Rescue Beardie Brumation Question

[Shakti75]

Ok, so I rescued a 3 year old beardie New Year's weekend and have been slowly nursing him back to health the last few weeks. The conditions he had been in when I got him include possibly NEVER having been exposed to UVB, besides a weak uva/uvb combo bulb, he was on sand and when he did bother to eat, which wasn't often, it was usually pinkies. He was pretty lethargic when we got him and looked like a moderate case of MBD. I ordered his UVB, and in the meantime, took him outside to bask every day (since I live in Florida, it was warm enough) and put him under my other beardie's UVB light whenever she was out of her viv. Got him eating supers, hornworms and butterworms to fatten him up and already seeing a vast improvement. When we got him, he could barely walk, practically dragging his back legs behind him. Now he can get up on them and walk around nearly normally.

My question is, he seems to be going into brumation, but I'm not sure it's that, and not just him still being somewhat lethargic. Considering how "lazy" (as his past owner put it) he has always been, it's hard to tell for sure if he is brumating or just being his normal sluggish self. I want to keep him eating to get him back up to a more healthy weight, but I don't want to feed him and make him sick. At the same time, I don't want to stop feeding him when we have finally gotten him eating. Is there a way to keep him out of this state, or should I just leave him be?

This was him the day I brought him home, thoroughly enjoying the sun...

If you look, you can kinda see where his ribs are sticking out. Poor guy, every time I picked him up, I was afraid his ribs were gonna poke right through his skin....

And as you can probably see, he's kinda small for being 3 years old. My Zuma decided to introduce herself and climbed up on him. She's around 7 months old and he is only 3 inches longer than her, from nose to tail...

 

[Shakti75]

I should also mention that we immediately ditched the sand and replaced it with repticarpet, which is what I have for my other beardie. He's in a 40G breeder size viv, with a 24 inch reptisun 10.0 positioned right about his basking side. Basking side is around 95 degrees, cool side is between 80-85. And yes, as you may notice from the pics, he is missing his front right foot, I believe due to his siblings.

 

[quigleysmom]

Poor thing. He is so lucky you found him and care enough to improve his quality of life. I love the pic of the two of them. That is so cute. I would honestly say that he needs to fatten up some more before he goes into brumation. Maybe taking him out for natural sun would help if you have the time to do it every day although I am not sure if you can stop them if they really want to brumate. I would think that it would be very bad for him to do it at this point. Have you had a fecal done by a vet yet because if he has parasites in addition to poor weight it could very well be too much for his body to handle and will kill him. It looks like you are doing a great job of getting him back to good health. I am sure someone with more experience will chime in.

 

[Shakti75]

Tried to get him out in the sun yesterday, but, even though Florida is the only state without snow now, it was still pretty chilly out and windy, so I didn't want to make things worse by getting him a cold, lol. I keep pulling him out of his hiding spot (which unfortunately, is built into the viv) and placing him on his basking area to try to keep him more exposed to the UVB.

No fecal yet. It's been a bad week financially, between finding out my middle child needs braces, my youngest being diagnosed with migraines and having to buy 3 different meds and having to get the septic pumped. When it rains, it pours. Hubby is also kinda annoyed with the money spent on my dragons, so was trying to put it off unless he didn't seem to get any better. Lefty is growing on him though, so I may be able to convince him that the vet trip is needed.

 

[quigleysmom]

I feel your pain where money is concerned. They cost a lot to have, but are worth every penny and more. I want to get mine a fecal test which is only 15.00, but hubby made no OT so we barely have enough to scrap together for groceries this check. Oh well next check will be better.

 

[AHBD]

Your'e doing a great job with him !! He is not very underweight at all, and the sun is the best healing agent for warding off MBD. Don't stress too much at his behavior, he has had a hard life, and since you have had him, and gotten him some good grub and time in the sun, you see an improvemant already. He may do the " lazy nap" thing for a while on+off, but considering his prior condition, it can be expected. I would hold off on any type of deworming, since that could cause loss of appetite and reverse progress made. Another thing, don't put him in the other dragon's tank, you don't know what he could harbor as far as parasites or other concerns. I think he's doing well so far, just keep up what you are doing. Daily sun, or even every other day will replace the need for UVB bulb entirely. If it's coolish outside, use a plastic, dark tote and this will absorb the heat, pumping it up from the 60's to the 80's, sort of like a car in the sun. Then on the hotter days, keep him like you have in the picture outside.

 

[Shakti75]

Thanks guys. I did think of the health issues before putting him in Zuma's tank, and did it before the regular cleaning I was planning anyways. It was raining that day, so couldn't get him out in the sun. Afterwards, before Zuma was put back in, everything was cleaned down with vinegar and water, as usual.

When it warms up later (if it warms up, lol) I'll get him back outside in the sandbox for some more sunning, provided the stupid dogs behind me aren't out running loose again. Thanks for the help, everyone. He really is a sweetheart and hopefully I can get him back into good health, and keep his as part of what has become our own little petting zoo here, hehe. Hubby doesn't know how to say no to our daughter's big brown eyes, so we now have 5 cats, a bunny, 3 fish, a turtle, my two snakes (ball python and corn snake), and my two beardies. Not to mention my 3 kids, my oldest son's gf who is staying with us, due to her dad being a stupid drunk.......and a partridge in a pear treeeee! (well, maybe not that last part).

 

[AHBD]

Sure thing....by the way, is he drinking ? Eating any greens ? If he doesn't like greens, pop a turnip, mustard or piece of collard in while he's chewing on a superworm. He should get used to them slowly that way. Also, be careful on the horn+ butter worms, they are kind of fatty, do you have any crickets ? But, be sure he's drinking because he could get a little impacted with lots of insects being fed if there is not enough roughage from greens and hydration from water.

 

[Shakti75]

Oh, he is definitely drinking. He loves to drink water, whether when I spray him or when he is in the bath. Haven't found greens that he likes so far, between collard greens, mustard greens and arugula. If it isn't moving, he isn't touching it. I have tried putting the worms in the same bowl with greens, but he won't even eat the worms out of the bowl. Only way he will eat is if I get him out of his viv and put him on the floor and put the worms directly on the floor in front of him. He has been mainly eating the supers, with a few horns and butterworms here and there, just to get him fattened up a bit, not as a staple. He wanted nothing to do with the waxies I tried and he refuses to touch crickets. Supers seem to be his favorite, and he has been pooping regularly, mainly in his bath, which is pretty much every day so far.

 

[AHBD]

That sounds great....he's really come a long way for you. Hopefully he will eventually eat greens, but every now and then, while he is chomping on a super, just stick a wedge of one of those greens [ not arugala] right in his mouth, he probably will not even realize it, and it will be chewed right up with the worm. That's called the super sneaky stealth salad move.

 

[lauraj1055]

I have a beardie who won't eat his greens either.. so tomorrow I am putting them in the food processor with some water, and putting his butterworms in with it because the greens will stick to the butters that way. I'll let you know if it works.