Help. I have a rescue.

[Reesy]

I have always wanted a bearded dragon but now I have one that needs total care. The front legs are deformed, but still can get around just fine. My father had polio and I am used to admoralities. In fact, I perfer to take care of these animals. I have a motherly nature about me because of my past. She has been here less than 3 hours and I have had her fall asleep on my chest. She is real gentle and not scared of me. I have crickets in with her and water with special light. I have a room set up especialy for reptiles. Any more advice?

[RichsBallPythons]

Give proper heating, uv and food. In time will get better and stronger.

Pinky mice can be given sparingly to fatten her up if shes under weight. But not as a sole diet.

[Reesy]

My next question, Are frozen thawed veggies ok, or should I stick with fresh only?

[maverickgtr]

We do fresh only because veggies can lose some nutritional value when frozen and then thawed. Our beardie loves fresh mustard greens and they're $2-$3 a bunch at Whole Foods and they're high in calcium which sounds like what your beardie was lacking that caused his/her front legs to become deformed. Sounds like Metabolic Bone Disease, which is a lack of calcium and/or enough UV light. This is a great chart to go off of for feeding. The beardie needs a hot spot of at least 100* so they can digest their food properly, and a slightly cooler side. It's recommended to replace the UV bulb every 5 or 6 months because they can stop emitting UV rays around that time, but they'll still give off light so it's hard to tell.

Best of luck with your beardie and congrats on the rescue!

[Reesy]

I hope this is right, in the last 2 days she has eaten 36 crickets, fresh collard greens, a few carrot shavings, and 2 new born pinkies. She seems to be perking back up since we got her temps back up to where they should be and given her some food, and a good soaking. She really seemed to enjoy the bath. From what I have been told she was abandoned for around 7 weeks after the previous owner was evicted. We also have a ball python from the same situation.

[LOSTCOAST_BALLZ]

im glad she liked the bath. thats the best way to keep them hydrated regualr soaks and fresh veggies. also this is a controvertial topic but Pinkies will aid in her weight gain tremendously and if you have the proper temps and proper hydration there will be no problems of impaction. like i said earlier beardies are so sweet and Im glad that a neglected one found u a thoughful owner

[LOSTCOAST_BALLZ]

what is this special light did you end up getting a mvb or just using the orchid one? did u happen to do any research regarding the spectrum dont want to put u on blast but im very curious to see if it is the same sounds very very similar

[maverickgtr]

Sounds like she's getting better! I'd hold off on more pinkies though just because they're so fatty. Collard greens are really good because they have a good amount of calcium. Do you have a calcium and multivitamin dust? You should dust the crickets with the calcium powder and a multivitamin powder. We usually put the calcium on crickets and the multivitamin on the greens/veggies.

Did you just get her from this situation? If so, she's going to need high amounts of calcium and vitamin D so definitely get a calcium with vit D powder soon if you haven't already and get a good UV bulb soon if you haven't already. Sounds like she has MBD possibly currently. Have you taken her to a vet? They might recommend a different/prescription calcium supplement to help get her bones back in order. My friend's beardie got MBD when her UV light stopped emitting UV but still gave off light, and now one of his front legs is permanently deformed, but still usable, but he's doing very good. Her vet recommended Bearded Dragon Bites with a special calcium supplement on them since the bites are soft and easily chewable with a soft jaw [the jaw can get soft when a beardie has MBD since all their bones are turning to mush basically] and they taste like prickly pear so it's highly appealing.

My beardie loves her baths! Always gets her happy and perked up!

Thank you for rescuing the poor girl and if you have anymore questions I'd be happy to answer if I can and if I can't, I'm sure someone else can!

[LOSTCOAST_BALLZ]

pinkies are used to fatten up beardies EXACTLY have u seen this beardie LOL it could use as many pinkies as itll eat. pinkies are often used to plump up female breeders befor season. this is why I would highly recomend them as well as roaches but if u do not have access to roaches as we have already discussed ordering them is an option or baby mice. pinkies good source of nutrition all the way around I have had beardies for years and some people trip about pinkies but in my opinnion and experiences they are 100% fine especially with all the horrors some animals face a pinkie wont hurt anything. and ya I would definitely buy a mvb especially if she looks to have mbd. and take her to the vet especailly if u are getting attached it can go down hill suprisingly fast.

[maverickgtr]

I was only saying hold off on pinkies because I heard they were super fatty and only good as a treat type of thing, but you sound like you have a bit more experience than me so ok.

Like LostCoast said, a mercury vapor bulb is going to be a good idea because it does heat and UV. Just make sure you get a taller sun dome so the bulb doesn't touch the screen top. Ceramic heat emitters are nice too because then you can leave them on at night as well for night time heat too. We got an infrared bulb recently for night heat since we just moved and it was getting too cold in her tank at night, and our beardie loves it. Huge ditto to LostCoast also on the MBD going downhill fast, when my friend's beardie got it, they were unsure how long the bulb hadn't been working, but said that it can very bad very fast, and that she caught it just in time and any longer and it would've been hard to save her beardie. But, he's made a full recovery since and just has the one leg deformity I mentioned before.