New beardie owner with some questions.

[BTrecordingz]

Rescued a 1-2 year old dragon from a women who was clueless imo. He was in a 20long with no uvb and his diet consisted of nothing but flukers crickets and national discovery bearded dragon diet. Ive had him a little over a week and have since moved him into a 40b with a reptisun 10.0 uvb light, a 150 heat spot, and a 100 watt flood. His hot side is right around 90 with the basking spot reaching upper 90s on some days, cool side hovers right at 80. Now, the bad, he seems EXTREMELY lethargic to me. I have yet to see him eat anything, he will not touch water, and good luck sleeping in the same room as him lately. Learned to term "glass surfing" the other night, he just wouldnt calm down for almost 5 hours. Im kind of beside myself because I would hate to think heres this animal Im making upset or sick. Am I doing something wrong? Could definitely use some guidance here. Thanks -Matt

 

[CooperDragon]

Poor little guy. Can you provide some time outside? The natural sunlight might do some good. Doesn't need to be a whole lot. Start with maybe 30-60 minutes a day if the weather allows it. I'd go easy on the food to begin with too. As an adult he should be primarily on a salad diet (80% or so) with live bugs making up the rest. I would provide 2-3 items from this list in a salad every day http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html. Collard, Turnip, and Mustard greens make great base greens and I've had a lot of luck with different kinds of squash. He may also need some hydration. Try putting him in a shallow bath of warm water. He may drink from the bath on his own. If he doesn't appear interested in the solid food, you may want to try putting a little bit of green bean or squash baby food on his nose and see if he licks that off. It may take a while for him to get his energy back but be patient and persistent.

His tank size is much better. How are you measuring the temperatures? It's very important to get accurate temp readings across the tank so I recommend getting a temp gun (~$20 on amazon) or at least a digital thermometer with a probe that you can put on different surfaces in the tank. What kind of ReptiSun are you using? is it a long tube style or a coil bulb style? I recommend using the tubes because they provide a much more even distribution of UVB across the basking area.

 

[BTrecordingz]

Its too cold around here right now to bring him outside...around 65 degrees. I have him under the reptisun 10.0 18" tube style, I read that the coil style is actually more detrimental to a beardies health, especially his eyes. Ive tried giving him live crickets, cucumber, and kale, next is going to be some carrots. I did give him a bath a couple hours ago, he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. His all black beard dropped into a light blueish with orange around the edges...i actually saw how beautiful this guy is supposed to be...i think...hahaa. I dried him off and put him back in his house. Hes now hiding under one of the logs in the tank. I really hope Im doing the right thing for him. Ive kept fish for years and have had snakes as well, so the knowhow is there...just have to apply it to the new guy i guess. Thanks for the quick response btw.

 

[CooperDragon]

OK the 18'' tube is good. Make sure it sits about 6'' above his basking spot for optimal output. Yeah too cold for outside unfortunately. I'd give that a try as soon as the weather clears though. I would avoid carrots as they can be tough to digest. Instead I suggest picking up some squash and cutting it into small worm like pieces (or using some spaghetti squash perhaps). Maybe he'll like that. Did you see him drink from the bath? It's good that he liked it, keep those up maybe once a day at first and then every few days. If you pick up a feeding syringe you can try feeding him some baby food that way or even just a little water (drop it on his nose and see if he licks at it). I'm glad you are able to give him a good home. You did the right thing. There are lots of us on here ready to help you get him back into shape. Keep us updated on his progress and feel free to ask any questions you'd like.

 

[BTrecordingz]

Awesome, little bit of relief. I dont think hes out of the woods yet but I will definitely keep posting updates and will definitely be back with any questions. Thanks again.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[BTrecordingz]

I think hes making a comeback. I bathed him again this morning, this time he was flailing and hissing but as soon as his feet hit the water, just a lump of color and skin. I played with him in the water for 10 minutes then put him back. He then starts bouncing all over the tank lands in the water dish and has been there for about 30 minutes. Dehydration can really make a beardie go bonkers like that?