jscott
Gray-bearded Member
hello everyone. i am a new member (i created an e-mail account for the sole purpose of joining your community), and my reason is to try and give my beardie it's best shot at life. i searched your wonderfully extensive forums before starting this post as i did not want to add clutterous new topics to your agenda, but it seems i may have to... forgive me if i do not follow the correct parameters of posting, for this is my first.
i was browsing the isles of my local pet store when i noticed something wrong. in a ten gallon terrarium i observed one bearded dragon(sex unknown) far away from the other four and it was huddling against the glass in a near vertical position. all four legs had been terribly mangled by it's tank mates(i suspect during an unsupervised feeding) and it seemed to have already died. the two hind legs were reduced to un-symetrical stumps and both of its front legs seemed to be completely missing. i was deeply struck to see it open its eyes briefly only to slowly close them again. when i asked the store owner what had happened he seemed oblivious to the situation(granted it was a very fresh scene) and said it had died. i held back my anger and suggested that his assesment was incorrect. i then asked him if i could have it since it was going to die anyhow and he accepted.
(im going to use the pronoun "him" because "it" has such a cold feel)
the first night i brought him home i really didn't think he would make it to morning. i held him in my hand as i walked to the bathroom to administer what little aid i could for the time being. i mixed a solution of 25%hydrogen per oxide(at 4% dilution) and luke-warm water in a shallow dish and gently rinsed his wounds. i'm not cirtain if he was too tired to fight back or just in shock but i was extra delicate just in case the bathing was painful or stressful. the wounds themselves were atrocious: his left arm seemed to be the only remaining limb aside from his tail but it was badly wounded and tucked tightly against his chest(appearently broken). his right arm was closer to chewed-over piece of jerky than a limb and was congeled to his torso. each of his back legs had been cropped neatly, as if with a pair of scissors... i feared gangrene or infection would take him in the night and(being a new pet owner) the best i could do was to place him in a large tupperware container (no lid of course) with a fluffy towell to rest on in a warm place. i felt dismal comfort in thinking "at least to die here will be less terrifying than to die alone in a dark, cold, smelly corner waiting to be finished like so much chinese food". when i awoke the next morning the first thing i did was go to see if he had made it, and he had.
he was awake and all of the wounds had already started to scab over. over the next few days i realized that his right arm, while fully connected to his body, would have to be removed. in the days since i brought him home the limb continued to degrade until finally i made the hard descision to amputate. i examined the limb from afar for at least ten minutes before i finally picked him up. i had heard people say that when they cut their birds nails too short they use a small amount of ash to stop the bleeding so i had a small pile of ash as well as toilet paper squares incase something should go wrong. as i held the sharpest scissors i could find in one hand and the dragon in the other, i studied the arm for another ten minutes trying to find where it was still livid and made the deciscion to cut conservativly away from that point(hoping the nerves were dead there). to my relief i was able to take it in one clean motion without a drop of blood and on closer examination found that i couldnt have removed it soon enough. it was riddled with infection and had no sign of scabs or healing. left over was a little stump about a centameter long. over the next few days i gave him subsequent bathings in the same solution and he finally ate his first cricket. another week went by when one day i was delighted to see his little left arm untucked for the first time! the hand on this limb had suffered the same fate as his now amputated arm and i reluctantly followed the same procedure as before to an identical outcome: a clean, conservative removal of only the most damaged portion. after that, it was clear sailing. considering he was almost completely immobile and totally dependant his demeanor was surprisingly sunny. he began wiggling aroung his container(kind of like when soilders crawl on their belly under barbed wire) and seemed to be coping with his disabilities quite well.
well fast forward seven months and i've got a second-hand ten-gallon terrarium from a friend and lined it with smooth river stones under his lamp(a 30watt 7%uvb flourescent) and digestible calium sand on the dark half. since climbing is unfortunatly not an option for him(this makes me sad) i put various low profile branches around the cage for proping up on. he gets to go and bask in my back yard whenever i have an hour or so to just sit out in the sun and watch him carefully(he seems weary of any birds overhead) it took me months to finally get him to understand the concept of a water bowl(until then i was giving him a daily drink of water from my finger tip). feeding seems to be a minor difficulty, as any insect could easily out-maneuvor him. we've got it down to a routine: as sad as it may seem, i must break the back legs of the crickets i feed him or else when i place them in his mouth they jump clear out of the cage. i just recently got him eating greens(so far only romaine but im letting him try new things too).
well thats pretty much where im at right now. any sound advice would be great, for as i previously stated im just trying to give him the best shot at lifewith the cards he was dealt. sorry if this post was really long winded, and thanks for your time.
i was browsing the isles of my local pet store when i noticed something wrong. in a ten gallon terrarium i observed one bearded dragon(sex unknown) far away from the other four and it was huddling against the glass in a near vertical position. all four legs had been terribly mangled by it's tank mates(i suspect during an unsupervised feeding) and it seemed to have already died. the two hind legs were reduced to un-symetrical stumps and both of its front legs seemed to be completely missing. i was deeply struck to see it open its eyes briefly only to slowly close them again. when i asked the store owner what had happened he seemed oblivious to the situation(granted it was a very fresh scene) and said it had died. i held back my anger and suggested that his assesment was incorrect. i then asked him if i could have it since it was going to die anyhow and he accepted.
(im going to use the pronoun "him" because "it" has such a cold feel)
the first night i brought him home i really didn't think he would make it to morning. i held him in my hand as i walked to the bathroom to administer what little aid i could for the time being. i mixed a solution of 25%hydrogen per oxide(at 4% dilution) and luke-warm water in a shallow dish and gently rinsed his wounds. i'm not cirtain if he was too tired to fight back or just in shock but i was extra delicate just in case the bathing was painful or stressful. the wounds themselves were atrocious: his left arm seemed to be the only remaining limb aside from his tail but it was badly wounded and tucked tightly against his chest(appearently broken). his right arm was closer to chewed-over piece of jerky than a limb and was congeled to his torso. each of his back legs had been cropped neatly, as if with a pair of scissors... i feared gangrene or infection would take him in the night and(being a new pet owner) the best i could do was to place him in a large tupperware container (no lid of course) with a fluffy towell to rest on in a warm place. i felt dismal comfort in thinking "at least to die here will be less terrifying than to die alone in a dark, cold, smelly corner waiting to be finished like so much chinese food". when i awoke the next morning the first thing i did was go to see if he had made it, and he had.
he was awake and all of the wounds had already started to scab over. over the next few days i realized that his right arm, while fully connected to his body, would have to be removed. in the days since i brought him home the limb continued to degrade until finally i made the hard descision to amputate. i examined the limb from afar for at least ten minutes before i finally picked him up. i had heard people say that when they cut their birds nails too short they use a small amount of ash to stop the bleeding so i had a small pile of ash as well as toilet paper squares incase something should go wrong. as i held the sharpest scissors i could find in one hand and the dragon in the other, i studied the arm for another ten minutes trying to find where it was still livid and made the deciscion to cut conservativly away from that point(hoping the nerves were dead there). to my relief i was able to take it in one clean motion without a drop of blood and on closer examination found that i couldnt have removed it soon enough. it was riddled with infection and had no sign of scabs or healing. left over was a little stump about a centameter long. over the next few days i gave him subsequent bathings in the same solution and he finally ate his first cricket. another week went by when one day i was delighted to see his little left arm untucked for the first time! the hand on this limb had suffered the same fate as his now amputated arm and i reluctantly followed the same procedure as before to an identical outcome: a clean, conservative removal of only the most damaged portion. after that, it was clear sailing. considering he was almost completely immobile and totally dependant his demeanor was surprisingly sunny. he began wiggling aroung his container(kind of like when soilders crawl on their belly under barbed wire) and seemed to be coping with his disabilities quite well.
well fast forward seven months and i've got a second-hand ten-gallon terrarium from a friend and lined it with smooth river stones under his lamp(a 30watt 7%uvb flourescent) and digestible calium sand on the dark half. since climbing is unfortunatly not an option for him(this makes me sad) i put various low profile branches around the cage for proping up on. he gets to go and bask in my back yard whenever i have an hour or so to just sit out in the sun and watch him carefully(he seems weary of any birds overhead) it took me months to finally get him to understand the concept of a water bowl(until then i was giving him a daily drink of water from my finger tip). feeding seems to be a minor difficulty, as any insect could easily out-maneuvor him. we've got it down to a routine: as sad as it may seem, i must break the back legs of the crickets i feed him or else when i place them in his mouth they jump clear out of the cage. i just recently got him eating greens(so far only romaine but im letting him try new things too).
well thats pretty much where im at right now. any sound advice would be great, for as i previously stated im just trying to give him the best shot at lifewith the cards he was dealt. sorry if this post was really long winded, and thanks for your time.