Rescue Dragon with bad MBD

[Alexbrandofino]

Hi guys! My name is Alex and this is my first post so I’m hoping to get some insight and helpful tips to make recovery for my sweet girl easier

September 29th, someone surrendered a very sick bearded dragon to a pet store that I work at. My manager was the one who actually came up to me to see if wanted to take her and explained she had a lump on her back and her spine was crooked I wasn’t expecting anything too bad.

Imagine my face when I saw her. The condition she was in left me panicked, having never owned a bearded dragon before. I know a good portion about them and had an extra tank and supplies (just had to buy the light fixtures and smaller things) so I read as much as I could and I brought her home. Truly, I didn’t think she would last more then three to four days. She was extremely weak and lathargic. Barely moved an inch within the first two days. Syringing meds & water while also having to force feed her. It was such a hard journey for her frail body. But, to my surprise, she’s made it past those first few days. Fast forward to almost two month later and she’s still fighting and getting better each day!

She went from only managing two crickets a day for almost two weeks straight to now eating everything in sight! But I can’t give her too much at one time because she it makes her except a lot of her energy.

She also went from being immobile for almost three weeks to now being able to move around her enclosure whenever she wants since her legs and arms are much stronger now!!

I’m always open to learning new things so if anyone has any helpful tip and/or suggestions to do (or keeping doing) please throw your input in!

Thank you guys for reading!

 

[Sadie]

Hi guys! My name is Alex and this is my first post so I’m hoping to get some insight and helpful tips to make recovery for my sweet girl easier

September 29th, someone surrendered a very sick bearded dragon to a pet store that I work at. My manager was the one who actually came up to me to see if wanted to take her and explained she had a lump on her back and her spine was crooked I wasn’t expecting anything too bad.

Imagine my face when I saw her. The condition she was in left me panicked, having never owned a bearded dragon before. I know a good portion about them and had an extra tank and supplies (just had to buy the light fixtures and smaller things) so I read as much as I could and I brought her home. Truly, I didn’t think she would last more then three to four days. She was extremely weak and lathargic. Barely moved an inch within the first two days. Syringing meds & water while also having to force feed her. It was such a hard journey for her frail body. But, to my surprise, she’s made it past those first few days. Fast forward to almost two month later and she’s still fighting and getting better each day!

She went from only managing two crickets a day for almost two weeks straight to now eating everything in sight! But I can’t give her too much at one time because she it makes her except a lot of her energy.

She also went from being immobile for almost three weeks to now being able to move around her enclosure whenever she wants since her legs and arms are much stronger now!!

I’m always open to learning new things so if anyone has any helpful tip and/or suggestions to do (or keeping doing) please throw your input in!

Thank you guys for reading!

For the life of me I cannot figure out why people do not do their research on these animals and get help right away instead of letting a animal suffer this way Well its good you have taken her in and are trying poor thing
You need to have a good strong UVB first --- you need a long tube fixture NO COILS please --- I would get a Reptisun T 5 if you dont have one already -- it needs to be inside the tank for her approx 12-15 inches directly above basking decor --- I would get the decor as low for her as possible so shes not struggling to get up to the basking lights and UVB-- temps need to be 95-105 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- NO stick ons -- I would be giving her calcium D3 dusted on her insects 5 x per week w/ good salads -- here is a website for nutrition
please ignore the kale thing it is a good staple feeder http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
You want her to gain weight slowly and a good diet -- I would be adding worms to her diet like super horn meal worms -- do you know approx how old she is ? I cant tell since she is so deformed -- any idea how long the people that surrendered her had her for? I am thinking the lump on the back is calcium defienicy but not for sure -- I am going to enlist some help here w/ some advice on how to help w/ some more care --

 

[HoomanSlave]

You can up her calcium levels by feeding her black soldier fly larvae, they're digestible and have amazing levels of calcium. You can also try hornworms, small dubia roaches if they are legal where you live, and a few waxworms every once in a while as a treat to help her put on weight.
Weigh her regularly, it may change slightly after meals and poops. If you can get her to a vet, you can get some blood tests, fecal tests, etc. done on her.

Great job on helping the beardie and dedicating your time to saving her!

 

[Bailey]

Please please provide this dragon with proper husbandry and diet to the best of your ability. There are some great people on here and some good youtuber's that can help you along the way! I'm sort of new myself but this forum and youtube has been getting me through it and my little guy is thriving!

 

[Emilia Thuet]

Oh the little Hope I have for human kind when I see things like this. Poor girl but I’m so glad that she’s getting so much better and that she has you in her life. If you haven’t made a vet appointment I’d start with that and to do a fecal exam. A lot of the time when mbd is this bad some bones may be straining or could potentially be hurting other organs so an x-ray would be a good idea just to make sure she isn’t in any type of pain. Beardies with mbd are also more prone to impaction, even if you’re feeding them normal amounts or even healthy foods for them. Sadie of course told you which uvb is best. I feel like non adhesive shelf liner would be a great substrate for her, it’s soft and easy for her to grip it. I’d start slow and make most things floor level for her and slowly build from there, like adding in a ramp for her to climb on once she gets better. She is so freaking cute I die for her already ahhhh . Hope she keeps getting better!