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New Beardie Help

Tricia

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
I bought a 2-3 year old dragon on Facebook for my niece. We are keeping him for a couple of weeks until my sister can get here to pick him up. His name is Tabasco. He has a few issues. I wanted to get your thoughts. My sister will be taking him to the vet when she gets him. He was living without much heat when I got him. He was very cold to the touch and thermometer on cage was in the 70s. The two bulbs she gave me were UVB and a 15 watt. Hardly any heat coming from it. We completely cleaned out everything in his cage with vinegar and hot water as soon as we got him home. We added a 65 watt flood bulb for warmth and light and a 100watt CHE. I also got him a T8 18" Zilla UVB tube fixture and removed the plastic cover for better UVB. His basking spot is getting in the upper 90s and the cooler side during the day is in the low to mid 80s. At night, it is in the mid 70s to low 80s depending on where he sleeps, usually under CHE so low 80s to upper 70s. I have been soaking him everyday and giving him time in the sun everyday too. He is pooping everyday, eating well (crickets, super worms, spring mix, bell pepper, romaine, butter lettuce). He drank quite a bit of water during his soak today. I sprinkled calcium powder on his greens and herptavite (once) on them as well. I hand fed him some greens to be sure he got a good bit of the vitamin powder in his body. He has a good appetite. Our concern health wise is a spot on each of his back ankles and his front foot. I showed him to another dragon owner and he thinks he went through a period of not moving much and wasn't shedding correctly in those two creases. I think the owner tried to help it along and caused his skin to pull off. He also has very long nails. I think I will try and cut them. One just ripped off after his bath. I thought it was part of his toe that was gone, but my husband is pretty sure that his nail just pulled out. I am putting Bactroban on all of his wounds daily as well. Just want some advice. I want him to be in good condition when I give him to my niece. She is so excited and I send her videos and updates daily.
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it was part of his toe that was gone, but my husband is pretty sure that his nail just pulled out. I am putting Bactroban on all of his wounds daily as well. Just want some advice. I want him to be in good condition when I give him to my niece. She is so excited and I send her videos and updates daily.
 

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Tricia

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
The more I look at the picks, it does look like part of his toe is gone. What is going on?
 

Tricia

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
I'm thinking all his issues are from retained shed. I did get some shed assist from the pet store and have applied it twice since we got him. We got him last Saturday night. I put it on him Sunday and Tuesday.
 

Tricia

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
I called and talked to our exotic vet. She wants to see him this week to start antibiotics. She said I’m doing all good things and to keep doing them until I see her.
 

Hdrydr31

Bearded Dragon Veteran
Staff member
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
5,574
Welcome and you are on the right track...Yes that is stuck shed that needed to come off long ago, their feet/toes are the hardest parts for them to get the shed off of. Keep doing the warm soaks, you can also use pure aloe gel that you can get at a drug store like walgreens and at walmart..It does look like the toenail came off it should heal up ok it may or may not grow back but no biggie.. For sure get him to see your exotic vet for a check up and do a fecal as well to test for parasites.
Food wise I would switch to collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandilion greens instead of romaine or butter lettuce as those are just water and hold no real nutrition for them.
 

Tricia

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
Welcome and you are on the right track...Yes that is stuck shed that needed to come off long ago, their feet/toes are the hardest parts for them to get the shed off of. Keep doing the warm soaks, you can also use pure aloe gel that you can get at a drug store like walgreens and at walmart..It does look like the toenail came off it should heal up ok it may or may not grow back but no biggie.. For sure get him to see your exotic vet for a check up and do a fecal as well to test for parasites.
Food wise I would switch to collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandilion greens instead of romaine or butter lettuce as those are just water and hold no real nutrition for them.
Thank you! We buy a large variety of greens (spring mix, cabbage, mustard and collard, cilantro) but since I’ve only had him three days, I’m slowly transitioning him. He was mainly fed romaine and super worms. Tomorrow I’ll go buy betadine and start using that after a soak and applying silvadine 3-4 times a day. I have aloe plants. I’ll also apply that after each soak. I’m going to up his herptivite intake as well. I read that a vitamin A deficiency could cause shedding problems. Thanks so much for your help!
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
1,000+ Post Club
Beardie Club
Messages
9,390
Location
Chicago
Looks to me like it is mostly retained shed issues. Don't worry too much about the toe, they lose nails all the time and sometimes parts of toes. They cope just fine. There are some links below our comments on general care and such. I would also check out the full Beautifuldragons.com website. She has information on loads of stuff there besides the best foods to feed him. Vinegar and water is good for spot cleaning daily but to really clean a tank to kill parasites and bacteria left behind, you want to use ammonia or even better a steam cleaner.

When you apply aloe or any kind of ointment, you want to do it before the lights go out for the night. You don't want the heat to bake it in.

At night you want the temps to drop low 65-70 degrees is good at night. They need a period of darkness and coolness to rest their brain.

While you are treating his stuck shed, I would change the substrate out to paper towels just to keep things a little more sanitary.
 
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