Tenants left behind their VERY thin girl... HELP!

[jamiedennis]

So one of my tenants moved out and left their female dragon behind.

I think shes about 2 years old... Is really, REALLY thin and slow. She had a clutch of eggs about 2-3 months ago.

Im wondering how thin is too thin for a female dragon??? Ive often heard and read that they are smaller then males so Im just wondering if shes normal or like I suspect and is too thin... Im keeping her, since I already have my other dragon - Golly, from a similar situation...

She has no name, so Im gonna call her Jade. She currently has NO UVB lights - I am getting them tomorrow, and she didnt have any heat lamp - I had a spare dome and brought it over to her and got her some heat. Im gonna feed her the crix Ive been gut loading for my Golly, to see if that helps to put some weight on her. Im gonna bath her tomorrow to get her moisture, also gonna get her some horns and silks to help with her moisture content since I can see her 'pelvic bone'.

Aside from the above concerns - her last 1.5-2" of her tail is about half cut off... its always been like that since Ive seen her, Im wondering if it will ever fall off, if it hurts her, etc.

Also wondering if 5'x16"x2' is a big enough enclosure for her since shes in a 36x19 one now... I dont have anything else I can use unless I put her in with Golly - hes in a 6'x2'x20" enclosure I built him - which I dont think would be a good idea since shes sooo tiny...

Im pretty pissed off and upset over the tenants doing this so Im trying not to make her life any harder. If I need to put her in a bigger viv. then I will have to build it since money is too tight to buy a prebuilt one... Im a superintendent so I get most of the building materials for free.

Any advice would be great.

 

[beardie parents]

I'm sure the size tank you mentioned is a good size for her. Considering the problems she's had, start with soft foods, like sugar free baby food as beardies can't digest sugar or dairy, try chicken or vegetable. Don't go with crickets yet until you get her re-hydrated. You could give her warm baths. There is something that you can add to the water to help with her re-hydration but I can't think of what that is called right now. The UVB you need is the reptisun 10 tube, don't get the reptiglo tube or any coil or compact as they won't do her much good.

It's soo sad that the tenants left and didn't take her with them. I would never do that to our girls, they are our kids rather than just "pets" like they are to others. It's good you are taking her in and doing what you can to care for her.

 

[jamiedennis]

I'm sure the size tank you mentioned is a good size for her. Considering the problems she's had, start with soft foods, like sugar free baby food as beardies can't digest sugar or dairy, try chicken or vegetable. Don't go with crickets yet until you get her re-hydrated. You could give her warm baths. There is something that you can add to the water to help with her re-hydration but I can't think of what that is called right now. The UVB you need is the reptisun 10 tube, don't get the reptiglo tube or any coil or compact as they won't do her much good.

It's soo sad that the tenants left and didn't take her with them. I would never do that to our girls, they are our kids rather than just "pets" like they are to others. It's good you are taking her in and doing what you can to care for her.

Thanks for the advice - I was wondering about the crix. I will pick up some baby food in the am... what do you think about the silkies and horns??? would they be ok to feed her? Like get the small ones so they arent too hard to digest.

I have never known of anything I could add to the water to aid in moisture absorption...

And thats what I use!!! I hate coil ones, and compact ones. I only use the 20W, 24"x2 bulbs with my dragon(s) and I replace them every 9-12 months. I have notifications on my phone, pc and work phone and I have the email notifier set up as well so I wont ever forget. hahaha

I love beardies soooo much! they are an obsession of mine it it sickens me when I hear of mistreated Beardies.

 

[Esther19]

Thank you so much for caring for her! I would feed her the baby food for a week, with supplements added, then add solid food very slowly. I would suggest Stage 1 squash and green beans, and chicken or turkey. Warm it to room temp, like for a baby. Go easy on the meat at first, since she will have trouble digesting protein if she hasn't eaten for a while. Hydration and temps are extremely important right now. She won't eat if she doesn't have the right temp to digest (min. 95, max 105), or is dehydrated.

Use a dropper or plastic syringe to drop the baby food (water, too) on her nose so that it dribbles down her lips.
You might need to add a bit of water to the baby food.

I believe that the other poster was talking about Pedialyte added to bath water. I would bathe your girl daily, and offer water and food 3x per day, if possible.

Thanks again for taking her in. She is a lucky girl, indeed.

 

[beardie parents]

Pedialyte! That's it! The above poster is correct. I've never had to use it but I've read about it on here several times but I couldn't remember the name of it. I'm glad the above poster did. Her other suggestions are good and I've heard/read about them, also.

 

[jamiedennis]

Thank you so much for caring for her! I would feed her the baby food for a week, with supplements added, then add solid food very slowly. I would suggest Stage 1 squash and green beans, and chicken or turkey. Warm it to room temp, like for a baby. Go easy on the meat at first, since she will have trouble digesting protein if she hasn't eaten for a while. Hydration and temps are extremely important right now. She won't eat if she doesn't have the right temp to digest (min. 95, max 105), or is dehydrated.

Use a dropper or plastic syringe to drop the baby food (water, too) on her nose so that it dribbles down her lips.
You might need to add a bit of water to the baby food.

I believe that the other poster was talking about Pedialyte added to bath water. I would bathe your girl daily, and offer water and food 3x per day, if possible.

Thanks again for taking her in. She is a lucky girl, indeed.

KK, I will grab the pedialyte and baby food, UVB bulbs, plexi glass, and other wood I need to make the viv today - Im gonna have to clean her current tank since its sooo filthy and I dont want her living in those conditions any more...

Any brand I should look for specifically? or just any sugar free, low salt brand will do?

The temps will be tricky for me to figure out as Im not sure what what the vivs natural temps will be with the different sized bulbs I have. I have 2 different digital probe thermometers I use for my Golly's home - and his temps are dialled in nicely! So I can pop those out and get Jades temps dialled in now. I hope to have her new home figured out by days end so tomorrow (tues) I can bring her over. I really hope she makes it... Ive only ever had Beardies die of old age on me, never from another way so Im a lil panicky about this girl.

So, Silkies and Horns - are those ok to feed her now? Cause I get those all the time for Golly... along with Crix. Golly hates veggies - I once went over a week with offering him nothing but fresh veggies and he didnt eat them period! and I was offering him different foods too, squash, collard greens, grapes, apples, endive, etc. he would walk over to the dish, lick it, then look at me, and then walk away... After approx 9 days I broke down and gave him live food again and he dove to it like a mad man!

 

[jamiedennis]

Pedialyte! That's it! The above poster is correct. I've never had to use it but I've read about it on here several times but I couldn't remember the name of it. I'm glad the above poster did. Her other suggestions are good and I've heard/read about them, also.

KK. Im getting that today... buuut how do I put it with the dragon??? In the water directly? Or do I get the dragon to ingest it?

Thanks

 

[PADsMommy]

I am pretty sure you add the Pedialyte to the bath water and let her soak in it for about 10 minutes.
Will you be taking her to a vet?
I just wanted to say that you are a fantastic person for taking this poor dragon in.

 

[jamiedennis]

I am pretty sure you add the Pedialyte to the bath water and let her soak in it for about 10 minutes.
Will you be taking her to a vet?
I just wanted to say that you are a fantastic person for taking this poor dragon in.

Thats what I figured - I was gonna let her soak/swim in it for as long as she wanted too, then dry her off and get her under the heat lamps again.

I will be after Christmas - my vet costs 200/visit whether anything is wrong or not. And I just cant afford that type of bill right now.

Thanks - I hate seeing beardies mistreated and will do everything I can to make sure they are happy and healthy!!!

 

[jamiedennis]

So one of my tenants who I am friends with wants the fish and such that are in the same unit as Jade (the girl the tenants left behind) and he wanted to pay me for them... I told him that since he has a new born baby, why not do a trade - some baby food for the fish, tank, and all the pumps, filters, etc. thats there.

He was tickled pink at that idea!!! so now I have like 9 jars of various baby food, NONE with corn!!! I made sure to mention that before he gave me any, and the mixed veggies Ive fed to her already - I was 'spoon' feeding her with a small stick and she tried eating the stick, so I picked her up and put her in front of the food dish and she dove head first into the food and shes been chowing down for the past 15 minutes on it. I snapped some pics of her and will post them once Im done some more work... Thought Id give every one an update on her... Im happy shes eating though!!! Makes me hopeful!

 

[jamiedennis]

Since I dont have a lot of time, heres the link to my fb folder of pics of Jade...

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152287197670261.932458.623215260&type=1&l=da565d7c12

Hopefully this works.

comments, suggestions, direction...

 

[beardie parents]

I was able to see the pics of her. poor little girl, she's been starving/hungry for awhile. I notice that the fat pads on her head are sunken in and I saw the lack of any fat at the base of her tail. This isn't good for her. From what I've read, I would watch out about how much protein you give her right now. I also suggest you get with Tracie (drache613 is her screen name here) and direct her to the pics in your link she will have good ideas to help her get her health back. I will pm her tonight and see if she can get on here to give you some more ideas. From what I've read, she may not be able to handle the protein in her system because of the fact that she, obviously, hasn't eaten good in quite a while.

 

[jamiedennis]

I was able to see the pics of her. poor little girl, she's been starving/hungry for awhile. I notice that the fat pads on her head are sunken in and I saw the lack of any fat at the base of her tail. This isn't good for her. From what I've read, I would watch out about how much protein you give her right now. I also suggest you get with Tracie (drache613 is her screen name here) and direct her to the pics in your link she will have good ideas to help her get her health back. I will pm her tonight and see if she can get on here to give you some more ideas. From what I've read, she may not be able to handle the protein in her system because of the fact that she, obviously, hasn't eaten good in quite a while.

Ya, I fed her the worms to see how she would do with them - and she liked them a lot!!! She loved the baby food as well! Tomorrow during the day is pedialyte bath time!!! Any idea how much I mix in with her???

I will search Tracie out and PM her as well and see what I can arrange with her.

IM sticking with the baby food for at least a month or until I see a physical improvement in her weight. After I see her gain some mass I will be introducing some wax worms for fat, horns for moisture and nutrients, and then when she has more weight on her, I will go to the crix with calcium. I dont know how she will take to veggies and such... Golly would rather starve then eat veggies so I dont have any on hand until tomorrow nights grocery shopping excursion.

 

[Esther19]

Great to hear that she is eating! She might enjoy dubia roaches, as well. The pharmacy should be able to give/sell you needle-less syringes for feeding/ giving water. She does look like it was a good thing you got her when you did. Please remember that hydration is incredibly important. You can bathe her daily. When the Pedialyte gets to spendy it's okay to lay off. Offer her water with a syringe or off your fingertips dripped on her nose several times a day if you can. What a lucky girl Jade is! Thanks for taking her in.

 

[jamiedennis]

found her and PM'd her as well...

Thanks for directing me to her!!! Hopefully she can give me some advice on how to help Jade get a proper recovery...