Rehabilitation advice for a skinny, neglected dragon?

[jklass]

Hi there,

I adopted my first bearded dragon a couple weeks ago, a 2 year old female, 18 inches long, named Lizzie. Her previous owner was keeping her outside with no lamps for additional heat or light. She was cold to the touch, inactive and hardly eating. She didn't get salads and had a large water dish in her tank. The owner was feeding her crickets and super worms (not dusted, not gut loaded), with the occasional bugs caught from the garden (bees etc.) and occasional veggies fed by hand. There were crickets left in her tank 24/7. Her tank had a plastic bath mat covering half the floor as a substrate; other than that she was walking on the glass floor. She had no fat pads behind her eyes whatsoever, hips looked kind of bony, and overall she seemed on the skinny side compared to other dragons I've met. The skin along her back seemed very wrinkly.

I cut out a piece of foam to fit the bottom of her tank and wrapped it in a towel; this is her new substrate. If she poops on it I throw the towel in the wash and wrap the foam floor in a new towel. Seems to be working well so far. :mrgreen: I clipped a 160W Exo Terra Solar Glo lamp to her tank and removed the metal screen tank lid. She seems to love it. She basks on a piece of wood which I think her previous owner bought at the pet store. I cleaned and sterilized it in the oven.

I took out the water dish and I've started giving her salads every day, made of veggies recommended on this site and others. At first she didn't really touch them and didn't seem to recognize some of the veggies, but over the past two weeks she has been eating more and more and seems to be enjoying all the veggies. I spray her and her salad with water a few times a day and bathe her almost every day in lukewarm water.

For live feeders I figured I'd give her as many as she wanted, since she seemed so skinny. I gut load crickets with her leftover salads, dust them with calcium + D3 5 days per week, and feed them to her along with hornworms (occasionally, they are expensive) and butterworms (a couple every day) until she stops chasing after them. I have a multivitamin coming in the mail which I will dust onto her bugs on the other 2 days. I've started a colony of dubias but won't be able to start feeding them to her for another few months.

I have 3 questions for you guys:

1) She looks quite a bit bigger after 2 weeks. She's developed small fat pads behind her eyes and has filled out a bit, but she still looks kinda skinny. She weighs 400 grams now but a lot of that may be the weight of the bugs in her belly (see question 2). Is she underweight? If so, what's the best way to fatten up an underweight dragon?

2) I've begun to realize that she will eat any bugs I put in front of her, and I'm wondering if perhaps she's eating even when she's not even hungry? She will eat 15-20 bugs every day before she stops chasing them. That seems like a lot for an adult, based on what I've read, and her belly is bulging quite a bit by the time she's done. Am I feeding her too many bugs? If so, what would be a good amount to feed her?

3) Is there anything more you recommend I do for her, or anything I should be doing differently?

Thank you!! :mrgreen:

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....it sounds like this beardie has landed in the lap of luxury. Does she have a name ? Or maybe I missed it. It's great that she is eating well, sometimes it's a struggle to get a neglected dragon to eat depending on if they are actually suffering from health problems either visible or hidden.

But sometimes you have to watch for the other extreme, that is overfeeding and ending up with an overweight lizard and that can lead to fatty liver disease. To answer your question, the proper weight has a lot to do with the length of the beardie. 400 grams is fine for an 18-19" dragon....after that it's creeping a bit high. And if the dragon were only 17" , that would be overweight for that small size.

There is a problem with many overweight dragons, and they will develop health problems and generally become very sedentary....also females actually have a GREATER chance of becoming eggbound when they are overweight because the fat makes it difficult for the eggs to move through the reproductive tract.

So you can slow down on the bugs....6-7 a day would be fine along with a lot of greens. And calcium can be used lightly about 3 times a week, but a multivitamin only once a week.

Hopefully your new girl will do well, it sounds like you're doing a great job, just be careful on the fast weight gain.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Kudos to you on adopting and rescuing the poor gal.

Only things I might suggest that might not have been suggested by others are :

1) let her enjoy some free range time inside the house - she'll love the freedom after being confined in an enclosure and it will enrich her life lots
2) take her outside to play or just have a nice nurse in the real sun on a regular basis
3) get hold of some silkworms - they are full of goodness and will do wonders for his condition and I've not met a lizard do doesn't love a nice juicey and sweet silkworm.

 

[jklass]

Hi there....it sounds like this beardie has landed in the lap of luxury. Does she have a name ? Or maybe I missed it. It's great that she is eating well, sometimes it's a struggle to get a neglected dragon to eat depending on if they are actually suffering from health problems either visible or hidden.

But sometimes you have to watch for the other extreme, that is overfeeding and ending up with an overweight lizard and that can lead to fatty liver disease. To answer your question, the proper weight has a lot to do with the length of the beardie. 400 grams is fine for an 18-19" dragon....after that it's creeping a bit high. And if the dragon were only 17" , that would be overweight for that small size.

There is a problem with many overweight dragons, and they will develop health problems and generally become very sedentary....also females actually have a GREATER chance of becoming eggbound when they are overweight because the fat makes it difficult for the eggs to move through the reproductive tract.

So you can slow down on the bugs....6-7 a day would be fine along with a lot of greens. And calcium can be used lightly about 3 times a week, but a multivitamin only once a week.

Hopefully your new girl will do well, it sounds like you're doing a great job, just be careful on the fast weight gain.

You must have missed it! I mentioned at the beginning that her name is Lizzie! :mrgreen:

Thanks so much for your helpful advice. Maybe you can answer one more question: many sources do not recommend a specific number of bugs, but instead say that adults are supposed to have 80% veggies, 20% insects (some sources suggest 70/30). Would it be reasonable to base the number of insects I give her on the amount of salad she eats each day? ie. however much salad she eats during the day, I'll give her 1/3 that much insect food in the evening? That way, if she's not feeling very hungry one day, I won't be overfeeding her. Conversely, if she is very hungry one day for whatever reason, she will stop being picky and eat her vegetables and I'll be giving her all the insects she needs while still keeping the correct ratio?

 

[AHBD]

Ooops, sorry I missed her name, and you had it right there in the beginning of the thread. Lizzie is a fine traditional name for a.....lizard ! As to the amount of insects to feed her, that recommended ratio is just a generalization....no one can really say what the perfect amount is, it's just a good reasonable guideline. But again, it's best to keep insects feeding to a limited amount, especially if the dragon gains weight very quickly. 20 or more bugs a day would be pretty excessive, even if you want her to gain weight it would be best to do so slowly, there's no hurry. The fact that she has such a good appetite is a good sign, just take it easy though.

Can you post pics of her ? To do so you can put them on Photobucket, then copy/paste the img here.

 

[jklass]

Ooops, sorry I missed her name, and you had it right there in the beginning of the thread. Lizzie is a fine traditional name for a.....lizard ! As to the amount of insects to feed her, that recommended ratio is just a generalization....no one can really say what the perfect amount is, it's just a good reasonable guideline. But again, it's best to keep insects feeding to a limited amount, especially if the dragon gains weight very quickly. 20 or more bugs a day would be pretty excessive, even if you want her to gain weight it would be best to do so slowly, there's no hurry. The fact that she has such a good appetite is a good sign, just take it easy though.

Can you post pics of her ? To do so you can put them on Photobucket, then copy/paste the img here.

Here she is!

 

[Juniper]

She's so pretty! I'm glad she got rescued into such an attentive and caring new home!

 

[jklass]

PPPPP;P[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[P[32 cccccc PPPPBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

^That is a message from Lizzie, who ran across my keyboard just as I was about to start typing this. :lol:

Thanks so much everyone for your advice! I am feeding her 6-7 live feeders a day now and she is still gaining weight despite that. She was 407 grams yesterday. She is looking really good!! I'll post more pictures once I figure out my new camera. :mrgreen:

She seems to have more energy and curiosity every day. Her personality is finally starting to show, so I can start getting to know her now. Yay!!

Lucky me, I also tracked down a silkworm breeder in my area who will be able to start selling in about 6 weeks. I've looked into buying feeders online, but the shipping prices always drive the cost way out of my price range.

 

[AHBD]

She is pretty ! I think that's what she was writing there and just got hung up on the P. :lol: But that's a nice pic of her,although that angle doesn't show her total body condition. When you get a chance maybe post a few full body shots from above. But yes, she's on a roll gaining weight, so even with the smaller amount of insects she should fill out nicely, staying a reasonable size rather than getting too fat.

Glad to hear that she also has a delightful personality !