New Beardie Underweight

[Abbeymore]

I just picked up my new Bearded Dragon yesterday morning. She came from Craigslist. The seller says she is 2 years old and they had given her to a friend of her son who hadn't taken care of her so they took her back to rehome.

She is very thin and has a black beard almost all the time. She won't eat anything but I expected that with her being new to me. She was very lethargic yesterday but seems more alert today.

As far as I can tell she has never had a UVB bulb, she was fed vegetables and fruit every day and crickets 2-3 times a week with calcium every day. At least while the lady owned her.

She is about 10 inches long nose to tail (she is missing the end of her tail) and only weighs 144 grams.

Right now she is in the 20 gallon tank she came with, on newspaper and paper towel, with a 100w basking bulb. The temperature at the basking end is 91' the cool end 85'. (measured with my digital indoor/outdoor thermometer, temperature gun coming tomorrow)

I have a reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb coming tomorrow and we went and got a 75 gallon tank for her to move into when she is a bit stronger. Today I took her outside for some sunlight for about 20 minutes which she seemed to enjoy. (not hate anyway!)

I have tried to give her a bath but she shot straight up the side and up my chest. I have dripped water on her nose and she has a water dish in her tank which she sat in last night so I think she has drank a little. I dropper fed her some baby food, chicken and sweet potato mixed with water twice today, the first time she drank about 1/2 ml, just now almost 2 mls.

My questions are, I know she is small and underweight for her age but is she dangerously so?
How much of the baby food should she be ideally drinking? should I continue with it after she starts eating on her own? I will leave off on crickets for now until she is stronger, does that sound good?
Any help you can give me is very welcome, I have lots of pets but she is my first Beardie, I have been reading as much as I can on here for weeks but there is so much information!

Here is a picture of her (hopefully) so you can see how she looks...

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....it's always nice to read when a neglected pet gets into a caring home like yours. Sounds like you're getting the things she needs, and from the pic she looks to be in decent shape.....not too thin but well proportioned for her small size. Do what you're doing but offer some bugs twice a week as well, just not a lot at one time. She'll probably be fine like that.

 

[Abbeymore]

Hi there....it's always nice to read when a neglected pet gets into a caring home like yours. Sounds like you're getting the things she needs, and from the pic she looks to be in decent shape.....not too thin but well proportioned for her small size. Do what you're doing but offer some bugs twice a week as well, just not a lot at one time. She'll probably be fine like that.

Thanks! That puts my mind at rest, I thought I had read the scales wrong, I know she should be about twice that weight. She must have been getting some food though as she has been pooping like crazy. :?

She is a lot brighter today, actually climbed on her log to bask, did some glass surfing and even tried to eat a little apple on her own
She tried really hard to eat the apple but didn't actually get any so she gave up and went back to basking. I think she has at least a little MBD as she never had UVB light so I was wondering if she has any teeth... What are their teeth supposed to look like? I had a little look and she seems to have one on each side at the very back on top and that's it.

What would be the best veggies / fruit to feed her if she is missing teeth? and how small should I cut it? I want to encourage her off the baby food dropper and into eating on her own now she is showing an interest.

I guess worms would be the best feeder insect for her? They don't sell them at my local pet stores, just the dried ones, so where is the best place to get them online?
Sorry again for all the questions, I just want to do the best for her.

 

[Abbeymore]

Cinder on day 3. This is the first time she has climbed her log. Do you think her back and hips look like MBD? or just underweight.

 

[AHBD]

Awwww, poor little Cinder....she's trying to be a real dragon. It's good that she interested in food and climbing to bask. I'm not sure about her back + hip area, can you post a few more pics a bit closer and with her standing on just the floor of her tank again or anywhere flat ? And a few more angles while she's on the log.

For feeding, get her some good greens like turnip, mustard, collard arugula and dandelion. Just puul a bit from each bunch at the store so you don't spend alot + waste such large amounts. Cut them up pretty small, you can even use scissors to do it quickly. Try a variety of squash and shred that....she does not have jaw strength + possibly not many teeth. You can even microwave it to soften it before chopping it. Baby food is also an option, squash, green bean, chicken. Apples are not a great food, you can nix those.

For insects you can try medium crickets and shake a few up real hard in a jar [ you can add a pinch of calcium powder to supplement] and this will make them dizzy + easier for her to catch. It may be that you have to hand feed her. If she can't seem to chew them you can partly squish them....don't be squeamish, just wear a disposable glove or try it with a pair of tweezers.

Hopefully she'll get on the road to recovery.

 

[Abbeymore]

Yeah, she's trying hard, bless her. Last night when I turned her lights off she squeezed her whole body under the log, head first, to sleep. She had to cross her back feet to fit them in. I really want to move her into her 75 gallon tank but I don't want to overwhelm her, what do you think?

Here are a few more pictures, hopefully they will show her back and hip bumps easier.
This is her flat -





And on her log this morning -









I have tried her with collards greens, kale and a little grated carrot but she hasn't touched any. The old owner said she loved collard greens so hopefully she will eat them soon. I am going to the store today to get some of the other greens you mentioned and maybe some squash, I am sure the rabbit or tortoise will eat it if she doesn't!

I have ordered some phoenix worms, hopefully they will come in the next couple of days, in the meantime we got some dried crickets just to see what she would do and as soon as my son dropped it in she pounced and crunched it up. We only gave her 3 or 4 as I know they are not the best but until I can get some live ones I just wanted her to eat something. She grabbed the dropper yesterday too and must have taken around 5ml of baby food.
I think she's settling but she still has major black beard.

 

[AHBD]

Those pics are very helpful....her back/hip area has just a slight hump, not a big bulge that her other pic on the log seemed to show. She also has an underbite, not a big problem but it shows that she has or has had MBD, but thankfully it's not severe. Her appetite is a good sign and she should do fine on medium crickets. Phoenix worms are O.K, but so small that you'll spend a fortune to keep her full.

I think she'll be fine in the 20 gal. tank for the first month or so, let her settle in before changing her world too much. Hopefully the progress will continue !

 

[Abbeymore]

Thank you so much for everything! I really appreciate your help. I feel much better about things now.
It's good to know her MBD is not too severe, hopefully once she gets her UVB light and some food in her she will fill out and might even grow a bit? But I love my 'mini dragon' :lol:

 

[AHBD]

Yes, she's a cute little mini ! She may grow a bit, that would be great but I'm sure you'll love her either way.

By the way, are you positive on the gender ? A black beard could indicate stress but it could also be that you actually have a male....just wanted to mention that in case you're just going on the previous owner's guess.

 

[Abbeymore]

Well, the craigslist advert said male. Then the owner said they just assumed male and when she checked said she thought it was a girl. I have just had a quick look with the flashlight and it does look like there are 2 lines there.... not 100% sure though, she/he was not a happy dragon about the process!
I'll probably just keep saying 'she', it's hard to think of her being a boy! I guess at least the name suits either gender.
By the way, what color would you call her?
Oh, and I weighed her again today and she has put on 14 grams! She is now 158g.

 

[AHBD]

You can try the flashlight method again in a few months when he/she is more settled in. But that dragon is getting chubby. :lol: