heatherRiot
New member
I recently purchased 2 baby beardies from Petco. I realize this was a big mistake now but I still wouldn't trade my two for the world. To make a very long and unhappy story short, I was given bad instructions from the staff the whole way - but I managed to get the setup right rather quickly. I have now had to separate them due to fighting. They're sharing a large aquarium with a divider between until I get my next check as I've thrown a lot of money into the setup trying to get it right.
The smallest beardie, Volly, had MBD when I got her (him, actually). I think the larger one, Maxi had it as well but his was definitely less severe and he seems to have made a (near) full recovery. I'm not sure how old either of them are. Volly has not seemed to have grown any in the 2 weeks since we got them. When I brought them home, she could not eat mealworms at all - which was what the people at Petco told me to provide 24/7. She was weak and slept most of the time and would even appear to fall asleep while eating. I've changed virtually everything about my setup in this time and would like to know if there is anything else I can do. Mostly, I'm concerned about her progress and would like to know if she will ever recover. It breaks my heart that she's been through all of this and I want to make sure she (and Maxi) are getting the best care.
My current setup:
They're housed in a 2.5 foot long aquarium (sorry, I don't know the gallons). As I said, I'm going to get them larger ones in a couple of days. I was thinking of using the divider for feeding in Volly's so that she has an easier time hunting.
I have heat lamps and keep the temp between 100 - 111 in their main basking area with cool sides of about 85-90. They have shady areas as well and seem pretty happy basking. Volly wasn't basking even after I separated them so I replaced the screen I had between them to a solid divider and now she basks in happiness.
I have shallow water dishes in there for them (with filtered water) and the humidity stays under 5%. I spray them regularly now with filtered water as well to help with shedding/dehydration.
I changed the calcium supplement from "Repashy Superfoods Bearded Dragon Calcium plus" to a calcium supplement that actually has, oh, I don't know, calcium (from 18% max in the Repashy) to Rep-Cal which I found recommended here. After reading the forums here and the back of the Repashy bottle, it sounds like the Repashy is more of a multivitamin but I'll be getting RepCal's multi next check as well.
I feed them a morning salad of small chopped butternut squash, kale, and collard greens with the occasional broccoli and carrots. In the afternoon/evening, I give them small crickets. Maybe about 12-20 between the 2 of them. This seems to have been an especially good switch for Volly and her hunting skills are getting pretty good, though she still walks/runs a little awkwardly. It's heartbreaking sometimes because she is constantly submission-waving at us so we wave back and she continues the hunt after exchanging waves awhile.
I coat their salad and crickets with the supplement as well.
For about 12 hours a day, I use the ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 in the ZooMed Terrarium hood. I have their basking and light setup so that they can't be closer than 4-5 inches from the light directly but can get at least that close easily.
Oh, and I replaced the death-sand they gave me (and assured me would NOT cause impaction) with repti-grass or turf terrarium liner.
I think that's everything. I've been through so many crappy products at this point that I can't even keep track. But this board has really helped me to find the right products. At this point, I just want to make sure I'm doing what I can and to get any suggestions you all might have.
I'm worried that she isn't going to get better as I don't know how long she was at Petco. I don't know how old she is. I know at one point, a couple weeks prior to me getting my little guys, they had about 10 beardies of the same size in the same "habitat" with one very small basking tree. Knowing what I know now, I can tell you that they're not taking proper care of their beardies at ALL. They didn't even tell me that I needed UVB/A lighting as they loaded my cart with products. They had mealworms down but no salad and no supplement on them. Volly seems to be improving but I don't know if she'll ever be healthy. Can anyone tell me what I can expect as far as her recovery? Or, how I can tell if she's making progress?
I'm a social worker, and there's not much money in helping the homeless, mentally ill, etc. I can possibly pull enough together to get her to a vet but I also need to buy the stuff she needs so it may take a bit if I want to make rent as well. Any advice you could give would be helpful....I could've taken her back to Petco, but who knows what would have happened then.
(edit - In case it was unclear, I stopped feeding mealworms or any kind of worms. After I had to physically help my poor constipated Volly in one of the more gross moments of our time together...and after reading that many worms aren't so good for them...)
The smallest beardie, Volly, had MBD when I got her (him, actually). I think the larger one, Maxi had it as well but his was definitely less severe and he seems to have made a (near) full recovery. I'm not sure how old either of them are. Volly has not seemed to have grown any in the 2 weeks since we got them. When I brought them home, she could not eat mealworms at all - which was what the people at Petco told me to provide 24/7. She was weak and slept most of the time and would even appear to fall asleep while eating. I've changed virtually everything about my setup in this time and would like to know if there is anything else I can do. Mostly, I'm concerned about her progress and would like to know if she will ever recover. It breaks my heart that she's been through all of this and I want to make sure she (and Maxi) are getting the best care.
My current setup:
They're housed in a 2.5 foot long aquarium (sorry, I don't know the gallons). As I said, I'm going to get them larger ones in a couple of days. I was thinking of using the divider for feeding in Volly's so that she has an easier time hunting.
I have heat lamps and keep the temp between 100 - 111 in their main basking area with cool sides of about 85-90. They have shady areas as well and seem pretty happy basking. Volly wasn't basking even after I separated them so I replaced the screen I had between them to a solid divider and now she basks in happiness.
I have shallow water dishes in there for them (with filtered water) and the humidity stays under 5%. I spray them regularly now with filtered water as well to help with shedding/dehydration.
I changed the calcium supplement from "Repashy Superfoods Bearded Dragon Calcium plus" to a calcium supplement that actually has, oh, I don't know, calcium (from 18% max in the Repashy) to Rep-Cal which I found recommended here. After reading the forums here and the back of the Repashy bottle, it sounds like the Repashy is more of a multivitamin but I'll be getting RepCal's multi next check as well.
I feed them a morning salad of small chopped butternut squash, kale, and collard greens with the occasional broccoli and carrots. In the afternoon/evening, I give them small crickets. Maybe about 12-20 between the 2 of them. This seems to have been an especially good switch for Volly and her hunting skills are getting pretty good, though she still walks/runs a little awkwardly. It's heartbreaking sometimes because she is constantly submission-waving at us so we wave back and she continues the hunt after exchanging waves awhile.
I coat their salad and crickets with the supplement as well.
For about 12 hours a day, I use the ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 in the ZooMed Terrarium hood. I have their basking and light setup so that they can't be closer than 4-5 inches from the light directly but can get at least that close easily.
Oh, and I replaced the death-sand they gave me (and assured me would NOT cause impaction) with repti-grass or turf terrarium liner.
I think that's everything. I've been through so many crappy products at this point that I can't even keep track. But this board has really helped me to find the right products. At this point, I just want to make sure I'm doing what I can and to get any suggestions you all might have.
I'm worried that she isn't going to get better as I don't know how long she was at Petco. I don't know how old she is. I know at one point, a couple weeks prior to me getting my little guys, they had about 10 beardies of the same size in the same "habitat" with one very small basking tree. Knowing what I know now, I can tell you that they're not taking proper care of their beardies at ALL. They didn't even tell me that I needed UVB/A lighting as they loaded my cart with products. They had mealworms down but no salad and no supplement on them. Volly seems to be improving but I don't know if she'll ever be healthy. Can anyone tell me what I can expect as far as her recovery? Or, how I can tell if she's making progress?
I'm a social worker, and there's not much money in helping the homeless, mentally ill, etc. I can possibly pull enough together to get her to a vet but I also need to buy the stuff she needs so it may take a bit if I want to make rent as well. Any advice you could give would be helpful....I could've taken her back to Petco, but who knows what would have happened then.
(edit - In case it was unclear, I stopped feeding mealworms or any kind of worms. After I had to physically help my poor constipated Volly in one of the more gross moments of our time together...and after reading that many worms aren't so good for them...)
