Another rescue for us...

What do you do? The kid down the street, whom we know hasn't been taking proper care of his dragon for five years running, stops by and asks if we/my son would like to adopt her...

...for years, we've wanted to get our hands on this poor girl who, thanks to our badgering years ago, has at least had "okay" lighting for a fair amount of that time and has, thus, escaped the horrors of MBD and Keratoconjuctivitis (wish the same could be said for our other rescue, Spike) but who, no thanks to the family down the street, has been starving and dehydrated for most of her life. Her Solar Glo was burned out and he admitted that it was really old--years old. How she has managed to live all this time is a testament to her strength and tenacity. We were, of course, most honored to take her in.

I'll post pics when I get a chance but Medusa is a slight little thing--scrawny, light as a feather, and all the classic signs of dehydration: wrinkles, sunken eyes, etc. I don't know what was more shocking; that she actually drank from a dish, or that she did so for five straight minutes.

Hoping we can put some weight on her (she hasn't been fed bugs in months) and get her hydrated (daily baths for this girl for the foreseeable future) and I feel comfortable in dealing with all that, but here's the thing: her feet are black and her underside looks filthy (her vent and tail, mostly). I think it's the result of walking in filthy, poop-infested Calci-sand for years on end but I'm worried it might be fungus. I'm going to bathe her daily and slowly work on the filth and if she continues to look funky, I'll bring the Betadine/witch hazel/Lamasil combo into play. Does that sound like a reasonable course of action?

We refused to take their cage (just too scary) so I've got her set up in a nice, clean 40 breeder with butcher paper substrate (I'll eventually switch it to tile), a clean basking rock, and, while Princess Cloudy (aka, MuMu) wasn't looking, I swiped his ReptiSun and plopped it atop next to Medusa's basking bulb. New fixture and ReptiSun ordered...

Both our rescues have had completely different issues but both heart-breaking, in any case. We also took on the boy's ball python--female, four years, and looks like our four-year-old male when we first got him from the breeder, at three months old! Oy. But that's a story for another time...

Let's see the running total then is: Dragons 3, Pythons 2. It's getting awfully crowded in this house...

Best,
Em

Being that you have rescued before you may already know not to give her any protein for at least a while, maybe a few weeks. When an animal, any animal is starved, their body will shut down systems to conserve energy. If she is starved and emaciated her kidneys may not be working, or working very little. Better to hydrate her and give plant nutrition or a nutrition product form the vet. This will enable her body to hydrate and slowly start working properly without the stress of protein metabolism. The by product of protein metabolism is uric acid. It's a vicious cycle, if you feed protein to a starved animal the uric acid blood level sky rockets without the kidneys ability to filter it. This causes uric acid toxicity and can cause organ failure and death.

So many times I see where a well meaning rescuer posts they gave bugs or some other high protein to a starved emaciated rescue dragon who is even in fair condition with a great chance for recovery but die withing a few days of protein overload. If you already know this awesome and I apologize.

As for the black, does it wash off or is it getting lighter with soaks. Is it uniform across the underside of the body and feet? If it is fungus and progressed to being blackened there should be open, wound looking lesions, crusty halos around the lesion, sloughing off of the scales, and other small spots developing around the black lesion where it is spreading.

With the neglect I'm sure the sand was gross and the dragon may be stained which will take a few to several sheds to disappear. Can you post a photo of the black you are referring to?

Many thanks, Dragonlover!

I appreciate the advice on feeding protein. I was planning to hold off a few days at least to get her hydrated, but I'm thinking I'll hold off a bit longer than that, as per your advice. What should I be looking for in terms of protein readiness?

On the upside: she went right for her kale this morning as she is accustomed to getting at least a bit of that, although I'm thinking perhaps not daily. *sigh* She also drank a bit of water and I'll be bathing her later today.

I'm fairly certain that the black on her feet faded a bit with the short bath I gave her yesterday, but I'm not completely certain. I don't see wounds or scale damage to that's encouraging. It's limited to her feet and the underside of her tail and vent. I'll try to get some pics up later today...

Thanks again. I so appreciate the advice.

~Em

Update:

She downed her dish of kale and tangerine bits this morning, and is now eating some squash--slightly cooked. She is happy to be eating and willingly heads to the dish when I place it in the viv. Frankly, it's a bit of an amusement for us to see a beardie feeding herself veggies as our other two dragons prefer to be handfed (stinkers).

She seemingly enjoyed her bath today, settling down after a short bout of wiggly-ness. She sat placidly for a good fifteen minutes before--drum roll please--pooping: well-formed, greenish tint, and not too stinky, which is a relief. The urate however, even in the water, appeared skinny and dry, so we clearly have a ways to go before she's sufficiently hydrated.

Upon inspection, I'm confident that the black on her feet and tail/vent is staining, and it does seem to be fading every so slightly. Heading up now to snaps some pics of our new girl.

Best,
Em

What I learned about our new girl today: she is crazy photogenic! Also, that one day of good care can actually make a difference. Yesterday, she came to us dull, wrinkled, and sunken-eyed. After one day, her color has brightened, her wrinkles have subsided a bit, and her eyes look more pronounced. Her feather-like weight still throws me though, every time I reach for her...

Top View:


From right:


Pancake:


Left Hand, staining top:


Underside, staining:

These photos better capture her malnourishment issues...







She's just about five years old, hatched around the same time as "the princess" here:



The difference is rather stunning, though MuMu is more robust than some.

Aw. I am so glad you rescued that baby. Sure looks like she needed it! Give her nose a little kiss for us.

Will do!

You'll have the sweet little thing fattened up in no time! How lucky she is that you have her now!

Aw, thanks. Very much hoping to see this girl thrive.

She still has a ways to go; second poop revealed barely a urate, and a hard, dry one at that. Will keep hydrating and sticking with plant-based food until I'm confident her kidneys are in working order. Then we'll start small and more forward gradually with protein.

She is delightfully alert and peppy, and turning out to be quite a little character, too.

~mb

Update on Medusa (aka, Skinny Minnie):

Well, it appears that we still have a ways to go with this girl. After eating like a champ on Monday, she ate less on Tuesday, barely anything on Wednesday, and nothing yet so far today...

On the upside, she has been enjoying her baths and the staining is getting lighter each day--her vent especially appears much cleaner. She has pooped every day and all looks normal there. The urates have been tiny strands or small, hard nuggets, but today I am encouraged because, though a skinny strand, the urate looked soft. It's something, right? Her poops are substantial enough that I'm not too worried about her ebbing appetite. Just offering the veggies and fruit and letting her take the lead. Looks like it will still be a while before we can offer her any bugs. *sigh* But she is alert and peppy, although a touch skittish today. Still acclimating to her new enclosure, I believe.

~Em