New to the site. need help with rescue.

[Country_Girl]

Hi everyone. i'll try and make this as short as possible. let me start out by saying that i DO NOT have a reptile vet anywhere even close to where i live, which sucks but hopefully with the help of some of you long time beardie owners i can figure this out on my own!

a few months ago, some loser posted beardie for FREE on a sell and swap garage sale site. there was some mean messages back about 'frying it up' ect ect ect. so i messaged this person privately and told him that he is is unable to care for his beardie anymore that i would try my best to take care of him. little did i know the shape that poor guy would come to us in!

His given name is Kyuss (kai-us), thats what he came with and what we have been calling him for the lat few months as we were unsure we were even going to keep him or whether he would make it. from what the 'owner' told us, he is about 8 years old, was never fed any sort of greens or vegitables, barely ever fed live food (was using some dry beardie food) and was never handled. he took to live food right away, but we noticed almost immediately that he isnt using his back legs like he should (thinking maybe MBD) and absolutely wouldnt touch veggies. its now been about 3 months, he still doesnt move around much, we got him started on a good calcium D suppliment, (are still waiting for our UV light to come in as its been backordered!) his tank runs in the mid to high 90's on the warm end, and like high 80's on the cool end. he as pooped maybe 2-3 times since we got him. the first one was awful! the 2nd two were more normal. formed white section, and a little runny (nothing to bad i dont think) brown sections. both times was alot of poop. he is not able to be handled at all, we thinking he is maybe just in to much pain to be picked up. im just very worried, he has been extra lazy lately, and today i went in and gave him some greens which he ususally hates but ate about half the small salad i gave him, also (i know some frown on this but sorry) we gave him some squash baby food (the kid thats literally only squash and water mixed together) and he was eating that very good, then drank a ton of water! infact was still sipping water when i left the room a little while ago. sorry this is so long, just want some input of what else i can do for this little guy.. ive been around healthy beardies my whole life, but my step dad isnt a part of my life anymore and my mom isnt much help. any advice someone can give me would be greatly appeaciated.

i should note that we havent done mealworms cuz i heard their shell is bad for beardies, we are not doing supers right now as we cant find small ones and the big ones are hard for him to catch and kill. so we have been doing med to large crickets that we have put int he fridge to die ,and then dust them, he seems to like them that way. am thinking about trying some wax worms to try and fatten him up a bit.

 

[gilliesexotics]

Hi, welcome to the forums. Im glad he has fallen into good hands.

Sounds like your doing a great job so far. I would definitely get him the much needed uvb light. If the site is back ordered, ask for a refund and go to another site like lllreptile. The benefits of proper lighting are great. I would personally get some liquid calcium and inject a single feeder at each feeding. Take him outside in the sun as much as your weather will permit.

Im not a fan of super worms or meal worms. This is a friendly warning from past experiences. Its not because of the common myths like impaction or the worm eating through. What will happen is when this feeder is used as a staple. The animal will eventually refuse any feeder but these worms and then in due time refusing the worms also. With a animal in already bad shape the last you want is a lacking appetite. I strongly suggest feeding cricket or roaches as the staple diet and then if you want giving just a couple worms at the end of a meal. Dont give them first

There is no single feeder that will put on more weight much faster than the next. A animal with a supporting consistent appetite will be the ticket.

 

[Country_Girl]

thank you for the info! we didnt order it off a site but from a petstore it hopefully shouldnt be to much longer, its starting to get cold in minnesota so unfortantely taking him outside is a no go along with the fact that he hasent been handled ever, and has tried to take a chunk out of my hand. as we are sitting right now, we ran out of crickets, which is another reason we were thinking of getting some wax worms temporarily until we can get some more. but we were dusting the dead crickets at each feeding, and we are just barely starting to get him to eat greens. no luck with the ususal kale, collard ect. we got him a bagged mix as a last ditch effort that has some romaine, radichio (sp?), and green tango lettuce, he ate a few bites, it too was lightly dusted, and some baby food squash, and some water. wish we could hold him, beardies are ususaslly cuddle bugs, but not him. dont know if its from not being held or from being in pain.

 

[Bushmaster11B]

You BD may still be acclimating. I would post white sheets of printer paper on all sides of your enclosure and only remove 1-2 per week. BD's take up to 14 days to acclimate. I would also minimize handling down to maintenance only.

I would check out http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html for a nutrients chart. It's color coded and pretty much spot on for facts. If you can go with meal worms and a few wax worms, that is better than just wax worms. Wax worms are high in fat and shouldn't be a staple. I would also check out the sale section here at BDF and really look into Dubia Roaches. We have several venders here with great prices. Hope this helps.

 

[Country_Girl]

already have the nutrition chart bookmarked on my laptop and phone we have had him for well more then 14 days, he has been here months. as i said in my origional post, he was neglected, he is about 8 years of age and has never been handled, or fed any type of live or green food. so right now we are letting him eat what ever greens and or live food he will put in his mouth provided it isnt dangerous for him. he does let us pet his head now where he never did before. our hopes is the stronger he gets with good vitamins, and once we get that uv light (which we just heard should be in on friday!!) that he will let us start picking him up. its kind of a learning expierence for me and him. he just needs to learn to trust me, right now we have him in our bedroom so that our little one and the cats dont bother him. hopefully once he is feeling better we will be moving him out into the living room area so he can watch all the action! although i think he tortures the cats more then they torture him. XD

 

[cold blooded]

Hi,

New to Beardies, but not to reptiles. You've gotten some good advise so far. I can only add that the UVB light should be your highest priority. Unfortunately this is the only way your beardie can make the needed D3 vitamin to process any calcium you give him. Take it for what it is worth, but I've heard second hand from a couple breeders now that newer studies have been published which show that beardies show little benefit to having D3 in their diet so it really shows the importance of proper UVB lighting! I expect that once you get that going you will start seeing a great improvment.

A great live feeder to help reverse MBD are Phoenix worms. They have an awesome amount of calcium. Another winner are silk worms, but they are a bit harder to keep and hard to find right now. I don't know if this is marketing BS , but they say that they have come kind of natural enzyme that enhances calcium uptake?? Butter worms are a good choice too although they are high in fat, but good for a guy that needs to add some weight.

Feeding him by hand is a good way to get him used to your hands. Be patient on handling him right now though. If he is showing too much stress just back off until he starts getting back to normal health-wise and then you can get a little more aggressive with taming him. I've read that you can put on a garden glove to protect your hands and just go in there and get him and handle him everyday. Apparently they will eventually learn to tolerate you. Maybe even enjoy you??

Good luck

 

[Country_Girl]

ive never been much of a reptile person! (i dont classify leopard geckos as reptiles as some do lol) but we are hell bent on learning! thank you for the advise! i will make sure that getting that light for him is the upmost importance! i have seen my step father in the past use both pheonix worms and silk worms, he used to breed the silk worms but unfortunately for me is not in my life anymore for me to seek help. he does need to pack on a little weight i think...

what should i make of his not going to the bathroom very often? when i said he has been here three months and has gone only a few times its true. my husband seems to think its probably because he isnt getting the uvb, and greens his body needs (cuz he refuses anything that isnt moving the stinker!) is this true?

 

[cold blooded]

I think it could be possible. The light will really perk him up, but digestion is really tied to how warm they can get I believe. The warmer they can get the faster and better they can digest. You mentioned the basking spot being in the high 90's. Can you try to get it to about 100 to 105 by either moving the basking light closer or upgrading to a higher wattage bulb? Just make sure that he has access to a cooler area or else he can over heat.

Warm water baths are good too to help them poop I hear. As far as getting him to eat greens what I did with my little guy was to cut everything very finely and then mix the "good stuff" in with it. In his case the phoenix worms in the salad- like putting bacon bits on your salad . Now he will attack his salad trying to pick out the worms. What's great is that they are somewhat small so in the process of trying to get them he ends up getting some greens too. I remember the first time this happened he paused like to say, "what the heck is this" and ran away only later to come back and start eating the greens! BTW just make sure that if you do this that you use a bowl that has smooth sides on it that will prevent them from crawling out.

 

[blazedragon]

for the uvb bulb its best to order them online as they are cheaper. a reptisun 10.0 bulb is what most use. and can be found for around $20 to $25 online.

 

[Bushmaster11B]

I would buy ONLY, the ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 (18" T-8) as it is made in Germany and the others are made in China. The Chinese bulbs do not last but 1-3 months (UV radiation output) and they really are a ticking time bomb for when they go out. ZooMed says their bulbs last for 12 months but everyone I spoke to about them says replace every 6 months. Blaze is right, buy online, they are much cheaper.

 

[blazedragon]

t8s or t5ho only way to go the t5 bulbs are cheaper but the fixtures run a little more

 

[Country_Girl]

Hi everyone! Little update! I decided for the sake of not waiting any longer I went out and bought a 18" (that's the fixture size I have already) T8 reptisun 10.0 uvb, and picked him up some more crickets and supers today. Gonna order him some pheonix worms as soon as I can for a little variation. Ill keep everyone posted on how he does. I'm gonna be picking up a stronger heat bulb for the basking area as well. Should I put uv on one side and heat on other or both on one side if I can?

 

[Bushmaster11B]

How old is this BD Country Girl? If it is a baby or Juvenile, do not feed Super Worms if that's what you meant from "supers". They can cause impaction and even choke them.

The UVB and the basking heat bulb need to be on the same side and over the basking spot.

 

[Country_Girl]

He is a rescue and from what I was told is like 7 or 8 years of age. And ill make sure I get them both on the same side

 

[Bushmaster11B]

ok, no worries on the Supers then

 

[Country_Girl]

I know this is probably way to small of a cage but this is what he came in, the cage is 31'' long, 23'' wide, and 16'' tall. Kyuss himself is about 15'' long. We are in the process of seeking out a bigger tank for him.. also his take isnt this bare, we did make a hide for him from a littleish box so he can sit ontop for the UV (since they cannot both be on the same side of tank right now) and hide underneath to cool off. he does have a natural rock in there for a basking area, and we upped the heat lamp to a higer wattage, last i checked it was steadily moving up to 100 i'll check again before i go to work.

 

[blazedragon]

Suggested minimum size for a adult is H24xW24xL48

 

[Country_Girl]

We r looking but it might be a little while. Also, just placed an order for some pheonix worms!!

 

[cold blooded]

Put the UV bulb on the same side as the basking bulb if possible. Keep an eye on the cool side temps with the higher wattage bulb. On a smaller tank it may be difficult to keep it from overheating on the cool side- try to keep it from going over 84. To remedy this you can put the lower wattage bulb back in (or use a dimmer on the higher wattage bulb), and then "build up" his basking area with a brick or a log/branch so that he can get closer up to the light and get the proper basking heat range. To make it easier to check temps a good investment is an infrared temp gun. They give you very accurate instant readings. Just point and shoot and you have your temp. No waiting for gauges!

 

[blazedragon]

Temp guns are only good if you do not have to open the cage to
use them.. digital thermometers with probes are a must in any cage where temperatures must be monitored closely.