Rocky - Papa Smurf's brother & the rest of the Rescues!

We finally have Rocky...! I am so excited and relieved to have this little guy in my home for some TLC and rehab time. Here is a back story for those of you who don't know:

Six months ago we took in a little blue rescue bearded dragon and named him Papa Smurf for his blueness, small size and grey beard. He was surrendered to the owner of our local reptile shop by two pre-teen girls in a cookie tin, unable to walk due to severe MBD, neglect and starvation. They tried to surrender both of their beardies, but one of them ran off into the woods and escaped. This was the first week of December 2011. The second beardie was found in a shed unexpectedly, 5 months after he disappeared and the girls surrendered him to the same shop. We got the call that Papa Smurf's long lost brother was found, and we were in disbelief, to be honest. Just blows my mind that a dragon can be lost outdoors all winter and survive. I know this is Florida but we have a wet and cold winter here, as we live in the Northern part.

We picked Rocky up today from the store, brought him home, and showed him to Sleepy Smurf. Smurf opened his eye, narrowed it and gave a tired, calculated stare as if to say, "When my nap's over ima get you." :lol: I whisked Rocky off to the bath, scrubbed him up, and let him explore the couch and living room floor.

He is alert and curious, but has severe mobility issues in his front legs, neck, shoulder and head. It will be interesting to watch him recover and gain strength. He walks with a very stiff, jerky movement, and looks to have some spasm or intermittent contracture of the right arm. I'm going to treat it as a vitamin B deficiency, because it's the easiest thing to rule out. Normal gut flora plays a key role in the synthesis of B vitamins, so I will be giving him liquid B vitamins and AcidolphiLiz, a probiotic that will increase the numbers of good gut flora, allowing the B vitamins to be synthesized and absorbed, and hopefully the spasms and contracture will stop. Wish me (and Rocky) luck!

The reptile shop has had him for the last month or so, and they have been doing a good job of putting weight on him, so he looks pretty good. He needs to gain muscle mass, and since he isn't malnourished, I will be giving him plenty of silkworms, since they are high in protein. They also have natural serrapeptase, an enzyme found in the silkworm, which they excrete to break down their cocoon when they become a moth. The serrapeptase breaks down inflamed tissue and helps with stiffness and pain. It is a natural anti-inflammatory that has been used in human medicine in Europe for the last 25+ years. It really helped Papa Smurf, so I am sure it will help Rocky.

Well, enough talking. Here is our newest boy, Rocky:

Here he is right when we got him home. Notice how his front legs are held close and almost underneath him. He has limited range of motion.

Here is a close up of his sweet face. The reptile shop really worked to get him to a healthy weight and he looks pretty good.

" I close my eyes and pretend I am not sitting in water...me no likey."

He finally did relax and begin to enjoy the warm water and my attention. I keep saying his name over and over so he can learn it.
He almost looks like Papa Smurf in this picture. :shock:

King of the couch! It's uncanny how they settle in when they look around and see they are in a home and not the reptile shop. Papa did the same thing, but it took longer because Papa was so critical and sickly. Papa lived in a daze for several days before he seemed to notice his surroundings. At least Rocky is able to move a bit and explore.

I feels really good to have them both now, as I have felt like a piece of the story was left out, and we constantly talked about "the one that got away." I'm so glad to share the good news with all my friends here.

 

[ShannyBeard]

This is my little rescue room with all my little misfits in there. Rocky is the dragon on the left, then the anoles are in the viv with all the leaves, Papa Smurf is below the anoles on the floor, then in the little 10 gallon is the handicapped Rankins (Squirmy Bob) and then my scorpling, and then the yellow dragon on the right is Val. Val is out of her quarantine period and will get a bigger home soon. This pic was taken before we got Felix, so he is not in there.

Now you have seen my little rescue/quarantine room. It is at the very front of the house. My dragon room is all the way at the back of the house.

 

[sweetiepie9]

If anyone can help Felix, you & your hubby can Shannon, look how well Papa & Rocky are doing. I'm just hoping Felix gives you a good poop so you can do a fecal & get his meds started. You have all the tools to get him better & I can see the hope in his eyes from that last picture.

What a great rescue room and they're away from the rest of the gang, so there's no way there can be any contamination. I'm glad you're enjoying your new home, you sure deserve it!

 

[ShannyBeard]

We really are enjoying the new place and having so much more space. I can actually do really strict quarantine here and I love it. The peace of mind is really important. Felix did poop in the bath yesterday but we couldn't use it for a fecal, not quite yet. It is getting better, though so today I am really hopeful. He is getting turnip greens for breakfast and supper, and just a few soft-bodied worms at breakfast after his greens. He readily accepts oral fluids and dragonlover3 (Amanda) suggested that I add greens juice to his fluid intake, just like I did for Papa Smurf in the beginning. Last night he actually scratched at the side of his bath bin after he pooped, asking to be let out from his stinky water, and that was great, since he hasn't really been active yet. I hope to see him running around soon. But of course I know that will take some time. His little arms and legs are like rubber, no firmness at all, poor guy.

 

[ShannyBeard]

He's not running any marathons but he is standing on his feet and walking with an unsteady but confident gait.

Felix 9-19-12

 

[beardie parents]

He is looking a little better.

 

[ShannyBeard]

He is looking a little better.

Yes I believe he is looking better. He may have already learned his name, but it is hard to tell because just the sound of my voice gets him looking up at me. I have tried speaking to every other rescue and then saying his name and he did look straight up at me with an inquiring look, so that tells me he does identify with the word. I keep pieces of cardboard in my laundry room outside that I can put on the floor so he can walk around without upsetting my quarantine, and he will take a few steps for a worm. I can't wait until this weekend so I can take him outside and see if he can walk around in the sun and get stronger. He enjoys being held and has fallen asleep on my chest twice with his head under my chin.

 

[sweetiepie9]

He's doing so well and so quickly. Good for you Felix, he's a keeper, isn't he! I'm so glad he's doing well, as you haven't had him that long. It will do him so much good to get out into the backyard and absorb some great sunshine. He's doing really well, Shannon, but I always expect great things from your rescues!

 

[ShannyBeard]

He's doing so well and so quickly. Good for you Felix, he's a keeper, isn't he! I'm so glad he's doing well, as you haven't had him that long. It will do him so much good to get out into the backyard and absorb some great sunshine. He's doing really well, Shannon, but I always expect great things from your rescues!

Thank you for the vote of confidence, Deb. I really do worry about them all, wishing we could see inside of them or tell what may be wrong easily. We just hope they are only malnourished and neglected, because we know we can heal that. Rocky is fierce lately, eating better but still having tongue control issues and lack of eating accuracy. Yes, he still gets frustrated and gives up and just stares away from the food. I urge him on so passionately sometimes that he will get a second wind and eat much better. I know you will call me crazy but I see a satisfied look in his eye when he eats accurately. I think they have some well-being with successful 'hunting' or eating, rather than syringe feeding. I know Rocky would eat more if syringe fed, but he is capable of eating on his own so I keep offering and assisting and he's even getting a little plump now. He's still done well with his paver stone and bobs while sitting on it.

Felix is looking lighter in color and has more energy. He still doesn't have much energy and lays his head down a lot to rest, but not as much as he did when we first got him. He also has a paver stone and he will sit up and bask against it, looking alert and happy. I hope he feels good. As far as i can tell he does. I had him out yesterday for a bath outdoors in his bin and it started to sprinkle and he was amazed at the drops falling in his bath around him. When it started to sprinkle harder and the drops hit his head he was stunned and looked up at the sky in shock. His reaction was interesting to watch and I let him be in the bin until it started to rain, just to let him have a different experience. I know the humidity is bad for them, but this was only for a minute.

This is a picture of him with his messy face. I meant to wipe it but started taking pictures, then it rained and I couldn't re-take them. I guess it is a cute messy face, lol.

Just for laughs, I will post a picture of Val. She has been with us since July but it feels like I have had her forever. She laid another clutch of infertile eggs about a week ago, 33 of them, so she still hasn't gained weight to how I want her to be, but she still looks healthy. We have a gerbil that we are housing temporarily and I learned all about Val's feelings towards the gerbil. I didn't realize how mobile they were in their outdoor ball, and Val underestimated it, too. She gives him mighty stink-eye these days. :lol:

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the last of the warm weather. I hate to tell the dragons that their outdoor days are numbered, but they are!

 

[beardie parents]

Tell Val to keep giving the gerbal the stink eye, I would want to if it kept running into me also. :lol:

 

[ShannyBeard]

Tell Val to keep giving the gerbal the stink eye, I would want to if it kept running into me also. :lol:

:lol: She looks down at him from her enclosure like a hawk looks down on a little field mouse. Her eyes even glint, I swear. He is very light in the ball and it is nothing for him to run into you, but it's bigger than she is and she just didn't know how to react. She is an energetic dragon and I thought she would find the gerbil-in-a-ball interesting, and she did for about 5 seconds. When I picked her up and put her on my lap she kept looking down at the floor as if she wanted another go at him. :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Shannon, I"m so glad to hear that Rocky & Felix are both doing better, I know it takes time, but you have to give them the time, just like Papa Smurf & they reward you a thousandfold. That must have been priceless watching Felix's reaction to rain!

That's so funny about Val, but if I had someone else's gerbil knocking into me all the time I'd give him a stink eye, too. That's funny that she's decided he's an enemy, I'm sure she'd eat him if she could! Aren't beardies funny with their likes & dislikes.

My crew are doing great, Gabriel is now 482 grams, :shock: he keeps gaining and still has a good appetite, even though he's slowing down, just like the others. Rubio has already spent a couple of days in his hide, not sleeping, just peeking out, as if he's wondering if it's time to sleep or not. Didi also spent a couple of days in his hide, but I woke him up to poop, as he'd eaten a couple of days before, now he's up every day, eats a worm or a piece of collard green; every time he poops I'm waiting for him to pass out, but not quite yet. I had a friend over yesterday (I never have visitors, my friends think it's creepy to have lizards, so it was a new thing!) who stayed for the afternoon & supper, you should have seen the looks he was getting from my crew, it was so funny! Leo just kept staring at him, in between black bearding at Rubio, who was on the ramp (I woke him up to introduce him to Damien) and Didi was on top of the beardie barrier in between the patio/balcony, it's an old mesh tank top & he climbs up & likes to sit on top :lol: So we all had a very relaxing afternoon. Rubio was up again this am & still hasn't gone back into his hide. It's funny how they're up & down before they conk out for a long sleep. Lonzo still isn't breathing well from his right lung, guess it may never come back fully, but he's still up every day & even ate worms today, which lately is rare. So that's the update. I'm not looking forward to brumation, I never do, it's such a lonely quiet time. I'm hoping Gabriel doesn't sleep, though expecting Rubio & Lonzo to, like last winter, they were out solid for 3 mo. Didi & Leo did the sleep for 3 wks, up for 2 days, down for 1 day, up for 1 day, down for a week; they did this the whole winter, so at least I had some company.

How are all your other beardies and critters, know you and your hubby, they're all doing well. It's great to get up updates of them all. How are the babies (well I guess they're really not babies anymore) and Papa Smurf? And Brutis? Big Chief and your beautiful orange/red girls? Did I get everyone? You'll have to update or else I'm not getting notifications, when I have time on the weekend I'll go check your other threads.

I've been keeping up with the Facebook Rescue thread, I will post pics of my boys as soon as I have extra time, our Thanksgiving is this weekend (Canadian is much earlier than yours) and I have 3 days off, so except for the big dinner at my mom's on Sunday eve, don't have alot on, so will find some time I promise.

Take care!
Deb

 

[ShannyBeard]

Deb, I can't believe Gabriel is 482 grams. That is just incredible, given the parasites and repeat meds you had to deal with. I know they don't all have such an appetite, and it is so worrisome, so when one does want to eat so much it is something to celebrate. Val does that - eats like a pig. Over the last week or so I have been making her eat more salad and less bugs, just to see how she would slow down, and she is very panicky and resentful. Amazes me, really. She acts like she won't be fed ever again. Today I grated up 1/2 cup of yellow squash for her and she went nuts over it. She literally attacked it like it was a pile of worms. Felix ate his squash, too. Papa Smurf ignored his, and Rocky smeared it all over his enclosure. Pretty normal behavior for them all, lol. Squirmy Bob was looking at his very suspiciously, so who knows if he ate it or not. He's usually a wonderful eater, so I am sure he at least tried it.

Rubio is doing what Chief has been doing. Granted we have had some overcast, cooler and rainy days with the temps dipping into the high 70's on Wednesday *gasp* LOL - and Chief has parked himself in his hide with his head sticking out and his beard creamy white. I'm gonna miss him when he sleeps, just like you will miss yours. I want to send you a baby to keep you company...! Too bad you are in Canada. I would send you Tank, the independent little monster, and you could break him in for me. LOL All our babies are doing well. Each day is a struggle to spend time with them all equally, but we don't do much else other than dragons, so we have the time in the evening. We had dragons sleeping out in 3 rooms of the house last night. :lol: My goodness.

That is funny that you had such a reaction to your guest. There is something to be said for keeping a routine with only a limited number of people for them to interact with. They do recognize the differences between humans, don't kid yourself! LOL when people say reptiles aren't that aware I have to laugh. Introducing Chief to a black person was very eye-opening for us. He looked at her and looked back at his Daddy like ...WTF...? :lol: At the same time Chief was introduced to two new ladies, one black and one white, and his reaction to the black girl was obvious - he barely looked at the white girl. SO INTERESTING! Also, I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I had Papa Smurf outside with me a few weeks ago and we were sitting on the porch and about 15 yards away a very, very large woman rode by on a bicycle and Papa Smurf watched her intently, jerked his body suddenly and turned and looked straight in my face like....WTF was that...? I couldn't stop laughing. We have people riding bikes go by constantly because we are near the University, but he has never seen such a large person on a bike. I swear he reacted to the sheer massive size of the lady. :lol:

Well, I am rambling...! I have seen you in the rescue group and I am so glad you are there. It is a great group and nice to see people new to rescue who care and are willing to try to save a creature in need. We have some good people there.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Your crew are so funny and it is fun to watch reactions when someone new comes in the house. They're so funny with their reactions. I'm glad they're all doing well. As for Tank, would say yes in a second, but where would I put him? I'm full up! I just woke them all up, they all have sleepy eyes, so I'm not sure when they conk out during the day, I'll have to ask Jake at some point, just to see who's going to bed really early. I'm still waiting for Rubio to get back into his hide, but not so far. I have to leave early for a physio appointment, so they won't get out for their usual morning run around (or just lay around right now, not lots of running happening,) but I have the next 3 days off, so will have lots of time to play with them.

Yes, Gabriel is doing really well, I'm very proud of him. I'm so glad he didn't have any MBD as that's the first worry when you get a new rescue, but his bones are great. He's also a jumper, off the counter, off my shoulder, off the couch, the chairs and he loves to climb the mesh top barrier I put across the balcony, then jumps off the other side. He's the only one who does this. Didi climbs but settles on top of the barrier and won't jump off to the balcony side. The others are too heavy or not as energetic to try! They're all so different.

I'm enjoying the Rescue group, except for Troy, he's a menace, we're watching him carefully on this site, as he's a troublemaker of the first order, as you've seen. I actually blocked him off the Rescue thread, as don't want to hear his nonsense anymore, gives me a headache!

I'm going to try to get pics of my gang on the Rescue thread this weekend, if I can figure it out! I'll let you know!
Take care, have a great weekend!
Deb

 

[ShannyBeard]

I have to laugh at your description of Gabriel's antics. The image in my head is of a monkey swinging around from one side of the room to the other. Brutis is just like that. He loves to climb and will climb all over anything and everything. His blindness in the one eye is a handicap, because he can't see where he puts that front leg so he is always reaching out awkwardly. I bet he would be more of a monkey if he had better sight.

And yes there are always people on the internet who are inflammatory. Lord knows you all have had to moderate me from time to time, it does happen. We all have our days and the subjects that set us off, so I understand that about people. There is a time when we need to realize that we alone cannot always have the last word, as much as we would like. I also have to dial back my enthusiasm :lol: I wish I would have known that was the same person here as on the Facebook group, because I didn't mean to walk into that horrible argument. Then once I had walked into it my good sense got the best of me and I stayed commenting too long. That happens to me a few times a year here, usually when a dragon dies due to bad husbandry. I know I just need to stay out of those threads now.

I hope you have a great, uneventful, drama-free weekend here on bd.org and at home as well. :mrgreen:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Shanny, it's good to hear all is well in your world & Gabriel is a little monkey, he does climb everything & just loves the balcony, in good weather or bad. Roger once collected little houses attached on Bailey's Irish cream bottles, so he had 3 altogether that were in Sweetie's tank. Gabriel got them when he inherited Sweetie's tank and now he plays with them! Tonight he was sleeping on them and I finally got a pic:

There are three little houses, sometimes they're on their sides, sometimes he just likes to make them click and sometimes he sits or sleeps on them. They do keep him busy!

Don't worry about giving your opinion on here, that's what the site is about; it's when arguments start that it's a hassle. And really, I enjoy your opinions, being as experienced as you are, you have alot to say about rescues. I see red when a beardie dies of abuse, too, having had 6 rescues in 6 years (I don't rehome them, I keep them, which is why I can only have so many!) I know what it's like to bring an unhealthy beardie home & give that beardie a good life and you know the satisfaction that brings, too.

Thanks for keeping me updated, it's nice of you, I know how little time you have!
Deb