What a ya mean the bugs are gone?!

This is Oberon the beardie. He is a rescue that I picked up last Wednesday. For the last 8 months he was on a diet of apples only. That’s all I know about him. He seems to be partially blind. This is my first BD so I’m learning as I go. I have gotten a lot of advice and he goes to see Dr Clarke on Monday. I named him Oberon after one of the alligators on Crikey It’s The Irwin’s……

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Awwww. Cute guy. Hope he recovers from the apple diet!

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He also may just classic beardie no thought noggin. I have seen beardies jump and run to grab a bug with perfect accuracy then 10 seconds later struggle to eat a piece of carrot or blueberry.

Either way I am really happy to see he is in such a good home!

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Awwww thank you Logan! He runs into walls but he can certainly scoot through a chain link fence!

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He can eat wax worms from tongs but will not eat roaches!

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Thank you!

The first couple of days all he did was sleep mostly and everything tired him out. He went to sleep in his water bowl. I have been syringe feeding him a Repashy beardie powdered greens mix every day and now he accepts wax worms for fat.

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Oberon is a lucky little guy. I’ll bet he realizes it, too.
Btw, I have a corn snake named Oberon. I now realize that he’s overdue for new pics, but this is him.

This kind of thing always cracks me up. Like, cats are mighty hunters, very efficient little predators. Yet if I drop a treat on the floor for mine, they’re anything but efficient at finding it. :joy:

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Thanks Caryl! Your Oberon is very handsome! What are the odds we have animals with the same unique name! :heart::pray:

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Thank you, Caron! I guess we Hoosier Granny women must tune into some similar wavelengths somewhere! :rofl: :joy:

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Yup! Only problem is sometimes my station needs some fine tuning……:upside_down_face:

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He’s precious! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Very glad he’s with you now, where he can get the care he deserves. A couple years ago, a friend of mine took in a beardie who was also fed nothing but apples. What’s with that? :person_facepalming: Why anyone would think that feeding an omnivore nothing but sugary fruit is okay is beyond me.

To test his eyesight, you might try throwing some lively insects, like crickets, into his enclosure and see how he reacts. See if he can see the movement and if he’s able to chase them down.

Hopefully he checks out okay at the vet and just needs proper care and a good diet to get him back on track.

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Thank you so much Jennifer! As a matter of fact we are already back from the vet and the report is favorable! Dr Clarke said she thinks he is between 12 and 18 months old and he is not blind. But he has a vitamin a deficiency. They gave me a supplement to dust his crickets and worms with. However since he has been eating powdered greens mixed with water and syringe fed daily as well as crickets and assorted worms I can already tell a difference in his sight!

Since his growth has been stunted he should not get much larger, but he should fill out nicely. He has been toodleing around my room and is not running anything. But he wants to be around people and didn’t go to sleep last night until I wrapped him up in a towel and put him in bed with me! :joy:. But later I put him back in his tank…… I only have room for a 20 gallon tank but Dr Clarke said as long as he gets exercise daily that size should be ok. Since he is on the small size……

Edit to add: Dr Clarke said apples to beardies are like ice cream to us!

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Rudy has a new friend! Actually he’s a “watch lizard”!


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Oberon has a very nice upgraded house but he prefers to sleep in the corner so he can see me……


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Looks good! Is that sand the stuff they sell at petco/petsmart that claims it comes from Australia? He is living the good life now!

Just a few things I think is important to add- Those uvb bulbs that are a small coil are actually not recommended as they don’t put out the proper levels of UVB. I would recommend switching over to a 5.0 tube bulb. I really like the Arcadia products and for his enclosure a 18 inch 12% dessert bulb would be perfect.

I would also add something like a platform with a slate tile in it so that he can get up closer to the heat and the tile will absorb that heat which helps for night time.

Now I don’t know if this is true but I have heard that when lizards spend a lot of time sitting like this, it can actually lead to spinal injuries. I have zero clue if this is true but I just thought it would be an important thing to add.

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I don’t think he has a spinal injury as my vet would have found it when she examined him last Monday. He sits in all directions…… :joy:

Edit to add: Actually the heat bulb doesn’t put out any light so it stays on all night. He does get a lot of natural sunlight as he is out a good portion of the day. He probably gets more uvb than other people I know who let their dragons roam out of their enclosures during the day. The bulb he has is a Reptisun10% desert bulb.

In the winter when he can’t get outside as much I will probably switch to a tube……But thanks for the input……

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Actually @logar Scroll up a few pictures and you will see Oberon with my dog Rudy on my patio in the afternoon sun and next to the patio in Oberon’s pen with removable top for ultimate rays during the day time

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Not that my challenges are insurmountable, but daaaang… who couldn’t do with some pampering and a life upgrade like Oberon has gotten? A fine, spacious, newly decorated, well-appointed home in which to live, nutritious meals prepared and served in a timely fashion (and no dishes to do!), all my needs anticipated and met including the best of medical care, regular interactions with a caring human to be sure things are going wonderfully well…

Okay, it’s official. I need Caron to adopt me!

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And @logar Here he is a few minutes later realizing mom is tired and needs a break so now he’s relaxing in another way! :joy:. He is just a very spoiled little guy already!

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Hey c’mon dear heart! I will gladly take you in! But you will have to be checked out by a vet/doctor to make sure you are ok! :joy:

Seriously though, Oberon does have greens, vitamins and calcium and occasionally worm treats! A breeder friend of mine on CB suggested I dose him occasionally with Worm Guard to prevent/get rid of any pin worms.

He didn’t even have a UVB bulb of any sort because it was coming through the “window”! So thank you for your support and appreciation of his new digs! I am doing the very best I can. After only a week and a half he is a totally different dragon! :heart::pray:

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