Oh this is just awful *Exciting pic page 7!*

[catUK]

Ah bless him in that video, poor thing. Once again, your doing a great job!!!!! Im not sure how many feedings with a sick beardie, hopefully someone can help.

p.s that girl in the background (your daughter?) sounds so cute with her comment about the crickets making him better

 

[mistegirl]

Aww poor little guy. You're wonderful for taking such good care of him.

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

its so great that hes taking well to the syringe, and i know its hard but keep with not allowing him to overload his system. I think hes probably afraid he wont get food again so he wants to eat all he can but you really are doing great with him!! you can look at his face and tell that he is atleast starting to perk up more!!! great job!!!

 

[kimmie]

Gosh just looking at him brings tears to my eyes. How could someone leave him and NOT say anything, nor think about what he'd eat for a month while gone!

Sorry ...but I'd keep him. I know you say they are nice people ...but in all honesty, NICE PEOPLE don't do that to their pets! How can you forget him, 'cause I'd imagine that's what their response would be "OH we forgot about the beardie". Sorry that doesn't work, not to mention they "assumed" you would be footing the bill on the feeding of the python. Not that they eat nearly as much. But looking at that beardie tells me that he was neglected long before they left on vacation.

You are such a great person to take him into your care and it shows he's loving the attention he apparently never got!

KEEP HIM, pls!

 

[TamiLynne]

That poor little guy.. Can't stop tearing up over him! You're doing a wonderful thing by rehabilitating him. I understand that you want to help these folks and educate them, that's part of what being a reptile lover is all about. If you do decide to return him to your neighbors (assuming he continues to improve) I would certainly make sure that you open the dialog that IF they decide it is too much for them or IF he does not seem to thrive in their care, that you are willing and able to take him. Even if it is temporary while finding him a new home. If they really are kind-hearted and just uneducated, they are probably embarrassed that it had to come to this. Perhaps they thought he was already dead? Perhaps they thought he was too far gone and that if they asked for help they would be reported to authorities? I can only speculate.. but giving them all of your knowledge as well as an "out" (taking the dragon for them) may ultimately be a relief for them. Who knows. If they do decide to keep him, regularly checking in would be a good idea. If for any reason the relationship were to go south, and you were concerned about the beardie and they wouldn't give you an update, your local SPCA would be happy to check on him for you.

As far as how much to feed.. do you have a weight on him? I can check with my vets at work to see if they have any input.

I also second the question - what is the state of the python? I can't imagine they have been really properly taking care of one reptile and completely neglecting the other. Snakes are heartier in general, and I'm worried they can be making some big mistakes with him/her as well that aren't obvious yet.

In regard to the fact that you are expected to "foot the bill" for their pets while they are away.. well.. I understand that you feel these people are generally nice, but please stop to wonder for a moment if they are playing on your kindness. It seems as though you may be being taken advantage of. It is hard to tell getting one side of the story, but I do hope you will be reimbursed for your time and money. Both of which you have invested quite a lot.

Best of luck and keep us updated!

-Tami*

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, that is great news he is eating vigorously right now, super!
I would start with 4-8mls, (depending on his body weight) daily, broken up into several feedings so he doesn't get overfull. How long have you had him for? How do his stools look? A good rule of thumb is usually .5ml per 50 kg of body weight, or 1ml per 100 kg. That is normally used to maintain body weight, so if he needs to gain weight, you can go as high as 1ml per 50 kg or 2ml per 100 kg.
Once he has had several normal looking stools with a good amount of soft urates included then you can increase some protein. That just ensures he is well hydrated & his kidneys should be working pretty well. It is important for the kidneys because of his dehydration status it makes it harder on his system to break down uric acid being dehydrated.
I realize he is your neighbors, so is he getting any UVB lighting? How often are you giving him calcium? I just hope his jaw doesn't continue to deviate due to no UVB or calcium.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[Spyrodragon]

Oh bless him, it makes me want to cry watching that video, poor little love I really wouldn't want to give him back to them. Well done for taking him in and sorting him out, fingers crossed he just keeps getting better!

 

[Paperdaisies]

Hello,

Well, that is great news he is eating vigorously right now, super!
I would start with 4-8mls, (depending on his body weight) daily, broken up into several feedings so he doesn't get overfull. How long have you had him for? How do his stools look? A good rule of thumb is usually .5ml per 50 kg of body weight, or 1ml per 100 kg. That is normally used to maintain body weight, so if he needs to gain weight, you can go as high as 1ml per 50 kg or 2ml per 100 kg.
Once he has had several normal looking stools with a good amount of soft urates included then you can increase some protein. That just ensures he is well hydrated & his kidneys should be working pretty well. It is important for the kidneys because of his dehydration status it makes it harder on his system to break down uric acid being dehydrated.
I realize he is your neighbors, so is he getting any UVB lighting? How often are you giving him calcium? I just hope his jaw doesn't continue to deviate due to no UVB or calcium.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

Thank you very much for that Tracie! That's a huge help. I have him under a ReptiSun right now. When I had given them a spare fixture I noticed it wasn't getting used so I figured maybe they didn't have the $$ for a bulb. When I made my order with PetMountain I ordered an extra so they'd have one too.

I've been adding multivitamins and calcium into every syringe feeding. Calcium more than multivitamins. Is that too much? I don't want to overdo it and make him sick but I was pretty sure he needs the calcium boost since he doesn't get any kind of supplements over there.

Gosh just looking at him brings tears to my eyes. How could someone leave him and NOT say anything, nor think about what he'd eat for a month while gone!

Sorry ...but I'd keep him. I know you say they are nice people ...but in all honesty, NICE PEOPLE don't do that to their pets! How can you forget him, 'cause I'd imagine that's what their response would be "OH we forgot about the beardie". Sorry that doesn't work, not to mention they "assumed" you would be footing the bill on the feeding of the python. Not that they eat nearly as much. But looking at that beardie tells me that he was neglected long before they left on vacation.

You are such a great person to take him into your care and it shows he's loving the attention he apparently never got!

KEEP HIM, pls!

I wish I could. How do I bring that up though? My dh wouldn't mind but I don't know what I'd say to them. Maybe if I could teach them about how to care for him they could get all their supplies BEFOREHAND and start with a healthy dragon?

Oh, I do feel bad that I forgot to mention that he wasn't totally healthy when they received him. So he probably wasn't the best dragon for them to start out with.

As far as how much to feed.. do you have a weight on him? I can check with my vets at work to see if they have any input.

I also second the question - what is the state of the python? I can't imagine they have been really properly taking care of one reptile and completely neglecting the other. Snakes are heartier in general, and I'm worried they can be making some big mistakes with him/her as well that aren't obvious yet.

In regard to the fact that you are expected to "foot the bill" for their pets while they are away.. well.. I understand that you feel these people are generally nice, but please stop to wonder for a moment if they are playing on your kindness. It seems as though you may be being taken advantage of. It is hard to tell getting one side of the story, but I do hope you will be reimbursed for your time and money. Both of which you have invested quite a lot.

Best of luck and keep us updated!

-Tami*

Thank you Tami, I checked his weight tonight and he weighed in at 150 grams. Yikes.

The ball is in good shape. I think mainly because he's much less maintenance and his requirements are less?

 

[Paperdaisies]

Some pics from tonight. My camera was dead so these are cell phone pics. Sorry for the quality.

I know he still looks awful but this was exciting. His belly isn't stuck to his backbone! He has a little roundness there that wasn't there before. That was really nice to see!

Little bit of stink eye in the tub. He actually went potty in there and it looked very normal (from what I could see since it was in water).

 

[Deemac6]

People like you make me so happy, its so heartwarming to read about people who go out of their way to help creatures like this who have been tossed a hard life. I won't say how I feel about your friend out of respect for you but you really should have a talk, i'm not sure how to go about it and I wish you luck. Again you are such a wonderful person for helping him.

 

[Beardednoob]

Keep up the good work Love people like you. And if I was you I wouldn't give him back either. Messed up :x

 

[TwistedCrayon]

Most everything I want to say has either already been said, or totally inappropriate. But I want to subscribe to this thread.

In regards to how to have "the talk", you might be best off sticking to "I feel...." Comments. Don't come off as accusatory, or condeming. Albeit it's going to be hard. Hopefully if these people are as nice as your portraying them, they will heed your advice. You need to figure out how you'd like to see this situation play out. Such as: do you want to keep him? Find him a better home, or do you think with a bit of education he can be a healthy family participant. Knowing the answer to this question will better help your decision on what to say and how to say it. For example, if you want to keep him it'd be something like this..... " I know you love (insert name here) very much, but there are certain things that he needs, and then begin to drone and really pound every detail, keep their intentions positive, but the actual results if their intentions not working out. Kinda make it sound burden some and overwhelming, allthewhile re-enforcing you know they were doing the best they could. Most likely, they will agree to give him up, either to you to keep or re-home.
If you want to see them keep him and be a functioning member of the family. Keep it light hearted and make it fun. Show them how ridiculously easy it really is once you get the set-up correct, and have a little more guidance. Again no "your not dong this right", more like "perhaps since this isn't wiring, let's try this", or even" what do you think? " get them to be a part of the solution. Make feeding fun by trying "playing around to find what foods he likes is fun" and watching him explore and lick things. Also let them know that your only next door, any questions. Concerns, or comments your a doorbell away.
You'll know what to do when the time is right. Listen to your heart. Kudos to you for caring enough to do something.

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

maybe i want to see this but he looks like he is doing really well! he seems to have perked up a ton from the first pic you took to this one! just wanted to tell you you are doing a great job and i keep the little one in my prayers at night!!!

thank you so much for helping him!!

 

[kimmie]

In regards to approaching them about keeping the beardie ...I like what Twisted suggested ... Maybe start with "I feel that you really want to care for your beardie, but (_______) looks as though he/she will need lots of help/work and I'd like to keep him/her if you wouldn't mind." (go into the details as mentioned and maybe, if they really can't afford to, they'll see/understand the undertaking of getting him/her back to health and hand him over to you). You also might want to mention or put in there the fact they didn't even tell you about him!

 

[carpedraconum]

wow! the little guy looks a ton better! you are doing great. Maybe once they see how their dragon is supposed to look they'll understand the error of their ways. It is great to see him with a little belly and some meat on him, cause he was all bones. Keep up the excellent work. And as bad as it is to say, don't get too attached cause he has to go back, unless you do plan on asking them to keep the guy or play the "he died" card. And with all the care you are given him, it is going to be tough.

Drew