Recently adopted bearded dragon

[zogen87]

Hello! We recently adopted a bearded dragon from somebody off Craigslist. He's about 1 year old and is a pretty big guy (and definetly I feel alittle over weight lol). I am a experienced reptile owner and had 2 beardies before and am also a veterinarian technician who previously worked at a exotic vet (and a very knowledgeable one at that) for years. When i looked at he looked genuinely very healthy just maybe a little overfed but he definetly had a underbite and his owners seems a bit shady so I said screw it and just took him bc I knew we could give him a better home. They said they were offering him kale everyday and feeding calcium dusted superworms/crickets (5 to 7 a day) everyday and they were supplying uvb/uva/heat with a powersun bulb which they nicely gave to us with his entire enclosure he was already living in. I'm not 100% convinced his entire life they were doing all the proper care though.
Since we got him home almost 3 weeks ago now, he's had 1bm this entire time (it was very large-2 large brown pieces with urates and a huge white dry chalky chunk) one of the first days he was here and has not defecated since.
He's also not a huge salad eatter, we've been offering him kale/mustard greens/collard greens mixed with some squash/carrots (shredded) with a tiny bit of strawberries/blue berries or bananas everyday. With the variety fluxating day by day and some calcium powder a few times a week on it but he eats very little of it if any some days.
For protein, we have been offering dusted mealworms or hornworms or Phoenix worms (not dusted since so high in CA) and some days he may eat a few and some days he may eat none. You have to literally drop it in front of him to get him to eat it too. My other beardies I'd put them right in there bowl and they'd Chow down them almost immediately. I've been trying to offer more hornworms since they're moisture content is higher in hopes that maybe he's a bit dehydrated and that's why he hasn't pooped more.
He also has a water dish which he never drinks out of (as most beardies don't) and I lightly mist the side of his cage andeaves everyday just to get water beads he will drink but even then not so sure he drinks them. Ive also given him 3 baths since getting in to help him entice pooping and still nothing.
His cage is about 91 to 100 in his basking spot and about 80 to 85 in his cool side and it's a deep tank so the deeper spots I know are cooler since I measured them with a digital zoomed thermometer. I have reptile carpet for his substrate as well.
So question being, an opinion on how long you think it'll take for them to adjust? Maybe I should give him more time before he starts on a more regular schedule.
Also, he's super lazy and sleeps even during the day way more often then my other beardies, do you think that has to do with stress?
Any suggestions on how to get him to eat more salad? I feel like I've tried everything.
Also any opinions on the underbite? I also noticed a very mild random head twitch today that I never noticed him do before and I've starred at him alot and I know that can be a sign of MDB but if he's apparently had all the correct stuff since they got him when he was 3 months old then how so unless they were lying??? Plus I would say they didn't replace his uvb bulb enough but they gave me 2 other uvb bulbs that looked like they were previously used so they clearly were replacing them consistently.

 

[KarrieRee]

Underbite lack of UVB --- I would add another UVB to the Powersun your using ----- I would get a fixture of which they are really hard to come by these days especially the 24" I have however managed to find one here http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-d3-t-5-22-inch-24-watt-12-desert-uvb/
the Arcadia are excellent bulbs --- and have D3
Hes probably going thru relocation stress so his eating will slow down some --- 3 weeks is a while I am guessing its your lighting that is causing lack of appetite and eating - I also recommend you get him over on dubia roaches --- they are a excellent staple feeder along w/ silk worms --- you can order here both --- www.https://reptilianarts.com/ if your order bulk make sure you get silk worm chow -- they will eat alot and you need to clean the containers out every day -- I have never ordered dubias from here my go to place has stopped shipping for a couple of weeks and they need to catch up w/ their supply--- dubias are easy to keep in a plastic tote or a 10 gallon aquarium - feed them dubia food along w/ carrots for hydration or squash--- just dont feed the dragon carrots too - to much vitamin A -- you can get horn worms and super worms from these people www.dubiaroaches.com -- the horn and silk worms will give him hydration -- if hes eating any salads at all wash the greens before serving and he will moisture from them -- feeding the staple feeder carrots will help w/ the water as well -- just make sure you feed the dubias at nite as that is when they eat so they will be good and hydrated the next morning when you feed your dragon -- I would get a bowl that the insects and worms cant get out of and entice him first thing in the morning w/ super worms / horn worms or meal worms to that bowl --- I would start dusting the dubias w/ calcium D3 every time you feed him - being dehydrated will cause him not to eat as well - I would only put 1-3 supers in the bowl and maybe 1 hornworm- make sure you do this in front of him so it gets his attention --- then let him eat from that bowl for like an 1 hr or so then ad your dubias to the bowl leaving some salad in the bowl so he gets some when he eats them -- If hes not eating alot hes not gonna poop alot -- but your lighting and basking temps have alot to do w/ that --- he also wont eat if hes not getting the UVB he needs as well --- I would work on that and see how it goes --- but I am guessing that PowerSun needs to be replaced -- you dont know how old it is --- the Arcadia will be able to sit on top of your screen w/ the basking decor directly underneath approx 8-10 inches from the UVB
Karrie

 

[CooperDragon]

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad you are able to give him a good home. It sounds like you're doing the right things. If he came from a neglectful situation it could take months for him to adjust and start to thrive. That can vary a lot between dragons and also depends on any underlying health issues he may have. Keep up offering the salads. Try hand feeding them. I've had luck cutting squash into worm shapes and hand feeding those with a wiggle. He may still ignore it for a while but keep trying.

Have you been monitoring his weight? I'd start a spreadsheet so you can graph his weight and watch how it is trending. This can be very helpful with early detection of underlying health problems as you probably already know.

The PowerSun bulbs are pretty good. Which wattage do you have? How far is it sitting above his basking area? It's possible that one has deteriorated beyond its useful life so it may be best to replace it with something new. PowerSun and Arcadia both make nice MVBs if you want to keep using that setup. Otherwise using a T5 in combination with a halogen flood light lets you adjust UVB exposure and heat independently which I like within a tank. I use MVBs as portable basking spots and for travel mainly.

Can you post some photos of him? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.