Hello, everyone! Some of you know my Gem from her ER thread, but if you don't, you will soon. 
Gematria was a rescue (I definitely consider her one) that I found on Craigslist. After e-mailing the owner, I got an (obviously out-of-date) photograph of a healthy-looking but obviously annoyed dragon.
So, we went to meet the owner. After examining the dragon, I couldn't see anything that couldn't be fixed immediately. But, after interrogating the owner (who, mind you, thought she was in perfect health) we learned that she'd been put on sand and eating bugs from OUTSIDE. I knew that I had to take her home, so I paid the guy the $100 for her and all her stuff.
Upon arriving home, I did a quick inventory.
- 1 55 gallon tank, complete with poo and sand. Nice.
- 1 heat rock (threw that away....)
- 1 water dish, complete with algae! and a water pump to make it bubble. (That thing was caked with algae)
- 1 food dish, complete with dried poo and carrots (yummy)
- 1 hide, which was way too small
- 1 light fixture with a blown bulb (useful)
- 2 UVB fixtures, with the glass still over the bulb, and a bulb that put out 2% UVB (also useful)
- 2 thermometers, one a stick-on that doesn't work, the other so caked with sand and dirt that I had to throw it away because the buttons wouldn't push and it was trying to tell me my room was 34*F
Then there's the dragon herself. Obviously female, but she'd never been handled or bathed, and had obvious MBD. After removing some yellow scab substance from her mouth, I found two sores on the inside of her lip. I knew that she had to have parasites, considering her conditions. She definitely wasn't underweight, at least. I also found a large lump on her right ankle which we haven't identified yet.
We made her a vet appointment (for 3:00 today) and tried to treat what we could. I put Hibiclens (which is like Betadine) on her mouth sores, got some babyfood into her, and wrapped her in a towel.
She was vicious, gaping at everything and anything, hissing, trying to bite, bearding, the whole 9 yards. However, as I type, two days after buying her, she sits in my lap in her 'security towel' (she freaks if she's completely exposed to the air). She has learned to tolerate me after I talked and read to her (yes, read to her).
Since she had no name before, I decided to call her Gematria, or Gem. Her head is simply beautiful, yellow with orange and red in the beard, with golden eyes. The rest of her is grey, but that will change in time, I'm sure.
Soon, we'll be headed out for the vet.
I will definitely post updates on that.
Jacqui
Gematria was a rescue (I definitely consider her one) that I found on Craigslist. After e-mailing the owner, I got an (obviously out-of-date) photograph of a healthy-looking but obviously annoyed dragon.
So, we went to meet the owner. After examining the dragon, I couldn't see anything that couldn't be fixed immediately. But, after interrogating the owner (who, mind you, thought she was in perfect health) we learned that she'd been put on sand and eating bugs from OUTSIDE. I knew that I had to take her home, so I paid the guy the $100 for her and all her stuff.
Upon arriving home, I did a quick inventory.
- 1 55 gallon tank, complete with poo and sand. Nice.
- 1 heat rock (threw that away....)
- 1 water dish, complete with algae! and a water pump to make it bubble. (That thing was caked with algae)
- 1 food dish, complete with dried poo and carrots (yummy)
- 1 hide, which was way too small
- 1 light fixture with a blown bulb (useful)
- 2 UVB fixtures, with the glass still over the bulb, and a bulb that put out 2% UVB (also useful)
- 2 thermometers, one a stick-on that doesn't work, the other so caked with sand and dirt that I had to throw it away because the buttons wouldn't push and it was trying to tell me my room was 34*F
Then there's the dragon herself. Obviously female, but she'd never been handled or bathed, and had obvious MBD. After removing some yellow scab substance from her mouth, I found two sores on the inside of her lip. I knew that she had to have parasites, considering her conditions. She definitely wasn't underweight, at least. I also found a large lump on her right ankle which we haven't identified yet.
We made her a vet appointment (for 3:00 today) and tried to treat what we could. I put Hibiclens (which is like Betadine) on her mouth sores, got some babyfood into her, and wrapped her in a towel.
She was vicious, gaping at everything and anything, hissing, trying to bite, bearding, the whole 9 yards. However, as I type, two days after buying her, she sits in my lap in her 'security towel' (she freaks if she's completely exposed to the air). She has learned to tolerate me after I talked and read to her (yes, read to her).
Since she had no name before, I decided to call her Gematria, or Gem. Her head is simply beautiful, yellow with orange and red in the beard, with golden eyes. The rest of her is grey, but that will change in time, I'm sure.
Soon, we'll be headed out for the vet.
I will definitely post updates on that.
Jacqui
