Unusual looking tail.

[MattsMenagerie]

Hello everyone,

I have just taken in a young bearded dragon as a rescue that was left at a nearby vets. She's been extremely stressed over the past couple of days and has come to me with no background information or proper health check as the vet did not specialise in reptiles. She seems slightly deformed in shape and may have some burn scars that have healed but the shape of her tail is slightly concerning. Her limbs are a little rubbery and so I am wondering if she is suffering mild MBD but I have never seen a tail look like this before. Does anyone had any ideas or advice on what this could be?

 

[Skybug]

Ohh nooo , first off, mbd yes,…. Very bad! , im thinking its a boy…. Where the buldge is where his boy bits are…. Hes so underdeveloped, ive never seen a dragon this bad…. Please please get the proper lighting first!!! Before anything!! Absolutely NO COIL uvb, get him a long tubular uvb, like in the pictures below, that dragon has probably only had a heat lamp and calcium, he needs much more! Please listen to our advice, if he’s lived this long with crappy care he’s obviously a fighter and he can still live a long happy life with you, get him some calcium with d3 , this’ll help him along with the proper uv…

 

[Skybug]

Hes very stunted, the mbd may get better, but he’ll always be a little wonky, Can u take some more pics too? His nails his face, a side profile of his back… he looks very hungry too

 

[MattsMenagerie]

Ohh nooo , first off, mbd yes,…. Very bad! , im thinking its a boy…. Where the buldge is where his boy bits are…. Hes so underdeveloped, ive never seen a dragon this bad…. Please please get the proper lighting first!!! Before anything!! Absolutely NO COIL uvb, get him a long tubular uvb, like in the pictures below, that dragon has probably only had a heat lamp and calcium, he needs much more! Please listen to our advice, if he’s lived this long with crappy care he’s obviously a fighter and he can still live a long happy life with you, get him some calcium with d3 , this’ll help him along with the proper uv…

Hello, thank you so much for responding.

You've just confirmed my worry about MBD. I was also thinking male but the vet I picked up from were certain they're a female but I think you're right. The set up he's currently in at mine has a good, brand new full 12% UVB T5 Arcadia light so that will definitely help. I'm trying to get come calcium into him but he's refusing to eat which I expected after this much stress.

I'll get him booked into my vets which do specialise in reptiles ASAP and see if they can help with the calcium and get him a proper thorough check up.

Thank you again for the help.

 

[MattsMenagerie]

Hes very stunted, the mbd may get better, but he’ll always be a little wonky, Can u take some more pics too? His nails his face, a side profile of his back… he looks very hungry too

I'll get some more photos for you soon. I'm trying to let him have some peace for now. I am very worried about his overall health so I'll get him booked into a specialist vets right away and try to fix calcium and food intake in the mean time. Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate the advice.

 

[Skybug]

Im glad to hear you got good lighting! Thats the first step, Arcadias a good brand, the dragons so stunted its kinda hard to tell gender, what kind of foods are u offering? A high protein baby food can be fed as a critical care if hes not interested in bugs, his jaws probably rubber too

 

[MattsMenagerie]

Im glad to hear you got good lighting! Thats the first step, Arcadias a good brand, the dragons so stunted its kinda hard to tell gender, what kind of foods are u offering? A high protein baby food can be fed as a critical care if hes not interested in bugs, his jaws probably rubber too

Yes Arcadia are great. I have a lot of rescue reptiles so I always have spare equipment on hand but this is my first bearded dragon. (I've worked with them before but never owned one). I hadn't even thought about the fact his jaw might be soft too. I've offered him some morio worms, brocolli and some parsley with nutrobal but no luck so far. I have the veg chopped up very small in a bowl for him in case he goes for it later but I will get some baby food today and try him on that, it's a great idea.

I had been trying to work out his age but I guess the stunted growth will make that difficult too?

 

[Skybug]

Yes Arcadia are great. I have a lot of rescue reptiles so I always have spare equipment on hand but this is my first bearded dragon. (I've worked with them before but never owned one). I hadn't even thought about the fact his jaw might be soft too. I've offered him some morio worms, brocolli and some parsley with nutrobal but no luck so far. I have the veg chopped up very small in a bowl for him in case he goes for it later but I will get some baby food today and try him on that, it's a great idea.

I had been trying to work out his age but I guess the stunted growth will make that difficult too?

You can use a card to pry his mouth a little, if you get something in his mouth , he should eat it, he probably doesn’t have the energy to eat by himself, id try a critical care food first, he’ll probably need to be on that for a couple weeks till he’s eating on his own. Your uvb and calcium are whats gonna help him most, and yea its pretty impossible to guess age, im guessing hes older than 1 but not too old or else he’d of died by now if u can pull up his tail a little and take a picture of his vent i can tell you if hes a boy or girl aswell

 

[MattsMenagerie]

You can use a card to pry his mouth a little, if you get something in his mouth , he should eat it, he probably doesn’t have the energy to eat by himself, id try a critical care food first, he’ll probably need to be on that for a couple weeks till he’s eating on his own. Your uvb and calcium are whats gonna help him most, and yea its pretty impossible to guess age, im guessing hes older than 1 but not too old or else he’d of died by now if u can pull up his tail a little and take a picture of his vent i can tell you if hes a boy or girl aswell

He is eating! Which is fantastic. I managed to peak his interest with some crickets and once he got the taste for it he was eating them on his own. They were heavily calcium dusted and gut loaded so hopefully that will get him on the mend. I was able to check his vent and he does have very distinctive hemepenes so I’m certain he’s a male.
I’ll phone the vets first thing in the morning and get him booked in. I will let you know how he gets on. Thank you so much for the advice!

 

[Emilia Thuet]

Could it be tail rot?

 

[MattsMenagerie]

Could it be tail rot?

I don’t think so, the skin itself looks healthy, there’s no signs of necrosis. It seems to be more of a bone issue or maybe pore blockage.

 

[Emilia Thuet]

I don’t think so, the skin itself looks healthy, there’s no signs of necrosis. It seems to be more of a bone issue or maybe pore blockage.

Ok it just looks so strange and I’m just worried about how it’s darker then the rest of him. Unless of course he’s about to shed it I just hope this little guy gets better and if he’s having trouble eating I suggest syringe feeding him some baby food or some sort of slurry. It’ll help him conserve his energy and be less stressful on his weak bones.

 

[MattsMenagerie]

Ok it just looks so strange and I’m just worried about how it’s darker then the rest of him. Unless of course he’s about to shed it I just hope this little guy gets better and if he’s having trouble eating I suggest syringe feeding him some baby food or some sort of slurry. It’ll help him conserve his energy and be less stressful on his weak bones.

I’m worried too, he just doesn’t look right in lots of places. He is eating now luckily, he ate some live food with plenty of calcium so that’s great news. I’m taking him to the specialist vets on Friday so hopefully they’ll be able to give him a good check over and help.

 

[Emilia Thuet]

I’m worried too, he just doesn’t look right in lots of places. He is eating now luckily, he ate some live food with plenty of calcium so that’s great news. I’m taking him to the specialist vets on Friday so hopefully they’ll be able to give him a good check over and help.

That’s awesome!! Hopefully he feels better and keep us posted

 

[Skybug]

He is eating! Which is fantastic. I managed to peak his interest with some crickets and once he got the taste for it he was eating them on his own. They were heavily calcium dusted and gut loaded so hopefully that will get him on the mend. I was able to check his vent and he does have very distinctive hemepenes so I’m certain he’s a male.
I’ll phone the vets first thing in the morning and get him booked in. I will let you know how he gets on. Thank you so much for the advice!

Yaay!! Keep him hydrated, thats really important, If you notice his urate being chalky or hard, he’s getting way to much calcium, what kind of supplements does he have?

 

[MattsMenagerie]

I have a few different brands. Mostly use Nutrobal and various other vitamin supplements. I work with very specialist reptiles at a small zoo so I also have access to professional / veterinary brands so I’ll see what I can use/raid tomorrow. I’ll check his urates as soon as he’s passed them, I know what to look for and I won’t overdose the calcium so no worries. Fingers crossed he’ll be good. He seems to have perked up a lot getting some food into him and having the right UV and he’s enjoyed basking. Vets is all booked for Friday so I should have some solid answers by then. Thanks again for all the input, I’ll keep you updated once he’s been to the vets.

 

[MattsMenagerie]

Yaay!! Keep him hydrated, thats really important, If you notice his urate being chalky or hard, he’s getting way to much calcium, what kind of supplements does he have?

Also, your beardie is gorgeous, great set up!

 

[MattsMenagerie]

Just a quick update on Moke. - He’s improved a lot over the past couple of days. He’s eating his greens really well and seems to be able to move around the tank with no problems. He has a lot of energy and personality.

He’s just been to the vets and it was overall very positive. He does have mild MBD but nothing that the routine I’m already doing can’t manage. He growth is a little stunted and he has a small open wound on his back which I was aware of and have been treating that was likely caused by an insect bite.

The main issue was his tail but luckily it’s nothing too serious. The vets believes it’s likely that his previous owners ignored some stuck shed on his tail which caused a tourniquet effect which has made his tail grow deformed. I just have to keep an eye on it and give him regular baths and check for stick shed to avoid it getting worse.

Overall, apart from all that he seems to be in relatively good health. Let’s hope he can live a long and fulfilling life now he’s away from his original owners.

Thanks again to everyone who helped with advice.

 

[Skybug]

Amazing! He doesn’t even look like the same lizard!! Good job my only critique, Is this the substrate ur using? , if so you need to add more water to it and mix it throughly, it should look how mine looks, you dont want him eating or sleeping on it, and if you don’t want it to turn hard like a rock then ur other alternative is adding other substrates so its still loose, moss, potting soil (no ferts) , bark, dried leaves.

 

[MattsMenagerie]

Yeah he’s really perked up a lot.

The stone dessert stuff is literally a top layer, I have soil, sand and bark mix underneath for the plants so maybe I’ll just take that stuff out. I was wondering if it would be safe but I can monitor him for impaction. Thanks it does look good like that so I’ll play around with it. He’s getting a bigger viv soon anyway.