trouble swallowing

Question
We currently are looking after an adult bearded dragon. Upon receiving him he drags his both back feet. He has trouble swallowing food. His mouth is always open and we can see the super worm in his mouth with accumulated water that I have given him through a syringe. He is not at all active. We have a heating lamp and a UV light on him. His previous owner did not have this. I have mixed calcium vitamins with water and given him this through a syringe. What is wrong with him and how can I nurse him back to health?

Answer
Hello Ramichelle,

We need to go over your tank setup a bit more.
What type & brand is your UVB light?  Is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light?  How close is it to him?
What are the temps in the tank?  What type of thermometer are you using, a stick on thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?
What type of substrate are you using, sand, tiles, paper towels, carpet?
He has metabolic bone disease most likely, which is advanced.  
I highly recommend getting some liquid calcium as soon as possible.  A really great product is calcium glubionate from here:

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Meds.html#CalciumGluconate

Also, do you know what type of substrate he was on before you got him?  He could be impacted possibly.  If his mouth is constantly open, he may be in pain right now.  

If he is not eating very well, you can get some chicken or turkey babyfood along with some squash babyfood to feed him, daily, to help him out.

We will discuss more.
Tracie