Need help-- Rescued a sick Bearded Dragon

[timpug]

I'm a landlord and had a tenant abandon my premises. They left behind a bearded dragon which looks and acts very stressed. He/she is very very skinny. His/her tongue hangs out of his/her mouth all the time. A light was left on above him 24 hours a day. He/she is extremely skinny. I gave him/her some water with an eye dropper. He/she did drink some. I tried to give him/her some fruits & vegetables such as kale, kiwi, asparagus and mango. He/she tried to eat food from the food dish but wasn't too successful. When I picked up the food and placed it by his mouth he/she did eat a few pieces. He/she has moved around the cage but stays mainly on his hot rock (which was unplugged when I met him/her). His/her eyes are open, he turns his/her head and does appear alert. Soon as the pet shops open we will buy him some crickets. My heart bleeds for this poor defenseless creature. What else can we do?

Feeling distressed

 

[sweetpea1981]

I am not an expert on critical care there will be others that will post and be of better help, but definitely keep trying to give water by dropper, plus baths in warm water(think baby temp), also get some stage one chicken or turkey baby food and do that by dopper also, depending on the severity of the malnutrion, you would want to start slow with live feeders, so you wont shock their system. You will also need some reptile calcium and multivitamins, and a good uvb light(the reptisun 10.0 florescent tube, or the arcadia 12% florescent tube). here is a nutritional guide link with the best veggies http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html.

 

[JulieGeek]

You'll probably also want to pull the hot rock out of there and get a nice white incandescent bulb or a basking lamp. Hot rocks can result in burns.

If you can, check the temperature of the hottest and coolest spots in his tank. A digital probe from the hardware store works great. Hot spot should be 105-110; cool should be 75-ish.

The poor little guy would probably like some sleep, so turn off the light at night. 12-16 hours of light is good.

As sweetpea said, chicken and turkey baby food are good. You can also try squash and sweet potato. There is a product called Jump Start made by Zilla that is high calorie and claims tobe an appetite stimulant. There's also Repti-Boost by Fluker's and Oxbow Carnivore Care which are protein powders.

Others have also reported good results with apple juice mixed with plain Pedialyte.

You're doing the work of angels, timpug. Bless you for it!

 

[timpug]

Thank you for your help Sweetpea and JulieGeek. We have high hopes of saving this little guy as its really perked up since we started hydrating it. Feeding is still a challenge though. We got some butternut squash, but it is quite hard. Should it be cooked or squashed(blended) before serving? If not how big should we cut the pieces? We do have lights for her now and unplugged the heat rock as you suggested. I'm guessing she is still fairly young as her length is about 12" nose to tip of tail. Is there any way to determine if this little guy is a she or a he?

 

[kittenmaster1234]

Butternut squash:

Cut off a large piece, Put it in a bowl filled with water, Microwave for 4-5 minutes. Should be really mushy but still stay in squares when you cut into smaller pieces. Wait for it to cool and feed to hungry beardie. I'm pretty sure you can do this with other hard veggies too but haven't tried yet.

Least that's how I've been doing it. Best of luck it sounds like he/she is in very caring hands now.

 

[Esther19]

You can also buy stage one baby food squash, green beans, and turkey or chicken. Thin with water if needed, and dribble it over his lips with a dropper or syringe. I put collard and mustard greens in the blender with a bit of unsweetened juice or water, then strain it. I use that to thin the baby food, or just give it straight.

To determine gender, place him tummy down and gently lift his tail. At the base of his tail right above his vent there will either be a single bulge in the middle right above the vent for female, or 2 bulges (one on each side) for a male. You can post pictures if you need help. :wink:

Thanks for taking him in and saving his life.

 

[Blinksmama]

Because she's so thin and probably malnourished, it's a good idea to hold off on protein until she's a little better, you don't want to put stress on her kidneys. Monitor her poop and urates (white part), if the urates are hard and chalky then her kidneys aren't working properly.
This page, actually the whole website, is a fantastic resource for beardie owners. There is a lot of great information on caring for sick reptiles.
http://www.anapsid.org/emaciation.html

Amy

 

[timpug]

I'd like to thank you all for your help over the weekend. Thought I'd give you all an update. I got ahold of our vet earlier this week and she informed me that we were doing everything correctly-- thanks to all your help. She still has no interest in eating on her own but the vet informs me this is not unusual in rescue cases as they become disinterested in food after being malnourished. Hopefully in a couple weeks she will get her interest in food back and start eating on her own. She has bone disease from being malnourished, so she is getting lots of calcium and vitamins. She seems to love her baths. Compared to where she was when I first saw her, she has come a long way. She now holds her head up and walks around her tank (verses lying down on her rock with her head down all the time). Thank you for the tip on checking her stool for hardness. Thankfully its soft. Tonight we will take her out and let her run around a bit, as its my understanding they love to run. The vet will be coming down to our home next week and look at our setup and make suggestions. We never had any intentions of having a bearded dragon in our lives, but now that she's here, she's wormed her way into our hearts and we wouldn't want to be without her.

Again I'd like to express my gratitude for all you wonderful people who took the time to answer my plea for help. I'll keep you informed on what the vet suggests next week. Bless you all.

 

[Blinksmama]

You're welcome
I'm glad to hear that she's improving! If you haven't already, take a look at the care sheets and articles page http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/. There is important information on UVB lighting, not all bulbs are created equal. There is a list of questions here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=116920 you can check out. If you have any questions about her set up, or would like to go over it here, ask away

Take Care
Amy

 

[timpug]

Thank you all once more. Thought I'd give an update on my dragon. She (yes she is a she) is doing quite well. The vet was satisfied with our physical set-up. The vet could see signs of her abuse. She still won't eat on her own. But a bigger concern is that our dragon always has her mouth open. The vet wasn't sure what might be causing that so she was going to check with other vets. The vet did check her throat and at first thought there was something in it but on further examination it was determined to be discoloration. If anyone has any ideas on what we might be dealing with here, please let me know.

Warm regards

 

[lauraj1055]

Do you have pictures of her? Are you monitoring her temps? Usually when they open their mouths, they are trying to thermo-regulate. It's equivalent to a dog panting. Her basking temps should be 102-105. What are you trying to feed her? If it's crickets she might not have interest because of the lack of energy. Maybe you could get some hornworms? These are usually appetite stimulants and can't get away like crickets. Are you feeding her critical care too?

Keep up the good work!

 

[Blinksmama]

Is she well hydrated? What is the humidity level in her enclosure? What are the basking and ambient temperatures, and what type of thermometer are you using to moniter them? Does she make any noise while she's gaping, like coughing or clicking sounds?
Have you been giving her liquid calcium and a vitamin suppliment?

 

[timpug]

The vet said she was very well hydrated. Her stool is moist. We have to feed her by eye dropper, so a lot of water is added to her food. She generally is disinterested in food unless we put it in her mouth, although we have noticed the odd solid piece of Kale missing from her food bowl. We spray her 2-3 times a day plus give her a bath 2 times a week. To be honest I don't know what the humidity level is inside the tank. How would you suggest I determine that? We do have a humidifier in our house as we live in a northern climate and maintaining normal humidity levels would be a problem without it. Her basking temperature is around 30 degrees C. and would decrease to about 22 degrees C at the other end of the 3 foot tank. She makes no sound at all-- no gasping, coughing or clicking sounds. Her mouth just stays open with the end of her tongue visible. We don't give her liquid calcium but we do mix in powdered calcium in all her food. We buy baby (chicken, carrots, beans) food and add pureed vegetables and fruit -- kale, bok choy, kiwi mango etc. powered calcium & vitamins. The powdered calcium is specially formulated for indoor reptiles. We also recently purchased a new uvb bulb.

Warm regards
Timpug

 

[Blinksmama]

To check the humidity, you can purchase a dial hygrometer from a pet store. Ideal humidity is 20-30%, too much moisture in the enclosure can contribute to an upper respitory infection (URI). Our house is very dry during the colder months, and I have trouble getting my enclosure above 10%. Her basking spot needs to be a minimum of 35C (95f) in order for her to digest her food, and she may like it as high as 40C (105f), if it's too hot she'll move a bit farther from the spot. The cool side should be around 26C (80f) or so. Over night temps between 19C-22C. Adjusting the temperatures should increase her appetite. Also, Kale bind's calcium and prevents it from being absorbed by the dragon, so it's best not to feed it to her. What brand and type of UVB bulb did you purchase?

 

[herpgirl2510]

I don't have anything to add except do you think you could post some pics. It might give people a better idea of her condition.