I'm a Mommy Again!! Everyone Meet Ember & Introducing Kai!!

About a month ago I went to check out a clutch of babies at my local reptile store. I wasn't ready, but wanted to look. They were gorgeous! Fast forward to today, I called them and was told they only had one left. Was it a sign? Was this the one meant to be mine? I decided to go after work to see if it was still there and sure enough it was! Needless to say, I'm a new mommy!

I asked to hold it and as the owner of the shop took it out I asked if he could tell if it was male or female. He checked and is pretty sure it's a female. So for now, she's a she. A few seconds after I got her she licked my sweater and I was sold. I just adore that behavior.

On the ride home, she pooped in the container we were sent home with so I had to pull over to change the paper towel. When I got her home I put her right in her viv and she started moving around almost instantly. She started on the cool side, but quickly made her way over to the basking side. She also ate 20 phoenix worms for me.

She's very alert and seems to be very curious. She's been watching me and the dogs like a hawk every time we walk by her. One of the workers at the store said he was very surprised she was there so long and that she's a little ham. I can't wait until she's all settled in.

As for names, I really like Ember and Cinder, but I haven't decided officially yet.

Here are some pics.

 

[AHBD]

Those are really great pics, Ember is a doll ! Her tank looks very cozy, and so much for her to climb on, like a beardie parcourse ! As long as she doesn't get intimidated when you put new stuff in , I think it's great.

Good to hear that she's eating, sounds like she is doing really well. Don't worry too much about regular poos, she'll be fine, and the same with shedding....that's natural and not as hard on beardies as some think. A good soak every other day, and/or a light full body spritz in the tank will help her shed easily.

 

[Cenetri]

Great to hear that she's doing much better and eating on her own! Poor girl, having to shed yet again. They never stop growing, seems like they never catch a break!

I really like her tank set up, lots of stuffies and fluffies to keep her nice and cozy. You take such lovely pictures of her, love the morning routine, everyone needs a good yawn to get the day started! The dubia picture is so cute too, you can just see the hunger in her eyes - and tongue! :lol:

 

[Drache613]

Hello Mandy,

She is so cute! Those are great pictures! Was she stretching her beard & yawning? LOL
Her colors look wonderful too. I am glad that she is doing so much better now.
It looks like she is having fun playing & running around.
Her home looks great, a little playground for her. You will probably have to rearrange when she gets bigger but for now she has plenty of room.

Tracie

 

[DeweysMom]

I’m very happy to report that Ember has officially made a complete recovery from her parasite ordeal. She is now eating very well. Pooping regularly and growing like a weed! She’s still in the process of shedding. Her head still needs to finish as well as her beard, arms, and legs. She’s now a health 117g!

Here are some more recent pics of her.

From yesterday:








From Monday. Natural lighting to show her real colors after her shed.






Last week.









Outside time. I’m using an old ferret cage for her temporarily. As you can see, she can still squeeze through the wires so I still need to be extra diligent in watching her.







Lastly, a growth comparison. From the first week I got her to yesterday.



In other news. I came very close to rescuing a male beardie desperately in need of a new home. He is on Craigslist. An adult being housed in a 20g tank on sand being fed lettuce and pinkies. The man selling him was very fast in responding to all of my texts until I asked what type of UVB bulb he was using and mentioned that I needed to get him checked out by a vet. Since then, he hasn’t responded to my texts. It really breaks my heart seeing how badly these animals get mistreated. I really hope this boy will find his forever home soon. He desperately needs something better. For now I’m keeping my eyes open for another beardie in need. I know I can’t save them all, but I can save one!

 

[beardie parents]

Ember sure is cute. She has some real pretty colors. I'm curious to see what pattern she will have in a year or two. I noticed that she seemed to want to roam as she climbed out of her outside protection chamber. The little beardies, especially, love to roam. During Lil Squirts first months with us, she loved to climb the tree where her big sister, Rosie, would be sitting in the tree well, on the ground. Lil Squirt doesn't climb the tree anymore so I guess that's just a baby beardie thing. She will be 2 years old on Wednesday, June 18th.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Mandy,

Wonderful pictures of Ember!
She has great colors & has really gotten big now! I am so happy for her that she finally got over her parasite issues.
It looks like she loves to climb & she sure did squeeze herself through the bars!
Going onto Craigslist is very hard because there are so many that need to be rescued. I am sure you will find one to rescue one of these days!


Tracie

 

[DeweysMom]

So... I have big news to report! The rescue I wrote about last week found his way to me. With the help of a girl from a rescue group, she was able to get him for me. So far he's doing ok. He had a very rough weekend where he spent the majority of his time scratching and pacing in his cage, but since I taped some black paper on three sides of his tank he's settled down some. He's still scratching a bit, but nowhere near as much which is a good sign. He has a VERY healthy appetite. He eats most of his salad and loves to chase down his feeders. He is very feisty and very strong. I forgot just how strong they can be when they want to be.

Tomorrow he goes to the vet for a check up and we'll see what I'm dealing with. So far we know he's about 4 years old, been kept in a 20g tank, was on sand, and had no UVB for at least 1-2 years. Has a weird kink in his tail, a few random black scales, but aside from that he seems to be healthy considering. We'll see what the vet says tomorrow.

So, with all of that said... everyone meet Kai!





My main concern about bringing him home was the risk of yellow fungus. His hands freaked me out a bit, but it looks like it's just normal scale color. What do you think?








His weirdly bent tail.




We spent an hour and a half outside yesterday.


Clear and bright eyes!


And, lastly. Here's a pic from his Craigslist ad so you can see how he was being kept.

 

[CooperDragon]

"Get this, So I says to da guy..."

 

[diamc]

"Get this, So I says to da guy..."

That was perfect. :lol:

Kai is a very handsome guy, congratulations. Thanks for rescuing him. What a horrible looking setup he had, poor thing. He actually looks very well and you're right, the coloring on his feet looks fine, matches the rest of his color on his leg. And, he looks good considering the horrible care he had. Looks like he does have a kink in his tail but it shouldn't be too concerning. Good luck at the vet appointment.

 

[beardie parents]

He's cute! He looks good, all things considering.

 

[DeweysMom]

Happy to report that Kai had a really good vet check up today! The vet asked where I got him and I said Craigslist. She looked at Kai and asked him what he was doing on Craigslist and I told her he was being neglected an gave her the info I knew about him. She wasn't surprised. She sees cases like his frequently. So sad to hear that.

She did her exam and saw no signs of yellow fungus (sigh of relief for me). She was surprised he had no signs of MBD which is a good thing. She thinks his weird tail was caused by some kind of trauma when he was younger. His eyes looked great, his chest cavity sounded great. The only issues she saw was that his arms and legs are very skinny and lacked muscle and the grey scale patches I've been a little concerned about is retained shed. She said with proper nutrition, lighting, bathing, etc that he'll be getting now all of these issues should be resolved soon. She also recommended a QT period of 30 days and said that is enough time to see if anything else is wrong with him. I did drop off a sample for a fecal and they will call me when the results are in.

So overall, a very good first vet visit with Kai. He was looking very sleepy after his busy day out., but I wanted to give him a bath before putting him in his viv for the night. I also gave him a few dubia. The boy is such a chow hound!

Sorry this is so long. Just one more thing. We have to fill out a form with information about our setup, what we feed, etc. The vet walked in and looked at me, looked at her file, and asked if I had another beardie she's treated (this was only my 3rd time seeing her). I told her yes, I had Ember and gave her an update. She smiled and said that explains why my setup info looked so good. Always nice to have a little compliment.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad to hear his checkup went well. It sounds like you have a good vet too!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Mandy,

Kai looks great really for all he has been through! His set up was definitely less than stellar so he must feel like a king now! What a nice beard he has, he is happy bearding like that!
That is wonderful there were no signs of metabolic bone disease then, hopefully the UVB & supplementation will help him out. I think he is going to be just fine!
That had to have been a relief to not have to worry about yellow fungus then.

Let us know how he is doing. It sounds like he has a great appetite & is settling in with you. I bet he was tired after his outing for the day!

Tracie

 

[DeweysMom]

Just a quick update on Kai. He did test positive for pinworms so we'll be starting him on Panacur. He's much bigger than Ember was when she tested positive AND his levels are lower (she was 3+, he's 2+) so I'm hoping he'll rebound just fine. As for right now you would never know he has them. He's an eating fool! He LOVES food, salad included.

Yesterday I let him run around a bit in a room that Ember never goes in just so he could blow off some steam and get some exercise. He was very cautious at first, but slowly started to check things out. I took some pics, but haven't uploaded them to post here yet. I'll do that tonight.

 

[DeweysMom]

So Kai had his second dose of panacur tonight. He’s so easy to give it to. I just have to gently rub the side of his mouth and he opens it right up. So simple!

I’ve only had him for a week as of yesterday and he’s already made huge progress in the right direction. He’s much calmer in his cage now. He’s learning to enjoy being treated like a king. I’m so happy to be able to do this for him. I only wish I could rescue more!

Here are some new pics of my pair.

His first run around the room.






Outside on his one week anniversary.










And, lucky Ember who just finished shedding a week ago is already going through another shed. It’s a great sign of health though. She’s rebounding from her issues last month.


I have more to upload, but photobucket keeps freezing on me. Will try again tomorrow.