Gail
BD.org Addict
EDIT: She has a name! Welcome Pele, Goddess of fire and volcanoes.
This isn't your typical rescue story, she didn't come from abusive or neglectful owners. She didn't have MBD or any other obvious illness. Instead she was a failure to thrive and the breeder asked me to take her to see what I could. This was about a week before Christmas.
I didn't really want another dragon but Barney had been brumating for over 2 months and I missed having a dragon to care for so I agreed.
She was placed in my hands, cold and dark. Not skinny but obviously not well either. I brought her home and put her in Barneys big tank. I immediately seen her display the same signs the breeder told me about. Not wanting to bask, not wanting any UVB, not eating. I'd put her under the heat just to have her jump off and hide again, so I'd catcher her and back under the light she would go just to have her hide again. This was constant for the first few days, I was lucky if I could keep her under the heat for more then 2 minutes at time. I resorted to warming her up with frequent baths.
I also started hand feeding her roaches, I have pretty good technique for force feeding them without causing undue stress. So this is how it was for the first couple of weeks, hand feeding around 5 roaches a day and constantly trying to keep her warm to digest.
She would have good days, basking on her own and even eating a couple roaches from her dish so I stopped hand feeding, only to have her sleep for a week. At this point I started her on baby food instead of roaches, it was easier to get more food in her and I figured easy to digest. This worked for a few days and she started to feel better when she went back to sleeping alot with no energy.
I had almost given up on her, she was showing signs of sever dehydration even with frequent baths and hand fed water. She stopped being happy, turned nearly black, wouldn't eat and stopped moving. If it was a adult dragon, I would have suspected brumation as she was acting just like Barney when he went down for the winter.
I figured she lost the will to live so I was in the process of deciding if I was going to have her put to sleep. I still offered her food but stopped hand feeding, she didn't want to live and I could stand forcing her anymore.
Then a few days ago I found her basking, so she got a bath and drank a bunch of water. She seemed to be feeling better so I offered some food which she ate right up. The next day, the same thing except she ate a roach while I was holder her! I couldn't believe it. I knew she ate bugs on her own sometimes but she never let me see her doing it. Now she is eating at least 10 dubia a day, all on her own and is basking most of the day by herself. The bast news of all is I can tell she is putting on weight and her head is going into shed!
In the 5 weeks I've had her, she hasn't so much as gained a gram but in the past 4 days, she has put on weight. I don't know what changed or why she has decided to live but she will have a home with me forever now.
I didn't name her as I tried not to get attached but she deserves a name now. Keep in mind she is between 4-6 months old and only around 8 inches.
This is a horrible picture, she is really dark. I'll try to get one of her pretty colors and face when I have her out later.
This isn't your typical rescue story, she didn't come from abusive or neglectful owners. She didn't have MBD or any other obvious illness. Instead she was a failure to thrive and the breeder asked me to take her to see what I could. This was about a week before Christmas.
I didn't really want another dragon but Barney had been brumating for over 2 months and I missed having a dragon to care for so I agreed.
She was placed in my hands, cold and dark. Not skinny but obviously not well either. I brought her home and put her in Barneys big tank. I immediately seen her display the same signs the breeder told me about. Not wanting to bask, not wanting any UVB, not eating. I'd put her under the heat just to have her jump off and hide again, so I'd catcher her and back under the light she would go just to have her hide again. This was constant for the first few days, I was lucky if I could keep her under the heat for more then 2 minutes at time. I resorted to warming her up with frequent baths.
I also started hand feeding her roaches, I have pretty good technique for force feeding them without causing undue stress. So this is how it was for the first couple of weeks, hand feeding around 5 roaches a day and constantly trying to keep her warm to digest.
She would have good days, basking on her own and even eating a couple roaches from her dish so I stopped hand feeding, only to have her sleep for a week. At this point I started her on baby food instead of roaches, it was easier to get more food in her and I figured easy to digest. This worked for a few days and she started to feel better when she went back to sleeping alot with no energy.
I had almost given up on her, she was showing signs of sever dehydration even with frequent baths and hand fed water. She stopped being happy, turned nearly black, wouldn't eat and stopped moving. If it was a adult dragon, I would have suspected brumation as she was acting just like Barney when he went down for the winter.
I figured she lost the will to live so I was in the process of deciding if I was going to have her put to sleep. I still offered her food but stopped hand feeding, she didn't want to live and I could stand forcing her anymore.
Then a few days ago I found her basking, so she got a bath and drank a bunch of water. She seemed to be feeling better so I offered some food which she ate right up. The next day, the same thing except she ate a roach while I was holder her! I couldn't believe it. I knew she ate bugs on her own sometimes but she never let me see her doing it. Now she is eating at least 10 dubia a day, all on her own and is basking most of the day by herself. The bast news of all is I can tell she is putting on weight and her head is going into shed!
In the 5 weeks I've had her, she hasn't so much as gained a gram but in the past 4 days, she has put on weight. I don't know what changed or why she has decided to live but she will have a home with me forever now.
I didn't name her as I tried not to get attached but she deserves a name now. Keep in mind she is between 4-6 months old and only around 8 inches.
This is a horrible picture, she is really dark. I'll try to get one of her pretty colors and face when I have her out later.
