Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Captive care and husbandry.

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Lucas Basulto
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Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Hey everyone,

Recently I have come into new ownership of a smallish bearded dragon. He is only about 6-8" long and the previous owner seriously neglected it. I normally don't take peoples failed responsibilities off of their hands but I feel sorry for the little fella.. It's hip bones are protruding, it's tail is triangle shaped instead of round, I can see its ribs and it is paper thin when flattened out. Other than that it is still quite active and shows great interest in food, especially greens! (A good sign I think.) He also pretty cool lookin' so it would be a shame to see something like him die from neglect.

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My Question:
What feeders would be best to help him bounce back? I understand that a balanced diet of live insects and greens is 100% necessary to a healthy animal in the long run. I just need a little advice as to was I can do to give him a little jumpstart. I have heard good things about phoenix worms and reptiworms. But I am unsure as to which would be best for this little guy.

Thanks y'all!

Lucas
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

What has worked for me in getting these back is Hydration before Calories, Calories before 'Supplementation'

I approach it as platforms - achieving one before going on to the next. I add pedialyte to the water to address electrolyte needs plain h20 does not, is crucial for organs to function enabling the animal to metabolize food.

If he has carriage (can hold forebody up on own accord) and is responsive they can bounce back. Even if they are weaker than that and refuse food they can, but great care must be taken that they be hydrated Before they are assist fed, or the kidneys fail.

I use a ball tipped dosing needle and administer fluids directly into the stomach - its quick, has fast hydration value and minimizes handling stress and aspirating fluids by delivering it mouth dose by mouth dose. If that isnt an option a tepid soak in water w/pedialyte and spraying the head with it to incite normal drinking can work - along with careful delivery of drops in the parted side of mouth, if protest isnt too great. If he isnt too weak and seems lucid it can get results. Usually if they have enough of an ionic balance and They Take Food Voluntarily, they are able to metabolize it.

After he is hydrated the pheonix worms are fine, so are waxworms contrary to popular belief. They provide good calories, are readily acceptable, and easy to see, seize, and digest.

Good luck and thank you for being there.
You Rock.
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Lucas Basulto
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Awesome! Thank you for the advice! I thought hydration would come into play here but thank you for explaining the actual importance! That help a lot! :thumb: One other question you may be able to help me with is how long I should hydrate him for before offering the phoenix worms. Like I said he is very active and alert and he does have carriage. He keeps trying to eat the tarantula in the tank next to him. :lol:

Thank you again for the advice and I am going to give this my best effort!

Lucas
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

Cool! Spray his greens with water, feed them dewy and wet. I even do that with healthy dragons and torts. But a good hydrated foundation before he is offered his protein is a good idea, at his thinness. If he eats his foods he doesn't need the pedialyte.

I hope you keep in touch when he is in the pink. Got a good feeling about this one
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

I'm at work,sorry for fragmented posts. It sounds like he is ready let him eat his wet salad and feed him his worms same day. I have found if they want to eat critters readily, they are ready to eat them. Just don't overdo it . Better small frequent then large at once.
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Lucas Basulto
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Well I bought pedialyte just to be safe in case he is a little dehydrated. I put 2:5 ounce ratio of pedialyte and water. He didn't drink out of the dish but he did drink about 3 mils of the mixture from a syringe and lapped some off of the greens. And he did eat a few bites of collard greens.

Image

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Lucas
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

You Rock - He already looks like he's filling out!

Its Splendid!
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Lucas Basulto
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Thanks! Yeah he is surprisingly active for being in such miserable condition..He can still pull himself up to his basking spot and actively checks out his tiny quarantine tank.

(He's only in this until he gains some weight)
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:thumb:
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

There's nothing wrong with that size for your purpose imo. Good control. But may I suggest adding an additional artifact to bring him closer to the uvb source - it would be good. Exploit the wavelengths as fullyas you can. If you put a grapevine or branch at a slant you will see how he will choose the closest aspect possible, instinctively, on physiological impetus.
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Lucas Basulto
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Haha! You called it! Thank you for the advice! I am hoping to pick up a bunch of wax worms for him at the Pomona show! Hopefully this guy makes a speedy recovery so I can use him for some educational lectures!

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Lucas
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justinm
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by justinm »

I rarely get into the fights about nutrition, and have had great luck putting weight on lizards using the waxworms as mentioned. I wish you luck I kept beardies for a long time and thought they were some of the most rewarding captives I've kept. Good luck.
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Don Becker
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Don Becker »

Ditto on the wax worms. I've had quite a few skinny leopard geckos come in, and wax worms help get them back up to a good weight pretty quick.
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Lucas Basulto
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Awesome! I have run into a little hurdle here that maybe some of you could chime on? I have been feeding greens and worms daily and for the first couple of days he ate like a horse and got a pretty decent gut on him. Now he seems to be a lot more lethargic than he was in the beginning. Could this be because of the amount of food he has been taking in? Granted when I say he has been eating like a horse I mean he ate about 10 wax worms and a pinch of greens. :roll: Anyway his behavior in regards to food is what I am concerned about. He shows very little to no interest in worms or greens. His basking temp is at around 100F with the ambient daytime being around mid 80's dropping to mid 70's at night.

Any advice helps!

Thanks y'all

Lucas
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Berkeley Boone »

He may just be 'full'. If he was that skinny and hadn't been eating that regularly before you got him, his stomach may have shrunken some, and he has filled it out. Give him a few days to digest what he has taken in.
Be careful of 'shocking' his system though. Honestly, I would just be feeding him every other day. Good caloric stuff like those wax worms and some greens, but every other day. Just to ease his body back into it.

Glad he was eatiung for you. That's a good sign- good luck!
--Berkeley
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

when we think of food assimilation we often focus our perspective on gastric digestion, and the mechanics of what happens to food when it is ingested and broken down into wastes by the stomach, small and large bowel. But that is only part of the story. The renal and hepatic system are the other part - kidneys, liver, gall bladder and pancreas, all of these organs have special jobs in production of bile, and metabolizing and transporting fats, proteins and other nutrients into usable and excretable products. When animals are compromised by illness or dehydrated by prior lacks, organs can operate less effeciently - there can even be damage present, which can cause nitrogenous wastes to build in the bloodstream, faster then they are able to be excreted. That can present as lethargy, but i dont know if that is actually happening with your guy - but it does present that way typically in the scope of emaciation and associated issues. Older animals also, fade renally and present lethargic.

If it were my dragon I would encourage more water intake (no pedialyte - its not needed or desirous now) and wait until he has a bowel movement before I feed him more protiens esp. Go slow - small feedings frequent, and round it out with some crickets or dubia.

He held on vigorously through neglect, and bearded dragons are remarkable in how resilient they are, See it as you are - a hurdle and work thru
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

Keep him more humid than you would a dragon in regular circumstances. I dont mean amphibian humid, but less arid in the air he breathes, which the radiant heat is blasting away. Mist the floor and walls , Some fauna, silk plants etc that will hold the drops and dispense more moisture in the air as they evaporate. It will blow off and thats normal, but there should be periodic increase in RH which is tricky with radiant guys, but a respite from complete aridity will decrease the moisture loss that happens with respiration. When i convalesce beardeds I put them on paper towel layers that i keep slightly damp, usually focusing around on the water dish area. Silk plant i keep aound it too and mist them well esp AM and PM. Baby dragons esp in neo stage go there to sleep in the leaves, as baby animals dessicate more easily. I know your guy isnt a "baby" but with the option of higher radiant basking areas - it does no harm/and can be beneficial. A couple rocks breaking the surface of the water feature opens up biome opportunity to access the water area in a more amicable and available way. I find that by providing options to basic environmental resources, the animal will seek the resource if they need to, but they cant if there is no option.
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

Try *Dandelion Greens* ... They are nourishing and have a light, undistinctive character that has shown itself to be very attractive and acceptable. You can get them at most stores. Safeway. Whole foods, Trader Joes.
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Lucas Basulto
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Thanks again Kelly! :thumb: What is your opinion on daily soakings in warm water? He had a small solid bowel movement a couple of days ago but has since stopped showing interest in water or food. I found that he takes from a syringe more often than the bowl so I will keep trying that as well as misting the cage. :thumb:

Lucas
hellihooks
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by hellihooks »

Although I trust Kelly implicitly, to provide good info... you may want to talk to Josh (Geckoguy) as well... he has made quite a study of lizard nutrition/diet/health His iguana eats better than me.... :crazyeyes: jim
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

More good info the better, I was just going to answer about the soaking, which I use tepid and drop on head too, and keep the soak box in his cage while he is in it, more stable. If the fasting continues resume splash of pedialyte in water, but if they are taking food I don't add.
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

Hopefully he will have a big bowel movement in his soak and be right as rain.
hellihooks
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by hellihooks »

Kelly Mc wrote:Hopefully he will have a big bowel movement in his soak
i always do... :crazyeyes: lets keep our fingers crossed... :lol: :lol: :lol: jim
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Newly acquired Bearded Dragon needs some help!

Post by Kelly Mc »

Some things we havent explored, that can stall lethargic that you could research, would be addressing the gut flora, and perhaps offering some other foods besides larvae. I dont want to bogart this thread and if Josh or anyone would like to address it it would be worthwhile to include.

I just think its such an important topic, and rescued animals in a neglected condition are common.

One of the most shocking for me was an adult bearded dragon, who was left without care for the entire duration of the families summer vacation to Germany. They "didnt have time" to arrange for it to be cared for during their Important Trip.

The dragon, whom had no carriage at all, looked like an arrow. A stick figure with a triangle on top. He made it thru with fluids and careful nourishment and became robust, funny, and a good Realistic ambassador for people wanting "A Baby Beardie." He was placed with a cool family who cared about his story and thats why they chose him.
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