Unexpected Rescue

I have only had Emerson for a few weeks now but love him to pieces, even if he is grumpy all the time. I wasn't really planning on getting another beardie because I'm pretty much out of room unless I get rid of my couch, lol. I was looking on craigslist yesterday afternoon and saw an ad for a bearded dragon and all his supplies. I looked at the pic and saw a bearded dragon in a bare tank with only a water dish and no lights. They were 45 min away from me so I didn't email even though I felt bad for the poor thing. That night the ad was still up so I emailed and he was still available. I asked what he came with and she said a 29 gallon tank, the reptile carpet that's in it and a water dish. They had a heat rock but lost it when they moved a year ago They got him from Petco as a baby 3 years ago and he eats 6 crickets a day and that's it. I asked if she would go lower on the price by $10 since it was so far and she said no because they invested a lot into him and were sad to see him go. I've dealt with this before when I did parrot rescue so I bit my tongue and didn't say anything and went to go get him this morning after staying up all night re-arranging cages and tanks to make room for him He's 3 and is the same size as Emerson, who is 8 months He seems healthy (but a little underweight) and was even trying to catch some crickets on the ride home.

I asked if he ever had lights and she said no and they didn't dust his crickets either so how he doesn't have MBD is a miracle. They've never even had a cover on his cage. The tip of his tail is a little black so I'm going to check it out closer when I re-do his cage and hope its not tail rot. I was planning on giving him time to settle before re-doing his cage but it stinks so bad and there is poop crustified on the carpet so its got to go! I always keep an extra UV bulb and heat lamp so I'm already set there. Poor guy will be so happy to have a real basking light They named him Spike but I'm changing it to Ali. Fingers crossed that he's reasonably healthy and stays that way. He didn't seem stressed at all on the ride home and was eating so I'm hoping that's a good sign. My vet is out of town until next week so I have to wait to make an appointment for him.

Sorry for the long winded post, almost 24 hours with no sleep makes my brain not work to well :roll: Here is a pic of his cage now, I will post pics later after I scrub it and give it a makeover

Good on you for taking little Ali in! Thats great that he doesn't seem to have any MBD.

He seems to be ok and very active. I was fearing the worst when I was on the way there and was surprised when he was trying to catch crickets while they were carrying his tank to the car. I'll feel much better after a vet check up though!

Well Mr. Ali has been doing great so far. I bleached and scrubbed his cage and it was NASTY under that carpet. Dead crickets, dried poo and the smell made me gag. I tried to clean his water dish but its still brown and crusty and stinks so I'm going to get him a new one tomorrow. He went right to his basking spot the second I put him in the cage and hasn't left since, lol. I did give him a bath (which lasted all of 3 minutes before he realized he could escape) to help hydrate him and clean off some of the poo that was crusted to him. I'm not as worried about his tail as I was. The tip definitely has some damage to it but the rest of it lightens up when he's active and darkens again when he's laying around so I think its just his natural color. He does have a bend in it about an inch up but he can still move it just fine. I always worry until I can get to the vet.

I didn't think he would eat greens since he's never had them. I couldn't have been more wrong! He was eating them before I had even gotten my hand out of the tank and once he finished I gave him more. He took a little longer to eat them and didn't touch the dusted greens but we'll work on that. I gave him a few dubias that he loved but he's really bad at catching things. I noticed with his crickets too that it would be right in front of him and he'd miss, not sure if there's something wrong or he's just not a good hunter

He really hasn't shown any aggression or fear and he just seems curious about everything that's going on. His tank is still really bare with just some rocks for basking but I didn't want to do too much too fast. I'm going to put a hide in there tomorrow and see how he does and somehow I totally forgot to get him a food dish when I was at the store today :? (I blame 24 hours with no sleep) He loves his basking light so much I felt bad turning it off but I promised him it would be back tomorrow He still hasn't pooped and the old poop that was on his carpet was really small. He was only getting 6 crickets a day (so they said) so hopefully there aren't any problems there. I always feel better once a poop happens His skin is a little wrinkly and his eyes seem a bit sunken (compared to Emerson's) but I wouldn't have drank water out of his dish either. Hopefully some veggies and baths will help that. You can see his little hip bones sticking out and the back of his neck is bony looking but all in all he's in pretty good shape I guess.

Here are some pics of his new cage. Its not much but its better than it was and best of all it doesn't smell!!!



Tip of his tail






YUM! - he ate about 3x the amount you see in that pic


I didn't weigh or measure him yet, I figured he had a big day already so I'm going to do it when I give him a bath tomorrow. He looks to be about the same length as Emerson, maybe an inch or 2 longer. So far he's been so calm and chill about everything I might have to change his name, lol.

The tip of his tail reminds me of Digger's. Digger's tail was like that when I bought him way back when and the vet thought at the time that it might have been bit by a cage mate when the breeder had them all together. It stayed like that and nothing ever happened, so hopefully its the same with yours, but see what your vet says

Awww you are so wonderful for taking him in!! What an awesome person you are!!!

Is his heat rock on? I've just read that you should never use them because beardies do not feel heat in their bellies, and they have been known to burn.

Again, this warms my heart to read. Ali has found an awesome new home! He is so lucky to have you.

He doesn't have a heat rock His previous owners only used a heat rock for him instead of a basking light.

He's pretty much been laying around on his rock all day sleeping on and off. He did eat a couple bites of some greens but then went back to sleep. Still no poop and I'm not feeding him any dubias until he does I'm hoping that the excitement of yesterday is just catching up to him and its not a sign of something else. I'm going to give him a bath in a little while and double check his temps again. His basking spot was at 98* yesterday and I'm going to arrange it a little different to give him a gradient of 95-100*.

That's wonderful that you rescued him! My, he's skinny. :shock: Wonderful that he lacks MBD.

How is he doing???? Please give us an update!

He is doing great! I've changed his name to Ralph because Ali just wasn't working. He's gained some weight, been to the vet and got a clean bill of health. He weighed 190g the day after I got him and is 14.75" long. He now weighs 230g and his tail and hip bones are filling out. He's not gaining as fast as I'd like him to but he is gaining and that's what matters. He can't see very well so feeding him is a bit time consuming but if that's the worst he came out with I'll take it He's still so sweet and loves being out of his cage. He's also become buddies with one of my dogs, Rosco, lol. Rosco will even bring his blanket over by Ralph's cage and sleep next to it :roll: Its cute but at the same time Rosco seems to think that Ralph should chase him and play with him when he's out...I think Rosco needs a friend :? On the plus side Ralph pays him no attention and has never shown any stress when Rosco is around.

Here are some pics of him

He has his own basking area in the living room for when he's out - this was about a week after I got him.


Rosco sleeping next to his new buddy (Ignore the cords, I ran out of outlets )


Here he is in his Vikings leash and harness


Not quite as skinny


I really don't think that he was getting the 6 crickets a day they were claiming they fed him. He eats like he is absolutely starved every time I feed him and I have to make him take a break so he doesn't eat too fast.

That is terrific I'm so glad to hear he's doing so well!!! I love Roscoe sleeping by him!! He's looking good!!! Great job rescuing him and getting him healthy!

I'm so happy to see a beardie get a good home. He's looking better already! Good luck with your new friend!

Yay for Ralph!