New Rescue, New To Beardies: Please advise!!

[ArchimedesBane]

This is my first bearded dragon, I don't know what to look for.

She's shedding, but she also seems very dehydrated. She came with a 50-gal, branches, a hide, and UVB and day and nighttime lamps. She's a year old and seems on the side, maybe about 7 or 8 inches. She acts very lethargic, with short bursts of activity.

I feel like an awful new owner, because I can't even settle her in properly yet-- in the hubhub of the transfer, the screen lid for her tank didn't make it into my car, and without a lid to keep the cats out and the lamps on, I felt helpless-- helpless enough to bring her to work with me. She's cuddled into a shoebox right now, with the lid open if I'm able to keep half an eye on her and closed if a customer approaches. She's got some greens and Zilla fortified bearded dragon kibble in with her, although she doesn't appear to have much of an appetite. I'm freaking out just a little. There's an hour and a half left in my shift and I'm not sure if her former owner will bring the screen lid over in time for me to have her settled in by evening.

A few photos:


Lethargic period.



For size reference.

Please, any and all advice is appreciated, this last hour of work is killing me...

 

[chastityx]

if it's warm enough and you can get a 10 minute break or so she would probably do well to get some sun. otherwise, if she's cold when you touch her you can try putting some hand warmers under the towels (make sure theres a good layer) to warm her up until she can get comfortable at home.

 

[BlueMorpho]

I'd agree with getting her some sun.
The poor little thing!! Thank you for taking her in!! I can't believe she's a year old, she looks like a baby!!
She's definitely been underfed, and more than likely, given the wrong lights. It wouldn't be surprising if she were also dehydration... Pop her in a nice warm (baby warm) bath in water up to her shoulders when you get home tonight. You can also try giving her squash baby food or water from an oral syringe.
Don't try to over-feed her if she has been starved or dehydrated so it doesn't overwhelm her.
I'd also say it would be good to get something on top of the tank to keep the cats out and hold up the lights.
When she's settled in for a couple weeks, it might be a good idea to take her to a vet.
Please keep us updated!

 

[ArchimedesBane]

Updates:
We're home safe and sound. She's settling in fairly well. I misted her very briefly to aid with her shed, and she came to life as soon as she smelled the water, actually trying to lick it from the nozzle of the mister. I showed her her filled water bowl and she went to town, drinking for several minutes straight. So dehydration is certainly a consideration.
I also found out that not a single one of the lamps the guy gave me are operational. Who knows how long she's been without light! Luckily, my ball python had been using a UVB lamp for ambient temp maintenance, so I switched it over to Rhaegal's tank and will be getting a regular nighttime bulb for Magnus once I determine whether the problem with the lamps is bulb- or fixture-related. Rhaegal's basking right now, as close as she can get. Sweet baby, she deserves some good beams after the day (or much longer!) that she's been through.

 

[kcarello]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Thank you for taking this baby in!! As already posted, be careful how and what you feed her right now. The baby food squash and plenty of water should be all for now until you know her kidneys are working ok. You will know this from her poos and urates. I am going to post a link to a few things. First a really good care sheet that is on a website full of wonderful accurate information: Also on this site is the information on the correct lighting...well, actually everything you could possibly need to know is on here.
http://www.everythingreptile.org/bearded-dragon.html

Next a website with a wonderful food chart:
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
Please let us know how she is doing. Oh, and normally its not a good ideal to leave a water bowl in the tank because it can raise the humidity too high and most wont drink from them anyway, but in this case, I would say for now since she is drinking out of it go ahead and leave it. When you mist her,,,which, actually baths are much better than misting,,,but if you do mist her,,,do not mist her while she is in her viv.
And no night time light it disrupts their sleep, If you need extra heat at night, which you only need if the temp in the room where you keep her gets below 65..then get a Ceramic Heat Emmiter.
The first web site I posted will help you so much.

 

[ArchimedesBane]

She spent most of the night under the UVB, I wanted to make sure she got some warmth. I'll start her on an official day/night cycle today. She's more alert this morning, looking around once I turned on a day lamp for her. I'll be giving her a bath shortly, and I can easily pick up some squash baby food for her while I'm at the store. The vitamin supplements the fellow gave me have D3 as well as calcium. Is there a supplement more ideal than this (Fluker's calcium with D3), would just standard ReptiCal suffice? These are just preliminary questions, I'll be running to the store for foods and supplies today and referring back to those fantastic caresheets you guys forwarded to me.

 

[ArchimedesBane]

And also some photos from this morning-- much more alert, but do you guys see anything to watch out for?

 

[kcarello]

You will need a calcium and a vitamin powder. It might not hurt to give her liquid calcium for now. That is good she is more alert this morning. If she starts eating, then when she passes some good white urates...the white part of her poop...then you can start slowly with the protein. You need to get a Reptisun 10.0 tube style uvb light for her...ASAP. Well, its all on the web site I gave you....how about you let me know how things are going,,,read the website and ask if you have any questions...there is just so much to go over..that if you read around on that site it will be easy for you to get everything right. The most imporant and lights, temps, food, substrate...nothing loose...the carpet you have...or...read the site....let me know if you have any questions.

 

[BlueMorpho]

It's nice to see her eyes open. Such a sweet little gal.
You've got great references in the above posts, we all refer to them, too.
It looks like her jaw's not lined up quite right; like she has an underbite? Unless that just my eyes playing tricks on me. Kcarello's right, some calcium would do her good!
Keep us posted!

 

[ArchimedesBane]

She does appear to have a slight underbite, yes. Signs of incoming MBD? Well, she's cheerful enough now-- I puréed squash baby food, collard greens, and calcium with D3, along with a little Zilla kibble. I got the first taste to her with a syringe, and then once she realized it was food she was insatiable, so I gave her a little bowlful and left her be. She ate her fill and went to bask, and checks me out every time I walk by now.

 

[BlueMorpho]

Great that she has an appetite!! That's always a good sign! And being aware of her surroundings and curious, too! Sounds like she's doing alright!
Yeah, the underbite is usually one of the first signs of MBD, but hopefully having calcium and proper lighting will prevent it from causing any more damage.

 

[ArchimedesBane]

I won't be able to get to the pet store for protein until the weekend, but I think I'd rather keep her on this liquid diet until I see a urate or two from her, make sure her body's processing the veggies ok. When do you think it would be safe to see how she reacts to fresh collard greens?

 

[BlueMorpho]

I think the liquid diet is a good idea for now. Hopefully it won't take her too long to produce a poop. She may take a day or a few if she's been starved...
I think as soon as you know she's digesting and passing her food properly you might be able to add soft fruits and veggies, pellets, and offer greens.
Her first poops will probably be smelly and possibly runny from being on a liquid diet.
As for protein, I wouldn't jump to crickets or roaches right away, as they could be hard on her poor tummy. If you can find butter worms or something like that to start her off with, that might be a good intro to good food. Butterworms are usually a treat food and are fatty, but she could probably use a bit of fat in her diet at the moment.
Definitely no mealworms!!!
It sounds like you're doing a good job already.

 

[ArchimedesBane]

Update: She is actually a HE! lol.

He's moving around a good deal more now, watching everything that moves. I know I'm not out of the woods yet, and I'll be keeping an eye on his waste movements, but he's making a great recovery this far-- his color is getting better all the time. Thank you for your help!