Sick and Injured Foster

JLynn87

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
A friend of mine recently acquired a foster bearded dragon. He is estimated at two years old and the owners had them for roughly one year. During that year it appears he’s not had any UVB or heat, his enclosure is not appropriately setup and dirty, he is skin and bones with no fat pads, clogged femoral pores, stuck shed and a sore on his chin, possibly infected, and arms feels a bit rubbery like MBD. It was tough to get a weight on him, he is anywhere between 40 to 60 g 😢.
To make the situation even more difficult, my friend and her boyfriend do not have the best knowledge about bearded dragon care. She listens to me and I’ve encouraged her to register on this site along with a few other resources; however, her boyfriend used to work at Petco in the Reptile department and thinks he knows the correct way and a lot of things he says are not quite right. They do let me come over and help, and they let me take him this afternoon to give him a Betadine bath and some other stuff. Once his chin dried I put raw, unfiltered honey on it (don’t have Neosporin right now). I fed him 2 hornworms, squash and zucchini, he ate a decent amount. My beardie has been brumating since November so I don’t have any other life feeders around, I have some on order. I gave him liquid multivitamin, calcium and electrolytes from Bug-De-Lite and he has been getting powered calcium with D3, I think that has saved him from even worse health issues..
I bought him appropriate lights (ReptiSun T5 10.0 22” tube with reflector and 100 W basking bulb) two days with the lights, he has made some improvement. Financially I am in a tight place for the next couple of months and my friend is also in a tight situation. I’m thinking they would let me take him to a vet when I can afford to do so, however that requires travel for me so I really need to save to do this. I have taken lots of photos and will post those and I also got a photo of his bowel movement today, it looks concerning.
His home still needs work, he has sand and another mixture of something for flooring, I spoke to them about this and the boyfriend thinks it’s OK, I’ve tried giving him the education but he gets defensive. I will be going over there to clean his tank in the near future, in other words when my friend is not at work and I will put in repticarpet because that is all I have right now.

Any other advice on how to help this sweet guy would be much appreciated. He has a wonderful temperament, he surprisingly does well being handled. He can stand up well, has a good grasp and was a bit curious walking around my apartment. My friend is asking to keep him and I offered to pay to keep him if the owners don’t give him up.

They also acquired a leopard gecko, I know little to nothing about their care so helpful resources are greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help and guidance ❤️
 

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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
A friend of mine recently acquired a foster bearded dragon. He is estimated at two years old and the owners had them for roughly one year. During that year it appears he’s not had any UVB or heat, his enclosure is not appropriately setup and dirty, he is skin and bones with no fat pads, clogged femoral pores, stuck shed and a sore on his chin, possibly infected, and arms feels a bit rubbery like MBD. It was tough to get a weight on him, he is anywhere between 40 to 60 g 😢.
To make the situation even more difficult, my friend and her boyfriend do not have the best knowledge about bearded dragon care. She listens to me and I’ve encouraged her to register on this site along with a few other resources; however, her boyfriend used to work at Petco in the Reptile department and thinks he knows the correct way and a lot of things he says are not quite right. They do let me come over and help, and they let me take him this afternoon to give him a Betadine bath and some other stuff. Once his chin dried I put raw, unfiltered honey on it (don’t have Neosporin right now). I fed him 2 hornworms, squash and zucchini, he ate a decent amount. My beardie has been brumating since November so I don’t have any other life feeders around, I have some on order. I gave him liquid multivitamin, calcium and electrolytes from Bug-De-Lite and he has been getting powered calcium with D3, I think that has saved him from even worse health issues..
I bought him appropriate lights (ReptiSun T5 10.0 22” tube with reflector and 100 W basking bulb) two days with the lights, he has made some improvement. Financially I am in a tight place for the next couple of months and my friend is also in a tight situation. I’m thinking they would let me take him to a vet when I can afford to do so, however that requires travel for me so I really need to save to do this. I have taken lots of photos and will post those and I also got a photo of his bowel movement today, it looks concerning.
His home still needs work, he has sand and another mixture of something for flooring, I spoke to them about this and the boyfriend thinks it’s OK, I’ve tried giving him the education but he gets defensive. I will be going over there to clean his tank in the near future, in other words when my friend is not at work and I will put in repticarpet because that is all I have right now.

Any other advice on how to help this sweet guy would be much appreciated. He has a wonderful temperament, he surprisingly does well being handled. He can stand up well, has a good grasp and was a bit curious walking around my apartment. My friend is asking to keep him and I offered to pay to keep him if the owners don’t give him up.

They also acquired a leopard gecko, I know little to nothing about their care so helpful resources are greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help and guidance ❤️
@AHBD
@CooperDragon
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Poor little guy is skin and bones. Fortunately, they are tough and can bounce back from some very rough situations if they have good care. It sounds like you're off to a good start with what you've been doing. The improved lighting should help quite a lot. It's great that he is eating on his own, but I'd go easy at first - especially with the protein/hornworms. Focus on getting him hydrated and let him drink small amounts several times per day either by dripping water on his nose or letting him drink from a bowl if he is inclined to. The squash is a great option, and I'd give him plenty of that. Try to keep the meals small and more frequent for now rather than big meals all at once, and try to focus on veges to get him eating salads. A bit of protein is fine, but just don't want to overwhelm his system with too much at once. The supplements you have from Tracie's site should help fill in the gaps for now.

Give him some time under the new UVB light and at proper temps to digest and bask and you're likely to start seeing quick improvement.

The crusty bit on his chin is worth paying attention to, but I'd consider it secondary to steady diet and good lighting. Try putting some raw/unpasteurized honey on it and see if it starts to improve. Keep in mind that it's sticky so it might collect debris when used with a loose substrate. If that becomes an issue, try some plain neosporin and see if that helps. Please keep us posted on his progress!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Your friend saved him just in time, he is very thin but looks alert and it sounds like he's already improving. :) You already received good info from Cooper and now that the dragon is responding so well you can just keep doing what you're doing, skip the vet for now and just concentrate on good food . The honey should help the wound which doesn't look infected so it will likely heal on it's own. I wonder if your scale is not working right though, he looks to be over 100 grams at least.
 

JLynn87

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Thank you Cooperdragon and AHBD! Good to know about protein, I was thinking the opposite so just in time, that is the only protein he’s had.

I too was thinking the scale may need to be replaced, he is VERY light, feels like holding a hatchling, but even 60 g seemed off. I’ll work on getting a new one, I’ll need one anyways for my guy.

I will pass both replies to my friend as she and her BF are main caretakers. He truly is special, he responds to my talking to him and readily climbs into my arm when I lay it out for him, my beardie won’t even do that lol.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Aw, he sounds like a real sweet dragon and he deserves to have a good home. Glad that he's been rescued and yes, go easy on the protein but he definitely needs some.
 

hdochow

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Sir Henry of Scales
I too was thinking the scale may need to be replaced, he is VERY light, feels like holding a hatchling, but even 60 g seemed off. I’ll work on getting a new one, I’ll need one anyways for my guy.
before you replace the scale, put it on a solid surface instead of the carpet and try weighing again. it might make a difference.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Bless him, how is he doing today? He definitely needs help so go slowly when introducing protein so that his kidneys
don't get too stressed. Are you able to keep him warm overnight right now?

Tracie
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
You can use coins to test your scale out. A nickel should weight just about 5g (easy to remember) and a penny should be half that. The weight may vary if they are older coins that have worn down over time, but that's what they should weigh as they leave the mint.
Coin Specifications | U.S. Mint

Good note about using a hard surface for weighing rather than a carpet as well. Something lighter than a sheet pan might help with weight accuracy too. Shoebox tops tend to be great for that. I agree with AHBD that he looks to be over 100g (and hopefully will steadily improve upon that). Having consistent readings going forward will help you track his progress over time, which is important. I like to keep a log in Google Sheets/Excel so that I can chart progress over time and set trend lines etc. (a notebook is just fine too).
 

JLynn87

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
6766BAE9-0E66-43BB-8E00-AA2F81BBC391.jpeg


2 months later, cleaner home with more appropriate substrate, lighting, food bathes and clean glass. He is full of personality, easy to handle, seems to like people and quite curious. He will come to me when out and about, my own guy won’t even do that 😂. He still has more stuck shed but it is getting better with olive oil and warm baths. His fat pads are still non existent, but I think his tail is getting fuller at the base. His weight is slowly increasing too. He has a great appetite, loving special treats on occasion (hornworms or supers) and enjoys his veggies.
Doesn’t look like his owners are going to take him back so he’ll be living with my friend her kids who like having him around and actually do what they can and are open to learning.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
He looks great, good job ! His body condition is just what it should be, he doesn't need to gain anymore. Fat pads don't appear on all beardie's heads, they all have different shapes.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Wow, that IS improvement, he looks very happy & content there.
What a terrific job you did with him. I know he must be so grateful you took him in.
Great setup there, too. He has plenty of room there also. His body shape & weight
are just right for him, too.:)

Tracie
 

JLynn87

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
I finally adopted him back in May! I’m loving his character, he enjoys running around in the afternoon and snuggles at bedtime. He usually sleeps next my bed at night and enjoys waking up with gentle back scratches. He is definitely a dominant guy, head bobs his own shadow and if I’m not careful he’ll head bib at me until I start talking to him. He’ll be going bioactive by early 2023, slowly purchasing supplies. He’s been upgraded to a PVC 4x2x4 enclosure and loves the space. I knew we were meant to be family the first time I saw him ❤️.
 

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