New girl !!

[Starghoti]

Yeah!

Now my husband has his OWN dragon.
But she came from a not so good background...

When I asked what she was used to eating, I got- "We feed her crickets and mealworms and occasionally give her a few bites of celery leaf.."

And silly me :roll: I asked what supplements she has been getting... "Supplements?? {blank look}"


She is about 3 years old. She was under a 10 gal ESU sideways pointing lights fixture, with one night light and an exo-terra 'day glo' bulb. No ability to actuallly Bask, and no thermometers, no UV. Filthy/wet sand. In a 55 gal (i think) tank.
She was owned by a child that did what the pet store told him to do because he didn't know any better. She had also spent the last 3-4 weeks in her viv in the back of a pickup with a canopy 24/7!! At least they opened the tailgate during the day so she didn't cook. But it gets down to the 50's or even 40's at night here. So, she has a little bit of a wheeze. They never bathed her... you get the idea. While getting to know her, she clung to us like a drowning victim. I think she knew that we wanted her and would do the best we could for her forever...

So for $85 we got her, her tank, and her "light".

I have her basking spot around 105-110 with a good gradient.
Got her under a powersun, and am offering her a few dusted supers each day, and good salad. She is going to the vet early next week, for a lube/oil/fecal-- lol

Here she is in her temporary digs - until we can get her more appropriately accommodated.
She has no name yet, we are kind of waiting for her to settle in, and get to know her. And get some vitamins and good food into her to see if she develops any more color. (but suggestions are welcome)

Sorry this one is a little blurry, but you get the idea. You can just see her mouth gap- from lack of calcium etc.. We are actually surprised that is her only obvious problem.

 

[Cuda]

She does look good for the conditions she was living in... especially for that long.

She's lucky that you found her.

 

[Starghoti]

Thank you Cuda

I will be off and on all day.

Any other advice is, of course, welcome !

You folks helped me so much with Raiden.

 

[whiskersmom]

I would definitely get her on a good supplement regimen, I like the RepCal products alot, blue and pink labels. It would probably be a good idea to also leave in her viv a bowl of plain calcium or crushed cuttle bone, so that she can lick it whenever she wants.
Other then what you are already doing, I can't think of anything else.
It's great that you rescued this poor baby, she deserves a good family.

 

[Starghoti]

good idea

I have been dusting EVERYTHING
We use Rep-Cal, and I have a plain Cal as well.
Seeings how she is "rampaging" a lot, I may just lightly dust the floor of the viv with cal, as she will just spill the bowl and make a mess herself anyway... LOL

 

[draken]

she look's great how big is she? cause i've got a dragon thats barely 2 and he's about 24in. long !

 

[Starghoti]

don't have any actual measurements, but she is fairly petite.

We'll update with weights measures soon
trying to let her acclimate and adjust.

 

[diamc]

Congratulations Anna on the new beardie. Actually, for what the poor thing has been through, she looks pretty good. Even has bright eyes. I can't believe she was in the back of a pickup truck for that long. She must have been so cold. That just makes me sick.......Why did they have her there, any idea? What is wrong with people! :evil:

Can't think of anything else for you to do that no-one else has already mentioned. I would give her frequent baths and lots of TLC which I know you will. I am so very glad that she found you and your hubby.

She has quite a bit of coloring on her head and I bet it will get brighter. Is she eating well? Hope she didn't impact any sand. How long did they have her anyway?

Lot of luck and keep us updated on her. Let us know how she makes out at the vet. :wink:

Diane

 

[Starghoti]

Thanks Diane-

Truck= She was there because the boy's mother ran a day care and one of the babies came down with salmonela. And of course CDC blamed it on the lizard tha lived in the boys room. Where the day-care children never went... So she was ostracized. Gwydo and I were discussing it yesterday, and we wouldn't be surprised if maybe she WAS at fault for the salmonela, because she was on damp playsand. That was heinously filthy. (she's on tile now!)

Color =The camera picks up any and all subtle coloring- though in regular light it is barely visible. But we are hoping that once she is on a "proper" diet she will color up more. We might be nuts, but we think she is already starting to show more color. Maybe due to just being warm/loved. Dunno...

She's eating bugs ok, but is unused to salad. Figure once she gets some rep-cal and vits into her we might hold back the bugs occasionally and "starve" her into eating salad.. lol (yeah - like we would actually starve her...NOT)

As far as sand... We are finding a lot of it in her poo. We are a little concerned, tho she is readily eating supers and seems to have a good energy level. (she can Jump!) I told my Hubby about the applesauce trick, and included a little bit of liquified fresh collards, papaya, and a dash of liquid cal. He's had fun teaching her to eat from syringe. lol I'll post pics of him cuddling her in a few days. :love5:

She will be getting to go to the vet this coming fri. I hope...
She is right around 18" long (sleeping length lol)
Waiting a few more days to weigh her, so we aren't weighing the SAND too... :roll:

Her wheezing has reduced Noticeably as well. Hoping it might have been a very minor RI, that we might have reversed it by getting her nice and warm, getting her off the damp sand, and under good light, and occasional outings for 'real' sun! I hear almost nothing in the way of gurgling, popping, or clicking any more. And she isn't mouth breathing as much.

And yes we will keep you all posted on her condition/improvements
And if he comes up with a name for her... I'll let y'all know.

 

[Starghoti]

The results of the Vet Checkup:

Girlie has a mild RI (on Baytril now)
X-rays show she has healed breaks in several bones in legs and maybe a few ribs. Also has what Doc called "folding-fractures" in both front legs. :shock: The X-rays are going off to a specialist for more info. No sign of sand in her innards now Doc also says that the F-F will most likely be halted by her level of care now. It probably won't get any better, but there will be no more damage to her front legs. Pretty sad when her muscles are stronger than her bones... (Stupid Pet Store People!!! grrr)

So she will be a slightly bow-legged Dragon that eats with a lisp. But she will be healthy and happy from now on. She is building up good fat-pads now, and is strong and ornery and independant and very cuddly.



Just wanted to update y'all

 

[Starghoti]

WOO-HOO

Her Fecal came back clean (stain and float!)
So at least we aren't dealing with parasites/yeast on top of the RI and spongey bones.

Raiden has had a couple of clean fecals from my home-grown crix colony, so I believe they are clean. And they are not allowed to frateranize with other crickets lol

She still doesn't have a name...
We've been throwing around several, but none have stuck yet.

Gwydo tried asking her what her name was, but she just stared at him...

Rotten Lizard..

 

[gmills004]

omg......who leaves a beardie in the back of a truck ?!?! if ever i saw a beardie in the back of a truck you can be sure im stealing him !
there are too many people out there who think they know what there doing, but when they find out its harder then it really looks they ditch there pets, thinking ahh its ok they dont have feelings they will be just fine......NO THEY WONT BE FINE AND THEY DO HAVE FEELINGS!

 

[Starghoti]

I hear ya gmills004
I will grant the previous owners one concession- see the bit above ^ about Why she was in the truck.

If you all want a good laugh...
Today is a "Therapy-Day" with Mina our dog (registered -Therapy Dogs Inc).
And one of the facilites we visit regularly has invited us to bring along a Lizard. :shock:

Take That! CDC!! LOL :mrgreen:
Of course we will give her a good thorough bath and probably spray her down with Shed-Ease to make her colors pop. And, of course, take a bottle of hand-sani just for safety.
{{And yes- I briefed the Activities coordinator that invited the Beardie- that there is some slight chance of bacterial transmission. She checked with her boss, and got a hearty green light. (of course this place has about a dozen cages with birds in them.) Their opinion is that I took the responsibility to fully inform them of the risks, so they will take responsibility if - on the slim chance - someone catches something. }}

Can you imagine..? A Therapy-Lizard..! LOLOLOLOLOLOL
:laughing6: