rescue beardy help

[threecupsofcoffee]

Hi i've just received homer, he's 3 years old,19 inches long, been very neglected. in a 4ft long by 15 inches high by 15 inches wide viv.... a 100watt heat lamp with no thermastat control! So i've been turning it off manually to get the temps down. He's been kept on really small woodchips which he slips and slides on. His diet has been very poor. So hes like an empty sack round the middle... he looks like he has an overshot bottom jaw.... his gums are very pale. Since he came to me this afternoon i've thoroughly cleaned the tank... given him a good bath, which he enjoyed. He had a poop in the bath and i noticed he poo'd out a wood chip. I've introduced him to locust which he cant get enough of and by the looks of him introduced him to calcium powder. ASAP i will sort out his temps take out the chips put in reptile carpet and i think that viv is too small.
As he is an adult anyone with any bright ideas to help me get his weight up would be great.
Anyone with ideas about the pale gums and generally how i can generally manage this beardies health, as he has the best temprement he's lovely to handle and very inquisitive. I'd love to bring his colours out because i see a lot of yellow there.

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Thanks for any help
Julie

 

[ilovebeardeddragons]

first he looks so cute and i would bring him to the vet to chevck up on him and his jaw how to get his weight up just keep feeding him lots of greens and crickets and worm and soon the weight will come i also rescued a 2 year old beardie and he was in pritty bad condition too but now hes doing great and so will yours

 

[Ethelia]

Hi there,
Poor thing!
Well thank you for bringing this little guy home, and I will do as much as I can to help you. The only dragons I have ever owned have all been rescued and so have all needed reviving and nursing back to health.

Ok lets see what we can do.

Woodchips:
Oh dont you hate them? The fact that he is pooping out the chips is both a good and bad sign.
Good that he is passing them, but bad because he may have ingested an awful lot over his life which may have caused a blockage.
You will want to check for impaction by "flushing" your dragon out as I call it.
I would offer him unsweetened apple sauce first to try to get his bowels moving. You can dab a little on his nose with your finger and hopefully he will lick it off.
If this doesnt help to get things moving you can offer him a couple of drops of Olive oil aswell. Ruben was badly impacted when I brought him home and a mix of applesauce and olive oil helped him to work out all the sand that he had backed up in his little body.
When he has pooped for a couple of days regularly we can stop worrying about impaction.

Feeding:
As he seems to have had such a poor diet I really would resist the temptation to give him as many locusts as he can eat.
Rescues who havent eaten protein regularly can get into awful diegestive issues if they then feast on it. I encountered this myself with my newest little boy when I brought him home, and many other rescuers on this site have aswell.
His digestion as a rescue should be your number one concern.

Ideally you want to start him off with veg.
If he hasnt been fed fresh veg it may take him a while to come around. You may even have to wait until he is gaping and slip a slice of veg in there to get him a taste for it!
Put it in first thing in the morning and then do not offer him live food until the afternoon so if he gets hungry he will have to nibble.
Rocket and butternut squash are great veggies for fussy dragons because they are highly perfumed so it attracts their attention. Squash is also nice and starchy so it encorages them to gain weight. Ive had great success with it.

Live feeder wise I would give him very few locusts daily, as although they are very nutritious they do have a tough shell and so a dragon who isnt used to protien may have trouble digesting them.
Poop is the key to their digestion. If you feed him locust and his poop is free from locust torsos then you can increase the number.
While he is still on a very small number of locust I would offer him chicken babyfood to get some protein in him.
You can dab it on his nose or offer it to him on a spoon to try to entice him.
It will make sure his protein levels are steady whilst you ween him onto live feeders.

The combo of babyfood and squash did wonders for Ruben, who was painfully thin when I brought him home.

You mentioned locust, do I take it that you are also from the UK?

Can you elaborate on his lighting?
What brand is the heat bulb? (it will be embossed on it somewhere)
Is it an MVB?
If not you will need to get him an additional UV light right away.
How close can he get to it?

Holly

 

[protiemama]

Holly covered almost everything. I would add liquid calcium. You can mix it w/t the babyfood if you like.
His tank sounds ok, idealy it should be 18" at least, 24" would be better. But at 4' long he should not be too cramped in a 15" wide. My Bogie is also 19" long and his tank is narrow too. He turns around just fine. He can chase down any bug like a flash. I am waiting for the glass for the front of his new viv. The point- no rush on the tank. Look around and get a good deal. Don't get in a hurry and next day find something bigger at half the price.
Good luck and thanks for rescueing him.

Sandy H