Newly rescued and new to rescuing! Help!

Hi there!

First I'd like to say that and these boards and the people are so great! I have had one adult dragon before named Mustashio, who passed away this past May at only 2 years old due to a stomach tumor. He was my first dragon and I obsessantly researched and learned about his care and I was hooked! My kids will tell you that the dragon became MY pet instead of theirs and literally was one of the family! When he passed away I was heartbroken. AHBD and many of the moderators (Tracy, Rachael) helped me a lot with him in those final months, helping to make him comfortable. It wasn't until recently that we decided to add to the family again! And then AGAIN, unexpectedly!

Currently I have a brand new baby who is about 2 months old, named Myztic. Of course we don't know what sex, but he looks a lot like Tashi did when he was a baby, so we are calling him a HE by association!! LOL! Things were going great with Myztic for the last 3 weeks when an acquaintance notified me of her desire to get rid of her beardie cuz her kids are no longer interested in him after only 5 months of having him. I jumped on it since we have an extra set up of lights, UVB etc. Boy was I in for a shock!

This beardie, who we are calling Aztec, is about 9-10 months old (??) and is missing one foot and part of his tail. Previous owners say they got him for free from a pet store in June and admitted they had no idea how to care for one. They said they "did their research" after bringing him home, but looks like he was only given kale and a water dish, maybe a heat light but no UVB and he was in a 12in x 24in cage (he is 12 inches long). Never had a bath, likely no calcium or vitamin supplements etc. I know they never gave him crickets and probably no worms either. The lady of the house is not a bug lady and so I'm positive this guy was not taken care of from the get go!

Brought him home yesterday and even though he was stressed enough, I had to give him a bath and warm him up. He loved the bath and even drank some!! I cleaned his cage and lined with reptile carpet and put some salad in there. For now he has to stay in the small cage until my hubby can build a big one that is 2ft x4ft. (The big dragon is in the little cage and the little dragon is in the huge presidential suite!!) I have a heat light and a Reptisun 10 UVB in his cage now with a probe thermometer and reptile carpet. Hubby has to work fast to build the new viv!! Anyway, as I drove home with him (3 blocks away!), he had the biggest poop I have ever seen come out of a beardie! I should have weighed the poop it was that huge!! LOL! Anyway he ate the salad like a champ. I put collard greens, grated butternut squash, red bell pepper chunks and some grated sweet potato and sprinkled with calcium. The salad was prepared for Myztic, so the pieces were already nice and tiny. Aztec gobbled it down!

Today however, I think the stress is starting to get to him. He tucked himself so far under his accessories in his already small cage that I thought he got out! I couldn't see him he was so dark and camoflaged! I picked him up and put him back on his basking bridge and he was breathing really funny and fast. Thought that was strange so I filled his salad bowl and put about 12 small phoenix worms in it just to see. He doesn't want anything to do with it. Then he blackbearded and puffed out at me! I've never had a beardie do that to me! Mustashio never blackbearded his whole life until the last couple days when he was in so much pain I had to help him cross the rainbow bridge. Clearly this big guy has been mistreated. He did poop again today, but has barely moved from the spot I put him on this morning, and every time I even get close to the cage he beards up. Even just walking by! Poor guy. I'm taking poop to the vet for sample. (It was nice of my baby Myztic to poop today in his bath too, so I can take both samples at once!)

I'm just wondering how you other rescuers ease these brave beardies into their new and safe homes. It will take some time for him to get to know us (I have 2 very loud and crazy human boys too), and if he has been mistreated, it will take time before he trusts us. I know it will take patience and perseverance and a lot of TLC, but since I'm new to rescues I would like to be a sponge and soak up some more of the great knowledge these boards have to offer.

Thanks ahead of time for the input! I will get pictures of my new kids as soon as I can!

Jill
Mustashio (Tashi), 2.5 years, RIP 5/2014
Myztic, 2 months
Aztec, ~10 months, rescued 10/2014

Hi Jill.....I posted a reply to your thread in the health forum. I'm sure others ill offer advice as well. I hope he starts improving soon....slow and steady.

He's panicking. Give him a few days peace and quiet - check in on him, but discretely.

If he's been living in poor conditions, and I know this is probably contrary - DON'T give him bugs straight up. Get good vitamins and minerals in him with supplements and veggies, and introduce protein VERY slowly.

Also important in severe cases - heating day AND night for the next couple of months - use a ceramic bulb to avoid keeping him awake.

Have you any pictures? Don't disturb him if you don't, don't worry about it.

I've had some real shockers, but never missing limbs. Poor dude. Keep us updated.

Thanks, DragonKeeper!

First, he is a SHE! Her name is Aztec or Azzy. She finally let me hold her and I snuck a peek. She has settled down quite a bit and is quite comfortable now. Eats me out of house and home...sometimes 50 medium crickets at once! My hubby is working on a bigger viv, but I switched my baby (Myztic) and moved Azzy to the bigger cage. She is happier now. Every once in awhile she will black beard at me, but I think it is just cuz she is moody. She has never tried to bite or gotten angry with me.

We brought her to the vet a few days after bringing her home and she had low level of parasites but I decided to treat her anyway to be sure. Done with that and now she seems to be thriving. Lost a little bit of weight over the last month...from 210g to 195g, but she is still eating and pooping fine. Temps are perfect too.

Here are some pics.

She's a cutey! I'm glad to hear she's calmed down. You might want to read up a bit on egg laying for future reference - many females lay eggs just because they can!

The little lady residing with us (in a house full of males, bless her - in her own separate tank, I hasten to add!) was a rescue too, and she's a lean, mean egg-makin' machine. Well, not that mean. Sometimes a bit grumpy or stand-offish, but Mocha's too quiet and polite to be outright mean.

But seriously, she's not been mated, but she lays at least four clutches of 18-23 eggs a year, without fail.