you never know.

 

[Pixi]

I wouldn't put honey on that. Try neosporin. I use it for my dog (its safe if they lick it) and my vet said it was ok for beardie's too. Plus, its not as messy and has better healing power.

 

[sisserydoo]

I've been very careful about washing my hands after I handle him and his dishes and stuff, just in case he has anything contagious. I would feel terrible if Xerxes got sick.

He doesn't seem to have any trouble moving or eating, and is surprisingly active.

I'm going too pick up some cream neosporin and some calcium without d3. How shouId I be using the two different calciums anyway, I've always been confused about that.

 

[CooperDragon]

The D3 supplement is used when low levels of UVB are provided usually in the form of a T8 tube or a coil bulb. When a higher level of UVB is used such as with a T5 bulb or a Mercury vapor bulb, there is enough UVB received for a dragon to produce their own D3. It's still a bit of a controversial subject with limited research but for now that's the metric I go with.

 

[AHBD]

You can use neosporin if you like but raw honey beats all the antibacterial ointments....just Google it [ raw honey as medicine ] It's even used in Germany at a hospital where children with cancer [ Bonn University children's clinic ] have difficult to heal wounds. It may be messy, but there is no other ointment that has all the amino acids + protein that promote tissue granulation.

Of course if that is some type of cyst [ can't tell from the pic ] then it may need to be aspirated or drained possibly or a biopsy taken.

 

[sisserydoo]

I'm not opposed to using it, I just have no idea where to get it! I'll have to research that.

 

[AHBD]

You can get it at a health food store or from a beekeeper. One of the mods here [ Drache613 ] sells Manuka honey on her website www.bug-de-lite.com. But if you prefer, Neosporin will still help, but careful using it on open raw wounds.