Severely malnutritioned 5gram one year old beardie

[Mikhaela]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I took home this little bearded dragon from a friend that has been neglected to the point that it sleeps all the time and barely has any energy to even breathe sometimes! I've picked up a Powerade today and baby food squash and chicken as I've learned that it helps them get rehydrated etc. as I have never owned my own bearded dragon, I don't have the right equipment for its environment. He's currently residing in those plastic boxes typically used for small animals I think. Inside the box is beech chips. He hardly moves but I've managed to give him a 1:1 water and Powerade solution fed using a small syringe which I realized he likes and actually got him to open his eyes for the first time . I fed him a little bit of the baby food I mentioned diluted with the left over Powerade solution and a small pinch of calcium powder. For heat, I put a heat mat that I bought from pets at home that I placed under his container. I know that uv lamps are necessary but right now money is kinda tight and I don't have a Viv or anything that can support a light like that therefore i have put him outside in the sun for a while during the day as an alternative.

I weighed him today and he weighs around 5.4 grams

I have a few questions though:
How often should I feed him baby food?
How often should I give him water and Powerade?
When giving him baths, because he is so tiny, it's hard to find a container that he can safely use while keeping the temp warm for around 10 minutes. Can anyone suggest a way to bathe this little guy?

I really want him to get his health up so any help would be very appreciated!

Here is also a picture of everything that he has right now including the new heat mat under his home.

 

[Taterbug]

Others will have some Input but a few very important things assuming the title is correct....

1) the setup you have is in no way adequate for him. If you cannot afford the equipment (UVB is absolutely critical) it may be the best thing for this little one to find someone who can either help you get it or who can take him. Using the cage you've shown outside will not let him get uv and runs a high risk of overheating and killing him.

2) if this dragon is indeed a year old I would find an experienced and well recommended reptile vet to aid with a rehabilitation plan. (I sincerely doubt this lizard is a year old) Creatures suffering from malnourishment that are suddenly given nutrients and a better diet can die from the shock to their systems.

You need to get this guy a proper setup (checkout the care sheet on this forum) and I would seek the advice of a vet for treatment. He doesn't need baths, I would focus on finding a better enclosure before worrying about a bath tub.

 

[Mikhaela]

Thank you for your help. I didn't realize that the setup is not right at all. I got him in the box so it's what he's been in for now. As of the lighting, I'll try obtain a uv ligh tomorrow as I've only had him for a day however for his size what kind of uv light and strength should I get? I have a vivarium tank already but is being used by my leopard gecko. Will I be able to put the uv light over this setup for now until I find another vivarium? And yes apparently the friend from who I took him from said that he was bought with two other siblings so his idea is that he was bullied. I can't believe it either as his two siblings look much larger than he is.

Is the feeding alright though? I have been trying to at least rehydrate him to get energy into him

 

[Taterbug]

You want something with either a mesh screen or no lid. If you have a room with no other animals or people who would bother him, you can use a plastic tub (like a sterilite bin or a really useful box) that is tall enough he can't climb out (should he find the energy too). The cage is really small and I'd worry about him over heating in it, myself. For now, paper towel would make a better bedding than beech chips.

If you can, a heat lamp would be better than a heat mat unless you have a thermostat to make sure it doesn't get to hot. A lamp would be too much for the little cage you have now and if you use a plastic tote make sure the lamp is very secure and won't melt or fall into the tub. Pets at home should sell lamps but home improvement stores sell similar ones for less just not as pretty, a house hold bulb will be fine for heat.

Sounds like you are in the UK, Arcadia is a good brand so look for their D3+ line (sometimes labeled as 12%) I'm not sure what is most in your price range but they make good uv lamps.

Feeding the really watered down baby food sounds like a good idea for now. Someone else with more experience rehabbing may have some ideas. Hopefully he is just smaller and young and can perk up without to much.

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree with Taterbug about the larger enclosure and getting proper lighting/heat in place soon. Once that's established I would continue to offer water via drops on his nose and see if he will drink. Hydration is most important first thing. Adding a bit of veg baby food is good too, but keep both the baby food and water to small amounts, several times per day. Do this for several days to begin with. You don't want to overwhelm his system with too much food, especially protein. If he is taking the veg baby food well after several days, you can mix in some chicken baby food to add some protein. Just take small steps and focus on getting him well hydrated and offering small bits of food for energy for now and see how he responds.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh my, bless him. You are sure he is 1 year of age?? If so, he is terribly small.
As suggested, be very slow in introducing protein to him so his system doesn't go into shock.
What you are doing with the Powerade & baby food is fine.
Are you able to get his setup improved pretty quickly now?
What sized tank can you get for him? I hope that he starts to perk up soon, poor thing.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[Mikhaela]

Hi everyone thank you for all the information I've been given, I will try and get everything that he needs to make his home better and continue feeding him water and baby food. But yes he is around a year old but just about as he has been with my friend with the other dragons for nearly a year now. I don't think he gave a **** about this little one ? So that's why I took him.

It's not shown in the pictures but his belly really caves in his body that he kind of looks like a deflated dragon :'( just to explain the extremity of his case.


However, I will let you know of his improvement. I plan to weigh him every other day as well. I've also decided to name him Nelly!

 

[oatmeal]

I'm so sorry about what happened to this guy, and that you're now in the position of taking care of him. I took in a severely malnourished dragon this year. I have a friend who does reptile and wildlife rehab for a living. If you'd like I can give you his contact information. He really helped me a lot when I was starting out with my 2 rescue dragons. Just a heads up: It was really challenging taking care of such a sickly animal Whereabouts do you live? Are there any rehabbers or rescues in your area?

 

[Mikhaela]

i have a bigger place for him to stay for now and im planning to buy a Swell Desert 10.0 UVB 14" Lamp 10w (cheapest one i could find. says that its also perfect for bearded dragons). is 10.0 okay?

spraying him with water seems to me like he enjoys it. hes beginning to walk around and open his eyes more and looks up while i lightly spray him.

 

[CooperDragon]

I haven't tested that bulb but Swell reptiles has a good reputation and the 10.0 bulb should be good sitting about 6-8'' above the basking area for optimal output. I would use reflector as well, in order to direct the UVB down over the basking area. This should clip around the ends of the tube where the controller connects. Arcadia makes them and they're available on the Swell reptiles site. They carry Arcadia and Komodo T8 controllers as well.

 

[Mikhaela]

Thanks! i just bought a number of things that should be delivered by monday. its a shame the next day delivery is on a working day. These were all difficult to find in most stores

Arcadia D3 UV Basking Lamp 80w : i checked to see if the basking lamo had UVB light as well as UVA which it does. Hopefully, I will be able to get the bigger UVB lamp in the near future but as of now, the all in one basking lamp seems good bearing in mind he's only so tiny.

Arcadia Ceramic Lamp Holder & Bracket (screw fitting)

Komodo Revitalive

Vetark Critical Care Formula 150g

I plan to alternate with the two medications as an alternative to the Powerade + Water and Baby food squash and chicken.

I give him around 0.1ml of diluted powerade every few hours (~4) and only 0.1ml of diluted baby food with calcium powder once a day. If you guys have a better idea on how i should space them out and how often please let me know. Nelly seemed to like the baby food better when it was a tad less diluted than the first time.

 

[CooperDragon]

The small amounts of food every few hours is the way to go. I'd keep up with that. Once you have your light, test the temps closely. An 80w mercury vapor bulb isn't very powerful and you may have issues getting the temps up. If you find that to be the case, you may want to return it and get a higher wattage version. Just something to keep an eye out for. You'll want the basking area (the diameter should be a little bigger than his overall length) to be about 38-41 or so with areas around that in the mid 30s and a cooler area available on the far side of the tank.

 

[Mikhaela]

If the temperatures are still low, i will include the desert wave heat mat as an extra way to help keep the temperature up. im just going to have to find a way to place the lamp over the box. :S

 

[CooperDragon]

I use these https://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/zoo-med-lamp-stands/ because they're easy to raise/lower to adjust temps. You might be able to build something similar though.

 

[Mikhaela]

i get my deliveries on Monday so fingers crossed he makes the weekend for now.

i just fed him his second feed of the day last one coming up 6 hours ago with rehydration in between. do you think twice a day of food and rehydration throughout is okay? i know ive asked before but still was unsure if twice a day for feeding is sufficient enough. I stop giving him food when he seems uninterested. he managed to hold up his own head without my help the second time around. Still, with his eyes closed for a lot of the time...