I found a beardie and tank in dumpster ! HELP !!

[Aznrainbowdime]

Ok I'm still in a complete shock. I went to take out the trash this morning and saw a car pull up with the trunk open. They looked somewhat suspicious but then again, we were at my apartment dumpster so I ignored them. They seemed to have alot to 'throw out' . I went back to the house and realized I had another bag of trash so I went back. What I saw then blew me away... there I saw a 75 gal tank, I walked closer thinking "hmm.. this is a pretty decent tank, why would someone throw it away!" Then I walked closer... there, I saw a beautiful but skinny beardie scared to death in the corner. I panicked and looked around, I thought someone might've left it by accident, then I remember the car with the trunk open... they had dumped their beardie . Without a 2nd though I managed to half carry/drag it back to my apt. The tank was sooo dirty and stinky... I didnt know where to start ! I cleaned it up, scrubbed it, washed.. let's just say it took me nearly 2 hours to completely clean and disinfect it. THe poor dragon was in the corner scared out of his ( i checked, it's a boy ) mind. ! I picked him up and gave him a warm bath and he had LAYERS AND LAYERS or dirt come off of him.. and he was freaking out the entire time !!! I felt so bad... after the warm bath I put him in a beardie burrito but he was so distraught that he managed to jump off of me and run into a corner. I put out some fresh veggies with worms and within seconds the dish touched the ground, he ran up to it and chowed down !! I felt so bad.. I cried the whole time ! How could somebody have done this !!! There was NOTHING in his tank.. so I had some of MJ's old viv furniture and put it in his tank. Evertime I would come close to him, he would flinch as if he is traumatized by humans ! He must've been abused by his previous owners !

He is now sleeping on m y lap wrapped in a soft cloth... poor baby. Im pretty sure no one is gonna come looking for him. I've never rescued ANYTHING in my life before... I'm just grateful that this was a beardie not another type of reptile I"m not familiar with.

What should I do now ? I don't have the money to take him to a vet for a check up to make sure he doesnt have anything ! Please help I'm as freaked out as the poor baby right now ! I feel so lost !! OH and MJ is FREAKING OUT... she's been black bearding the minute I brought him home and refused to eat anthing ! I'm just a complete mess ! Please help on any advise !

Mods.. if this needs to be moved to Beardie Rescue please do so, I just wanted to post this somewhre where there is alot of traffic so I can hget as much help and advise ! My camera is broken right now, I couldnt take pics of his tank before my 2 hour scrub and clean and his condition before the bath. Please help !

 

[CrystalReptile]

Oh my goodness!!!! I cant not belive someone would do that!!!!! Thank you for helping this poor baby! I'm not really sure what you should do with the whole vet thing, but mabey you could get some wax worms to fatten him up if hes really skinny. and you might not want to hold him that much if he is stressed out. and can he and MJ see eachother? you might want to put up something so they cant. Good luck!

 

[Bellalee]

Bless you for taking him... I can't even believe that whole story, that's ridiculous. I can offer no help though..

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Hey,
Just take care of the pooper the right way, and work with him. See how hedoes and see if you need a vet later.

 

[DeweysMom]

Awesome job on you for taking this poor guy in. Hopefully he'll rebound and become a healthy and happy dragon with some TLC.

Do you think if you called your normal vet and explained the situation to them that they might be able to do a check up for free or at least work out a payment plan for you (if you're intending on keeping him)? I know one of my vets has done this in the past for a friend of mine (we go to the same vet). Aside from that I really don't know what to offer for advice. Please keep us in the loop on how he adjusts.

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

Thank you guys for all the advise ! I'm definately keeping him ... I don't care if he was 'accidently' thrown away and if the owner comes looking for him !! He's in good hands now =) . I just went to petsmart to get some more wax worms and super worms to fatten him up !
I think its a good idea about the vet thing, I'll call him to see if there is any other option. As skinny as he is, he is pretty heatlhy.. I mean no sores or cuts or any visible wounds... no MBD that I can see.

I'm gonna cover the sides of MJ's tank so she can't see him... poor baby, she was so stressed out when she saw that her mommy had another beardie in her hands (when I was bathing him).. she turned dark immediately with stress marks ! Jealous brat ! lol. gosh I'm so overwhelmed right now.. I know 2 beardies isn't alot to many people on here but I wasn't PREPARED for a 2nd beardie... NOT AT ALL ! Right now they're both sleeping on my bed and they just look so peaceful . I just can't believe someone could do such a thing ! Ugh that makes me so mad ! I"m just soooo relieved that I was the one who found him !

Well I'm off to making salads for my poopers now ... it feels weird knowin there's 2 ! lol

 

[Hopefulresearch]

Are you gonna keep him?

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

Oh another thing I forgot to add... right now I"m using a regular household bulb for his basking spot. I thought I had an extra UVB bulb but as I tried to turn it on just now (after I left Petsmart)... it blew !! Would he be fine without UVB for a day or two?

Are you gonna keep him?

Yeah I'm gonna keep him. He's been stressed out all day.. and finally calmed down when he fell asleep. Just now he woke up out of no where... looked up at me and slowly crawled toward my lap and fell back asleep. I'm already attached.

 

[crickest]

First, take a deep breath and remember that things happen for a reason. Thank everything you were the one who found him when you did. Remember to breathe. Two are not much more work than one.

Second. You should be okay with no UVB until you can get one ordered and shipped, even if it takes a week or so to get the bulb. You might look at the Megaray, since he is in a 75 gallon. How big is he? You might want to go easy on the protein for a couple of days, since you don't know what he's been eating and you don't want to damage his kidneys. Give him salads until he is pooping regularly, then you can give him more protein.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

WOW, that is crazy!!! People make me sick! Please keep us up to date!

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

First, take a deep breath and remember that things happen for a reason. Thank everything you were the one who found him when you did. Remember to breathe. Two are not much more work than one.

Second. You should be okay with no UVB until you can get one ordered and shipped, even if it takes a week or so to get the bulb. You might look at the Megaray, since he is in a 75 gallon. How big is he? You might want to go easy on the protein for a couple of days, since you don't know what he's been eating and you don't want to damage his kidneys. Give him salads until he is pooping regularly, then you can give him more protein.

I was finally able to breathe when he fell asleep . Ok a week or so without UVB is fine , that's great, because when I was at petsmart, they were out of UVB (Mj needs a new bulb), and all they had was REPTI GLO.. so I was gonna order online for her... and him too now.

Ok I'll focus more on salads for now until I see poop. Gosh this is a nightmare !! Thanks so much... I'll definately keep you guys updated! Hopefully I'll get my camera phone fixed soon so I can post the pics up.

 

[Smerf]

Wow what a sad story with a happy ending. Glad you found him. Good luck and let us know what happens!

 

[spurlee01]

Geez that it crazy! I'm glad you found him!

 

[beardie parents]

I just found this and read your original post to my husband. He was soo upset, I've never seen him that upset. Most people would throw the beardie away and keep the tank for resale. You are lucky that you found him with such a good tank. That's a size I'd like, but finding one around here is almost impossible.

It sounds like he's bonding with you, if he crawled on you after sleeping with you for awhile. I agree, wait on the protein. I remember reading that you could start him with baby food and then go with the protein baby food after a few days. Tracie (drache613) and diamc would be good to ask info about him. If I were you, I would talk to Bob and reptileuv.com. As suggested above, you could use a megaray on him. That would be the best with the size of tank you have for him. If you don't have a drop light that will handle it, we found one at Home Depot for about $15, more or less. It's terrific it's a ceramic fixture and is rated for 300 watts.

 

[Hopefulresearch]

Any pics? Also ... Merry Christmas! lol your early present.