Learning as I go!

[Patria Douglas]

Hi all! New to the forum and excited to learn from you guys. I had an unexpected addition to my family this past weekend when a friend delivered two adult beardies to me. They were from a friend of a friend, and she had no background info on them other than their ages are supposedly 12 and 7 years. I am by no means a beardie expert, but am certain the small female suffers from pretty severe MBD. I have no experience with this and would greatly appreciate any help I can get. I attempted to contact a semi-local rescue group for advice, but my email was returned with a generic pre-formed advertisement for a high-end vet clinic. :-(
Please help!

 

[Germ]

Hi Patricia,

CLICK ME! for a good place to start.

Check out the above link for basic care info, continue to do research & feel free to ask questions as you go along. The Forum is here to help.

The symptom description & pics of the Dragons, particularly close ups of the afflicted one & their 'Setups' would be helpful in giving members an idea of the situation in order to provide possible helpful solutions or input. Until then, provide a proper strength UVB bulb that you are sure is not older than 6 months old, heavily dust all the Live Prey with Phosphorus free Calcium, lightly sprinkle the greens.Try to feed Higher Calcium greens, Collard greens for example. Here is the link to a very good color coded nutrition list of what is good & not so good & how often they are recommended being part of the diet.

Beautiful Dragons Nutrition List

Be sure your BDs are hydrated through misting & warm soaks in water up to their armpits when standing. Make sure that all basic Husbandry needs are being met, specs & info can be found in the above Care Sheet.

Welcome & Good Luck,

 

[Patria Douglas]

Thanks so much for your input and the links you've suggested! I am using my iPad and having difficulty loading pics. I will keep trying and load them from my computer as soon as possible.
)

 

[Mountain Bearded Dragons]

welcome to the forum

 

[drgnfly2265]

Hello and welcome! We would love to see pics of them.

 

[Patria Douglas]

I've been trying to upload pics but having no luck...
One more try...

 

[Patria Douglas]

OK...so that worked! LOL
The above pic is how I received the sweeties, whom my daughters have lovingly named Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Notice how flat poor Lava is! And Sharkie seems very loving and protective of her, but I plan on housing them seperately very soon since I'm certain he's just being dominant and causing more harm to her. Sorry for taking so long to post the pics, but I hardly ever use anything but my iPad to get online. I'm posting a few more pics to show them more closely. I'm also concerned now, after more research, about Lava's tail...doesn't seem like active tail rot as I've seen in pics online, but she has definitely had issues with her tail before; it is a bit shortened and disfigured.
Thanks again for any and all advice! Hopefully you guys will see the pics.

 

[Germ]

From the pics, I don't see a whole lot that would lead me to suspect MBD, or with the tail either, other than a slight tail nip. Is that kink showing in 'Lava2' permanent or just the way it is laying? Even if it is permanent, could possibly have been there since birth. If you keep them now, with all their Basic husbandry needs met & up to par, proper UVB, Temps, Calcium, Multi-vitamins, separated, etc. They should come around fairly well. Loving & protective towards each other is not a BD trait, you are right in thinking that he is being dominant & that it is not good for her. There is not only that aspect, but he may breed her and result in her becoming Gravid when she is not healthy enough to go through it without harming her further. They should be separated, asap. A vet check by a qualified herp vet wouldn't be a bad idea, if you can afford it. Hard to tell if those ages are accurate or not.

Do they stand & move OK when walking, no limbs turn backwards, in or noticeably deformed compared to the others? In the one pic of the Belly, she does look like she may be seriously upset.

The 'after' pic position, is not them showing support, love, protecting or anything similar, but is showing dominance, getting the better heat, taking it away from the other, being the King or Queen of the castle. The more dominant one will generally eat first, the best food etc. leaving the left overs, if any, for the other & is likely why Lava is smaller & thinner.

I realize that you were likely holding her that way for the pic, but just so you know, they should picked up from the front so as not to surprise them, sliding the hand under, and giving full support to the belly & the base of the tail if possible.

Good Luck to you & them,

 

[Patria Douglas]

From the pics, I don't see a whole lot that would lead me to suspect MBD, or with the tail either, other than a slight tail nip. Is that kink showing in 'Lava2' permanent or just the way it is laying? Even if it is permanent, could possibly have been there since birth. If you keep them now, with all their Basic husbandry needs met & up to par, proper UVB, Temps, Calcium, Multi-vitamins, separated, etc. They should come around fairly well. Loving & protective towards each other is not a BD trait, you are right in thinking that he is being dominant & that it is not good for her. There is not only that aspect, but he may breed her and result in her becoming Gravid when she is not healthy enough to go through it without harming her further. They should be separated, asap. A vet check by a qualified herp vet wouldn't be a bad idea, if you can afford it. Hard to tell if those ages are accurate or not.

Do they stand & move OK when walking, no limbs turn backwards, in or noticeably deformed compared to the others? In the one pic of the Belly, she does look like she may be seriously upset.

The 'after' pic position, is not them showing support, love, protecting or anything similar, but is showing dominance, getting the better heat, taking it away from the other, being the King or Queen of the castle. The more dominant one will generally eat first, the best food etc. leaving the left overs, if any, for the other & is likely why Lava is smaller & thinner.

I realize that you were likely holding her that way for the pic, but just so you know, they should picked up from the front so as not to surprise them, sliding the hand under, and giving full support to the belly & the base of the tail if possible.

Good Luck to you & them,

Thank you so much for your input Germ! I did go ahead and seperate Lava and Sharkie. They each have brand new UVB bulbs, And all around better housing accommodations. Sharkie, of course is still thriving, eating everything in sight, while Lava is still adjusting. She seems to be very strong, but her limbs are very flimsy and often end up underneath her. She doesn't eat much, and therefore hasn't had a substantial bowel movement since I've had her. I soak her in warm baths, and even add a tiny amount of liquid vitamin D to the water occasionally hoping maybe it will absorb into her skin. Giving her pedialyte via syringe as well, though she fights pretty hard to keep the tip of the syringe out of her mouth and doesn't lap it up on her own. Basically I continue to give her the lighting she needs and soak her often so as to keep her hydrated, and have incorporated some supervised outdoor natural sun time for her since here in Louisiana we've had temps above 80F lately.
Again, I can't say 'thank you' enough for your input here!

 

[Aleena]

Thank you so much for your input Germ! I did go ahead and seperate Lava and Sharkie. They each have brand new UVB bulbs, And all around better housing accommodations. Sharkie, of course is still thriving, eating everything in sight, while Lava is still adjusting. She seems to be very strong, but her limbs are very flimsy and often end up underneath her. She doesn't eat much, and therefore hasn't had a substantial bowel movement since I've had her. I soak her in warm baths, and even add a tiny amount of liquid vitamin D to the water occasionally hoping maybe it will absorb into her skin. Giving her pedialyte via syringe as well, though she fights pretty hard to keep the tip of the syringe out of her mouth and doesn't lap it up on her own. Basically I continue to give her the lighting she needs and soak her often so as to keep her hydrated, and have incorporated some supervised outdoor natural sun time for her since here in Louisiana we've had temps above 80F lately.
Again, I can't say 'thank you' enough for your input here!

Welcome Make sure she can't see the male. She will continue to show submissive traits and unhealthy behavior if she can see the male. She might just be severely depressed from being submissive for so long. Good luck on getting her back up to weight!