So, to start off I work part time at a commercial pet store. At this pet store we can take in relinquished animals. We quarantine them for two weeks then place them out on the sales floor for adoption. So, I’m working my dull 5-9 shift on the register and this lady comes in with a small Tupperware container. In this container is a small, very underweight bearded dragon. And to make it worse the lid was fully sealed with no air holes on the container at all. She said that she had called and talked to the manger about bringing her bearded dragon in. So I called my manger up. While they were taking I got the dragon out to look at him, and also cuz they need air. It turns out the lady had probably called another store cuz the mangers had no recollection of talking to her. Now normally it would be no problem and we would just take him in. But at the time the back room where we keep all the sick or quarantine animals was full. The manger told the lady that, sadly right now, we have no room to take him in. But if she comes back within 2-3 weeks we would gladly take him. Well, she got super mad about that. Saying that she did call and she just wants to get rid of the “stupid animal”. And then, she started going on a HUGE rant, saying stuff like “well I’m just going to take him out back and throw him in your dumpster then”. I already have two dragons and minimal space for another, but clearly this little guy needed help. So I told her and my mangers that I would take him in. Bought a tank and some other supplies that I didn’t already have at home. He stayed in a temporary 15g with a heat light untill I got off. When I got home I set him up in a quarantine tank. After a while of observation I noticed a few things. The lady had said that he was 7 months old. For being 7 months he seems rather small. Only weighing 147g. He also has kinking near the end of his tail and also appeared to have an overbite. He also will rapidly shake his head almost like someone who has Parkinson’s. He’s overall very uncoordinated and has a lot of trouble snatching up bugs. But despite all this he is very active and will often want to be out as soon as I walk into the room. She mentioned having fed him mealworms and pellets. So it’s unlikely that he had uvb for the first 7 months of his life. I suspect he has MBD and maybe a vitamin/calcium deficiency that is causing the shaking. I have a vet appointment scheduled for him on the 20th. At fist he would not eat at all. I was worried that he was not getting the nutrients and protein that he needed. So I wound syringe feed carnivore care and critical care mixed with sugar free dragon safe baby food and multivitamin powder for the first week. Recently however, with some struggle he has been eating dubia roaches, wax worms, crickets, and he REALY loves salads. Surprisingly he has no stuck shed. But he did seem to be abit dehydrated. Over all he has been doing very good, I hope to see some weight gain soon. Anxiously awaiting his vet appointment. Just wanted to share this story will you all
https://imgur.com/a/fo1186T pic of his jaw
https://imgur.com/a/2abJsJS tail kinks
https://imgur.com/a/vT4MGSg video of his unusual walk and head shaking
https://imgur.com/a/1PgZcg8 Afi on scale
https://imgur.com/a/yz5Cygj full body pic
https://imgur.com/a/trOhlgk another vid of him walking
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