How to begin to rescue this little guy?

[beardielovers]

I just saw this forum for Beardie rescue and thought i would post here as well, We have a post in health as well. Here is the link:

http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=96903

We are getting this breadie this week If everything goes OK What would be the best way to start to nurse
This little guy?? I do not want to shock his system(if that is possible)
I also have some rocks for him that i have to bake but how long do i bake it and at what temp?
How much reptical should we start with?
So If this was you what would you do in regards to diet and supplements? I want to do everything good as he/ she has gone through too much already.
In the other post is pictures now too.

 

[Ethelia]

Hi there,

The first thing would be to take the protein slow. Rescued dragons can get into all sorts of digestive issues after being fed too much protien too soon.
I had this issue with my new rescue Ruben.
Start off offering veggies first thing in the morning, squash and rocket are particularly nutritious and squash can also help your dragon gain weight.
Introduce crickets to him very slowly, and check his poop for undigested crix.
If the poop is clear you can up the crickets.
For the first few days I would offer him veggies and a few crickets.

To keep his protien levels up you can feed him organic chicken/turkey babyfood.
I used this when I first got Ruben and when Dex was in recovery.
I used to get out a spoonful in a bowl, mix in the calcium and then dab it on their noses.
He might be too scared to lick it off at first, but after a while he should try it and go oooo yummy!
Ruben will only eat his off a metal spoon for some bizarre reason

Im not familiar with reptical, I use something called Critical Care which helps balance all your dragons vitami,protien and electrolite levels. Crit Care has a recommended dosage on the side which scales with the weight of your dragon, it may be the same with Reptical.

Suppliment wise considering the poor darling has had no lighting I would give him calcium 5 or 6 times a week and vits twice a week.

With his eye issue you will want to use non particle substrate like papertowel, tile or shelf liner.
What was he on before?

Im a big fan of finding natural rocks and logs for my dragons (and im cheap!). What I do is scrub them with a vinegar+hot water mix, then rinse until you cant smell the vinegar. Then i pop them in the oven at 200* and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Btw Ive broken an oven shelf doing this so be careful as to the weight!

What lighting have you bought for him btw?

Best of luck.
Holly

 

[beardielovers]

Thanks for the reply Holly! LOTS of details in there for sure. He was on sand until just recently. Our friend has been doing some reading since he got a leopard gecko and is getting rid of the sand in the pet store vivs. He is now on paper towel which we were really happy to see. When we bring him home we will keep him on paper towel for a bit then we'll be switching to tile. For lighting we have a SolarGlo MVB with a 24" fluorescent tube for added white light on the cool side. We closed off the front of the enclosure with some extra drywall and had it all running last night for about 2 hours. The temps seemed to be really good; about 102* at the basking area and 85* at the coolest side. We are using an indoor/outdoor digital thermometer with a probe. Thanks again. We will go through your post and take some notes before we get anything else for him.