Jace, Zy, Sorin, Ava, Nissa, Koth, & Phoenix -->Vet Update

Hello,
My name is Liz and I have been a member of this website for a year now. I have had another blog about my reptilian babies (http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=185026), but am starting a new one. I want to start the new year with a clean slate - especially since it will also start with a new moon. I want to move on from the problems of the past and look forward to the new adventures that lie ahead.
A little about me: I'm twenty-two years old and am an author - (A Shadow's Lullaby by: E. Rexer). I go to Western New England as a Creative Writing major with a minor in Philosophy. I own six reptiles, three bearded dragons and three leopard geckos. I have been with my boyfriend, Paul, for four years. I currently work two jobs - Heritage Woods (assistant living) and Table and Vine (liquor store) though I did try to quit Heritage Woods and was guilt tripped into working there per diem (once a month). I will be putting in my two weeks notice with them in February. Unfortunately it is a sad job and emotionally I cannot handle it anymore. Table and Vine doesn't give me the hours I would like, but I worked out a deal with my grandfather that will help me out financially. Now enough about me.

 

[Reptiles4Life]

oh well it was a pretty good deal i guess.

 

[zandi202]

Don't get me wrong, it is, just not for the monster. :lol:

 

[zandi202]

And the guests have left the building. It's so surreal.

 

[zandi202]

So I have class today and then head out straight to work. Never fun. I work 4-10 and I'm willing to bet it will be a long, dull night. We're also supposed to get snow some time today. If it snows bad enough and/or the store is dead enough we get to close early. Thankfully Paul will be taking care of the reptiles tonight while I work.

I feel like the list of homework assignments is never ending. As soon as one thing gets finished another has taken its place. No time for a breather. Just stress stress stress.

 

[zandi202]

Ava ate another super today so that makes 5 worms in 4 days. I'm really proud of her. I can't wait to see how much weight she will have gained by the ext weigh in. Who knows, maybe she'll actually grow some length wise. Would be nice. She's walking around better too.

 

[zandi202]

The beardies are doing well. Sorin didn't escape yesterday, but I assume that might be also because he didn't poop yesterday. He felt no need to run away from it. Jace and Zy have been eating like monsters, but that's a good thing. I feel like now they're at a proper weight.

The leos have been doing well, especially Ava. She's eaten seven worms in five days - so not like her. Nissa just finished up a shed so she hasn't been hungry. For those who don't know, leos eat their shed. And Koth - I don't know why his eating pattern has been so scattered.

Work last night wasn't bad and I signed up for four Sunday shifts so I hope I get those as Sunday pays time and a half which is a really nice bonus. I might pick up hours this summer and work at the assistant living place. It really depends on how my hours are at Table and Vine which will probably still be pretty slow. I won't overwork myself over the summer like I did when I was on winter vacation with 60+ hours some weeks. Maybe just calculate to find out how many hours I need to work to make $200 a week or something.

I'll also have two summer classes - both will be philosophy and assuming I pass those, I will only have three classes to take in the fall and they will just be english courses. Then I believe I will get my diploma at the end of the fall semester and Paul and I should both be walking together on graduation day.

I really need to figure out what I'm going to do as a job for the rest of my life. I wouldn't mind continuing to work at Table and Vine to help supplement Paul's huge paychecks, but I don't even always make $100 a week there - haven't since Christmas season ended. I like to think I'll find something, I just need to find that something.

 

[zandi202]

Warning, these pictures might be too tough for some people to look at:
So Paul's sister (Sam) and I went to hang out. She needed to run some errands and to kill time while waiting for her meds, she wanted to go to Dave's Soda and Pet Food City. I HATE HATE HATE that place with a burning passion and agreed to go despite my better judgement.
Well, I hesitantly rushed over to the reptiles - not wanting to see the atrocities they had committed, but wanting to make sure the babies were all right. That's when Sam pointed out the true fire skink. You all know I used to own Kristine's TFS, Vrasaka, and how close I am to TFS. Anyways, I honestly thought that this TFS was dead. I couldn't see any sign of life - eyes were closed and no breathing.

He looked dehydrated and skinny. I called over an employee to tell them I think the TFS is dead and they go no, he sleeps that way and wakes him up to prove it. Well, I texted Kristine and she agreed to pay me back for him and everything he needed to get him to of that sh*t hole of a store and she and Jeremy would take him.
So while waiting to locate an employee, we met a nice family and started talking bearded dragons. We got into a huge discussion and I gave them a lot of advice and recommended this website which they have visited before which is good. They were really nice people. Anyways, while talking to them an employee finally showed up (probably after overhearing me telling them a better and cheaper way to feed and care for their beardie without shopping here). I told him I wanted the TFS and he said okay. I'm pretty sure he had never handled a TFS in his life. He dusts the TFS off and shows us his tail and explains it was because this TFS was caught in the wild. That's right, the wild. And now his tail is all messed up.

Everything there was too expensive so we ran over to Petco and an employee there was helping us and wanted a look at him. I have never seen an employee so appalled before. Ever. She turned him over to get a look underneath and this is what we saw:

I almost broke into tears and gagged on the spot. The picture does not show this well at all. It is one of the most disgusting thing I had ever seen on a reptile. It looks so terrible. You can see the damage on his tail which is what I'm pretty sure they caught him by and so much shed and retained shed. How he's alive right now, I don't know. Not one employee could believe this when they saw hime.
So we got everything and brought him home. I set up one of the old 10 gallons I have and got it all good to go and place him in it. He looked around and explored. I sprayed him a little with the water bottle and he seemed to have really enjoyed that.
He really loved to be held and petted. He's burrowing under the fake plant right now. The pet store employee said he doesn't like to dig which is why they gave him nothing to dig in. Liars. He also ate a super which I dusted with calcium. Will try again with another one tomorrow and I'm going to use a toothbrush and see what I can do about all of that retained shed. I'm calling animal control tomorrow about this. I am so disgusted.

He's very small:

This is what a healthy TFS looks like (Vraska):

We named him Phoenix so that, just like the bird, he will rise out of the ashes and become beautiful and whole once again. He is so sweet despite everything that as happened.

 

[chastityx]

oh my gosh that poor baby.that tail looks so bad. i would have suckered my husband into taking it home too. i try not to look too much at the animals anymore at any pet store. fortunately for me our petco got a new reptile employee who has been ordering different reptiles, and they all look way better than they used to. no sickly leos(which is how i got 3 of my girls as you know). all your babies look great and i know that little one will do much better with you.

 

[zandi202]

Thanks, Chastityx. I really wish I could keep him, but I know he's going to a good home with Kristine and her family.

 

[zandi202]

I called animal cruelty and left a message with my number and brief statement about Phoenix. They won't be able to get back to me until 9am Monday. At least he is out of harms way.

By the way, the pet store employee was a liar. He doesn't like to burrow my butt. He's done nothing but burrow since we got him home and he found out he could. He needs more than a ¼" of straw of dirt to burrow in.

He is already starting to look better. The moisture of the dirt is helping him with his dead skin. I haven't checked on him since showing him to Paul last night - let's see what he's up to...

So, I unburied him, sprayed down his cage, and tried using a toothbrush to remove some of the old shed because it looks like he is already starting a new shed. After that I tried to feed him - he wasn't interested. Then we cuddled. We actually cuddled. Vraska took weeks and weeks of handling before she finally settled down and this guy who is "wild caught" settled right onto my arm and allowed to me pet him and inspect him. Such a beautiful and sweet animal and what that store did to him is unforgivable. I am so happy I reported them. No animal deserves to be treated this way, but these people do.

 

[Reptiles4Life]

I agree the should not have animals if the can not take good care of them all together. He was in bad shape it looks like i am so glad he went to a better home cause he really did not need that store they were just cutting his life shorter!!!!!!! He is so cute though!

 

[zandi202]

He is. And he's so gosh darn lovable.

Stores like this are disgusting. Not even my Petco or PetSmart are this bad. Not even close.

 

[hoopyscoop]

I can't contain the anger right now against that petstore. I hope they get shut down!

But he sure is a cutie! Phoenix, what a wonderful name.
Tell him hoopy sends hugs.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm just astonished that poor wee man is still alive and that he's thriving, but so glad to hear it. What abysmal conditions he had to endure and that tail But he's in good hands now & I'm glad that Kristine will be able to take him in, he'll have a great home.

I'm glad you went in when you did, Liz, or Phoenix wouldn't be alive today, bless you. And I'm sure glad you called Animal Control. Hopefully they'll be able to do something about the conditions there & you have pictures, which will help.

 

[zandi202]

Hoopy:
I hope they do too. I've only been there one other time and when I had, their was a dead bearded dragons in the cage with a missing leg, another beardie with a kink in their tail, and another one missing part of their tail. And they were so so tiny. This store is worse than any Petco or PetSmart in my area. Not that that's saying much because those stores are all right - except PetSmart - I don't like how tiny their cages are for the reptiles. Anyways...

Thanks, he is a cutie, and so sweet. He's really grown on me.

Deb:
I am too, Deb. Every time I go to check on him I hold my breath - so afraid that's he's already taken his last. It doesn't help that he doesn't mind being poked or prodded and doesn't move when I do unearth him. He really has no care in the world.

I really hope that Phoenix will get better. Every time I go to work with him, I notice more things wrong than right.

Vet Appointment:
So I took money out of my savings and decided to make Phoenix a vet appointment. Yesterday while I was cuddling him and showing him to Paul, I noticed so many things wrong.
1. A toe on his right front looks broken
2. All of the nails on his front foot are curved and twisted
3. Doesn't look like he has any nails on his back legs
4. His tail, which looks so so bad, doesn't bother him when I touch it so I can't help but wonder if it is because he can't feel anything down there and I want to make sure it isn't infected.
5. His back right leg has trouble moving. He'll drag it along with him until he HAS to move it and when he does move it, it is painfully exaggerated.

I fed him last night after I got out from work. He ate for large superworms which are so big compared to his head size, but he'll only it the big ones. I didn't feed him anymore after that because I didn't want to upset his stomach. After that I took him out to cuddle and this poor boy tried so hard to climb up my arm, but couldn't because of his nails being curled and no nails in the back. Vraska used to leave my arm covered in bright red marks. Not this boy.

One the flip side, all of my babies are doing well. Eating and thriving. Ava gained two grams with all of the eating she has done, but she still has at least another 8 grams to go because I'll be al right with her weight.