Bartleby218
Member
I rescued a 15 year old dragon from an owner who was giving her away on Craigslist. I thought she must be in decent condition with decent care if she’s lived to be so old, and I wanted to take her in since she probably doesn’t have much time left and it’s really sad that they have to give her away.
I took her in and quickly realized this was a very bad situation. The owner wasn’t even there, and had random friends taking care of her. I was given all of her things which were dirty (on ad it said they’d be cleaned) and 50% of the stuff was completely useless.
So apparently this woman had only had Ethel for a couple years, and she “rescued” her from a man who gave her no heat source and fed her only lettuce. I’m not sure when or if she’s ever had uvb in her life, in my opinion I think she’d be more deformed if she had really never ever had it.
The things they gave me were dusty calcium powders that hadn’t been touched in years, a red heat bulb with a dome fixture, a household bulb, dragon pellets, a turtle shell she cannot climb onto, dirty food bowl that I had to throw away immediately, and dirty reptile carpet that doesn’t even cover the full bottom of the tank. She told me she’s been keeping the red bulb on 24 hours a day...
She has a large chunk of her tail missing due to an infection from a bad shed, she’s supposedly been to the vet for it but it looks like it might still be infected. Her front legs and paws are very stiff and she walks on them like a gorilla with the top of her paw bent down and placed on the ground. She had pretty bad diarrhea her first night here, and she has overgrown raptor claws that get stuck in the reptile carpet. She’s also obese.
Now I didn’t realize this was going to be a rescue, so it’s taking me a couple days to get things together. I got her a huge uvb light the size of the enclosure and I have it shining inside the tank without screen covering it, I got her a basking bulb that I had as a spare for my beardie, and I ordered new reptile carpet that will fit properly and accessories that are accessible to her (they have steps) so she can bask.
I also am feeding her canned silk worms because there is absolutely no way she could catch live prey. I haven’t given her any protein yet though because she’s very overfed so all she’s had is my personal salad mix, since I figure I’ll be feeding her protein twice a week with salad every day except for one or two days where she isn’t fed at all (obese diet).
She has a vet appointment this week so I can see what needs to be done, but I wanted to ask you guys.
Am I on the right track? What else should I be doing/what are my next steps? I have no idea how she’s still alive but she can walk, she just has trouble getting around and can’t climb but still tries to. She’s prone to falling over I’ve learned since I got her (Thursday night) so I’m keeping things minimal in her tank. She also tries to eat fake plants if they have the fabric type leaves. Please leave any advice you have for Ethel’s enclosure or my care for her below, I’m new to caring for elderly/disabled dragons and am trying my best from my knowledge of dragon care.
I took her in and quickly realized this was a very bad situation. The owner wasn’t even there, and had random friends taking care of her. I was given all of her things which were dirty (on ad it said they’d be cleaned) and 50% of the stuff was completely useless.
So apparently this woman had only had Ethel for a couple years, and she “rescued” her from a man who gave her no heat source and fed her only lettuce. I’m not sure when or if she’s ever had uvb in her life, in my opinion I think she’d be more deformed if she had really never ever had it.
The things they gave me were dusty calcium powders that hadn’t been touched in years, a red heat bulb with a dome fixture, a household bulb, dragon pellets, a turtle shell she cannot climb onto, dirty food bowl that I had to throw away immediately, and dirty reptile carpet that doesn’t even cover the full bottom of the tank. She told me she’s been keeping the red bulb on 24 hours a day...
She has a large chunk of her tail missing due to an infection from a bad shed, she’s supposedly been to the vet for it but it looks like it might still be infected. Her front legs and paws are very stiff and she walks on them like a gorilla with the top of her paw bent down and placed on the ground. She had pretty bad diarrhea her first night here, and she has overgrown raptor claws that get stuck in the reptile carpet. She’s also obese.
Now I didn’t realize this was going to be a rescue, so it’s taking me a couple days to get things together. I got her a huge uvb light the size of the enclosure and I have it shining inside the tank without screen covering it, I got her a basking bulb that I had as a spare for my beardie, and I ordered new reptile carpet that will fit properly and accessories that are accessible to her (they have steps) so she can bask.
I also am feeding her canned silk worms because there is absolutely no way she could catch live prey. I haven’t given her any protein yet though because she’s very overfed so all she’s had is my personal salad mix, since I figure I’ll be feeding her protein twice a week with salad every day except for one or two days where she isn’t fed at all (obese diet).
She has a vet appointment this week so I can see what needs to be done, but I wanted to ask you guys.
Am I on the right track? What else should I be doing/what are my next steps? I have no idea how she’s still alive but she can walk, she just has trouble getting around and can’t climb but still tries to. She’s prone to falling over I’ve learned since I got her (Thursday night) so I’m keeping things minimal in her tank. She also tries to eat fake plants if they have the fabric type leaves. Please leave any advice you have for Ethel’s enclosure or my care for her below, I’m new to caring for elderly/disabled dragons and am trying my best from my knowledge of dragon care.