Very Unhealthy Bearded Dragon!!!

[samtan628]

Recently I have just adopted a 4 years old bearded dragon from a person that took very poor care of it. It is very skinny, shaky, and lazy. It rarely moves and doesn't respond to food. The only time he will eat is when I put an worm next to his mouth, and even then he barely makes an effort to eat. The only way to get him to eat vegetables is to force feed. I really hate seeing him like this and I wish I can help him get healthy again. He is in a 80 gallon tank with UVB lights and Heat lamp. In his tank the cool side is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the hot side is about 90. Please help him! Thank you so much!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry your dragon isn't feeling well.
Can you review your tank setup with us, such as your type & brand of UVB, the temperatures,
the substrate, etc. The 80 gallon tank is a good size for him!
Since you just recently brought him home, it is possible he is going through relocation stress too.
If he was poorly taken care of then, he could have worms or parasites which greatly affect their health.
What insects are you offering him? Do you have any pictures of him & the tank setup for us?

Tracie

 

[samtan628]

I am using a 100 watt zoo med heat lamp and a AvianSun 5.0 UVB Compact Fluorescent. I am using news paper and paper towel as substrate. The hot side of the tank is 90 degrees and cold side is 80 degrees. I have offered him crickets, superworms, phoenix worms and a bunch of veges.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great, thanks for the pictures & information. The tank looks great!
Which Avian brand of compact/coil light is it? I would personally recommend replacing the UVB compact/coil light to one that is much stronger. There is either the Reptisun 10 tube or the Arcadia D3 12%, both of which are terrific UVB Lights. You can mount them inside of the tank & directly overhead so that he gets the optimum exposure. They can be mounted 6-8 inches from him, alongside of the basking bulb. The tube bulb can be directly beside the basking light in order to help create a heat + UVB area. The tank is large enough to where he can have a cooler end without UVB also.
The tube bulb only needs to take up around three quarters of the tank, lengthwise for him so that he has room to retreat out of the UVB.
He appears pretty dehydrated, absolutely. I would work on hydration first, with small amounts of protein, too. Are you still getting veggies into him using a plastic dropper or syringe? If he has urates being excreted normally, then you can add some protein like chicken or turkey baby food along with squash or sweet potato baby food. He doesn't appear to have any physical deformities so I think you should be able to get him to proper health fairly easily.
How often is he going to the bathroom now?
What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temperatures? He needs a basking temperature at one area/spot of a range of 95-105F with a cooler area of 78-82F for optimal health & digestion. We recommend using either a digital probe or temp gun for measuring the temperatures most accurately.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[samtan628]

Thank you so much for the help!
I will be going to the pet store tomorrow and pick up better lighting for him.

The only way I can get him to eat is by pulling his mouth open and sticking food in and he will eventually eat it. He hates it and often tries to spit the food back. I am dusting all his food in calcium and multivitamin but because he doesn't eat a lot he probably isn't getting a lot of it.

He goes to the bathroom about 2 times a week and that is probably based on little food he will take. I don't think it is caused by impaction because the previous owner and I have only used paper towel and newspaper as substrate.

How can I solve the dehydration? Should I give him bathes more often or spray him down with water? Because I know bearded dragons don't drink.

Thanks for the responses! Very helpful.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I hope you can find the Reptisun 10 tube bulb at the store, for a decent price.
Ok, since he isn't eating much, hopefully it isn't impaction since you have him on paper towel/ newspaper right now as he was paper towel/newspaper previously as well.
Have you tried using a plastic syringe or dropper to feed him with or is that what you were using?
Poor guy, I know most of the times they don't like having food forced down them. I hope he starts eating on his own, soon.
Is he looking more alert by now?
You can bathe him daily to see if he will drink water from the bath. You can also try getting a medium depth plastic lid & set him down beside it & then pour some water into it. He may become interested once he sees the water moving around. You can also swirl it around with your finger to get his attention, then drip a few drops on his nose. It's a lot of fun to interact with them that way.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Beardymama33]

You can also see if they have repta boost by flukers or something similar that you can feed him with a syringe or off a tiny spoon with. you can also make a slurry with his bugs and vegges with a few vitamins added in as some others on here have. that poor baby seems to be in good hands and i do hope he recovers and becomes more active. I hate it when people get these cute little guys and neglect them and then toss them aside when they are tired of them.....Thank you for being this dragons knight in shining armor!!

 

[Beardymama33]

Hello,

I hope you can find the Reptisun 10 tube bulb at the store, for a decent price.
Ok, since he isn't eating much, hopefully it isn't impaction since you have him on paper towel/ newspaper right now as he was paper towel/newspaper previously as well.
Have you tried using a plastic syringe or dropper to feed him with or is that what you were using?
Poor guy, I know most of the times they don't like having food forced down them. I hope he starts eating on his own, soon.
Is he looking more alert by now?
You can bathe him daily to see if he will drink water from the bath. You can also try getting a medium depth plastic lid & set him down beside it & then pour some water into it. He may become interested once he sees the water moving around. You can also swirl it around with your finger to get his attention, then drip a few drops on his nose. It's a lot of fun to interact with them that way.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

I use a bpa free eye dropper (new unused until i fill it and its refillable) to get mine to drink when hes being stubborn. now he drinks his bath water until hes pooped in it .....the bath water seems to help them poop easier and this little guy looks like he can use some shallow water play. I also used a rock for mine to hold onto until he figured out he wont drown and water is fun. Another thing that the op can try is a nice fleece blanket to help hold in some of his heat when eating. mine just loves to be wrapped in a shirt or tiny blanket as do most dragons and holding in heat while he eats may make him want to eat and drink more.

 

[samtan628]

Thanks so much for all the advices, I'm gonna get new bulbs today and try all the things that was suggested. Ill let y'all know how it went!

 

[samtan628]

I got all his bulbs changed, he now has a reptisun 10 and a stronger heat lamp! I used a syringe and forced him to drink some water. Today he was finally hungry though! He ate 10 wax worms 5 super worms and some carrot. I think I'm on the right track here.

 

[Madzilla101]

Make sure you are giving him a D3 and calcium supplement. It looks like he could easily get metobolic bones disease. I would recommend moving him to a smaller cage for the time being! That cage seems like way to much for him to handle. If you move him to a smaller cage for about a month or so he should hopefully start to hunt and move around in the big cage. You could also try putting a colorful fruit on his salad(I recommend raspberrys). Bearded dragons are picky but they seem to be attracted to bright red, orange and yellow foods. Also make sure you are taking him outside. This gives him some more D3 and it will make him more curious which might help him start to move around. I wish you the best of luck with him!

 

[samtan628]

Ok thanks Ill switch him to a smaller tank. I dust all his food with calcium dust and multivitamin. Are bell peppers good? I put those in his salads and it seems like the only thing he would eat out of the whole bowl of salads. I'm going to take him out in the summer but since I live in Canada its still pretty cold here. (It was snowing last week)

 

[Beardymama33]

Ok thanks Ill switch him to a smaller tank. I dust all his food with calcium dust and multivitamin. Are bell peppers good? I put those in his salads and it seems like the only thing he would eat out of the whole bowl of salads. I'm going to take him out in the summer but since I live in Canada its still pretty cold here. (It was snowing last week)

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

this is a good list though basil and mint are great as a daily thing for the time being because they help to reduce inflammation and risk of parasites, as well as add in vitamins needed for him to get back to health. Mint promotes healing too so any damage done by his previous keeper can be reversed. you can grow him dandelion greens very easily and grow your own basil and mint to make sure they are fresh. if you buy plants please make sure they are organic. any seeds should be organic heirloom.

 

[Shard]

I hope your beautiful beardie gets well soon!

(I wanted to try out a template I made. I hope you don't mind! I chose your beardie because there were plenty of pictures to take reference from, and it's one of the first I could find on the forum.^^

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....best to keep him in his present cage, switching to another one can cause more stress. Just make sure his food items are easy to see from his basking spot. A few colorful items that Madzilla mentioned will catch his eye + possibly encourage him to eat salads which can be made up of the items mentioned as well as turnip + mustard greens if those weren't mentioned. With live feeders you can either hand feed or cripple them a bit and leave them in a shallow bowl near him. Drip water on his snout for a drink if he's fearful of baths....if he's not, then bathe every few days to see if he'll drink.