Bearded Dragon Help

TriciaStringer

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I picked up a 3 yo bearded dragon for my niece. Her mom won’t be picking him up for a week or two. He has some spots in his ankle creases that concern me. He has a spot on his foot too. A guy at PetSmart and has lots of bearded dragons looked at him and said he looks great except for these spots. He thinks he has not been moving very much at all and his last few sheds were not complete in those creases. I do not think he had a heat bulb which would make his lack of movement logical. She had two bulbs with him, UVB and 15 watt. He eats fine and once I provided a basking bulb and nighttime CHE, he has been active and actually hunting his crickets. Previous owner said he would only eat insects if they handled him. That is not the case. I think he was so cold, he wasn’t able to exert much energy. She was also putting vegetable oil on his greens because he had trouble pooping, well that would happen without heat. We took him outside for some great UVB and warmth, gave him a 20-30 minute warm bath, sprayed some shedding assist stuff on him and rubbed it in, and also put some Bactroban on it just in case it is infected. Any help or thoughts? Tabasco is very large (almost 2ft).
 

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Tom

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Sounds like you've got the right ideas already. He needs a good basking area where he can get nice and warm. I would also add a HO UV tube over this guy. ZooMed makes a 10.0 HO tube that should work well. Real sunshine when you can will be great too, especially this time of year with the higher UV levels outside.

Looks like a wound on the back right foot, a mite on the back left foot, and possible bacterial infection on the front foot. I could be wrong, just guessing from what I can see in the pics. Sunshine, warmth and UV should help clear all of that up. Also, I hate crickets. They're noisy, they stink, they have mass die offs for no reason, they infest your house if they get loose, and if left in there at night, they will chew on your lizard. That could be what started the trouble spots. Roaches are a much better source of insect nutrition. If you are going to keep him, I'd order up a dubia colony. Takes time for them to get going, but it sure is nice when they do get going.

P.S. He's got great color! I'd love to see full body shots of him.
 

TriciaStringer

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Sounds like you've got the right ideas already. He needs a good basking area where he can get nice and warm. I would also add a HO UV tube over this guy. ZooMed makes a 10.0 HO tube that should work well. Real sunshine when you can will be great too, especially this time of year with the higher UV levels outside.

Looks like a wound on the back right foot, a mite on the back left foot, and possible bacterial infection on the front foot. I could be wrong, just guessing from what I can see in the pics. Sunshine, warmth and UV should help clear all of that up. Also, I hate crickets. They're noisy, they stink, they have mass die offs for no reason, they infest your house if they get loose, and if left in there at night, they will chew on your lizard. That could be what started the trouble spots. Roaches are a much better source of insect nutrition. If you are going to keep him, I'd order up a dubia colony. Takes time for them to get going, but it sure is nice when they do get going.

P.S. He's got great color! I'd love to see full body shots of him.

Thanks Tom. We also have a small juvenile beardie and have that type of uvb. I’ve been sending my sister pics of all that she will need.
I took a better pic of back left foot. The black speck (mite?) was dirt and fell off when I touched it. It looks like a similar wound to the right back foot.
I’ll definitely look into Dubia. I hate crickets too. I need to call my bug man because I know a couple got loose. Hopefully we can keep an infestation from happening.

I included more pics. He darkened a lot in his bath, maybe absorbing extra heat, maybe stressed a little too.
 

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TriciaStringer

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Sounds like you've got the right ideas already. He needs a good basking area where he can get nice and warm. I would also add a HO UV tube over this guy. ZooMed makes a 10.0 HO tube that should work well. Real sunshine when you can will be great too, especially this time of year with the higher UV levels outside.

Looks like a wound on the back right foot, a mite on the back left foot, and possible bacterial infection on the front foot. I could be wrong, just guessing from what I can see in the pics. Sunshine, warmth and UV should help clear all of that up. Also, I hate crickets. They're noisy, they stink, they have mass die offs for no reason, they infest your house if they get loose, and if left in there at night, they will chew on your lizard. That could be what started the trouble spots. Roaches are a much better source of insect nutrition. If you are going to keep him, I'd order up a dubia colony. Takes time for them to get going, but it sure is nice when they do get going.

P.S. He's got great color! I'd love to see full body shots of him.
My husband has put his foot down on the roaches. Are mealworms ok? The older one likes super worms but I know they are too big for our little one.
 

Tom

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My husband has put his foot down on the roaches. Are mealworms ok? The older one likes super worms but I know they are too big for our little one.
There are 4000 species of roaches. 6 of them are "pest" species. The others couldn't infest your house if they tried. Dubia won't live outside of a warm tropical environment. The inside of your house is too dry and any that made it outside in summer would die in winter. The crickets, on the other hand, do just fine in an temperate environment. Your husband isn't the first to say no to roaches, but that is because of the pest species. Its like a pet rat compared to a wild one. Anyhow, it would be good for your lizards, and much easier for you, if you can change his mind. Not the end of the world if you can't. Meal worms aren't very nutritious. They have a high shell to meat ratio too. Opposite of roaches. You can use them once in a while, but crickets will be better than mealworms.
 

Meganolvt

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I swore I would never bring roaches into my house, but once you do it, it's actually no big deal. They are quiet, don't stink, don't jump, and are super easy to care for (it requires almost nothing if you're not breeding them). I use long tongs to pick them up and drop them into my beardie's bowl. Get a cup of them, dump it in a cricket keeper, add a lid full of roach food, and you're good to go. I recommend Mazuri Hi-Calcium food to feed insects. Trust me, it's waaaaaaay easier than crickets, or mealworms, for that matter. I'll never go back, they are so much more nutritious, and move around just enough to interest my beardie without escaping.
 

Meganolvt

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The wound will heal with good nutrition, UVB, and correct temps. It sounds like you're doing it right! Just remember healing is slower in reptiles.
 

TriciaStringer

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Thank for all the help! I took him to the vet yesterday and she said because of the twice a day warm soaks, light toothbrush brushing, betadine and silvadine doctoring, and aloe adding, his wounds look great and the retained shed is almost completely gone. No oral antibiotics were needed. He looks so good now. Still waiting on parasite check.
 

TechnoCheese

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Thank for all the help! I took him to the vet yesterday and she said because of the twice a day warm soaks, light toothbrush brushing, betadine and silvadine doctoring, and aloe adding, his wounds look great and the retained shed is almost completely gone. No oral antibiotics were needed. He looks so good now. Still waiting on parasite check.

That’s great!
 
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