Newly rescued dragon behavior

[Mustashio]

Hi there!

First I'd like to say that and these boards and the people are so great! I have had one adult dragon before named Mustashio, who passed away this past May at only 2 years old due to a stomach tumor. He was my first dragon and I obsessantly researched and learned about his care and I was hooked! My kids will tell you that the dragon became MY pet instead of theirs and literally was one of the family! When he passed away I was heartbroken. AHBD and many of the moderators (Tracie, Rachael) helped me a lot with him in those final months, helping to make him comfortable. It wasn't until recently that we decided to add to the family again! And then AGAIN, unexpectedly!

Currently I have a brand new baby who is about 2 months old, named Myztic. Of course we don't know what sex, but he looks a lot like Tashi did when he was a baby, so we are calling him a HE by association!! LOL! Things were going great with Myztic for the last 3 weeks when an acquaintance notified me of her desire to get rid of her beardie cuz her kids are no longer interested in him after only 5 months of having him. I jumped on it since we have an extra set up of lights, UVB etc. Boy was I in for a shock!

This beardie, who we are calling Aztec, is about 9-10 months old (??) and is missing one foot and part of his tail. Previous owners say they got him for free from a pet store in June and admitted they had no idea how to care for one. They said they "did their research" after bringing him home, but looks like he was only given kale and a water dish, maybe a heat light but no UVB and he was in a 12in x 24in cage (he is 12 inches long). Never had a bath, likely no calcium or vitamin supplements etc. I know they never gave him crickets and probably no worms either. The lady of the house is not a bug lady and so I'm positive this guy was not taken care of from the get go!

Brought him home yesterday and even though he was stressed enough, I had to give him a bath and warm him up. He loved the bath and even drank some!! I cleaned his cage and lined with reptile carpet and put some salad in there. For now he has to stay in the small cage until my hubby can build a big one that is 2ft x4ft. (The big dragon is in the little cage and the little dragon is in the huge presidential suite!!) I have a heat light and a Reptisun 10 UVB in his cage now with a probe thermometer and reptile carpet. Hubby has to work fast to build the new viv!! Anyway, as I drove home with him (3 blocks away!), he had the biggest poop I have ever seen come out of a beardie! I should have weighed the poop it was that huge!! LOL! Anyway he ate the salad like a champ. I put collard greens, grated butternut squash, red bell pepper chunks and some grated sweet potato and sprinkled with calcium. The salad was prepared for Myztic, so the pieces were already nice and tiny. Aztec gobbled it down!

Today however, I think the stress is starting to get to him. He tucked himself so far under his accessories in his already small cage that I thought he got out! I couldn't see him he was so dark and camoflaged! I picked him up and put him back on his basking bridge and he was breathing really funny and fast. Thought that was strange so I filled his salad bowl and put about 12 small phoenix worms in it just to see. He doesn't want anything to do with it. Then he blackbearded and puffed out at me! I've never had a beardie do that to me! Mustashio never blackbearded his whole life until the last couple days when he was in so much pain I had to help him cross the rainbow bridge. Clearly this big guy has been mistreated. He did poop again today, but has barely moved from the spot I put him on this morning, and every time I even get close to the cage he beards up. Even just walking by! Poor guy. I'm taking poop to the vet for sample. (It was nice of my baby Myztic to poop today in his bath too, so I can take both samples at once!)

I'm just wondering how you other rescuers ease these brave beardies into their new and safe homes. It will take some time for him to get to know us (I have 2 very loud and crazy human boys too), and if he has been mistreated, it will take time before he trusts us. I know it will take patience and perseverance and a lot of TLC, but since I'm new to rescues I would like to be a sponge and soak up some more of the great knowledge these boards have to offer.

Thanks ahead of time for the input! I will get pictures of my new kids as soon as I can!

Jill
Mustashio (Tashi), 2.5 years, RIP 5/2014
Myztic, 2 months
Aztec, ~10 months, rescued 10/2014

 

[AHBD]

Hi Jill.....I'm sure he's just super stressed. He may have been either mishandled or not handled at all. If you can keep him in a low traffic area and/or cover part of his tank he may start to feel more at ease as time goes by. I'm sure you'll get lots of help here.

 

[Mustashio]

Thank you! Covering the backs of the cage is a great idea! I'm gonna get on that right away to make more comfortable.

I brought fecals into the vet yesterday from both of the dragons and they both turned up positive for a small amount of coccidia. Vet said we could treat, or just wait and see, and after explaining the situation we had when Tashi was very young (from the same pet store) I told her I wanted to treat. Especially before brumation season! So today we went to the vet with both dragons and got them their Albon!

We also discovered that Aztec is a girl! She weighed in at 210g, and was 14in long. She looks great otherwise and is getting more and more used to her new surroundings. She blackbearded a little today but not too bad considering she had a car ride and a vet exam and a bath! Tail is shedding too, so she's just cranky! She was very relaxed in the bath. I think she will do fine!

Myztic the baby looked great too! He weighed 15g and is 7.5 inches long. He has been acting crazy and glass dancing like mad. Eating salad too which is fantastic!! I am going to try and get reimbursed from the pet store for his vet bill and meds. I've only had him 3 weeks and he clearly had the coccidia before coming home. His cagemates were pretty rough and the cage was filthy! That same thing happened with Tashi when he was little. Same pet store too, but different location. He was loaded with worms and parasites from the pet store. They reimbursed me for that one too. We shall see this time!

I think we will settle in. Its just gonna take some time to get to know each other! (I'm pretty excited to have a girl! All my other pets--human and otherwise--are all males!!)

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[AHBD]

Hi Jill....I hope they do well for you ! Your dragons would be fine with a low level of coccidia, and since they are new they may lose any appetite they have once given the Albon. The newest + far superior drug for coccidia is Ponazuril . Albon is very harsh and many owners will not give it to a beardie weighing less than 50 grams. Please be careful that they don't both lose their appetites and then you'll have a worse problem. You could always check in 4-5 months to see if they have a bad case, but a low level will not really hurt them.