Just rescued this little princess. It's my first bearded dragon. She belonged to a teenager and the parents let me buy her. She is 3 years old and has only been fed about 6 times since last October. I just bought a new habitat with all the fixings so I don't have enough to take her to a vet yet. She looks like skin and bones and even has missing toes and nails. What kind of diet would you suggest? Also how much activity/handling should I do with her?
Hi there, can you post pics of the little one as well as her set up showing the lights ? Here's how: https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit the XIMG to attach pics to the post
It's usually best not to feed much protein but make nutritious smoothies out of greens like turnip, mustard, collard dandelion greens. butternut squash all with added water. Or get some baby food green beans + squash [ nothing added ] with extra water mixed in. The key is to hydrate her first. If she's fed too much protein it can cause kidney failure if she's dehydrated.
Pics are always helpful. She looks very sweet, and although she's thin it's not dangerously thin. You can feed her insects, just a few at a time at first and not TOO large. A smoothie can be fed via eyedropper or syringe. Beardies often have missing toes, it's not a big deal at all unless they are actively infected.
I'll answer more later [ or someone else ] as to what type of lighting would be better. She doesn't look TOO bad and as long as she's not very skittish you can handle her just a bit, but not after a meal.
I am surprised at her condition, actually. It isn't too terribly bad, considering what she has been through.
She does look very gentle, so she should settle right in, bless her.
As suggested, go slow with feeding & handling. Monitor her urates daily, to be sure her kidneys are working properly.
Which UVB lights are you using with her?