Emaciated bearded dragon, please help!

My neighbor moved out of her house about a two weeks ago and apparently there was a bearded dragon that had been left behind. He obviously wasn't being taken care of prior to this abandonment either because he's extremely thin, he had some sores on the underside of his tail and stomach, a few of his limbs look discoloured as well, and I'm certain he's dehydrated as well. I've moved him into a leaky aquarium that we have (using news paper as substrate because that seems like it'd be the cleanest and least irritating to the sores) and offered him food (some lettuce with a bit of banana) and water. He has yet to touch the food or water and I haven't been able to give him a good look over because he's too aggressive to handle. ):

I've never owned a bearded dragon before and only have a general idea of how to care for them but in the poor condition this guy's in, I'm kind of at a loss.
Does anyone have any tips or advice they can give me?

he will need a basking spot that is 95-105 during the day and no lower than 60 at night. He needs a Good UV A/B bulb on for 12 hours a day.

You should feed him 2 times a day and feed him crickets or Roaches that had been dusted with Calcium powder. fresh greens are also important.

Here is some more info: http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/

I'd take him to the vet to check out the sores and just for a general check up and maybe some advice on the best way to get him back up to weight. If possible you might want to soak him to get some water in him and hopefully get him to drink. I also use this site to help me plan out my beardie's diet: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html but the vet might have some ideas on exactly what nutrients the little guy is lacking and in turn what to feed him. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! I was able to get some lighting set up for him, which seems to have really helped, and scheduled a visit to the vet on Monday so hopefully, I'll get a better gauge on what his condition is. He still has yet to accept any food but he managed to bite me when I attempted to soak him this morning so I guess that means he's still got some fighting spirit left in him.

did u try live feeders? live will spark something up. i had sick beardie a few weeks ago i had to force feed her baby food she wouldnt touch her veggies or fruit and it wasnt an easy task but shes doin better now and gaining weight

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by deto360

did u try live feeders? live will spark something up. i had sick beardie a few weeks ago i had to force feed her baby food she wouldnt touch her veggies or fruit and it wasnt an easy task but shes doin better now and gaining weight

---

At first I was just offering him lettuce and banana then I bought some meal worms (which were live) at the pet shop which he turned down as well.
Granted, after going through some websites with nutrition information on them, meal worms aren't the best feeder insect. I may try to buy some different feeder worms or trick him into eating the meal worms since he'll try to bite me when ever my hand is in the tank, I'll just have to wear some industrial work gloves to avoid having another chunk taken out of my hand.
If push does come to shove though, I think I will have to try force feeding.

The heat and lighting will make all the difference. Dragons are like most animals and will need some time to settle in.
And it doesn't help this time of the year, since the season changed, mine has not been interested in food at all.

How big is he and what does he weigh?

Mine absolutely LOVES crickets - ESPECIALLY when they are covered in calcium powder. She also loves roaches too. I would go with whatever your vet advises (duh) but also keep in mind that he's still settling, and probably is just enjoying the fact that he has heat right now. Good luck! Keep us posted!

(And I 123 rperry. Weight and size?)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rperry03

The heat and lighting will make all the difference. Dragons are like most animals and will need some time to settle in.
And it doesn't help this time of the year, since the season changed, mine has not been interested in food at all.

How big is he and what does he weigh?

---

Yeah, season changes always seem to hinder feeding in any herp. My female BP just got off of a month and a half long fast as it is.

And I would have to say he looks to be about 9 1/2 to 10 inches from his nose to the base of his tail and weighs around 176 grams.
I don't know what the general weight of a bearded dragon should be, but I'm certain he's way below what he should be at.

[QUOTE=rperry03;1753585]The heat and lighting will make all the difference. Dragons are like most animals and will need some time to settle in.
And it doesn't help this time of the year, since the season changed, mine has not been interested in food at all.

How big is he and what does he weigh?[



i agree let him/her settle and mealworms arent the greatest but if he/she eats them do small amounts and butter worms butter worms have alot of calcium

[QUOTE=deto360;1753620]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rperry03

The heat and lighting will make all the difference. Dragons are like most animals and will need some time to settle in.
And it doesn't help this time of the year, since the season changed, mine has not been interested in food at all.

How big is he and what does he weigh?[



i agree let him/her settle and mealworms arent the greatest but if he/she eats them do small amounts and butter worms butter worms have alot of calcium

---

What exactly would a small amount be then?

just enough to get him goin get his taste buds goin and mouth movin so that other things would interest him like butter worms small super work or roaches in you have access to them

and tomato worms are nice and bright but thats if you have easy access to them

Bit of an update!
Went to our vet yesterday afternoon and got the beardy looked at. Turns out the sores he has on his underside is an abscess on the hemipenes and apparently he also has two infected broken toes on his back right foot (hadn't even noticed!) which the vet told us that we can't do much about and that they could potentially fall off but it wouldn't be the end of the world for him. She had the abscess debrided slightly and gave him a shot of systemic antibiotics, which will hopefully take care of the infection in his toes, and also prescribed an antibiotic ointment for us to take home. The biggest concerns medical we have right now is makings no infections spread.
The vet also suggested that we get him on a diet that's high in calcium and protein to rebuild some of the muscle/bone mass that's been lost. Luckily though, I successfully got him to eat two waxworms and a bit of butternut squash that were dusted in calcium so that's great progress! The site babyknees linked has been extremely helpful too, thanks for that.
Still haven't seen him drink any water though but I've giving him daily soaks so hopefully he's getting hydrated.

You likely wont see him drink, mine never do.

I'd get some dubia roaches and dust them, they are like crack to my beardies. My female also loves raspberries so when shes being stubborn I mash one up and mix it in with her greens.

you might also try a pinkie mouse to fatten him up, not a regular choice of food but it might jump start him and I know some breeders give them to females when theyre expecting to up their protein and calcium.

sent from my EVO