Juvenile Rescue Help

daveyj0nes

Member
Original Poster
Rescued a baby bearded dragon last night. He’s maybe three-four months old and small for his size. I’ve had adult dragons before, but no experience with juveniles. Have him in a temporary hospital enclosure with a T5HO 10% (basking areas measuring between 5-7 on the Ferguson Zone scale with UVB meter), and a 100-105 degree basking spot. Cool side is between 75-80. Took him to the vet today because he appears underweight and severely dehydrated. They gave him subcutaneous fluids and a variety of vitamin injections. I was told to feed him Emeraid Carnivore for the next week but I’m concerned that this could shock his system with too much protein since he obviously hasn’t been eating all that well. The vet prophylactically prescribed ponazuril, metronidazole, and fenbendazole. Based on my previous experience with dragons, this seems like a lot, and I’m worried about the stress it will put on his already fragile system. Will be collecting a fecal sample as soon as possible. Should I wait to see what he’s actually got, or is this sort of prophylactic deworming the recommended course of action for a juvenile? Any thoughts on the Emeraid Carnivore? I’m tempted to just feed winter squash baby food for the first week based on advice found in Sarah Sutherlands Pampered Beaedies book. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help.

Medications:
Metronidazole Suspension 50mg/ml
Fenbendazole Suspension 100mg/ml
Ponazuril Suspension 50mg/ml
 

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Last edited:

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Rescued a baby bearded dragon last night. He’s maybe three-four months old and small for his size. I’ve had adult dragons before, but no experience with juveniles. Have him in a temporary hospital enclosure with a T5HO 10% (basking areas measuring between 5-7 on the Ferguson Zone scale with UVB meter), and a 100-105 degree basking spot. Cool side is between 75-80. Took him to the vet today because he appears underweight and severely dehydrated. They gave him subcutaneous fluids and a variety of vitamin injections. I was told to feed him Emeraid Carnivore for the next week but I’m concerned that this could shock his system with too much protein since he obviously hasn’t been eating all that well. The vet prophylactically prescribed ponazuril, metronidazole, and fenbendazole. Based on my previous experience with dragons, this seems like a lot, and I’m worried about the stress it will put on his already fragile system. Will be collecting a fecal sample as soon as possible. Should I wait to see what he’s actually got, or is this sort of prophylactic deworming the recommended course of action for a juvenile? Any thoughts on the Emeraid Carnivore? I’m tempted to just feed winter squash baby food for the first week based on advice found in Sarah Sutherlands Pampered Beaedies book. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for any help.

Medications:
Metronidazole Suspension 50mg/ml
Fenbendazole Suspension 100mg/ml
Ponazuril Suspension 50mg/ml
I would hold off on the meds and take a fecal in to make sure he needs that deworming- you want surface basking temps taken w/ a probe -- I see readers but no probes-- I would go slow w/ the food - giving too much will overwhelm his system
 

daveyj0nes

Member
Original Poster
I would hold off on the meds and take a fecal in to make sure he needs that deworming- you want surface basking temps taken w/ a probe -- I see readers but no probes-- I would go slow w/ the food - giving too much will overwhelm his system
Thank you. My gut says to wait on the dewormers as well. The readers are actually for other enclosures — a gecko and poison dart frog. The dragons temporary house just happens to be sitting in front of them. 😊 I took the measurements with a temperature gun.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Thank you. My gut says to wait on the dewormers as well. The readers are actually for other enclosures — a gecko and poison dart frog. The dragons temporary house just happens to be sitting in front of them. 😊 I took the measurements with a temperature gun.
Ok best accurate are digital probe thermometers I would get 2 of them certain materials will throw temps off w/ the IR gun-
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Meds will cause his appetite to fall off to nothing. I would take a fecal in before i arbitrarily gave meds. In my opinion to many vets prescribe meds for just in case and cause problems that they didn't have. He needs to be eating to put weight on. Like Karrieree said go slow. Make sure he is hydrated first. To much food to soon for one that has been chronically dehydrated will likely cause liver and kidney problems. I haven't used that brand carnivore mix, but I've had good luck with the oxbow brand. (I used the herbivore mix because the dragons i was giving it to were grown).
Is your uvb the coil/compact type, if so you really need to switch to the long tube type. Also 5-7 is pretty high 3-5 is the target zone.
I hope the lil guy pulls through for you, it sounds like your on top of things. Please keep us posted on his recovery 🙂
 

daveyj0nes

Member
Original Poster
Meds will cause his appetite to fall off to nothing. I would take a fecal in before i arbitrarily gave meds. In my opinion to many vets prescribe meds for just in case and cause problems that they didn't have. He needs to be eating to put weight on. Like Karrieree said go slow. Make sure he is hydrated first. To much food to soon for one that has been chronically dehydrated will likely cause liver and kidney problems. I haven't used that brand carnivore mix, but I've had good luck with the oxbow brand. (I used the herbivore mix because the dragons i was giving it to were grown).
Is your uvb the coil/compact type, if so you really need to switch to the long tube type. Also 5-7 is pretty high 3-5 is the target zone.
I hope the lil guy pulls through for you, it sounds like your on top of things. Please keep us posted on his recovery 🙂
The UVB is a tube type 10% T5HO. I rechecked the basking spots and the highest area is 5.5. I got the reading of 7 due to measuring without the screen in place. Measuring with the screen it’s 5.5 and little over three at the basking spot (measured by sliding the screen back and measuring the relative distance outside the enclosure… if that makes sense.

Thanks for the advice on the meds. I’m going to hold off until we get that fecal sample. Hoping a little magic on that front will happen today 💩 🤞
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Sounds like your giving him a very good fighting chance, my hat is off to you 🙂. We will be sending good vibes his way!!! 🙂
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Excellent work everyone, I concur with advice on medication. Since you haven't had him long
& he is dehydrated & malnourished to some extent, they will be a bit hard on his system. Did you
get his fecal back with results?
Which brand of the T5 tube are you using for him, the Reptisun 10? That is a nice bulb. Be sure
you have it overlapping in the same area with the basking bulb also.
Soft foods like the squash, or sweet potato, etc will definitely be beneficial for him to get his system
boosted. You can add in some bee pollen or black strap molasses to help with appetite, too.

Tracie
 

daveyj0nes

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

Excellent work everyone, I concur with advice on medication. Since you haven't had him long
& he is dehydrated & malnourished to some extent, they will be a bit hard on his system. Did you
get his fecal back with results?
Which brand of the T5 tube are you using for him, the Reptisun 10? That is a nice bulb. Be sure
you have it overlapping in the same area with the basking bulb also.
Soft foods like the squash, or sweet potato, etc will definitely be beneficial for him to get his system
boosted. You can add in some bee pollen or black strap molasses to help with appetite, too.

Tracie
Thank you for your help. I’m holding off on the meds for now. After giving him subcutaneous fluids and having him drink some water on his own, I decided to try a few baby crickets to see if he would eat on his own. He chased them down and ate them enthusiastically, so I gave him a total of ten baby crickets the Saturday and ten again today. I’m concerned about refeeding syndrome, but he perked up so much after eating a few that it seemed the right route to go since he wasn’t taking to the crit care slurry off the end of the syringe and he didn’t seem sick enough to stress him by force feeding. I haven’t been able to collect a proper fecal sample yet. His bowel movements have been very small — urate with a very minuscule amount of solid matter. I’m hoping after feeding him for a few more days I’ll get something substantial enough to collect. I’m somewhat tempted to start him in the metronidazole once he perks up some a little more since it’s a broad spectrum antibiotic (and I’ve given it to my other dragons for a number of different things), but would like to hear your advice on that first.

As to your question about UVB, it’s a Reptisun 10% T5HO tube. It’s overlaps his basking spot and is giving between a 3 and 5.5 on the Ferguson Zone Scale (measured with a UVB meter) at his basking areas depending on height. I first said 5-7 but that was an error as I took readings without the screen in place. It’s a very temporary small hospital tank setup so having the screen in place actually helps. That’s a first! 😂

One thing I’m struggling with is humidity as it’s been fairly humid in SoCal for the last few weeks. I tried running a small dehumidifier in the little hospital tank but it didn’t make a dent. It’s currently running about 50% humidity in the house and in his enclosure. Would you have any thoughts on how I can bring that down?

If anything in doing sounds absolutely bonkers — especially with feeding and potential issues with that — please let me know.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Thank you for your help. I’m holding off on the meds for now. After giving him subcutaneous fluids and having him drink some water on his own, I decided to try a few baby crickets to see if he would eat on his own. He chased them down and ate them enthusiastically, so I gave him a total of ten baby crickets the Saturday and ten again today. I’m concerned about refeeding syndrome, but he perked up so much after eating a few that it seemed the right route to go since he wasn’t taking to the crit care slurry off the end of the syringe and he didn’t seem sick enough to stress him by force feeding. I haven’t been able to collect a proper fecal sample yet. His bowel movements have been very small — urate with a very minuscule amount of solid matter. I’m hoping after feeding him for a few more days I’ll get something substantial enough to collect. I’m somewhat tempted to start him in the metronidazole once he perks up some a little more since it’s a broad spectrum antibiotic (and I’ve given it to my other dragons for a number of different things), but would like to hear your advice on that first.

As to your question about UVB, it’s a Reptisun 10% T5HO tube. It’s overlaps his basking spot and is giving between a 3 and 5.5 on the Ferguson Zone Scale (measured with a UVB meter) at his basking areas depending on height. I first said 5-7 but that was an error as I took readings without the screen in place. It’s a very temporary small hospital tank setup so having the screen in place actually helps. That’s a first! 😂

One thing I’m struggling with is humidity as it’s been fairly humid in SoCal for the last few weeks. I tried running a small dehumidifier in the little hospital tank but it didn’t make a dent. It’s currently running about 50% humidity in the house and in his enclosure. Would you have any thoughts on how I can bring that down?

If anything in doing sounds absolutely bonkers — especially with feeding and potential issues with that — please let me know.
Humidity is good are you using a analog or digital probe hygrometer? He needs to stay hydrated please drop water on his nose to see if he will lick - are you feeding salads?
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
You can add just a little fruit juice or punch to give it flavor, I've had good luck doing that. Just be sure to use a wet paper towel or wet wash 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.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Sometimes it's best to see how a dragon eats before taking it to a vet when it's new to you and the reason for it's condition is just lack of proper care + feeding. It's a great sign that he's eating small crickets, you can offer a little bit of the critical care but giving him small amounts of insects is fine. Can you show the size of the crickets ?
 

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