Fthemainstream
Member
Let me just start by saying this is a long story.
I am caring for a male beardie that I am estimating to be a year old (because of his size). Two bearded dragons were dropped off at a local reptile store in horrible condition (one male, one female), the owner didn't provide any other information about them and turned out to be wrong on the sexes even. The male was thin and dull, lethargic; the female was very tiny, bones protruding, didn't move, couldn't even lift her head, she was grey. Both dragons had burn marks on them in multiple areas at varying levels of severity, both had damaged tails, she had a dead finger(toe), he had a blue stain on his belly. They were kept together for the apparent belief that they were keeping each other alive (which I'm sure was probably the opposite). ]
From there they went to another reptile business, whom did not take proper care either. He sold them to a staff member with a tank, dirty carpet, no lights, a dog dish and a fake rock that had worms living in it. The staff member was my roommate. He got the lights and some super worms for them and they showed slight improvement with proper care, I spent hours a day with them in an attempt to nurse them back to health.
The male took pretty quickly, ate his food, basked, loved his baths, very active, regular BMs. The female, not so much; I had to force feed her baby food until she worked up to worms. It took between 10 minutes and half an hour to get her to eat a single worm. She did eventually get a little better, her colour came back, she was eating at least 5 worms a day, moving a little more.
My roomate ran into financial difficulty and didn't have much money, they went without worms, the light burnt out and never got replaced, the tank didn't get cleaned. They went without food for long periods of time, the light was missing for two months. I'm not even going to get into how I feel about this happening because, this isn't a rant. If I had've had the money to help, I would have, I bought worms when I could but, it wasn't enough. The female died, it was absolutely heart breaking.
At this point, I was a little bit more financially stable so, I took the animal and have got him what I can. He has a constant source of proper food, I am using non-adhesive cork as a temporary substrate (until I find the tiles I am looking for), he has proper UVB and heat lighting, lots of basking rocks, a hammock, a background, proper water dish and a climbing tree. I'm working on a hide.
I basically would like tips for how to get him healthy again and to trust me. I really just want him to have a happy life because he deserves it at this point. I would also like to know if anyone can give tips on how to calculate his age?
I believe they were abused by the marks and behaviour. He has equilibrium issues, misses worms by a mile half the time, sometimes scratches at his ear (not often). His ears look normal, can't see any left over shed. He just recently went through a shed, I bathe him daily most of the time anyways because he loves it so, that went smoothly. He hasn't been scratching at his ear since he shed. I have noticed he runs around frantically (glass surfing as well) when he needs to have a BM. I put him in the bathe to do his business and he is usually fine after.
I also noticed he has had stress marks on and off since I changed his tank. The condition was deplorable before so, I doubt he misses it. Another behaviour I am unsure of is, when I'm holding him and walking. If I don't move very slowly, he panics and throws his limbs in the air like I'm going to drop him. He likes interaction, closes his eyes when I pet him on his head, he doesn't move away when I try to pick him up (unless it's to take him out of the bath lol), he climbs on me and such. He is fine if I'm holding him and standing still or sitting down.
I can't get him to eat his veg. I have tried just green (varied between endive and collard greens), mixed them with veg (tried broccoli, carrot, red peppers, celery), mixing in fruit (apple, raspberries, banana, mango), with and without vitamin powder. I have also tried misting it, putting worms in it. The first few times, he picked the worms out and accidentally ate some but, he's learned now. Unless he's very hungry, he wont eat them out of the salad. I have also tried putting it on a white paper towel (I read they like the colour contrast), didn't work either. I got him to eat a little bit of shredded carrot once when he was really hungry but, that was it.
He is only eating like 6 worms a day, sometimes a couple more. I'll offer him more on the substrate, in the dish, from tongs or from my hand and he'll ignore them. I'm not sure how to increase his appetite. I've also noticed his urates have gotten smaller. He is well hydrated, as I said I do bath him almost daily and he has fresh water at all times.
If you have made it this far, you deserve an award and thank you for sticking with it.
Well that's all. Any tips on any of these problems/questions, would be amazingly appreciated as this was thrust upon me. Not that I am not more than happy to have him, I love that little guy.
Btw his name is Salvador.
I am caring for a male beardie that I am estimating to be a year old (because of his size). Two bearded dragons were dropped off at a local reptile store in horrible condition (one male, one female), the owner didn't provide any other information about them and turned out to be wrong on the sexes even. The male was thin and dull, lethargic; the female was very tiny, bones protruding, didn't move, couldn't even lift her head, she was grey. Both dragons had burn marks on them in multiple areas at varying levels of severity, both had damaged tails, she had a dead finger(toe), he had a blue stain on his belly. They were kept together for the apparent belief that they were keeping each other alive (which I'm sure was probably the opposite). ]
From there they went to another reptile business, whom did not take proper care either. He sold them to a staff member with a tank, dirty carpet, no lights, a dog dish and a fake rock that had worms living in it. The staff member was my roommate. He got the lights and some super worms for them and they showed slight improvement with proper care, I spent hours a day with them in an attempt to nurse them back to health.
The male took pretty quickly, ate his food, basked, loved his baths, very active, regular BMs. The female, not so much; I had to force feed her baby food until she worked up to worms. It took between 10 minutes and half an hour to get her to eat a single worm. She did eventually get a little better, her colour came back, she was eating at least 5 worms a day, moving a little more.
My roomate ran into financial difficulty and didn't have much money, they went without worms, the light burnt out and never got replaced, the tank didn't get cleaned. They went without food for long periods of time, the light was missing for two months. I'm not even going to get into how I feel about this happening because, this isn't a rant. If I had've had the money to help, I would have, I bought worms when I could but, it wasn't enough. The female died, it was absolutely heart breaking.
At this point, I was a little bit more financially stable so, I took the animal and have got him what I can. He has a constant source of proper food, I am using non-adhesive cork as a temporary substrate (until I find the tiles I am looking for), he has proper UVB and heat lighting, lots of basking rocks, a hammock, a background, proper water dish and a climbing tree. I'm working on a hide.
I basically would like tips for how to get him healthy again and to trust me. I really just want him to have a happy life because he deserves it at this point. I would also like to know if anyone can give tips on how to calculate his age?
I believe they were abused by the marks and behaviour. He has equilibrium issues, misses worms by a mile half the time, sometimes scratches at his ear (not often). His ears look normal, can't see any left over shed. He just recently went through a shed, I bathe him daily most of the time anyways because he loves it so, that went smoothly. He hasn't been scratching at his ear since he shed. I have noticed he runs around frantically (glass surfing as well) when he needs to have a BM. I put him in the bathe to do his business and he is usually fine after.
I also noticed he has had stress marks on and off since I changed his tank. The condition was deplorable before so, I doubt he misses it. Another behaviour I am unsure of is, when I'm holding him and walking. If I don't move very slowly, he panics and throws his limbs in the air like I'm going to drop him. He likes interaction, closes his eyes when I pet him on his head, he doesn't move away when I try to pick him up (unless it's to take him out of the bath lol), he climbs on me and such. He is fine if I'm holding him and standing still or sitting down.
I can't get him to eat his veg. I have tried just green (varied between endive and collard greens), mixed them with veg (tried broccoli, carrot, red peppers, celery), mixing in fruit (apple, raspberries, banana, mango), with and without vitamin powder. I have also tried misting it, putting worms in it. The first few times, he picked the worms out and accidentally ate some but, he's learned now. Unless he's very hungry, he wont eat them out of the salad. I have also tried putting it on a white paper towel (I read they like the colour contrast), didn't work either. I got him to eat a little bit of shredded carrot once when he was really hungry but, that was it.
He is only eating like 6 worms a day, sometimes a couple more. I'll offer him more on the substrate, in the dish, from tongs or from my hand and he'll ignore them. I'm not sure how to increase his appetite. I've also noticed his urates have gotten smaller. He is well hydrated, as I said I do bath him almost daily and he has fresh water at all times.
If you have made it this far, you deserve an award and thank you for sticking with it.
Well that's all. Any tips on any of these problems/questions, would be amazingly appreciated as this was thrust upon me. Not that I am not more than happy to have him, I love that little guy.
Btw his name is Salvador.