Rescued Bearded Dragon

[SamuraiSid]

I rescued this guy yesterday. He originally came from a party house and someone dropped his tank down the stairs. A pane of glass broke, cutting off part of his tail. He is missing a fingernail on his front left foot, and two toes are severed on his left rear foot. He has a huge burn on his back and some of the scales on his back legs are showing the same burns.
The other owner had the temps too low, no UV, walnut shell substrate (GROSS), no supplements, and a diet consisting of Bearded Dragon Bites. No produce, and no mention of any invertebrate prey. I was in shock so never thought to ask the right questions.

Partial Paralysis of his hind legs and warning signs of MBD. (jerky movements). He has been in my care for..... 23hrs so he is not very alert, seems pretty stressed.



So this morning my wife decided to bathe him and he had a bowel movement in the water. I had a great time grossing my wife out with it, but really I was checking consistency and looking for substrate. The stool was quite firm and not as soft as I think it should have been. I did find a few grains of substrate. The colour was forest green Urates were formed nicely, not too hard or big. He "attacked" and "ate" his bathing water three times. He has avoided all food though.


Currently I have him in a 40g breeder, his cold side 75F, warm side 85F, Basking spot 99F. Im gonna bump everything up 10F. I got rid of that terrible walnut, and have him on paper towel. They gave me the 55g he was originally in with the broken pane of glass, and once I get it fixed up he will be put in their.

Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

Give him an optional humid hide on both sides of the enclosure if you can, damp paper towels in a hide. Bump up the hot spot if you can without increasing the cool side too much. They've been temp-gunned sitting on rocks at over 120 degrees.

Crested gecko diet (Pangea makes a super delicious watermelon one) drizzled on top of greens can encourage them to eat, it's better than plain baby food for getting extra nutrition in them.

Also, for something interesting look into keeping them "monitor style" with a deep dirt/sand base for burrows and lots of options for basking. Dragons I've set up that way have absolutely loved it, they can get all the moisture they need from deep burrows and come out and dig around and do real dragon things. Then you can also have bioactive substrate with springtails and isopods.

 

[gottarantulas]

I definitely don't agree with keeping bearded dragons in a humid environment, they are after all a desert species. Your suggested temps are about right. An ideal substrate is Zilla's Reptile Bedding And Litter because it's natural, absorbent and relatively holds warmth throughout the day.I too have rescued bearded dragons from owners keeping them in poor/wrong conditions/environment. I've brought dragons back from the brink of death and malnutrition by rehabbing them in the correct temps, helping them to pack on the weight by feeding them dubia roaches, soaking them 2 a week in lukewarm water with pedal yet to aid them insofar as bowl movements, hydration and electrolytes. For the burn and scarring, you can lightly use something typical like Neos porin or A&D ointment.

---------- Post added 01-11-2014 at 08:08 PM ----------

I was typing from my phone and calls itself correcting me, but did so incorrectly ...that's soaking your dragon twice weekly in lukewarm water and pedialyte. I can't stress enough the importance of U V B light (and not the spiral type bulbs as they are causing eye problems fir bearded dragons. ...look it up) and of course when rehabbing a dragon the need for supplementation. I myself along wit a number of professional reptile breeders I've come to know use Violate (for vitamins and minerals) and Osteo Form SA (for calcium).

---------- Post added 01-11-2014 at 08:11 PM ----------

If the M B D is not too far advanced, it can be reversed through U V B and supplementation.

 

[Smokehound714]

awww.. poor guy

MBD is a horrific disease.. Well he'll be feeling better soon

He'll probably love you to death now haha

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

I definitely don't agree with keeping bearded dragons in a humid environment, they are after all a desert species.

They are desert, and ambient humidity on the top side shouldn't really be that high. I've always misted lightly in the AM and PM to simulate dew and keep the entire enclosure from going down to 0%. However, the burrow is what would hold the humidity. Similar to offering a shed box with moist moss, just a slightly less humid option. An upside down clay pot buried in the cool side of the enclosure simulates a natural burrow. With the right soil/sand mixture the top side should stay at a reasonable ambient humidity (above 10, below 30%), and the burrow should be significantly higher (50-70%).

With a deeper substrate, the top layer would dry out and keep a barrier against the bottom drying out. It's an interesting way of keeping them, and hasn't lead to any issues in my experience. I've tried it with Beardies, leopards and a few different species of snakes. They seem to really thrive when given way more options to regulate humidity and temperature themselves. Low level dehydration with reptiles is a huge issue, ending in terminal gout. I think if more keepers had real necropsies done with lab work we'd see elevated uric acid levels in a lot of the "mystery" cases, even from keepers who think they're doing a good job.


Edit: I do second your approach of pedialyte soaking until he gets up and running, and BOO to the spiral lamps. They "claim" to have fixed the issue with some different coating, but the damage has already been done and I don't trust them. I wish it were easier to get Arcadia's over here. I absolutely HATE shipping lights, and no store near me sells them. Every bulb I've ordered had to be re-ordered because our post office apparently plays kickball with the boxes.

 

[pouchedrat]

I've actually started keeping our three leopard gecko girls on substrate like you would a savannah monitor, and I've definitely noticed a huge improvement in the way they behave, feed, and never a shedding issue. screen top.

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

Brickster, I finally found one of the threads on another forum that I was referencing. I know there are some on varanus, but I can't find them. Also, things over there tend to derail pretty quickly.

http://www.beardeddragon.org/bjive/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=172782