Tip of tongue out a lot

[muzikfreakah]

Hi everyone I am new here and I have my eye on my first BD dragon at the local pet shop. They Only have one available and its about 2 years old. Its head is always up but its not that active. Eyes are ok and it looks at me when I look at it. Owner said its very tame that is why its like that.

I did notice the tip of its tongue out a lot. Its mouth is close though, but the tip is just sticking out, kinda like giving it the "two front teeth" look. Is this normal? I love the color, its quite expensive though around $300.00 :-( I read the care sheet and did some research and couldn't find anything about the tongue sticking out like this.

Thanks guys for reading!

 

[akingsley9000]

You mean hes actually sitting with his mouth closed and tip of his tongue sticking out? If so then no, thats not normal and sounds like it may be a case of MBD. $300 is a lot for bearded dragon unless its some really special morph. Do you have any pictures of it you could post? As far as him being tame, 99.9% of them are so do let the fact that this one is be your deciding factor in getting him.

 

[muzikfreakah]

Heres a pic of him, I was holding him and the tip of his tongue was sticking out, its not like that all the time though...
(Pics were taken from camera phone, sorry about low quality)



This second pic shows more or less his eyes.


New added pic but blurry but I can see what you mentioned below, the misalignment:

 

[akingsley9000]

His colors are beautiful. He does look like he has MDB though. It looks like his jaw is not properly aligned. There should not be any over/underbite. He also looks really small for 2 years old which is probably also due to the MDB. MBD is not necessarily the end of the world but i certainly wouldn't spend $300 on a beardie with it.

Can he walk?

How long is he?

 

[muzikfreakah]

Ill try to measure him tomorrow and his exact age. Is there a cure for MDB? He is alert but doesn't move around that much. I will also take better pics with DSLR. Pet store owner says he will have new ones arriving tomorrow. I know, his color is beautiful and thats what I like about him.. The ones that are arriving are sandfire morph. they will arrive this Friday.

Thanks for your help. Will post pics tomorrow night.

 

[akingsley9000]

Well its a lack of calcium that causes it. You could increase the calcium he is getting which would stop it and help him strengthen his bones so he could walk again if he can't and may help reverse his problems to some extent but he will never be 100%. At two years old, the average size for them is 18", some depending on genetics are abit smaller than that and some are a bit larger reaching 24+ inches.

 

[muzikfreakah]

Just got an SMS from the owner of the pet store, he said that the age of the BD is around 1 year and 4 months and that the 2 years was an overshoot estimate. The owner though is a nice guy he know his animals, mostly fishes and plants for the aquarium. Oh well, I hope that guy gets better, I offered to take care of him and invest on proper equipment so he can get better. Will see if the pet store accepts my offer.

Questions:
Since I am from the Philippines, a tropical country, and I will be placing the BD tank in an area where it will get direct sunlight from a glass window (will this burn him?),do I still need to get him a UV light and Sun Lamp? Its pretty warm here already. My green Ig didn't need all of this, he just sits in his cage with natural sun light and rain water falling and he still alive and well up until now for 8 years already. Or maybe I can bask the ig every day under direct sunlight in the morning as well manually, by putting him in a basket directly under the sun for a couple of hours. Will this be ok?

 

[peera]

Uv light doesn't travel through windows, so yes, he still needs a UV light.

 

[muzikfreakah]

Uv light doesn't travel through windows, so yes, he still needs a UV light.

What I plan to do is really take him out and put him in a screen enclosure outside the house where the sun hits him good and just spray him with mist water every 15 minutes. Then take him back in after an hour or so? Would this be UV replacement already?

 

[nesta's mommy]

going outside with him is good as it gets him that natural sunlight but your beardie really does need a white basking bulb as well as a uv lamp of some sort.

beardies usually need 110* F basking temp so its usually not hot enough just to use your weather

 

[muzikfreakah]

Will UV lamps for aquariums/fishes work? There aren't any reptile UV lamps available here :-(

I also have UV lamps for computers called cold cathode lamps, will this work as well?

 

[sxyslayer16]

Ok a few things, not to sound stern.

1. I wouldnt even consider paying 300 for him. The most expensive beardies I've seen have been about 2 months old and color morphs. And i mean real color morphs. This one is pretty but none the less could be average.
2. From the way he looks I wouldve guess only a few months old. My beardies are 7 months, 16 inches and each weigh 250 grams. This guy looks extremely thin and small for his age. Another unhealthy sign.
3. You MUST have a UVB lamp. Natural sunlight is only a small supplement. They need at least 8 hours of constant uvb rays. A fish aquarium light is not the same. You say they dont sell them around you, but hey the internet sells them everywhere. You must be truly invested and get everything they need.
4. You, like afore said by others, can't rely on your natural temperatures to suffice. They need heat lamps, they need a basking area. These are all very important to their survival as well as proper digestion of food.

So from what I've read from you. I think you really need to re-think if this pet is for you. You seem to want to rely on natural aspects rather then provide. If you take him or any other beardie home you need to know what you are getting into and buy everything necessary. Whether offline or from the store. Everything is needed to ensure a healthy happy dragon.

 

[muzikfreakah]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions guys.

I decided to let the pet store keep this one. He had a new batch that arrived yesterday and I went ahead and grabbed two few weeks old BDs :-D

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