Sick Bearded Dragon need help

[Bones1283]

I'm trying to save my brother's bearded dragon. It's a baby that he got a few weeks ago. In the last week it's stopped eating completely. It also drags one of it's front legs under it as it walks so it must be broken. It becomes slightly thinner each day. It's never eaten veggies and now shows no interest in crickets. Sirprisingly it still seems to have energy and moves around alot still. I'm just worried that it won't live long if it doesn't start eating again. It is in a 30 gallon cage with proper hotspot and cooler side. It doesn't seem stressed out at all. It has reptile carpet as a substrate so it's not blocked up from sand or anything. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[dr del]

Vet.

First and foremost put the appointment on while waiting for the other people to see this message.


dr del

[Beardedragon]

Sounds like MBD, what type of UVB do you provide? Calcium and vits? He needs a vet NOW!

[littleindiangirl]

Yup, sad. It does sound like a deficiency. I would schedule a Vet appointment immediately. Best of luck.

[Beantown Reptiles]

Hi!

Definitely get him to a vet. But in the meantime, here are a few things that might help. Get rid of the carpet. Use playsand, or newspaper, paper towels, corrugated packing paper. For some reason, I've never had good luck with the repti-carpet.

Even if he has a hot spot, the tank should be at least 85 degrees. My hot spots are at about 100 -115. Soak him in warm (not hot) water and not so deep he has so swim. Keep it warm, leave him in there about 20 mins. so he gets well hydrated. My beardies will not drink from a bowl, but always drink while in the bath, so that might help.

Baby beardies ususally do not eat veggies. They like things that move, so they can "hunt". You can try hand feeding: wax worms, phoenix worms, mini superworms, crickets, butter worms and dubia roaches all lightly dusted with calcium powder. Just stay away from mealworms, they really don't offer anything. More heat might stimulate his appetite, and certainly helps digestion.

I hope I have written something that you haven't already tried. Good Luck!

[Beardedragon]

Hi!

Definitely get him to a vet. But in the meantime, here are a few things that might help. Get rid of the carpet. Use playsand, or newspaper, paper towels, corrugated packing paper. For some reason, I've never had good luck with the repti-carpet.

Even if he has a hot spot, the tank should be at least 85 degrees. My hot spots are at about 100 -115. Soak him in warm (not hot) water and not so deep he has so swim. Keep it warm, leave him in there about 20 mins. so he gets well hydrated. My beardies will not drink from a bowl, but always drink while in the bath, so that might help.

Baby beardies ususally do not eat veggies. They like things that move, so they can "hunt". You can try hand feeding: wax worms, phoenix worms, mini superworms, crickets, butter worms and dubia roaches all lightly dusted with calcium powder. Just stay away from mealworms, they really don't offer anything. More heat might stimulate his appetite, and certainly helps digestion.

I hope I have written something that you haven't already tried. Good Luck!

Stay away from all of the bold

[Crazydude]

Beardedragon, I beleive beantown was trying to give advice, Dont be rude about it, care aint black and white, he had some great advice, and a few things that i would avoid with a Baby beardie, but are fine for an adult.

Bones,

From only one leg not working, id assume its broken, A deficiency is definitally a possability, its one of the biggest more obvious, common and preventable and cureable problems in captive dinural lizards. Medabolic Bone Disease is caused by lack of a correct UVB light, and miss-suplementation.

Sadly, there are only a few lights that actually work as far as UVB goes, From the top of my head, in the US, there are only 3 Tube lights that are safe, NO compacts, NO coils, and 4 MVBs that are safe, We can tell you which if you tell us what you have. If its a Zilla Brand, ESU brand, or anything lower then a 5.0 (except the repti-sun 5.0 is ok), or your brother doesnt supply a UVB light, its most likely MBD.

With MBD, there are a few things to treat it, First and foremost, A vet is invaluable. They can give Liquid calcium that works faster, stronger and better then powder.

For what you can do, you can help it get the calcium, make sure it has the best UVB light, This preferably is a repti-sun 10.0 Tube, and let the beardie get 6-12 inches from it, or a MVB, the T-rex active UV heat, or Mega-Ray are the best. There are a few other brands that are ok, but if you dont have a good one, those are the ones to look for, for any enclosure shallower then 18", use the Repti-sun, larger any can be used. The Mega-ray is from reptileuv.com, and the t-rex is at stores and online, The t-rex and mega-ray are the same bulb.

Now, as for another thing, avoid foods with high phosporous, Like mealworms, Spinach, and that stuff. Feed calcium rich foods, For a baby, id suggest 4 types of worms, expensive but will help.

First is Butterworms, they are one size and may be a tad large, but not even my dragon which refuses everything in the world refuses butterworms, they smell fruity, and have tons of calcium, and are soft and safe. They are NOT fatty like people beleive, thats a blurb of missinformation.

Second is Pheonix worms, thay have tons of calcium, and are soft bodied. For any size lizard, if hes under 8", get mediums, any larger get larges or mediums. They are safe, and dragons love them, they dont stop wiggling, and are super healthy.

Third is the best worm out there, expensive though. This is Silkworms, they have a few aspects that make them ideal, First is they are full of moisture, and hydrate the dragon, second is that they are full of protien, Third is they have good amounts of calcium, and lastly is what makes them renowned in herbal medicine (not the worms but what they produce), its called serepaste or something like that and is a natural anti-inflamitory and pain killer, so if there is MBD or a broken bone, then this will ease some swelling and pain.

Lastly small hornworms work, but are expensive. They are full of protien, and moisture, and will hydrate and fill him up fast, most dragons cant refuse these.

Crickets are ok, but dont have as much nutrients as the 4 worms listed, they are pricey, but helpful. Id avoid superworms for an adult, and waxworms wont do any good but add weight and fat.

Heat will help as beantown mentioned, but dont go to far above 110, and make SURE to measure with a digital probe, or tempgun, and the surface, not the air, 110 air temp will cause problems. This can jump appitite, help the immune system, jump start medabolic processes, and overall help the dragon, But dont make it too hot as it may be hard for him to move to get away from the heat.

Hydration helps too, so baths if he likes them, if not drip water or diluted pedialyte on his nose, and he will lick it off, get a good amount in him and it should also help.

Also with him being a baby/juvie avoid playsand, it will cause more problems then it will help, and if he has trouble moving, sand makes it harder as you may know if you have ever run on sand. Paper towels, reptile carpet, and newspaper are your best bet ATM.

My questions are.

What UVB, The brand, Make, Model, (Tube, MVB, or Coil/compact?) and how old?
What supplements, brand and how often?
Diet?
Hydration?
Vet?

any more info will help. Of course we cant fix a problem over the net, what i gave were generic tips that will get him healthier and stronger to pull through, the UVB, heat, thermomiter and diet being accurate is the pinacle of beardie care, if its correct, they will be healthy.

The vet can also test for parasites, and check for other problems, but the leg makes me think MBD, or a broken leg, either can be aided by a vet, and my suggestions.

If hes loosing weight and not eating still, you can blend up his veggies and mix in calcium and vitamins, and water and feed through a seringe, but drop it on his nose and let him lick it, he will its just there instinct, dont force it, and dont force liquids. Also some chicken or squash baby food through a seringe, dropped on his nose works well too, but dont let him get hooked on it.

Hope all goes well, and sorry for my novel of a post,
Ben

[Beardedragon]

I did not know that I was being rude. I am just pointing out that the things in bold right now are not the best choices for a sick beardie. It would not be good for it the get stuck on the worms, and there is no such thing was mini super worms unless he ment small in size? Even so they are not good for small dragons.Im sorry for pointing those out if it bugs you when people try to help. did I attack him? Did I say disregard the above post? NO, I did not, I was just pointing out the things that would not be the best choice right now.

[littleindiangirl]

Well, to be honest, you bolded it, and said to stay away from the bold.

Might have been better to give your reasoning why he should stay away from those things instead of trying to dismiss it all together. Then it wouldnt have come off as a bit rude.

I too was a bit concerned, but I'm not at all knowledgeable about beardies.

Crazydude, that was one of the most informative posts I have ever read!

[shadi11]

Ben, great post. I dont really have much of anything to add to the advise that was given. Butterworms are good for the dragons. If they eat them. My dragons personally dont like them, mine prefer silkies and hornworms for the soft bodied variety.
Bones.. Hows the dragon seeming today? Were you able to get an appointment with a vet?