bearded dragon found on front porch

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A few days ago, my husband told me to come outside & check out this lizard. As soon as I saw her, I knew it was a bearded dragon. She was in our kiddie pool - no water in it- on our porch. She looked a little beat up & dark. We fed her some crickets, which she gobbled up right away. I noticed her neck had the stress black marks, but she is super friendly & easy to hold.
After posting some photos on our neighborhood fb website, I found my neighbor "released" their BD, bc school is starting & they don't have time for it. I don't know how old she is, but she is only about 2 inches long nose to tail. Apparently, they kept her in the garage & fed her whatever bugs the kids would find. There were 3 "good" poops in the pool, but she has only gone 1x since being in her new environment.
I plan to take her to the vet, but money's funny. We did get a nice set up for her w/ lights & food bowls & a rock, thermometer, etc. But she was outside for almost a week in VA humid & wet & luckily hot weather. Her nostrils have a white salt-like rings -we have dropped water on her nose, misted & povided a water bowl.
Should I give her a warm bath? Will the presence of cats stress her out?
We are so happy to add Pickle to our family.
 

scorpius

Member
A shallow bath in warm water would be good to stimulate pooping , though it might be the getting acclimated to the new environment causing bowel slow down

Cats are a no no as they kill for fun even when well fed ,

so beardie should be in a locked room w/ a cage with a lock on top
 

Dbnutrition

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Original Poster
Def keeping in secure cage, from cats, but I wasn't sure if just being able to see the cats would cause stress.
We did a bath this morning, not sure if we liked it.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
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I agree she is quite small. Can you post some more photos of her? Her scales look a bit odd to me in the first photos. Are you sure this is the dragon your neighbors released?
 

Gail

BD.org Addict
I'm not convinced thats a dragon. It does have a dark throat but nothing else is right. Plus, beardies don't get salt rings around their nostrils but some other species do.
Have you see it eat any veggies? I'm betting its mainly a bug eater, would be surprised if it eats and veggies at all.
The skin looks tight and dry, I would give it a bath, see if that helps its skin any. Depending on what it is, it might need a more humid environment.
Please take more pics of it, especially of the back and from the side.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
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I agree. I'm thinking it's possibly an eastern fence lizard due to it's size and lack of spikes along the sides. Virginia is part of their natural habitat.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
I agree with the others....probably a fence swift. ! It's a bug eater, not veggie. Best to let it go back out in the wild. I knew something wasn't right when you mentioned that it was 2" long, although he looks a bit bigger than that [ beardies hatch out at 3.5-4" ] And a tiny beardie couldn't get in your kiddie pool.
 

Gail

BD.org Addict
Good call guys. I knew it looked familiar but couldn't quite place it. I would have the neighbors come look at it, if it is indeed the lizard they have kept then releasing it might not be the best idea and could be illegal due to possible introduction if pathogens from being in captivity.

If you do end up keeping it, do some rearranging so it has more climbing area. It probably needs higher humidity too, its skin looks not so good.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Those are native to Virginia so not a problem to release it....the people may have caught it and told the kids it was a beardie. :)
 

Dbnutrition

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for your help, thought it was weird, the neighbors would let it go..its def the same pet they released.
Hope they didn't pay a lot for it.
 

Gail

BD.org Addict
AHBD":9wvq809g said:
Those are native to Virginia so not a problem to release it....the people may have caught it and told the kids it was a beardie. :)

In some states you can't release a native species once its been in captivity. Thats how it is here, once you catch it, you have to keep it in captivity. its very illegal, in case the animal caught something then introduces it into the wild population.

Dbnutrition":9wvq809g said:
Thanks for your help, thought it was weird, the neighbors would let it go..its def the same pet they released.
Hope they didn't pay a lot for it.

They bought it? From a pet store or a private party?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
I'm not familiar with that law Gail, I know it definitely applies to non native species though.
 
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