Foster Dragon (Now a Foster fail)

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GeckoGarden

Sub-Adult Member
Well, on my lunch yesterday a friend who works at my old job at a petstore called (I won’t say what one).

They had a return of a baby bearded dragon with “blood” on its face, lethargic, not eating. Because of Covid, all our local reptile vets are booked two weeks out, even my own Hosptial. Due to how short staffed they are, we worried the baby wasn’t going to get the care it needed to keep it stable until it’s vet appointment in two weeks.

So I went over on my lunch to check the situation out because dammit I have a soft heart for dragons.

What I found was a baby with pink substance on its face that washed off pink so clearly not blood, even one of our vets looked at the photos and agreed not blood.

We got the head guys permission for me to foster the baby in hopes of saving it since at this point it was most likely a poor husbandry issue more than anything.

So here I am, with a 5.5 gram baby. She’s still settling in quite well, she ate three calci worms last night, but she was very dehydrated, skinny (you can see her hip bones and the underside of her back legs have that “I haven’t eaten in a long time” look to them) thankful I don’t think she’s to far gone to save.

And yes, I have correct lights and temps and substrate. It’s pretty much a mini version of my adults cage. 12% t5 Arcadia, Che for heat, paper towel substrate.

I’m so thankful I’m in a position where I can take in fosters like this. I get to keep her until I feel she’s big enough and stable enough to find her forever home.

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Here’s the “bloody” face image I was sent.
44170-9963639788.jpg
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Glad you took her in -- you need to get as much nourishment in her as possible - and water --- how are you giving her water? I would try getting her to eat some greens washed/ or rinsed before serving- 3 calci worms is not alot are you also feeding small crickets -- if you have any questions please ask we are all here to help the baby-- any websites you need for ordering like roaches worms etc please ask
Karrie
 

GeckoGarden

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2h12hrk5 said:
Glad you took her in -- you need to get as much nourishment in her as possible - and water --- how are you giving her water? I would try getting her to eat some greens washed/ or rinsed before serving- 3 calci worms is not alot are you also feeding small crickets -- if you have any questions please ask we are all here to help the baby-- any websites you need for ordering like roaches worms etc please ask
Karrie
I’m an exotic tech who works with an exotic vet, so her care is one of the best she can get ?.

I’ve been on this site lurking for years. But I hardly post for help since none of my kids usually end up getting sick or needing help (besides you Ziva. I’m looking at you you crazy dragon) and even if they do get sick their vets a text away.

3 calci worms was all she would take last night, and I don’t blame her. She had a really hard and stressful day. I was surprised she ate at all. I’ve also got benbac probiotics, and carnivor critical care as well if needed.

As far as feeders I have it all. Caci worms, butter worms, dubia roaches, silk worms, horn worms you name it. I just put in a new order for more calci worms as well since all my reptiles seem to be wanting those right now. Thankfully mulberry farms is close by that usually they come with in a few days.

She’s getting daily soaks of 30 mins, and readily drinks during her soaks. We’ve got sub-q fluid on stand by in case it comes to that point.

She’s been with me for less than 24hrs at this point so she’s still adjusting and settling in.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Oh good she is in good hands then -- good luck w/ her and keep us posted on her progress
Karrie
 

GeckoGarden

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2alfnqiq said:
Oh good she is in good hands then -- good luck w/ her and keep us posted on her progress
Karrie
Thanks so much for worrying over her!! ??
I’m off the next three day’s so she’s gonna have me home all day for her. I just got word that she was with her new owners for a week. I’m wondering if she didn’t eat the entire time. I’m really glad they noticed she wasn’t eating and brought her back, if not I’m sure she would have died.

Right now she’s basking and has her eyes open so I’m hopeful.
 

GeckoGarden

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Well guys she may be a foster fail. When I was telling my roommates about my coworker who wanted her they got upset that we where not the first home to be considered for her home. ?

She saw her vet today for an over all check up, since her face was so swollen and she had possible RI signs. Good news is it’s just a vitamin a deficiency so no antibiotics needed for her tinny tinny system!

Her new shipment of bugs came into day, hopefully she’ll start eating them on her own. She’s such an angry baby.
 

GeckoGarden

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
She took live food today. ?? I’m so happy she’s finally feeling well enough to hunt. She’s even exploring her cage like a normal baby.
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
She's lucky she's got you to take such good care of her. The photos look like she may have a good chance of pulling through, and the way you say things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if her "foster" home turns out to be permanent, so would that be such a bad thing? :)

BTW, I was a lurker on this website for maybe a year, then finally got on and started posting stuff. Lately I've been almost completely absent for about 2 years, but we still have Puff the "magic" (bearded) dragon, and we're still managing to keep him reasonably healthy despite a few close calls with adenovirus.

Good luck with your "foster" (or adoption, however it goes). :wink:
 

GeckoGarden

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
SHBailey":conbw2cq said:
She's lucky she's got you to take such good care of her. The photos look like she may have a good chance of pulling through, and the way you say things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if her "foster" home turns out to be permanent, so would that be such a bad thing? :)

BTW, I was a lurker on this website for maybe a year, then finally got on and started posting stuff. Lately I've been almost completely absent for about 2 years, but we still have Puff the "magic" (bearded) dragon, and we're still managing to keep him reasonably healthy despite a few close calls with adenovirus.

Good luck with your "foster" (or adoption, however it goes). :wink:

Puff is still with us!!! ? That makes me happy to hear. It’s been so long since I’ve really been active it makes me wonder how many of the people I once chatted with are around.

Yeah she’s uh, well pretty much a foster fail at this point. I caught myself looking at custom 75 gallon or larger cages last night and wondering if I could convince my dad to make me yet another cage haha. He built Zivas custom cage and my hedgehogs custom cage.

She ate three crickets and two soldier fly grub on her own last night.

Today after her warm soak she ate two crickets, so she’s slowly turning into a proper baby. She still doesn’t trust me fully and does the whole side curve, flatten out puff up and open mouth at me. I’ll be offering more food during the day to see if she wants to eat more.

My old dragons passed of either cancer or old age, so Beardie is no longer with me due to cancer and Magenta passed in her sleep of old age.

Until two years ago I didn’t think I’d ever get another one then I walked into Petco for cat food and saw someone had left Ziva there and after talking with my roommates I went back after dinner and got her. She’s also got her health issues so now between this baby and her I’ve got my hands full!
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
Yes, after being almost totally inactive for 2 years I've noticed that there's a whole new crop of people on here, and some of the ones I used to chat with are also absent.

If you're shopping for a larger cage she's probably moving in for good. Once you give her a name that will probably pretty much cinch it. :) I would suppose she'll get tame once she realizes that you're the one feeding her and that you're not hurting her.

Puff's had a cancer scare with a lump in his wrist, but it turned out to be benign -- apparently an old injury that became inflamed. He's a klutz so I've got his tank full of soft things now -- he'll have to get really creative if he wants to hurt himself again.

I hope that when his time comes that it will be easy, peaceful, and painless for him like it apparently was for Magenta. He is about 8 years old now and our reptile vet says that in her experience, they're usually getting pretty geriatric by the time they get into the double digits. Puff will be our last beardie -- I will have to resist the temptation to get another one because I suffer from episodes of depression and my husband gets stuck with all the hard work because beardies need to be taken care of whether their human slaves are up to it or not. It wouldn't be fair to my husband for us to get any more little critters after this one, once we've fulfilled our obligation to make Puff's life as happy and healthy as we can manage for whatever time he has left.

We love him in the meantime. It's amazing how they work their way into your heart.

Basking and giving you "The Look" -- looks like you have a typical normal healthy beardie now. :lol:
 

GeckoGarden

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
SHBailey":2iw6hwwx said:
Yes, after being almost totally inactive for 2 years I've noticed that there's a whole new crop of people on here, and some of the ones I used to chat with are also absent.

If you're shopping for a larger cage she's probably moving in for good. Once you give her a name that will probably pretty much cinch it. :) I would suppose she'll get tame once she realizes that you're the one feeding her and that you're not hurting her.

Puff's had a cancer scare with a lump in his wrist, but it turned out to be benign -- apparently an old injury that became inflamed. He's a klutz so I've got his tank full of soft things now -- he'll have to get really creative if he wants to hurt himself again.

I hope that when his time comes that it will be easy, peaceful, and painless for him like it apparently was for Magenta. He is about 8 years old now and our reptile vet says that in her experience, they're usually getting pretty geriatric by the time they get into the double digits. Puff will be our last beardie -- I will have to resist the temptation to get another one because I suffer from episodes of depression and my husband gets stuck with all the hard work because beardies need to be taken care of whether their human slaves are up to it or not. It wouldn't be fair to my husband for us to get any more little critters after this one, once we've fulfilled our obligation to make Puff's life as happy and healthy as we can manage for whatever time he has left.

We love him in the meantime. It's amazing how they work their way into your heart.

Basking and giving you "The Look" -- looks like you have a typical normal healthy beardie now. :lol:


For now I’ve been calling her Spitfire. So yeah I think we are stuck with her haha. She’s currently crawling around and exploring again. That’s her name on my account at work haha
 
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