I've rescued my first bearded dragon, and I need some advice.

[My_Darling_Clementine]

Hello, I am writing this post because of my beloved son. On March 3rd, I acquired Quasi the 5 year old bearded dragon for free off of Facebook. What his previous owners failed to mention in the post were his major spinal deformities, giving him an unnatural hunch in his spine. It's likely he's suffered from MBD and other comorbidities. He came to me in a 36 x 16 x18 with a broken UVB light and a red heat bulb, which I promptly replaced; furthermore, the plastic lid was melted in three places from the dual dome resting directly upon it.. His coco husk substrate was stuck together and full of mold. He only had a cool hide, and with no rocks or slate in his enclosure to grind his nails down, his claws were heavily curled and dangerously close to piercing his feet. His diet before I acquired him consisted of Fluker's juvenile bearded dragon food, and insects were given every 2-3 days. To my knowledge he did not receive any greens. He has nearly constant stress marks and his beard is often very dark. He was chronically dehydrated and stuck shed was all over his body. Every other day, to treat his dehydration and stuck shed, I gave him a warm 85 degree Fahrenheit bath every other day.

To say I was infuriated is a major understatement. I sanitized and deep cleaned his enclosure and replaced the coco husk with a 2:1 mixture of eco earth and play sand. He now has one cool and one warm hide. His UVB is the Arcadia brand 12% output. Because my room is cold, his heating setup consists of a small fifty watt bulb and one large 100 watt bulb; the 100 watt is monitored by a probe. A rough stone has been provided for climbing and shed aid.
His diet for the past few weeks has consisted of foraged dandelions, clover, and other plants from my backyard, alongside cabbage, shredded carrots, and hopefully soon a larger variety of fruits and veggies. For now I feed him a mixture of mealworms and crickets, and I would love to start him on dubia roaches and other feeders soon.

I am planning on upgrading him to a 4x2x2 and laying one end of his tank with slate and the other with dry coco fiber, skipping the sand. He will be fed on the slate. Currently, I'm saving up money to bring him to our local exotic vet to get him checked out.

With all this yapping, what can I do to make sure he not only survives, but thrives? Any and all info is extremely helpful.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello, I am writing this post because of my beloved son. On March 3rd, I acquired Quasi the 5 year old bearded dragon for free off of Facebook. What his previous owners failed to mention in the post were his major spinal deformities, giving him an unnatural hunch in his spine. It's likely he's suffered from MBD and other comorbidities. He came to me in a 36 x 16 x18 with a broken UVB light and a red heat bulb, which I promptly replaced; furthermore, the plastic lid was melted in three places from the dual dome resting directly upon it.. His coco husk substrate was stuck together and full of mold. He only had a cool hide, and with no rocks or slate in his enclosure to grind his nails down, his claws were heavily curled and dangerously close to piercing his feet. His diet before I acquired him consisted of Fluker's juvenile bearded dragon food, and insects were given every 2-3 days. To my knowledge he did not receive any greens. He has nearly constant stress marks and his beard is often very dark. He was chronically dehydrated and stuck shed was all over his body. Every other day, to treat his dehydration and stuck shed, I gave him a warm 85 degree Fahrenheit bath every other day.

To say I was infuriated is a major understatement. I sanitized and deep cleaned his enclosure and replaced the coco husk with a 2:1 mixture of eco earth and play sand. He now has one cool and one warm hide. His UVB is the Arcadia brand 12% output. Because my room is cold, his heating setup consists of a small fifty watt bulb and one large 100 watt bulb; the 100 watt is monitored by a probe. A rough stone has been provided for climbing and shed aid.
His diet for the past few weeks has consisted of foraged dandelions, clover, and other plants from my backyard, alongside cabbage, shredded carrots, and hopefully soon a larger variety of fruits and veggies. For now I feed him a mixture of mealworms and crickets, and I would love to start him on dubia roaches and other feeders soon.

I am planning on upgrading him to a 4x2x2 and laying one end of his tank with slate and the other with dry coco fiber, skipping the sand. He will be fed on the slate. Currently, I'm saving up money to bring him to our local exotic vet to get him checked out.

With all this yapping, what can I do to make sure he not only survives, but thrives? Any and all info is extremely helpful.

Thank you for taking him in people just do not know how to care for dragons and do no research on the subject and the dragon ends up suffering--- first I would keep to the playsand and not use the coco fiber - the dust can cause RI's - next please no more cabbage - I will post a nutrition website that will help w/ the diet --- ignore the kale info its outdated and a good staple feeder Nutrition Content
Please NO enemas at the vet --- they often end up in disaster - please take a fecal in w/ you-
how is the shed now? Please too many baths will dry his scales out so we recommend some aloe vera to ease the dry skin - are you feeding any supplements? He needs calcium D3 and vitamins w/ beta carotene - that should be fed on his insects - the UVB your using is a good one -- where do you have it placed for the tank - the screen will determine where it needs to be along w / distance

 

[My_Darling_Clementine]

Thank you for all the kind info!! Because I wasn't sure what he was deficient in and assumed the worst, I'm giving him Rep Cal Herptivite multivitamin with his daily protein. I call them his powdered donuts. His UVB is placed directly on the screen for now. It's scooted slightly back on the screen next to his basking light so that he gets as much UVB as he needs when he's in his basking spot. His stuck shed is all gone as of my most recent checkup on him, and the baths only lasted the first week or two for rehydration. Sorry I didn't clarify that! Thank you for the diet info, and I'll be sure to bring a fecal sample to the vet when I save up to bring him. I care for a corn snake, my silly daughter Clementine, alongside my lovely son, and because I use damp coco fiber for her enclosure I thought dry fiber would do good in his. Thank you for correcting me! I've been pondering switching to something like excavator clay instead of play sand because I heard it's less likely to cause impactions. Is this true?

Thank you for taking him in people just do not know how to care for dragons and do no research on the subject and the dragon ends up suffering--- first I would keep to the playsand and not use the coco fiber - the dust can cause RI's - next please no more cabbage - I will post a nutrition website that will help w/ the diet --- ignore the kale info its outdated and a good staple feeder Nutrition Content
Please NO enemas at the vet --- they often end up in disaster - please take a fecal in w/ you-
how is the shed now? Please too many baths will dry his scales out so we recommend some aloe vera to ease the dry skin - are you feeding any supplements? He needs calcium D3 and vitamins w/ beta carotene - that should be fed on his insects - the UVB your using is a good one -- where do you have it placed for the tank - the screen will determine where it needs to be along w / distance

 

[KarrieRee]

Thank you for all the kind info!! Because I wasn't sure what he was deficient in and assumed the worst, I'm giving him Rep Cal Herptivite multivitamin with his daily protein. I call them his powdered donuts. His UVB is placed directly on the screen for now. It's scooted slightly back on the screen next to his basking light so that he gets as much UVB as he needs when he's in his basking spot. His stuck shed is all gone as of my most recent checkup on him, and the baths only lasted the first week or two for rehydration. Sorry I didn't clarify that! Thank you for the diet info, and I'll be sure to bring a fecal sample to the vet when I save up to bring him. I care for a corn snake, my silly daughter Clementine, alongside my lovely son, and because I use damp coco fiber for her enclosure I thought dry fiber would do good in his. Thank you for correcting me! I've been pondering switching to something like excavator clay instead of play sand because I heard it's less likely to cause impactions. Is this true?

I would use the excavator clay --- please lightly coat the insects --- you dont want to over supplement - the screen will block 30% of the UVB rays - please tell me the brand and bulb and how old it is?

 

[xp29]

For hydration I recommend using an eyedropper to drip water on their snout. I prefer an eyedropper over a syringe because you can control how much comes out better. Go slow and don't try to force it, go at his pace. If your beardie doesn't take to it right away, you can add a little none citrus fruit juice or punch to give it flavor. If you use the juice or punch be sure to use a wet cloth to wipe away any that runs down their chin. No need to take a chance on causing bacteria or fungus to start in their scales.