Rescued Dragon

[katanagirl]

My husband and I received a db on Friday. A woman in our area abandoned several pets when she moved. Our new beardie was the only pet to survive. I am worried about any health problems this could cause. She was kept in a 33 gallon tank with a heat rock. There was no light, food, water, or outside heat source. She didn't have food for at least one month.
At the moment, she seems fat and happy. She has eaten 45 crickets and has pooped well. My only immediate concern is that she won't eat any greens. She is currently in the same 33 gallon tank with a UVB 5.0, calci-sand, hide, branch, and food bowl. For water, I am dripping it on her nose and misting her. We estimate that she is around 1.5 to 2 years old and 18 inches. Thanks for any help getting her to eat greens.

 

[Ethelia]

Hello there,
How kind of you to take her in. Im sure she will have a much happier life with you.

The first thing you must do is remove the calci-sand. It is the absolute worst thing she could have been kept on as time and again it has proved to be fatal for dragons.
For now Id just replace it with papertowels.

Its great news that she is pooping well despite her husbandry.
From personal experience with rescues I would be careful how much protien you feed her.
Dragons who have been on hunger strikes or neglected have often developed digestive issues when being introduced to protein again.
I would slowly increase her intake of bugs to keep an eye on her digestion.
Butters or pheonix worms are great in these situations as their soft bodies are easier to process.
Also placing worms amongst her salad can incorage her to take a taste.


Greens will be a bit of a battle if she hasnt been feed them before, but in time she will come around.
I would always have a plate of greens in her viv from morning until night. Try something highly fragrenced like squash or rocket to peak her interest.
She may never have been fed on greens and so it may not occur to her that greens are yummy.
A great thing to do is wait until she is gaping and pop a bit of fruit or veg in her mouth. Just to get the ball rolling.

When you are satisfied that she is returned to health I would hold off on the live feeders until the late afternoon and keep offering her veg.
80% of dragons who snub their greens only do so because they know the yummy live food is coming.
Dex waged a lifelong war on her veg. Even to her final day with me I would have to shred all her veg into tiny pieces and mix them in with worms. That way when she went for the wriggley worms 8 out of 10 times she'd end up scooping up a bit of veg with her worm.
Some veg is better than no veg

Personally considering she has been neglected for a month I would give her a nice long soak in the bath (warm water up to her armpits) for 20-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the water to make sure it doesnt go cold.
Even if she doesnt drink from the bathwater she will absorb moisture through her vent.
Bathing is the absolute best way to hydrate your dragon

We'd love to see pictures of your new dragon.

Do keep us updated.
Holly

 

[akingsley9000]

Holly pretty much covered it.

I just wanted to add that you may want to consider switching the 5.0 UVB with a Reptisun 10.0 UVB. These guys really need the UVB exposure and if she has been neglected chances are she needs it more than most.

You may also want to consider upgrading her tank at some point. The minimum recommended size for an adult is a 40 gal breeder.

As far as her salad, i would offer it first thing in the morning. That is when she is going to be the hungriest. Hopefully she will eat a least a few bites with in a couple of hours and then offer feeders. Again as holly stated, becareful with too much protein too fast. As adults these guys should have a diet of 80% greens and 20% feeders.

if you need a list of good foods you can check out this list: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html it is color coded to help you figure out which items are suitable with the green ones being the best.

 

[katanagirl]

Thanks for the advice. She is being even more active today. I held off on the crickets like you said, and she finally ate some greens. I will keep putting the crickets in in the afternoon. As far as viv size and light goes, my husband is drawing up plans for a viv that will be 6x2x2. It will hopefully be done in the next few weeks.

Thanks for the advice.
Lisa

 

[dobiegil2000]

Great job Lisa. I am so glad you rescued this bd. Did you get rid of the calci-sand yet. Like Holly said, it is deadly and I would hate to see your bd get sick after all of your efforts.

robin

 

[katanagirl]

Thanks for the reminder. I am heading out this morning to get play sand for her.