Hello!
I am new to this forum and am hoping to gain some insight in regards to caring for my beardies.
I have 2 bearded dragons.
My first bearded dragon is Peaches (About 3 years old). Almost 10 months ago, while I was away at work, Peaches fell off her perch and lodged herself upside down between her perch and the glass wall of her cage. She was stuck in that position, unable to move, for at least 5 hours considering how long I was at work. When I got home from work, I found her lodged there, stuck, and not moving. She had a bluish-purple tint to her body, especially her face. She was not breathing, but I immediately began doing CPR. I used a small ball pump, a straw, a sanitary wipe to clean her face, and both of my index fingers, and, yes, I managed to restore her breathing by doing CPR. I placed her on a heating pad and monitored her all night. My mom told me that she wouldn't live, but despite all odds, she did.
Today, she struggles to move around like she used too, and her mouth does not close all of the way. The tip of her tongue sticks out a little bit, but it doesn't seem to bother her.
I figured that, due to the lack of oxygen to her brain, she suffered some neurological damage and I am afraid its irreversible. I feel so incredibly guilty as I feel as though I could have prevented such a freak accident from occurring by arranging her cage a different way.
Does anyone have some pointers as to how to help her? She has lost some weight, so I am looking for ways to help bring her back to her original healthy weight in a healthy manner. I want to make sure she has the best care possible, so please, any pointers, tips, or recommendations will help me out immensely.
Secondly, today I rescued a bearded dragon who happens to be a paraplegic (his rear legs don't work). As a result, I have decided to name him Lieutenant Dan (About 6 months old).
Anyways, Lieutenant Dan is very skinny as he is not able to maneuver around to get his food. I have owned a few reptiles with disabilities, but never one that did not have use of his rear legs (or any legs for that matter). I dust his food with calcium powder in order to help boost his bone density as he is very thin, but I know he needs more minerals. Does anyone else have a paraplegic dragon? And, if so, how do you go about feeding him and taking care of them?
Thank you!
I am new to this forum and am hoping to gain some insight in regards to caring for my beardies.
I have 2 bearded dragons.
My first bearded dragon is Peaches (About 3 years old). Almost 10 months ago, while I was away at work, Peaches fell off her perch and lodged herself upside down between her perch and the glass wall of her cage. She was stuck in that position, unable to move, for at least 5 hours considering how long I was at work. When I got home from work, I found her lodged there, stuck, and not moving. She had a bluish-purple tint to her body, especially her face. She was not breathing, but I immediately began doing CPR. I used a small ball pump, a straw, a sanitary wipe to clean her face, and both of my index fingers, and, yes, I managed to restore her breathing by doing CPR. I placed her on a heating pad and monitored her all night. My mom told me that she wouldn't live, but despite all odds, she did.
Today, she struggles to move around like she used too, and her mouth does not close all of the way. The tip of her tongue sticks out a little bit, but it doesn't seem to bother her.
I figured that, due to the lack of oxygen to her brain, she suffered some neurological damage and I am afraid its irreversible. I feel so incredibly guilty as I feel as though I could have prevented such a freak accident from occurring by arranging her cage a different way.
Does anyone have some pointers as to how to help her? She has lost some weight, so I am looking for ways to help bring her back to her original healthy weight in a healthy manner. I want to make sure she has the best care possible, so please, any pointers, tips, or recommendations will help me out immensely.
Secondly, today I rescued a bearded dragon who happens to be a paraplegic (his rear legs don't work). As a result, I have decided to name him Lieutenant Dan (About 6 months old).
Anyways, Lieutenant Dan is very skinny as he is not able to maneuver around to get his food. I have owned a few reptiles with disabilities, but never one that did not have use of his rear legs (or any legs for that matter). I dust his food with calcium powder in order to help boost his bone density as he is very thin, but I know he needs more minerals. Does anyone else have a paraplegic dragon? And, if so, how do you go about feeding him and taking care of them?
Thank you!
So for the both of them you don't want them climbing up on things where they can fall far or get stuck somewhere. For both of them you can try making healthy slurries with their veggies and vitamin supplements and feed them a few times a week with a syringe. With your girl though you want to be careful putting the syringe in her mouth, you want to make sure you don't force it. You can also try dripping the slurry on the front of their mouth, or in her case her tongue that sticks out and they may lick it off.