I got a BD yesterday and it is a young adult who was left at a local nature center about 10 days ago by its owner. I have a lot of experience with other reptiles, mostly snakes, but I never had a BD before. This little guy is in such a bad shape that I decided to try and rehabilitate him. I took him to the vet immediately and his x-rays showed that he has severe calcium deficiency and his bones are extremely fragile. He weighs only .380 Kg and his movements are jerky and uncoordinated (probably because of the calcium problem) and has a dislocated hip.
My vet gave me Critical care and I am adding liquid calcium glubionate and vitamin D3 to it. I keep him in a 55 gallon setup with a hotspot at 100F and low end temperature at 80F.
My main concerns are these:
1. I have been using a credit card to open his mouth so that I can syringe feed him the critical care and his medication but since he is so fragile I was wondering if other people had success using other methods to syringe feed.
2. He likes to eat superworms and crickets on top of the critical care and I have let him do so, but how many of these prey items is too much for a dragon in one day?
3. Last question is that he only eats food when he can see a movement so he is not touching his veggies. Is this normal or is it because of the fact that he has been malnourished for a long time before?
I would appreciate any suggestions on how to help this dragon.
Thanks
My vet gave me Critical care and I am adding liquid calcium glubionate and vitamin D3 to it. I keep him in a 55 gallon setup with a hotspot at 100F and low end temperature at 80F.
My main concerns are these:
1. I have been using a credit card to open his mouth so that I can syringe feed him the critical care and his medication but since he is so fragile I was wondering if other people had success using other methods to syringe feed.
2. He likes to eat superworms and crickets on top of the critical care and I have let him do so, but how many of these prey items is too much for a dragon in one day?
3. Last question is that he only eats food when he can see a movement so he is not touching his veggies. Is this normal or is it because of the fact that he has been malnourished for a long time before?
I would appreciate any suggestions on how to help this dragon.
Thanks