taking on another beardie ... choices choice ahhh.

[dylanravenj]

Wow I really hope you don't ever give him back! He belongs with you so he can actually get proper care. They clearly didn't love the animal enough to even do simple research why on earth would they want him back

 

[wilddanny88]

Thank god you rescued him from that house! I still can't believe he's still alive after never having any heat or uvb!

 

[mommisgurl]

God,those pics make me absolutely sick..amazingly upset...the whole nine..the nerve of some people..no right at all to do what they did..to let the poor thing get that bad..you can't take care of an animal,give it away to someone who CAN..the ignorance of some people never surprises me..

I showed the whole thread to my mom,and we both sat there crying..I took reptar out with me while we did,and all I could do was do what you did..feel the pride and love swell in your heart over the creature in your arms..

I saw you live in Virginia..I do as well..whatever you need help with,let me know..anything at all. I work at a petstore..I can get things for very cheap (using my employee discount). i can send you whatever you may need. Just say the word and me and Reptar will help in any way we can

Bless you for taking him/her in..makes me relieved to see that there are some good people in the world (along with every member of this lovely forum )

Keep all the long updates coming..my whole family is rooting for you two.!

 

[RoscoTheBeardie]

That is terribly sad, he looks horrible! I really, really hope you help this poor little guy!!

 

[nikkistorms]

hi all

wellllllllllllllll one of my friends has a VERY big family, they both work full time, the kids have lost interest in their beardie (a few years ago actually) as they are getting older now. Not sure if he ever had attention or a correct set-up. I have only seen and been around him a few times, and that was before i got Blue, so it was before i KNEW good/bad conditions. He is housed on calci-sand, and to be honest with you, i DONT know if he as a UVB bulb :shock:
he might, i just cannot recall one. i do remember the tank being small but like i said, at the time it didnt really register because this was allllll before i entered "the wonderful world of all things beardie" ... i think the last time i saw him was 3 years ago. He is a very pretty and CUTE as HECK beardie, with some beautiful orange and yellow colouring, that i remember. his face is to die for!!! His face makes me melt from the last picture i saw of him.
They contacted me a few days ago, asking me if i would be willing to adopt him, because they realize he is in no way getting the care or attention he needs.
I have a 20 gallon breeder in the basement, but i have a feeling that might be what he is now. i have a 18 fixture to mount a ReptiSun 10.0 inside it. I use household bulbs for Blue's heat source, but she is a 150 gallon with all the bells and whistles mounted and built in ... i had the viv custom made.
Basically i have everything to comfortably house him for a while, ( i am totally aware the 20 long is way too small, its just what i have to work with at the moment) I would indeed upgrade, even if i could just find a 40 gallon somewhere for a cheap price, that would be ideal right now. i have an Accurite im not using in Blue's tank because i use a Temp Gun for her viv. i have dome fixtures for basking an the T5 fixture, i would DEF put him on paper towels until got tile cut for him. i just think him (now) being in a 20 gallon on calci-sand with not much food, when he is fed its ON the sand, and all that ... is worse than a temporary 20 long with paper towels and proper food, lighting and temps ya know?
SO, im pretty good to go. I think this guy needs some HIGH QUALITY lighting, GOOD temps, GOOD protein, the RIGHT greens, and a GREAT BIG warm water soak, not to mention a ton of TLC.
He is docile, and friendly, he just has no "life" and is def not getting what he needs to keep on keepin' on.
My issue comes in here:
I have BlueBelle, and 100% of my attention goes to her, and the other 100% of my attention goes to my cat. Would i have time and energy to put in another 100% into this guy ... *le sigh* ... i KNOW people do own multiple beardies and get on just wonderfully with them, but i would feel like i was almost "abandoning" Blue ... i know that sounds so dumb. but its how i feel. AND, you know, Blue is a she, Rex is a he ... would i put them in the same room but just totally out of sight of one another? do they still "know" or "sense" or even "smell" each other? ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. i am so stuck at the moment.
My heart wants to take this beautiful boy in and get him back on track and watch him *hopefully* flourish. I saw a picture of him on facebook a year ago she put up, and he seemed underweight but nothing else i could tell from the picture. but i need to go over there soon and take a very good look at him, and look for any serious signs that would need attending to by a vet.
any thoughts?
anyone been in the same situation? how did it work out?
any feedback is SO appreciated you have no idea! i am so torn here!!!
THANK YOU!!!
~Emily

IF I were YOU: I would take him and get him healthy and on the right track. Then see how that goes. IF you feel like you have the time for him keep him. IF not then you knwo you got him out of a not so good situation and you can find a loving home for him. Where is this guy located?

 

[RoscoTheBeardie]

I posted before I read the whole thread... sorry! I'm so glad you got the little guy and I hope he makes it... he looks a mess... poor thing!! You should feel wonderful about what you are doing so cudos to you, great job for helping him!!

 

[sweetiepie9]

You've made a wonderful start with him, just the daily baths will help him out alot. I'd continue with the babyfood & the small protein, not too much in his belly just yet & don't get any meds for him, he's in no condition to take them, they're very harsh on beardie tummies, he's been through enough, just needs the food, liquid calcium (yes, contact tracie, she's better than a vet and will get you sorted for him). I hope you can get him into that vet your friend know s& maybe it will be a free visit, with the shape that poor dragon is in, worse than Angel was, but Angel was only 16 mo old. He does have metabolic bone disease, which would be normal with no sunshine for his whole 4 years of life. And PLEASE DO NOT GIVE HIM BACK TO THOSE PEOPLE, just tell your neighbour that she is lucky you're not calling Animal Control on them, they are abusive & shouldn't have any pets. I'm just amazed at the gall of these people, wanting him back again, what so they can try to kill him all over again Having rescued a few dragons, I have no patience with stupid people, especially when they are that ignorant. So you can vent here all you want! We welcome venting, especially if it makes you feel better!!!!!!!

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that he finally has a loving home & a loving slave. I know it's going to be alot of work for you, but every day he'll get a bit better. If you need any help, just ask, I have alot of experience with rescues & getting beardies healthy again. I had 2 babies that were near death when I brought them home, one is now 22" long & almost 800g, his name is Rubio. I told him how you've taken in Blue & he was thrilled:

The pictures were heartbreaking, especially the flat belly & that he was so covered with poop. His front legs were also heartbreaking. You have to just keep in mind that you can't make up 4 years of neglect in a day, so a bit at a time. I know how you feel about waking up wondering if he's still alive, that's how I felt with Rubio. I was always overjoyed to discover that he was alive & healthier every day. I had the same feeling with Angel, too. So just take it day by day, it sounds as if he's already fallen in love with you, too!
All the best
Deb

 

[blue11]

hey yall
im going to adress each and everyone of you when we get back from the VET!
but i wanted to fill you in ...
weight and measurement on little man is ...

17.5 inches long
202 grams ... it was dipping a little below that but that was a consisent readingi got. i will see what the vet comes up with. have an appt at 3:00 ... wish me luck and THANK YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL all all all all all MUCH LOVE!

BlueBelle
16 inches
354 grams

damn is all i can say.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Emily, so glad you're getting Blue to the vet, that's a great deal, hope they don't charge you alot so you can afford the visit. I'll check in when I get home. Good luck & see, he survived the night! Great stuff!
Deb
202 grams is alot considering how skinny he is, so he does have bone mass. And 17.5" is also alot, I have 3 dragons that are that length. So that's good, too!

 

[mommisgurl]

Wow...he is so underweight... poor thing...
yes,please let us know how the vet goes..me and reptar will be waiting

 

[bayoupig5]

They seriously asked for the tank bank?!?
Then they wanted the dragon back?!?

Really?!? Are they insane? I showed the pics to my hubby and compared them with my very healthy Emmy, it's terribly heartbreaking. Maybe they have no idea what a bearded dragon is supposed to look like, and that in itself should keep them form ever owing one again. There is no excuse for animal neglect or abuse...NONE, no matter what the pet.

Good luck at the vet, I hope all goes well...considering.

 

[wilddanny88]

How did the vet visit go?

 

[trinity040400]

I dont think I could have kept my cool after they had the guts to ask for him back, so congrats on keeping your cool. We are all waiting to hear what the vet said.

 

[blue11]

OH MY GOSH YALL!!!
i had written a reply to EACH of you by user name in a post ... thanking you personally an adressing an replying to what you put in your posts and my computer SHUT OFF, it had come unplugged from the wall, my laptop just went PING! dead. i lost EVERYTHING i had written, and google didnt resotre my previous tabs ....... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh i had literally listed each of you thanking you and talking to you about things.
i had about three more people to go and zing. shut off.
ok so because of that loss ... THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU and i PROMISE you i will write it all over again just as soon as i can!!!!

VET UPDATE!
well, we think he is maybeeeeeeee a she confirmed by someone other than me ha!
there are some femoral pores starting to show but they are faint and neither of us saw any buldges, so until i see balls :shock: im still on the fence about the sex!
turns out little dude had a very terrible infection in his mouth, stomatitis (?) i believe it is called, i mean when she opened his mouth it was realllllllllllllllllllllllllly bad in there, just nasty and oozey, like the goo i saw before that i talked about. poor little dude!!!! it was just all over his teeth and gums and throat. SO, i got some Baytril for that, and stupid clutsy me comes home ... gives him his teeny little dose of Baytril without realizing that i had knocked the bottle over. i have like a half of half of a bottle of Baytril left. im so graceful eh?? so i need to get more.
he was positive for parasites so they gave me some Panacur as well.

i was weary of doing the meds because i know i think sweetie i THINK mentioned he was too weak for meds right now. i kept teetering back and forth ... give them or dont, give them or dont, give them or dont. i figured since he was taking in pedialyte, squash baby food, green baby food, and some small roaches, that the food on his tummy might be sustain the meds. i do not know if i did i did the right thing, im so confused whether i did the right thing by giving him his doses. :? :?
soooooooo i knocked over the Baytril, gave him his med doses, and then stood there like ... what did i just do? wrong or right and baytril all over the counter.

i was off on his weight, we used two scales there and he is at 194 grams. one said 190 an the other said 194.
basically she told me i guess what i already knew. whats done is done, the damange that is there cant be 4 years reversed. but i can make him healthier NOW. so im focusing on the now. she wasnt extremely thorough, not as thorough as i wanted her to be. she didnt talk about the bump on his face, and in all my "question asking" i somehow let that one slip away out of my head. she just didnt really go into detail about things, and i had to kind of prompt the questions ... idk. BUT im glad i took him. i guess, i mean i ont know what i was expecting from the vet visit, but i did leave feeling a little empty handed like, there was no real EXAM you know what i mean?
part of me feels like i should have gone to the one other herp vet that is just in the town next to me, like 15 minutes away.
arg ... nonetheless it was a vet visit and i did get some re-assurance from the doctor, and encouragement that i was doing all the right things, to keep doing what i was doing, and some info some CriticalCare formulas on the market, one that is herbivore based and one that is carnivorous based, and how it would be good to mix the two and use that with her. ever heard of that?
she did not have any liquid calcium, only the kind that they inject, and she said that wouldnt be the best bet for my little dude. not sure why or what injectable calcium is or isnt a good route to take for him ... dont know much about that ?????

she encouraged the powder mixed in with the babyfood, which i have been doing.
i will order some liquid calcium and some more BeneBac tomorrow.
his head is jerky and shaky, and he isnt steady, but i have to get used to that for a while. and i will

so basically at 194grams and many deformities, he is a trooper.
he has such a personality that shines through!! he is a CURIOUS little thing!!! He walked (well, army crawled, with his turned in legs) on the carpet today and just seemed so curious about everything ... to see him walking/crawling was the highlight of my day. i thought too, does this hurt him? walking and dragging on his elbows?
but he did a good amount of exploring the living room, like just a little soldier on a mission!
I was floored in the best way possible. i was just beaming. i was feeling all kinds of emotions. i still am.
in summary -

194g
17 inches
MBD ( and all that comes with that )
stomatitis
parasites
extremely underweight
dehydrated

both beardies are snoozing in bed right now. its only been 2 days, but i can only hope that things stay on this path to getting better, to getting in some kind of "out of the danger danger zone" ... i just want him to get better. i know there will be ups and downs, and i will face them when they happen. kinda scared as anything could wrong, but that is with anything in life at all i suppose. i just want so much for him. SO much. and i have this feeling like he's really gonna be able to do it, but i dont wanna get my hopes so so high that they get crushed. the vet said it would take several months to a year to get him up and running at a "normal" state of being. and im gonna make sure im there every step of the way. i cant let this guy go on my watch. i will update you all VERY soon, probably tomorrow and let you know how the meds are going, the pooping, the eating, all that!!!
THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, more to come, pics and videos ... if anyone has any other advice or wants to repeat something they said that is important that i need to be doing by all means go for it ... and your compassion is amazing. truly amazing.
~Emily

 

[wilddanny88]

Glad that the vet could figure out what was up with his mouth and all that. That sucks that your computer shut off right when you were almost done! If I were you, I wouldn't give the meds until he is somewhat back on track. I don't know what else to say but good luck! Sending positive thoughts your way.