No fat pads?

[SilverGravity]

I took my girl, Sapphire, out today and noticed she has no fat pads on her head whatsoever? I'm not sure if she actually has none, if I'm not looking in the right spot, or what, but I figured I would ask. I offered her water, but she wasn't interested.

I wasn't sure if there was any need for concern. She seems perfectly healthy otherwise, just no fat pads unless I'm looking in the wrong places. Thanks for any information!

 

[AHBD]

Beardies all have different head shapes....just Google bearded dragon heads + you'll see. They don't all have puffy pads on top of their head. She looks very chunky by the way, does she eat well ?

 

[SilverGravity]

I was just curious because she has visible indents where they usually are, so I just wanted to be sure that was fine.

Then just a full body picture- she eats pretty well, yeah. I think she looked that way because she was looking over her shoulder at me.

(The foot and tail are old injuries)

 

[kingofnobbys]

She doesn't look like she's much fat stored in her tail either....
Looks like she needs some building up to me.

What are those nasty looking dark marks on her back and on her tail ? Might just be creases , hard to tell from the photos .
(They look like cat scratch wounds ---- if that's the case she is likely very sick and if she's lost the fat pads she's likely been sick for some time .... nasty bacteria on cat's claws).
If she has been a victim of a cat attack - she needs to be seen by a good reptile vet , maybe blood work done to check for a system infection and very likely needs go onto a broad-spectrum antibiotics and those wounds need to be treated properly.

 

[SilverGravity]

The only dark marks on her back are stripes, and her natural coloration. The ones on her tail are just from walking through her own stools- I had to give her a bath after the picture when I noticed she had some dried on her. If your talking about in the 2nd picture, they're just creases in her skin from the way she was basking.

 

[kingofnobbys]

the marks shown here ? look like scratches to me.

 

[SilverGravity]

They're just creases from how she was sitting, the shadows look rather scratch like.

 

[kingofnobbys]

They're just creases from how she was sitting, the shadows look rather scratch like.

they sure do .... glad they are only deep creases on her back .... that's a relief

.... I've dealt with lizards who have been attacked by cats (rescued them , tried to help them mend and become healthy again .... ).

 

[AHBD]

Yeah, I can see those are just dark creases, skin folding in those areas. She is a bit thin, and probably dehydrated. Offer her water on her snout to drink. It may take 30-60 seconds, they act like they don't understand if they're not used to it, but then wuill begin to drink. Use a spray bottle, eyedropper or feeding syringe to drip or lightly spray a direct stream on her snout. Drip, stop [ giving time to realize it'a a drink ] then repeat until she starts drinking. Try that 2-3X a week. And offer her a bit more food as the other poster mentioned. And when they get poo on themselves, a quick soak and light strokes from a toothbrush will take it right off.

 

[SilverGravity]

Alright, thanks. I'll start offering her some water through a dropper then. I'm not sure how she managed to get dehydrated, she even had a water dish up until a few days ago when I had to remove it because the humidity was getting too high.

 

[AHBD]

You're welcome. Water bowls are rarely used by dragons, they don't really recognize standing water. In the wild they would almost never come across puddles/ponds of water. They DO drink from the dew that forms in the a.m on plants, rocks, etc., so the drip method is more natural for them to get their hydration. You can put a small bowl under her head while you drip the water on her snout, sometimes the will lower their head to drink the water that is dripping down on it. Remember, take your time....drip, stop, repeat.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Alright, thanks. I'll start offering her some water through a dropper then. I'm not sure how she managed to get dehydrated, she even had a water dish up until a few days ago when I had to remove it because the humidity was getting too high.

Rex and Puff originally had water dishes in their tanks , but rarely drank from them, preferring to sit in the cool water (to thermoregulate) and to deposit their poos in the water (smart dragons - quickly sussed that a submerged poo doesn't stink..... LOL ), I removed the water dishes and started using an eyedropper or sometimes the utility water spray bottle to deposit drops of water on their snouts a few times a week , usually about 5 - 10ml of water is enough.
If they are eating live insects daily as well as some greens and vegs (grated carrot and grated sweet potato are great) they should be getting enough hydration from their food. Drinks are just a top up.

Now only my pet skinks have water dishes in their tanks.

 

[SilverGravity]

She's eating plenty of crickets and greens, but I'll have to give her water myself now. She did take water today from the dropper though, so she'll get hydrated quick I'm sure. Thanks for the advice you guys

 

[AHBD]

That's good, glad to hear it ! She's really a pretty dragon and looks like a sweetie pie.