HELP Bearded Dragon

[Hoj]

so i work part time at a local petshop well today one of the cages was in the back so i went to go see why.
turned out there was a little bearded dragon that is very ill. i dont know the sex but im calling it a male, so he was just laying there eyes closed and NO movment if it werent for the sight of breathing i would have though he was dead. also he is missing a large pc of his tail, looks like a old wound and healed well.
no body there has any clue how to take care of a sick reptile so i offered to do what i can.
so i took some bearded dragon food and crushed it up and mixed it with some water and a little pinch of reptivite and put it in a srynge and force fed it to him, he took a little, after that i placed him in a shallow dish and added warm water, he wouldnt even lift his head to keep from going under the water, ( i did not allow water to go over his head at all ) i let him soak for about 10min and then placed him back on a dry rock in his home.
i now have brought him home and have him set up in my kitchen.
i guess i am looking for any ideas and care advise, i got some pedilite and some specail care dog paste but have not tried it yet as it is lights out here.
oh what would be a good nite temp for him? as he is sick, should i keep temps up with a undertank heater or ceramic emmiter.
and any of advise PLEASE!!
thanks so much, i just wanna save him

 

[brandon1]

so i work part time at a local petshop well today one of the cages was in the back so i went to go see why.
turned out there was a little bearded dragon that is very ill. i dont know the sex but im calling it a male, so he was just laying there eyes closed and NO movment if it werent for the sight of breathing i would have though he was dead. also he is missing a large pc of his tail, looks like a old wound and healed well.
no body there has any clue how to take care of a sick reptile so i offered to do what i can.
so i took some bearded dragon food and crushed it up and mixed it with some water and a little pinch of reptivite and put it in a srynge and force fed it to him, he took a little, after that i placed him in a shallow dish and added warm water, he wouldnt even lift his head to keep from going under the water, ( i did not allow water to go over his head at all ) i let him soak for about 10min and then placed him back on a dry rock in his home.
i now have brought him home and have him set up in my kitchen.
i guess i am looking for any ideas and care advise, i got some pedilite and some specail care dog paste but have not tried it yet as it is lights out here.
oh what would be a good nite temp for him? as he is sick, should i keep temps up with a undertank heater or ceramic emmiter.
and any of advise PLEASE!!
thanks so much, i just wanna save him

Keep it around 75 at night. During the day in the low to mid 80s, but have some where that he can hide into that would be in the 70s if he gets too hot. Have a basking area of about 90. Everything else that you're doing for him sounds fine. You could also squirt droplets of water in his mouth, in addition to srynge feeding. He needs calcium d3 like chams, but I'm not sure about with d3 and the multivitamin.

I'm glad you decided to take him into your care to try to save him. You're a good person, and we need more people like you in this world...

Oh and also, is he moving around at all now?

 

[Hoj]

he has started to move a bit, i misted him just a little and he stood up witch is the most ive seen him move.
thx alot

 

[brandon1]

he has started to move a bit, i misted him just a little and he stood up witch is the most ive seen him move.
thx alot

Well that's good that he's reacting to the misting, make sure his enclosure doesn't get too wet. I haven't had much experience with beardies but since they are a desert dwelling animal I would assume they would prefer humidity below 50% and at around 30-40. Oh and speaking of that, since he is a desert animal do you have him a 10.0 UVB instead of a 5.0? If not, you probably want to get one since that is the kind designed for that type of animal, and may help a little, or even a lot in his journey to getting better.

And you're welcome .

 

[laurie]

Glad it hear he is doing better. I thought the warn soak might be good for him. I always soaked mine. If you got the kind of dog paste I talked about it will be a really thick brown goop. Thin it with pedalite and ensure, just enough for you to be able to put a drop or two at a time in his mouth. Since you are home in the morning, soak him in just a bit of water, so he doesn't drown, while you are caring for the chams. Then feed him and be sure to give him water after his food as that stuff is sticky. Add a tiny bit of the repashy all in one to his food tonic. A drop of liquid calcium would be even better. Let me know how he is coming along.

 

[Hoj]

Well that's good that he's reacting to the misting, make sure his enclosure doesn't get too wet. I haven't had much experience with beardies but since they are a desert dwelling animal I would assume they would prefer humidity below 50% and at around 30-40. Oh and speaking of that, since he is a desert animal do you have him a 10.0 UVB instead of a 5.0? If not, you probably want to get one since that is the kind designed for that type of animal, and may help a little, or even a lot in his journey to getting better.

And you're welcome .

ya i didnt mist him much just enough to add a little humidity as i just set the tank up, i did grab him a 10.0 but good tip for sure
thx again

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a photo of him please?
Does he have any discolored areas on his body?

 

[Hoj]

Can you post a photo of him please?
Does he have any discolored areas on his body?

hes sleeping now, but give me a few min ill get as good as one i can

 

[Hoj]

here a few through the glass so not great and u cant see the tail but i can get better ones tomorrow the only diff color spots are just behind the head

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."he is missing a large pc of his tail"...I wonder if he could have picked up an infection? Do you know any history on it?
What basking temperature has it had? Has he been pooping?

 

[Hoj]

You said..."he is missing a large pc of his tail"...I wonder if he could have picked up an infection? Do you know any history on it?
What basking temperature has it had? Has he been pooping?

i didnt see any poop in his old home but they do clean daily, i believe he had a basking temp of 100 or so.
he came in with a sibling and they both seemed healthy but obviously had been kept wrong as they both were missing a pc of their tails, his sibling sold a few days ago and i think is fine cause no word at the shop.
the tail does look healed well, i will definatly get a better pic in the am.
he looks dehydrated to me.
i thought i heard something about bathing them in gatoraid??? good/bad??
and ideas how i can give him a fighting chance.
i really want to save him
thanks so much

 

[brandon1]

i didnt see any poop in his old home but they do clean daily, i believe he had a basking temp of 100 or so.
he came in with a sibling and they both seemed healthy but obviously had been kept wrong as they both were missing a pc of their tails, his sibling sold a few days ago and i think is fine cause no word at the shop.
the tail does look healed well, i will definatly get a better pic in the am.
he looks dehydrated to me.
i thought i heard something about bathing them in gatoraid??? good/bad??
and ideas how i can give him a fighting chance.
i really want to save him
thanks so much

Bathing in gatorade would probably be bad because I would think that it would make him sticky?

I too thought he was dehydrated after seeing the pics. His eyes look sunken in...maybe it is similar as with chams that have sunken in eyes and probably the same with urates.

 

[Hoj]

Bathing in gatorade would probably be bad because I would think that it would make him sticky?

I too thought he was dehydrated after seeing the pics. His eyes look sunken in...maybe it is similar as with chams that have sunken in eyes and probably the same with urates.

i have my doubts about the gatoraid but i believe it had something todo with the electrotites in it being helpfull, but i wont be trying that without solid advise to do so.

 

[kinyonga]

I have no idea if soaking him in gatorade would work.

If they were kept together since they were little, the tail issue doesn't surprise me...they tend to nip each others tails if they are hungry and see them move when they are younger.

Did they have a substrate at the store?

 

[Hoj]

yes i agree about the tail and yes they were on a crushed wallnut, i have been doing some reasearch and it seems bare or carpet is better. i have him on retile carpet now.
substrate opinions?
i think i am going to approach treatment from a dehydrated/impacted situation.
think a little mineral oil in the syringe mixture would help get thing moving??

 

[ataraxia]

dehydrated and malnourished. Id keep what your doing. Sick animals can aspirate easily so make sure to go slow. Warm baths in plain water once a day.

On top of all that, if your guy was mine.
1. mineral oil. could be impacted
2. If you havent seen poop and no scope. shot gun panacur and ponazuril. could have parasites overload.
3. keep temps as stated. 80 ambient 90 basking.

I would not spray his cage.
I would not bath him gatorade.

edit: no substrate.

 

[Hoj]

dehydrated and malnourished. Id keep what your doing. Sick animals can aspirate easily so make sure to go slow. Warm baths in plain water once a day.

On top of all that, if your guy was mine.
1. mineral oil. could be impacted
2. If you havent seen poop and no scope. shot gun panacur and ponazuril. could have parasites overload.
3. keep temps as stated. 80 ambient 90 basking.

I would not spray his cage.
I would not bath him gatorade.

thank you, i have never kept anything but chams so all i know about beardies is nothing really
but he sure deserves a chance

 

[kinyonga]

Walnut shell bedding can lead to impaction.
You could also give him some babyfood pears in case it is an impaction.
You can also give him various babyfood veggies for a while if it helps to get him to eat.

 

[brandon1]

yes i agree about the tail and yes they were on a crushed wallnut, i have been doing some reasearch and it seems bare or carpet is better. i have him on retile carpet now.
substrate opinions?
i think i am going to approach treatment from a dehydrated/impacted situation.
think a little mineral oil in the syringe mixture would help get thing moving??

Since he is ill right now I wouldn't keep him on substrate but just on the reptile carpet. If he does gain his health back, though, I see no problem in the crushed walnut. I know that people may say that it could cause impaction, but many have used this substrate with no impaction problems to whatever their species of reptile may be. To see good examples of this, check out viperkeeper videos on youtube. He keeps several snakes on crushed walnut and they almost always get the substrate in their mouths and swallow it when eating FT mice, and a few of his snakes I have seen doing this for like a year and they are still around without any impaction problems.

 

[Hoj]

Walnut shell bedding can lead to impaction.
You could also give him some babyfood pears in case it is an impaction.
You can also give him various babyfood veggies for a while if it helps to get him to eat.

will do, off the the gricery store first thing, for baby food. thx

Since he is ill right now I wouldn't keep him on substrate but just on the reptile carpet. If he does gain his health back, though, I see no problem in the crushed walnut. I know that people may say that it could cause impaction, but many have used this substrate with no impaction problems to whatever their species of reptile may be. To see good examples of this, check out viperkeeper videos on youtube. He keeps several snakes on crushed walnut and they almost always get the substrate in their mouths and swallow it when eating FT mice, and a few of his snakes I have seen doing this for like a year and they are still around without any impaction problems.

i see both side of the substrate coin but i usually perfer the no substrate school of thought, if i kept beardies i might give them a smal area of sand or wallnut but for the most part i like the carpet. seems afe ya know
thank you