Mojo and his/her new life (long with questions)

[Realcaos]

Hi everyone! my name is heather. our beardie is mojo. mojo has a story. first we got him (as ive come to call him him yet still a little unsure) because we have wanted a lizard for awhile and with all the research decided that a beardie would fit well in our family. we had originally decided on ordering either a red or yellow from an online breeder. i also started searching a couple of ads online. a little over a week ago i came across an ad. everything beardie tank lights and decor. so i texted about him. after getting his pictures and asking all the questions. is he eating well how long is he has he been handled what color is he is he active. all the things that one i wanted to make sure i was going to look at a healthy active beardie and two wanted to know. made sure that he would have everything the first night at our home. all the question except color were answered so that i said yep we will take him.

mojos story
we get to the house and i was shocked. it was like being hit with a hammer. mojos tank was filthy. he had nothing to climb on. there was poop everywhere. he was livid. he bit the previous owner while i was there. which did not detour me because i had already been told he hadnt been handled much. there was very little water in his dish and what was there was disgusting. filled with sand and looked as though it hadnt been washed in months. i was told that he hadnt been eating greens much lately. but loved grapes. wouldnt eat the pellets. only superworms. this i hadnt been told but after seeing how he was living he was coming home with me regardless.
so mojo comes home. i was given 4 superworms until i could get to the local pet shop the next morning. i already had greens and veggies and fruit in the fridge. the first night he is mouth gapping and hissing. just majorly teed off in general. i didnt blame him i would be too. so i give him his worms and within seconds he had eaten all 4. so i took his dish and washed out all the sand and grime and filled it up with just chopped greens and a few pellets. within minutes he had finished off the bowl. so i got him one more. again with in minutes he had finished that. which led me to believe he was not being fed right to begin with. it was like he was starving. i told him that he could have more in the morning because i didnt want him to get a belly ache. the next morning he was sleeping. i thought he was dead. nothing i read prepared me for how heavily he sleeps. i tapped the side of the tank ... nothing. reached in and scratched his back and up he went gapping and hissing. after about an hour of being up i got his bowl and greens had him eating out of my hand. off to the pet shop. superworms crickets reptile carpet pellets with dried crickets powder calcium and a huge piece of wood. got him a variety of veggies fruits and greens at the grocery store. got home and started the process. i know that we were supposed to wait a week before handling but i was not going to leave him in the filth he was in. so with him gapping but no longer hissing at me i got him out and put him in a nice warm bath with some shed ease. he played and ran and just seemed to really enjoy it. i put him in a big tupperware container to let him dry while my husband stood guard and i cleaned his tank. i took an hour and a half to clean the tank and dishes. his water dish is actually a bluish green. got him all set up. im surprised he didnt go into shock. he climbed and licked everything. (should have named him gene or kiss lol) he did so well i decided that at night i would get him out. after the kids went to bed. we have had mojo about a week. he gets out every night. hes a couch lizard. loves to run around the couch and play catch me if you can. lol. he will run ill catch him he will sit in my lap for awhile run to my husband get a pet and run back to me. hes tame enough that the kids can hold him with supervision. he likes to sit on shoulders. he seems to be just all around happy. has not bit any of us. i like to believe he just knows hes in a better place.

questions about mojo
mojo is about 8-9 inches long i have no idea how old he is

1. i feed him twice a day. replenishing his greens and veggies. (he will not eat grapes. or strawberries. he likes blueberries and apples but that seems to be it) he will eat the superworms i give him about 12 a day a little more if they are small. he wont eat live crickets but will eat the dried ones. he hasnt eaten like he did the first night since we got him. he always has food and clean water now. is he getting enough? i dust his worms one feeding a day along with whatever gets on his salad in the process. the dust i got has vitamins as well. is that enough?
2. hes in the middle of shedding now since we got him really. ive been misting him a few times a day. he stands up as high as he can get and closes his eyes. hes been eating little pieces which i read is ok. but how long should it take for him to shed completely? alot has come off today.
3. i thought that he was a boy because he had the two bumps above his vent... after the first two days and eating greens regularly he pooped like 10 times a day and now those bumps are gone. could that just have been a little compaction from being in the sand and not having his bowls properly cleaned? im taking him into our pet shop tomorrow. theres a breeder that works there and he is going to give him a once over and sex him for me..he now poops 1-3 times a day.
4. just for reassurance for me because i didnt give him that week. did i do the right thing by getting everything cleaned up and letting him get out every night? he really does seem so much happier and he hasnt mouth gapped or hissed since that first day of having to clean up. he doesnt even breath hard unless he has ran the length of the couch a few times over. or theres a really fast movement.. more so with the kids. they get over excited sometimes.
5. i have no idea what kind he really is. if hes a normal or some kind of morph. ill post a better picture when he is done shedding but he always looks a different color. he has orange around his ears mouth and ears. he looks green most of the time but turns tan with a green tinge. any ideas?
6. last but not least. we keep it at 72 in our house. how long is he able to stay out of his tank and lights without it bothering him. hes been out up to 2 hours already and didnt seem to get to cold. runs around the couch and will cuddle up to me or my husband and rest then run some more.

if you made it through this whole thing... thank you. any advice or comments you can give me is appreciated. i love this little dude. and want another one. and may look into breeding them in the long run. but not until ive done my research on that. right now im happy with mojo being a part of the family.
mojo the night we brought him home


mojo after clean up but before his shedding today

 

[Taterbug]

What a handsome fellow, I'm sure he is happy to have a new home and family that will take care of him!

How are you measuring him, are you including the tail? From the picture with (your son?) he looks full grown or close to it. It's hard to guess at age though.

I can't scan your post so well on my phone so ill do my best shot. One thing I advise considering for a rescue is to get in touch with a good reptile vet. Some folks don't advise taking dragons in unless it's a problem, but especially if you don't have a lot of experience a good vet can help you with your rescue/rehab plan, and asses the dragons condition. Depending on his condition they may want to run blood work t check his organ function and screen for MDB (this is something I wish I had done with my rescue). Hopefully your breeder at the pet store is a good well educated one who can give you some good advise. If his poop is rank and runny and doesn't improve he may need treatment for parasites discus options and treatment plans with the vet. Some antibiotics are hard on them and not a good idea for a recovering rescue. The folks here can give some good advice on what to expect and discuss. I really stress finding a good vet since one who doesn't treat beardies frequently will likely do more harm than good.



1)it's great he is eating his salad. Hopefully he get interested in other live feeders too. You'll want to be careful offering too many superworms right away. They are fatty and the protein can be difficult for them if they have been without for a long time. It sounds like he was starving! He looks like he had some nutritional deficiencies, his lower jaw is a little deformed. Did he have good UVB? You'll need to be diligent with calcium dust, the vitamins are given 2x a week.

2) he will shed in patches and it can take a while on an older dragon. It's worse if he has been in poor conditions where his skin dried out or got very filthy. Keep up with the baths and don't pick at the sheds.

3) he is probably getting hydrated and possibly rebuilding the fat stores in his tail. Impaction is in the guts in his belly, not the tail. Usually 1 time per day is normal for poops. He might have parasites from his horrible environment or the stress of moving. Once he has settled in, like several weeks, you can take a fecal in to a vet or even get him a check up to assess his overall health. They can have lots of problems from stress so you want to wait until he has calmed down and adjusted.

4) you absolutely did the right thing getting him cleaned up. Being in a horrible tank is way worse than a little unwanted attention. You next step is to get his nutrition and health back up. The hissing and gaping were probably from fear and stress.

5) he is a normal

6) he ahold get at least an hour before and two hours after eating to digest properly. His digestive system may be sort of screwed up for a while from his previous care so give him plenty of time to bask. A few hours out won't be a problem. If he gets dark and slows down or finds a place to sleep put him up.

He looks very happy in those last two photos he is very lucky to have you.

 

[zandi202]

Well, that poor poor baby. People disgust me as do pet stores - I just recently, with the help of a good friend, rescued a true fire skink (his story is on my forum) from a local pet store because he looked dead and probably would have been in a couple of days otherwise. Anyways, back to your baby. At 8" they're about two months old and he should not be fed superworms until he is at least 15"-16" long.

1. Fruit should be a once a week treat. At this age, as already mention, he should be only eating crickets, dubia roaches, phoenix worms, baby hornworms, butter worms, and silk worms as well as greens. He should eat 80% protein and 20% greens until he is a year old and then the numbers switch.
2. He doesn't need a water dish. Most beardies don't drink from standing water. Instead a bath three times a week for 15-20 minutes will suffice as they absorb water from their vents and sometimes will drink in the bath.
3. Only the live feeders should be dusted. It should be calcium 5x a week and vitamins 2x a week. Then once they're a year old you switch to calcium 3x a week and vitamins 1x a week.
4. Do not mist as it can raise the humidity and cause upper respiratory infection which is a pricy vet bill. Instead give him baths more often. It depends on the beardie - some take forever and some are done in a day.
5. If you post a picture of his tail bent back (not too far back that it causes pain, just enough to emphasize possible bumps) and post it on here, we can help.
6. 1-3 times is about average. As he gets older he probably won't be pooping every day.
7. You did the right thing in cleaning him up. He needed it. Much more good than harm.
8. Looking at his pictures he is a normal.
9. Keep them out until they seem uncomfortable. He needs a minimum of 6 hours under his UVB a day and he needs 1 hour under the heat before eating and two hours after eating to properly digest so as long as that's accounted for, he'll be fine coming out whenever for however long.

He sure is a cutie and so big. Are you sure he's only 8-9"?
1. What substrate do you have?
2. What UVB do you have?
3. What's the temp of his basking spot?

 

[Realcaos]

im in the process of trying to find him a vet. i may have to take him to nashville. the lady i use here for my snake who was also kind of a rescue. isnt really a herp vet just the only one that knows more about them then the rest of them here. the pet shop i use is a shop not a chain store. the only reason i go to say petsmart for anything is if im in a pinch and need lights decor things like that. all my feeders and most everything comes from the shop i use. his poops have been pretty normal after those first couple of days. its never been runny or even real smelly. just like my snakes really. i dont think hes really sick just a little malnourished. i dont think hes been shedding right for awhile. its really dry in our house. being from florida im not used to this. ive had a heck of a time keeping humidity in buddys tank. i have to mist his entire tank 4-5 times a day to keep the humidity up in it. thats with a plastic cover and his heat lamp over his water dish. hes a ball python. back to mojo he has been eating regularly now and slowed way down. he eats in total about a bowl and a half of greens. id say about 1/2 -3/4 of a cup throughout the day. the only veggies ive been able to get him to eat other than greens is yellow squash and yellow sunburst tomatoes. (he wont touch red ones) he really likes kale cabbage and purple cabbage. not big on mustard greens but i sneak them in there. i only dust the worms and only once a day so whatever falls off them into the salad is what he gets.

so he is way longer than i said. he is 13 inches. 6 inches of body 7 inch tail.. 2 1/2 inches wide at the thickest part of his body. (i got out a measuring tape for all this and now have little pieces of skin everywhere.) he has a 75 watt basking bulb and that corner stays at 100-109 theres also a red light there for night time to make sure his tank doesnt get to cold. it drops to about 85-90 on that side at night but he sleeps on the cool side. that stays 84-86 day and 80-84 at night. his uvb gets turned on at around 7am and stays on until about 9pm that and the basking. then the red light at night. he gets fed 1-2 hours after his lights get turned on depending on when he gets up and about and i make sure to feed him the second time by 3-4pm to make sure he gets enough light before bed time. his uvb is a 5.0 and he can get within 6 inches of it. im going to change that to a 10 tonight or in the morning depending on when we go out. i also use reptile carpet. i prefer it because i vacuum his tank every day to get up now little pieces of skin and dropped foot pieces. it looks really dirty right now because hes been rubbing against everything and dropping shed everywhere. he has his head and tail clean right now. his head looks really different now. i dont know if they can have shed build up like a snake but its pretty thick. when i got him out to measure him he rubbed all over me and the couch.. he switched lights a bit. he will bask under the hot spot move to the shade and then bask in the uvb. i keep his water dish in there and never really see him drink out of it but he likes to lay on top of it. its really shallow but he will put whatever he can get of different parts of his body in it.

heres a pic of his tank. he will only be in it another month or so. we are building an enclosure for him. we are planning it now. we are thinking 2ft wide 3 ft high and 6 feet long. at 3 feet we are thinking that we can have a second story with two basking spots and enough room for climbing basking feeding and just room in general. its finger printed and kiss printed because of the kids. they kiss the tanks goodnight. my ball is next to him on a different table. the log and box are set up to give him a place to hide if he gets annoyed with the kids or cats. and is apparently his bed now. hes slept in it two nights. the little one hes standing against is all that was in there when we got him and it was buried in sand. dont know if i said it already but his tank gets spot cleaned and vacuumed everyday and deep cleaned once a week. his food dish gets washed twice a day.

 

[Taterbug]

What a lucky little dragon!

They can get retained sheds, especially on the tail and toes. It's a little different than snakes though. Soaks will help, as will gently rubbing the area to help loosen the old skin and get moisture under it. He will probably be a whole new color when he feels better and gets all that dirt and shed off. (Do balls like a humid hide at all? We give one to our snakes when it's too dry in the winter for good sheds)

Its great he is regulating his light/heat! If you home stays above 65 no heat is ended at night. Lights cane keep them awake and a temp drop is good for them.

The dish is fine to keep, it won't be a humidity problem in your house it sounds like.

The new cage sounds great! I'm sure he will love it. Tile and shelf liner are great too and don't hold as much debris as the carpet, but carpet is great too. I have shelf liner and vacuum up debris and wash off poops.

 

[Realcaos]

The first ball I had didn't. Buddy however will seek out something moist. I had gotten some moss and wet it and put it in there in a dish and he would hang out in it. But it started smelling kind of moldy. I'm going to try sponges.

I've noticed under a lot if the shed that's come off mojo is a different color. His tail is still that tan gray color his head had a green tint tan and orange around his eyes. I'm excited to see what his back and belly are going to look like. He looks funny now shedding but as soon as he's looking better I'll post better pictures.

I'm also making him a hammock. Looking into all the do it yourself stuff. Plus keeping an eye out for some unique stuff.

Btw is it normal that he licks me all the time?

 

[Taterbug]

I don't know much about ball husbandry, but we have a little hide with coco fiber in it for our hognose. It's soft and holds moisture well, he loves his little coco husk hide and burrows around in it.

You're likely to be surprised by how white his belly will be!

I love DIY! So many more options than petstore crap. Check out the grout and foam fake rocks

 

[Realcaos]

That's actually one if the things I've been looking at. I'm looking into the different paints. And different designs. There's some really cool ideas on YouTube. I haven't had time yet today to scroll through all the discussions here but I will. I've really just been going through what pertains to right now. I've read tht the great stuff expandable foam works really well.

 

[Taterbug]

Great stuff is great haha. I forgot to mention, the licking is normal. Like snakes they have a Jacobson's organ and sample their environment with their tongue