Neglect???

So I was browsing through craigslist looking for a tank earlier.. I came upon this post. http://kalamazoo.craigslist.org/pet/1888212352.html I am not as experienced as i'll say most of you are on here.. but this absolutely broke my heart to the point of calling the number. This poor guy has NEVER had a bath, eats zuccihini once every 2 weeks. The guy told me "well the poop is runny so its getting water" I was dumbfounded. Just went and bought a 40 gal breeder tank to get set up tonight for this guy. How much work do you guys think i'm gonna have to try to get this poor baby ( I say baby, but he's 3 yrs old and the owner told me "small for his age". umm duhhh!) back to health??

I pick this lil guy up tomorrow morning. I'd have gone tonight if I could have

Wow, good for you for finding this post and doing something about it! I can't offer any advice, but I'll give this thread a friendly bump. Good luck with him!

Oh wow!!! He's so sad!!! I'm so so glad you are rescuing him!!!!

Post pictures when you can without stressing him more!

I found a BD on Craigslist yesterday that I'm trying to convince my fiance to let me adopt. The one I found isn't in nearly such bad shape, but she's been housed on sand, has had no UVB, and the only veggies she's ever gotten are plain lettuce. Good for you for taking this guy in! Hopefully I can do something about the one I've found.

I'm hoping the guy will meet me tonight. Its a cpl hour drive for me, but wow do I feel sooo bad for this lil guy. Once I got my first beardie, lizzy, thought wow, what an awesome companion.. then got suzuki (6 week old wanna be stunt man!), and then saw this guy. So now got a buddy who's gonna be building me a stackable bookshelf/tank type thing to house them in which will be 8 feet in length by 3 and a half feet wide Great news.. g uys lettin me get him tonight.. at no charge!

That is great news!!!! Yay!!!!

Also, post pictures of that ridiculously deluxe cage when it gets done!!!

Wow, he is 3 years old? So tiny for that age. I am so happy that you are going to give him a better home! Good luck!

I would recommend a vet check asap. There could be a host of problems with neglected animals. And those need to be addressed sooner rather than later. changing diets can be difficult, but it can be done. I find gradual changes work well. Work on getting a base food, then start adding to it.

It can take a while, depending on what state the animal is in, and some things unfortunately are irreversible.

I also agree a vet appointment should be set up and if he poops then make sure you put it in a ziplock bag so they can do a fecal. Congrats and thank you for rescuing him!

Probably goes without saying, but make sure you keep him in quarantine and away from your dragons, I rescued a dragon and she had worms, which I was fortunate enough not to spread to any of my others.

Its so great that you're rescuing him! Thank you! Yep, get him to the vet ASAP, and good luck. Post pics after you've got him all cleaned and fattened up. Good luck!

Andy

Thanks for caring enough to rescue him.
First thing he needs is a nice warm bath. He is prob dehydrated. Tomorrow I would get him some squash baby food and some chicken or turkey baby food. Get a medicine dropper in the baby section and use it to feed him the babyfood. It may take him a few tryes to get it right. Then again if he's as hungry as he looks he may just grab hold and suck it down! Please use the plastic kind, glass will break.
If the squash seems thin, you can mix in a bit of the chicken. If the chicken is too thick - mix in the squash. Don't want too much protien at first, it is hard on the kidneys if he is not used to it. And he looks like he has had very little anything!
What are you gioing to call him?

Sandy H

Just got home. Her name is now Meeshka. She didn't have a name before She's never had a bath and has some shed on the top of her head that needs to come off. He gave her 2 slices of zuchini once every 2 weeks. She has never been offered water, and her enclosure was an under the sink cabinet.. got the big one, but the really itty bitty tiny one. Never has had a UVB bulb let alone temps regulated or sunlight. Amazingly, she is so super friendly!! She slept on my lap on the drive home, and when we just came inside, she's clinging to my shoulder. Tomorrow i'll start getting her on schedule and into the herp vet at 9am. She measured out at 16 inches and is severly underweight by the looks of it. She has a growth on her left side that hopefully the vet can give me more info about.. she LOVES the kids!! I'll get some pics posted tomorrow. Been a longgggg day!

Oh my God, that's so horrible... at least she's with you now. She'll feel like a princess compared to how she was treated. Holding you to those pics.

Andy

I've heard adding some colorless gatorade to their water helps to hydrate them. Glad that she's with an owner who cares, best of luck at the vet tomorrow and keep us posted!