I rescued a Bearded Dragon, but is he dehydrated/skinny?

[MadMod]

Hello everyone! This is my first beardie, and I'm glad to bring him into my life. His name is Hunter (named after the building he was found near at my college), and I think he is ~1.5 years old, but I'm only guessing based on size (he's 13" from nose to tail)

He was abandoned when people started graduating from college, and often times people get cage pets for their dorms (even though they're not allowed to). During graduation, there are cases where they cannot bring these wonderful pets with them (as a lot of students live internationally), so they cannot bring them on a plane, or that their parents do not want a beardie living with them, so often they are let go in the woods near my school/work. I live in central United States, so obviously he would not survive on his own.

That picture was taken the day before I rescued him, when someone spotted him and texted me the picture.

This is the day when I rescued him.

This is 5 days later in his new cage.

I had him for 5 days now, and I just got him this proper terrarium, but I'm worried about 2 things: Does he look dehydrated, and does he look too thin? His skin does curl back when I move it, but he still has a few wrinkles, as you can see from the photo above. Does he look skinny at all? I got him a few veggies (and of course crickets), and he seems to like dandelions the best, but I also heard they eat rose pedals. Does that include miniature roses? I have soo many small questions, that I'm containing myself to not put them in this one post!

 

[Mysty]

Its brilliant to hear that you are looking into how best to care for your rescue.

There are 4 key areas to get right to allow him to thrive:

1. Food. Please see the link below for greens to give. I'm no expert but would estimate that dragon as potentially under a year old. Please offer calcium dusted livefood, e.g. crickets, locusts, dubai roaches daily.

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

2. Light. You need a basking bulb and a long uv tube. Uv tubes need to be replaced every 9 montgs or so.

3. Temperature. Get a digital thermomoter for the hot and cool side to ensure that the temp is OK. A low temp will make if difficult for the beardie to digest food.

4. Vivarium. 4ft long is considered the minimum and will allow there to be a warm and cool side.

These are some essentials, don't want to overload you.

Best of luck.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad you're able to give him a home. He is a bit skinny so it's tough to say how old he is not knowing his history. I would go easy on bugs at first and focus on greens. A nice variety from the list that Mysty posted is a good place to start. Dandelion greens are a good staple to offer as are collard and turnip greens. I've had good luck with cut up yellow and green squash and chopped green beans and bell pepper as well.

At first, I would focus on hydration. Offer him water via drops on his nose using a plastic syringe or a dropper. Don't force it but let him drink a little bit at a time (small batches frequently is better than a lot at once). Check his poop for excess water passing through vs dryness, especially in the urate.

If he starts eating salads well and is doing OK on hydration, introduce bugs just a little bit at a time. If he isn't used to a proper diet the protein may overwhelm his system so it's best to take it easy with the bugs with a rescue.

Proper lighting and heat is also critical as mentioned. An IR temp gun or a couple of digitals like these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/ will do the trick. Put one probe on the basking site and one on the cool side surface and try to adjust the lighting to get the basking area between about 100-105 and the cool side between about 75-80 or so. What do you have in place for a UVB light? A good UVB light is also critical to his health so it's important to get an appropriate one and set it at proper distance above the basking area.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

He looks pretty good, actually for being abandoned. Poor thing, it's so sad when they are left behind like that. At least he was found before anything happened to him.
Does he seem to be settling in alright?
Everyone has given great advice.
Let us know how he is doing & if you have more questions.

Tracie

 

[MadMod]

Sorry I have not been on in a while. Between getting Hunter crickets and forgetting my password, I have not had the chance to report back. He's sort of starting to eat greens a bit (I put kale in his enclosure, and I think he nips at it, but I'm not sure; I've only once had him eat a piece of squash from my hand), and I've been covering it all with calcium powder with some wonderful smelling bearded dragon pellets (smells like fruit loops), along with his crickets and superworms.

One thing I'm starting to worry about is his tail. I saw a post on here talking about tail rot, and I'm comparing the photos to his tail, and I'm starting to think he may have tail rot. Someone please let me know what they think?

 

[CooperDragon]

Can you post a closer photo of his tail? I can't see very well from your original photos.

 

[MadMod]

Here's a closeup of his tail without flash:

And with flash:

And an overall picture. He's a bit sleepy right now though.

could this just be his morph, or should I be worried about the gradient?

 

[CooperDragon]

His tail looks fine. The color gradient is natural and not a problem. I don't see signs of damage like shriveling or an open wound that would indicate rot/infection. One thing off the poor little guy's plate at least. He looks exhausted.

 

[MadMod]

Yeah, his lamp just shut off when I took that picture. I had him outside on a leash in the morning before I went to work (which I find is a refreshing way to wake up) and I sat him in my window sill while he ate. He LOVES the window! I might see if I could get him a cat bed that's suitable for him to lay on.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Kudos to you for rescuing him and taking him in

.... if he's the size you say I'd guess he's only about 6-9 months old, but may not have been properly cared for by the a$hehole who abandoned him so may be a bit older and had poor nutrition or inadequate food intake while they had , and perhaps no UV and no heat either.

The fat pads on his head seem depressed, and the base of his tail seems a bit thin to me, but some good food (a couple live insect meals per day), good access to UVA and UVB , and good tank temps will help with that.

 

[MadMod]

Yeah, his pads on the top of his head were bare, not soft at all. They seem to be gaining fat now. When I had him, his leg also twitched a little bit, and I knew that was a calcium deficiency, calcium imbalance, or not a proper amount of UVB. I have a Reptisun UVB bulb now, but it's a coil. The pet store in town only kept that in stock. I've ordered a tube with a fixture on Amazon to replace the bulb, and I'll probably keep the coil for extreme emergencies (or should I not even use it at all?)

ALSO, a good friend of mine donated me some very nice slate tiles that he used in his bathroom renovations. Hunter seems to grip on them quite well, so I've cut them down to fit in his cage (Which I got within 1MM of tolerance!). Anyone who uses tile, did you silicon them in place, or did you just keep them loose? I don't see a chance of Hunter getting stuck between the slits, because there really is no space between the tiles for him to get stuck in, but I'm still kinda curious.

 

[Mysty]

Its great to hear that you are noticing a difference and he's building fat reserves. Keep the slate loose as adhesives can let off chemical fumes. They're also a doddle to clean when kept loose.

 

[CooperDragon]

1mm of tolerance is nuts. Way better than my tiles! You may want to attach some kind of loops or other way of easily pulling them for cleaning. I agree about leaving them loose. You can pop them out to clean and sanitize and get at any damp gunk that seeps below them.