Please Help! Very neglected little girl! *She's Gone* =(

[Paperdaisies]

So I was browsing Craigslist earlier and saw an ad for a free beardie. I looked at the pic and saw she was super skinny. I had no intentions of adding to our animal population right now but I couldn't leave her there. I went to pick her up and bring her home. They didn't know how old she was at all. She's about 12 inches long but I haven't weighed her yet (don't want to stress her out too bad). She had NO uvb, NO heat lamp, and nothing in her tank but wet papertowel and some greens thrown onto it which were way too big for her to consume.

When I got her home we put her in a soak because she had poop stuck on her. I lifted the papertowel to clean her tank and there was a HUGE mess under it. Dead insects, a gigantic superworm she couldn't possibly have swallowed, and what looked like a 5-6 inch circle of diarrhea that had hardened and been there forever. They must have just put the paper towel right over it?

Anyway, she's very skinny and unwell looking. We now have her clean and dry, in a clean tank, and basking under a heat lamp and uvb light. What can I do to help her? How can I tell if she's sick or just malnourished?

Here's some pics of her. She really is a beautiful dragon with some great red in her. She looks like she needs a shed pretty bad so I'd love to see her colors after she gets fat and healthy and some uvb into her!

See how skinny she is?

She also has these two lumps near her tail. Does anyone know what this is? I hope it's not a sign of MBD

Same pic as above but I've circled the areas I'm concerned about

Poor girl. She's wicked sweet and I really hope we can get her healthy. I'll be crushed if she doesn't make it.

Please, any advice or suggestions would be VERY appreciated!!!!

 

[Delshara]

We rescued a male adult a few weeks ago in a similar condition. Those two lumps you circled look like to be her hip bones. She's very skinny, so that's why you can see them.

I set out a daily salad for Sunny and he gets roaches every day. I try not to overload him with too many bugs per week because he's an adult. A few times a week, I supplement with a second meal of baby food and he gets baths a few times a week. He's under vet orders to get calcium supplement every day and vitamins twice a week for a week or two, so the bugs get dusted.

I'd say she needs a vet visit and lots of good food. I'm glad you saved her.

 

[Paperdaisies]

We rescued a male adult a few weeks ago in a similar condition. Those two lumps you circled look like to be her hip bones. She's very skinny, so that's why you can see them - you're not supposed to be able to, if you have a healthy beardie.

I'd say she needs a vet visit, lots of good food, heat and UV and lots of love. I'm glad you saved her.

Thank you Delshara! I'm having a really hard time finding a herp vet in our area. The next closest big city to us is Austin but thankfully it's only about an hour away. I'm pretty sure there has to be a good herp vet in Austin don't you think?

Thank you for telling me about the hip bones. I'd never seen them before on our beardies (and thank goodness!)

 

[jeritta]

Glad you rescued the baby. It is very skinny but I am sure you will have it healthy in no time. Try some supplements of baby food. When we give the baby food we mix the vitamins in it then give with a medicine dropper/syringe. good luck and keep us posted. I would think they would have a herp vet in Austin.

 

[Delshara]

You can try Herp Vet Connection (just google) and look up Austin... I'm sure there must be at least one herp vet there. I'd recommend you ours but we're in the DFW. And you're welcome. Good luck with your cute little girl.

 

[Paperdaisies]

I'll try that thanks! Since we brought her home she's just been under her basking bulb (warming up I'm sure). I know she probably won't want to eat much until she's acclimated but how long can she go without eating until I should worry?

 

[Paperdaisies]

Found a herp vet that's only about 10-15 min from us! I'm so glad, will definitely be giving them a call in the morning

 

[jeritta]

i am glad you found a herp vet. Good luck and please let us know what you find out.

 

[Paperdaisies]

She's not doing so well.

She refuses to eat and when I pick her up she's so dry and brittle. We've been soaking her daily because her skin just feels so dry (for a dragon). She hardly moves and barely opens her eyes. I'm pretty positive she has mbd. We took her outside yesterday for some natural sun. I fashioned a quick diy harness for her. She did seem to perk up a bit but when she's in her tank she just lays in awkward positions motionless. If she starts to slump over while on her basking rock she doesn't even try to right herself. She just lets herself slowly fall until she's flopped over and laying all funny.

I'm so angry that these people let this poor dragon get like this. There should be consequences for doing this to an animal. Now despite our best intentions I really don't think she will make it.

The vet that sees reptiles isn't available until Tuesday and I hope she can make it that long. Until then I think I'm going to try getting her rehydrated with some of the ExoTerra stuff and try syringe feeding her some baby food.

I want to cry. Does anyone have any other suggestions on how I can save this poor girl? And if I can't save her I at least want to make her comfortable for the rest of her time here. Thank you all, this community is wonderful. Everyone else I've talked to has the opinion of, "Well, it's just a lizard so...."

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

BUMP*******************
Privet message one of these mods
Drache613
Vickson420
diamc
The Wolfman Tom
They are all very knowlegable and can help you w/ critical care...babyfood chicken/squash in a syringe
Cricket slurries(crush mash mix w/ circal care)
also there is a Reptaid supplement

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

bump

 

[RHETORIC]

Poor thing, I'm glad you were able to offer her a new chance at life. I saw a similar case on CL a week or so ago not to far from me. It makes me sick! Keep us posted, we're all rooting for her!

I saw somewhere that you can offer Pedialyte, for kids, to help with hydration. I'm not sure how well this one works either but you could try to put a little bit of baby food on her nose and she might try licking it off. Double check with either of these things if you decide to give it a try.

 

[Paperdaisies]

Thank you all for your advice and well wishes. Sadly we had to have Rosie euthanized today. She became unable to move and was gasping for breath. I know she was dying on her own but didn't want her to suffer anymore. I just couldn't watch it. She wouldn't even open her eyes and would only take a breath every once in a while.

We drove to the next city over to find someone to help us. I didn't want her to suffer all weekend. We wrapped her in a pretty little blanket I made her. The vet was extremely nice and compassionate. He gave her a small shot and she didn't even move or seem to notice it. After a minute or so she was gone. She just went to sleep.

I'm not sorry we went and picked her up. If anything she had a merciful end to her pain instead of suffering from neglect for who knows how much longer.

Goodbye Rosie, rest now little one.

 

[lizardgrrl]

I am so sorry for your loss! Rosie was such a beautiful little girl, and it is heartbreaking to see this outcome. I have adopted a few beardies from CL, (Nefertiti, Thoth, Abby and the mother of Emmy and Tweezie were all CL dragons) and it is appalling the way some people treat them! At least she knew she was loved at the end!

(((Great big hugs))) & :love5: :love5: :love5: :love5: :love5:
MaryAnn

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

Very Sorry....Know you did all you could.