Meet My First Foster, Austin!

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His original owner said he wasn't eating & thats why they gave him to the Reptile Store, who gave him to the Rescue I help out at. I asked to Foster him to see if I can fatten him up & with luck, he might get better (unknown).

Hes in a small tank for a few reasons, but the main one being that I don't think he is getting warm enough & the smaller cage means the reptile lamp is closer to him, but not too close to hurt him.

The food you see infront of him is already gone, he gobbled it up when I took Digi outside to pee & he wasn't even here for an hr. Marc said he's always been able to get him to eat, but since I'm jobless I'm home all day so I can feed him more often to help fatten him up.

I think he "might" have issues moving around. Marc said he isn't active, but he does move around a little, but its not much at all. I've seen him walk (on me) & it just kind of seemed like he was having a harder time moving then he should have. So I put the dish of food right infront of him so he doesn't have to move (maybe an inch) much to eat.

I have a LOT of research to do on him as I pretty much have NO idea what to do with him, as my knowledge is quite limited with Lizards.

He has a heat lamp, special light, food, water, hide, a basking area, & a dark side.

Here are more pics of him

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What kind of lizard is he?

A Bearded Dragon

this is what he should look like (chubby wise)

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgur...26tbs%3Disch:1

Okay, the odd green lighting had me unsure. We have often featured healthy bearded dragons like "Harry - the most recent!

He is lovely! Even before you said he was a bearded Dragon I was going to say he looks like a miniature dragon. I hope he thrives in your loving care.

a reptile buddy of mine popped online (rare) so I told him what what going on. He said it sounds like the bone disease from lack of uva/b lighting, & said it most likely will be fatal to him :`(

I'm really hoping his lack of energy/stiffness is mostly due to being underweight, as the reptile store wasn't sure what was wrong with him (they are really good at what they do, & they didn't suspect the bone disease as the culprit, so there is hope).

I think the adjustments I made to his living environment will at least make his life easier. He seems to be in good spirits & the fact that he IS eating is a good sign. He's also not in the least bit aggressive, so if he was in pain when I pick him up I think he would tell me. He did let me poke & prob his limbs & tail (I wanted to see how flexible he was as he looked stiff), he squirmed a few times, but tolerated it really well.

Tomorrow I plan to spend the day researching (& sleeping i'm sick with a migraine, why I'm still up & its 430am) to see if I can feed him fish/chicken. If I can, then I'll feed him some of Digi's food as its pure chicken/fish (bones, skin, scales, etc.. no feathers or junk). It'll be high in protein so he can put on weight faster. I'm also going to look into rice as a fat booster (not as a filler!!!). I'm hoping he can eat it as that'll help boost up his fat content too, as it does a GREAT job on Digi (yes yes she is still skin & bones, but when I didn't give her rice for 1 month, she lost a LOT of weight).

Why is he on shavings?
And what are you feeding him?
He needs food that moves..

edited

It still didnt answer my question.
Beardies have very soft tummies, those shaving are sharp for him.
Shrinking his tank isnt going to make him eat, it's going to make him upset.
I have a 10 yr old Beardie and she will only eat food that moves, besides fruit and veggies.

I'd prefer if we didn't converse. sorry.

Maybe the full spectrum lighting will help. He could have quite a few vitamin deficiencies too. At least the owner realized he didn't know how to deal with the issues and gave him to a reptile store in hopes somebody could help him rather than keeping him until he starves to death. Good luck with him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IRescue452

Maybe the full spectrum lighting will help. He could have quite a few vitamin deficiencies too. At least the owner realized he didn't know how to deal with the issues and gave him to a reptile store in hopes somebody could help him rather than keeping him until he starves to death. Good luck with him.

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I'm not an expert in Lizards & I'm not a huge fan of them, but I wont let one die just because of my pet preference. But to my understanding the bulbs you get for lizards provides everything they need, yes, no? This system was $80 & recommended for him by the Reptile Store that helps us out (they are awesome people!).

General Foster Update:

I've also been experimenting with him on how he likes to eat, how he likes to be held, displayed, textures, noises, & movements.

So far he could careless about noise. Hes not scared of Digi, but does focus on her too much when hes in his cage to the point he'll stop hunting & will look at her & want out, but totally ignores her when he's chilling out on my printer (he'll eat crickets from my hand while shes staring at him). I think he just likes being out of his tank & chilling with someone.

He's currently on newspaper. I took out his hut & basking rock as he refused to use both & they did take up a lot of space in his Foster tank. Since those changes he seems quite happy to bask under his lamp. I don't think he liked his basking rock, maybe it was too small for him, or too bumpy for his skinny belly.

He also seems happiest if I cover 1/2 or 2/3 of his tank with a blue towel (no idea if the colour means anything). I cover the cooler side of his tank with the towel as I don't want the lamp to catch fire!! First he'll RUN (never seen him run before, so thats really good) to the side with the towel, chill for a few mins then he'll slowly creep up to the uncovered side & bask.

Last night I turned off his lamp & covered his whole tank (except for 1 side so I could see in) & he passed out! I've never seen him sleep in his tank.. Maybe it was too bright (my fault!)... I also moved him to my bedroom (warmer & darker). He seems happier in here too.

So far he seems to like Digi's green veggies over Digi's orange veggies, next I'll be trying Digi's red veggies. If he likes the green best then I'll put several containers of the green off to the side so its just for him. Digi will manage without her green coloured veggies for a few weeks :D

I'll take new pics when its time to put him on the Printer to hang out with me.

PS. The printer is a flat Samsung Toner printer, so its quite comfy for him (hes also on a towel encase he poops :D)

I was saying at least the owner gave him up rather than letting him starve. I don't believe you'd purposely starve an animal ever.

I can't tell if you have UVA, UVB, full spectrum, or incandescent bulbs in that top. Zilla sells all of the above. You need either a combo of UVA and UVB at the same time or full spectrum for optimal health. No incandescent. It should say on the lightbulb (turn it off before looking).

Here's a great website for their care
http://hubpages.com/hub/Bearded_Dragon_Diet

Also such bulbs have a limited life. If they are older, even if just been sitting on a shelf they loose their ability to give off the needed rays over time even while they still light up. I haven't had any around for a long time but I think some of the better ones put dates on the boxes.

oohh, I'll have to see if I can find a date for the bulb. It is bran new, maybe a few weeks old (Austin has been with the Rescue long). That store is't known to sell garbage & they have to stock the shelves often as they sell a LOT of stuff.. the store always full when I go in, with people buying all sorts of stuff, or people just talking to educate each other(which I do too lol) so I have high hopes its not old, but I'll look into it anyways to be sure.

I looked on the bulb & it says its UVA/UVB. So he needs a full spectrum light too? Where should I put that? on the cold side or rotate beteen the two, or will the full spectrum also give him UVA/B too?

I'd research that myself, but I'm having net issues...messenger(s) & searching seems to kill my connection.. boo :(

"Full spectrum" is just a combo of UVA and UVB, so you've already got full spectrum.

Thank goodness!
I think Marc would keel over if I told him Austin needs more lights (which he would get him), as his current light has been one of the more costly items the rescue has had to buy considering it can only serve 1 critter. THANK GOODNESS for all the awesome people who donate to our rescue, we'd be broke without them :love::love::love:

Austin seemed far more active today & was hunting a lot. I need to wash his foot as he stepped in the orange veggies & some is stuck to his footsie hehehe. I'm too scared to wipe his foot as his toes are small & I'm scared to break them. So I'm going to put a little water in the tub to soak his feet (he likes to lay in his water dish so he'll be fine with a bit of water on the bottom of the tub).

Silly boy needs to learn to keep clean.. Unless this is his plan, naughty boy ;)