Just for Fun: Beardies with Hats

A couple months ago, I walked into my daughter's room and found her 5 year old lizard, Lizzie, sitting in the window and wearing a pilgrim's hat. I have no idea WHY he was wearing a hat, but he was. It was hilarious!

I found this LINK today that is a whole collection of beardies wearing hats. Love it! 

Squiggy's Crab Walk

He's making progress! Slowly, but surely, he's trying to walk more normally.

Squiggy in Love

Squiggy was running around the living room when he spied SweetPea, my only female, in her tank. Boy, he was anxious to get to her. She could have cared less.

This is the most she's ever paid attention to a male beardie in the house. She usually blinks boredly. She finally paid attention to him, but I think she just wanted to eat him. Or taste him.

Squiggy checks out the Blog

Squiggy's Making Progress

Maybe it's just my imagination, but it seems like Squiggy is working his legs more to walk than he did a week ago. He's actually bending his knees more and trying to walk on his feet.

Well, actually he's walking on his ankles, but it's progress!

The Dark Side of Rescuing

I spent this past weekend texting a friend who had just bought a beardie with her husband. At first, everything seemed fine and they took care of the little guy as though nothing was wrong.

Sadly, it quickly turned into a rescue mission. The 3 year old beardie wasn't anything like what they were told. He was underweight, dehydrated, sickly, and suffering from Metabolic Bone Disease. I told them what I would do had I brought him home. They spent Saturday night giving him Pedialyte baths and calcium.

Yesterday, he took a turn for the worse. His joints stiffened, his beard & tail turned black, and he couldn't keep his eyes open. I had tears in my eyes as I gave them some "last ditch" instructions. Water & warmth were all they could do-- more baths and a nice warm light.

It was too little, too late for this guy. He passed away sometime yesterday evening. I applaud my friends for their valiant efforts to save this guy. In the end, in his final hours, he was loved and taken care of. He left this world with someone caring for him. What a priceless gift that is.

His death was completely & totally avoidable. His sickness and poor health were a result of lazy pet-parenting. Metabolic Bone Disease angers me. There is NO reason that any reptile should suffer from this E.V.E.R. It is a failure of prevention and education. Pet owners by a cute little beardie from the pet store and take it home in the oh-so-inexpensive tank the pet store sells, thinking they know everything to care for him. Pet stores too often fail to educate about the critical need for UVB and pet owners fail to continually educate themselves on how to best take care of their beardies. Education is as simple as a Google search or a book from the library. Beardies are among the easiest reptiles to take care of. They need UVB light, heat, & good food to be healthy.

This failure of education & prevention lands many beardies into rescue. I spend a lot of my time cleaning up the "messes" other people made. Sometimes, regardless what what I do, it is too little, too late.

And that is the dark side of being an animal rescuer.

Warning Signs of Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD)

MBD is a terrible, slow, tortuous way for a bearded dragon to die. Without the right nutrition, their bodies rob their bones of calcium and vitamin D. Slowly the bones become soft and brittle. Seizures can start. Beardies can lose their coordination and muscle tone. They slowly & painfully die.

My first beardie, Nigel, has an underbite because of poor nutrition and lighting when he was young (they had a plant grow light on his tank). My rescue Spike had an underbite too from early malnutrition. I suspect that Midgee's broken tail was brought on by her eating garbage salad mix daily. And now we can all see the severity of Squiggy's MBD. All of these problems were totally & completely & easily preventable!

I showed up at my herp vet months ago with my rescue Spike who had an infection in his toe. Next to me was a teenage boy who had rescued a sickly beardie from his friend's house. This beardie was curled into a sideways ball, his beard was black, and his eyes were closed. I tried to touch him and he had just enough energy left to flail his mouth towards me. I was horrified. I have never, ever seen a beardie *that* sick before. The vet ended up putting the beardie down because he was too far gone to be saved. It broke my heart. That poor beardie suffered needlessly for years before he died.

So how do you prevent MBD? It's actually pretty easy.

1. Get a good UVB light for your tank and keep it fresh. Replace it every 6 to 8 months.
2. Gut load your feeder insects with calcium and dust them with calcium before giving them to your beardie.
3. Offer them a healthy mix of greens-- GOOD greens, not junk greens like spinach & iceberg lettuce.
4. Keep their tank at the right temp. Every beardie needs a basking spot of 90 to 100 degrees with a cooler side of the tank that is around 80 to 90. Beardies digest properly when they are warm enough.

It's really not that hard to prevent MBD. Sadly, most of the beardies I see for sell on our local classifieds have a heat lamp and no UVB. I wish pet stores did more to educate people on the need for UVB in beardies. They will NOT get UVB rays through the windows-- your windows job is to filter out the UVB. They need their own lights.

Light, heat, calcium, & nutrition. It's that easy to keep a beardie healthy and happy.

Here's another article with good MBD info.

My Amazing Herp Vets

I could never, ever do bearded dragon rescue without the help of two amazing vets.

Dr Doug Folland & Dr Scott Echols

Parrish Creek Veterinary Clinic
Centerville, Utah

Visit their Website here

The Concrete Barrier & Squiggy

Squiggy ran all the way across the grass (about 25 feet), but stopped short at the concrete sport court pad. He just wasn't too sure about that surface.

I love this picture because he looks like a normal beardie. :)

Squiggy's Outside Time

Everyday I've been taking Squiggy out so he can get direct sunlight to help his body. Yesterday I let him run on the grass. He's not into swimming my tub to work his muscles, but he did a good job going on the grass. It amazes me how strong his body is. It's just his arms & legs that don't work right!

Fragile Little Beardie

Squiggy is having a mellow day. He hasn't moved much, doesn't want to eat, and has kept his beard & chest black for most of the afternoon.

It reminds me just how fragile he is. For all his passion and strength, he is still suffering from 5 + years of deformities. I put him in the bath and was struck by how frail he seemed.

He seemed to perk up after being outside for a little bit. He didn't want to eat though so I gave him a dose of Repti-boost mixed with liquid calcium. He has got serious strength in his jaw-- it's a battle to get him to open his mouth! 

Squiggy, trying to walk

Squiggy, rescue number 9

Squiggy came to me through an ad his owner placed on KSL classifieds. She listed Squiggy as a "special needs" beardie. Squiggy didn't have adequate nutrition or a UVB light (for vitamin metabolism) as a tiny beardie, and his body failed to form right. He lacks control and coordination over all of his limbs. His arms have the most control, but often the joints lock up and he can't move them. 

His body may be deformed but he has a LOT of passion! He eats great, he struggles to walk, he LOVES to have his head pet. As soon as he sees my hand, he closes his eyes in anticipation of being loved on. It warms my heart. <3

At our house, he has a new regime of treatment: 

-lots of gut-loaded, calcium-coated crickets & superworms to fatten him up (yesterday he ate 12 large crickets and 5 worms)

-lots of fresh greens

-a daily oral calcium and multi-vitamin

-weekly calcium injections

-30 minutes of direct sunlight every day

-daily baths to help build up his muscle tone and coordination

-a UVB light directly over his head in his tank 

Squiggy's legs curve forward and don't bend at the knee

He has little to no control over his legs

He loves this piece of wood and often basks on it

You can see how his front legs lock up on him

Woo hoo! For a moment he looks like a normal beardie!

Max & SweetPea, rescue number 7 & 8

Max, a German Giant, and SweetPea, a pastel, came to me by way of a private placement. These two will stay with me for the rest of their lives.

SweetPea loves the sun!

Max wasn't super friendly when I got him, but he's doing much better

Max is my BIGGEST beardie so far! He's supersize!

Sydney, rescue number 6

Sydney was a German Giant female whose child owners had grown tired of her. She was bought by their father but sent to live with them at their mother's house. Originally she was loved and adored-- one of the little girls even taught her to walk on a leash, but over time she spent more and more time in her cage. Eventually, the  mom asked me to place her in a new home.

Sydney went to a lady who had spent years raising savannah monitors and wanted to switch to something friendlier to her younger siblings. They all adore Sydney.

Midgee, rescue number 5

I actually bought Midgee from a 13 year old boy. She was 3 years old, had been kept in a 10 gallon sand tank her whole life, was never even given a name, had a broken tail that healed badly, and was fed a terrible diet of iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, and cabbage salad. For the last year before I bought her, she hadn't been handled once. I made some major changes for Midgee (including giving her a name) and she had a hard time trusting me after that. I ended up placing Midgee with a lady near me who has been able to socialize her better than I could. She is doing great now.

Stella, rescue number 4

Stella also came to me through my KSL ad. She was the very first female I rescued. She had come from  a home with two male beardies who used to pick on her. She had gotten into the habit of laying eggs and was missing half her tail.

Stella's first placement discovered she had intestinal worms and treated her for them. Unfortunately, she was unable to keep her and Stella came back to me a couple weeks later. She was placed for adoption the next day and is doing well in her new home.

My petite girl

Half of her tail

Showing off her size

Stella checking out the window

Enjoying the sunshine with me 

Stella celebrating Easter with her owner

Spike, rescue number 3

Spike came to me off of an ad I placed on KSL to take in unwanted beardies. He had been bounced around during his 4 year life and had an underbite due to malnutrition and lack of UVB as a juvenile. He also was the most aggressive beardie I've had. A few days after I got him, I discovered he had an infection in one of his toes. Thanks to my experience with Nigel, I was able to take care of the infection on my own. I did take him to the vet so he could get some antibiotic shots, but I took care of him the rest of the way.

I placed him with a family who fell in love with him. I got a picture of him resting on their cat a few months after he went to his new home.

Spike in the car on the way home

He didn't really like to be held, but he LOVED to snuggle after his baths

King of the vacuum! 

Spike was a big beardie!

Spike with his underbite

Bitsy Stubbs, rescue number 2

I was in the middle of carrying for Nigel's arm when I discovered Bitsy in a cage at the local pet store. His back toes had been eaten off and the open, bloody wounds were coated with sand, poop, and dead food. His eyes were becoming sticky and he had sand stuck to them. His color was poor and he didn't move much. Because I have a good relationship with the pet store owner's wife, they took the beardie out and soaked him (ugh!!) before putting him back into the sand tank.

I made it two hours before I went back to the store (with Nigel on my shoulder) and offered them $20 for him. I took him home and gave him a nice warm betadine soak. The first thing I did was cut off the tendons that were still attached to his feet and collecting junk. Apparently the other beardies in the tank ate his toes but couldn't bite through the tendons. I cleaned off his eyes with saline drops and cleaned off the tip of his tail which had also been eaten off.

For two weeks, I soaked Bitsy, cleaned the sand from his wound (it took three weeks before I got all the sand out), kept his eyes clean, and fed him like crazy. He went from 61 grams to over 90 grams in only a couple of weeks.

His open wounds as I soaked off the sandy scabs

His feet as they started to heal

His head was a weird grayish color when I got him. He later shed and
became a vibrant green-yellow color

Bitsy Stubbs, looking much better

Going for a walk on my shoulder

Finding the highest ground possible!

Bitsy & his new buddy Steve checking out Facebook at his new home

Nigel- my very first (and MOST expensive) rescue

Nigel was the beardie that started it all. I saw an ad in our "Free Pets" section of KSL Classifieds for a small bearded dragon with an arm infection. I called and picked up Nigel a couple days later. Somehow his arm had gotten caught in his screen top and it broke his finger. The finger got infected and the infection spread to his entire arm. By the time I got him, his arm was black and swollen. 

I took Nigel to my fabulous herp vet, Dr Doug Folland, on Monday morning. Dr Folland took his fingernail and scraped at part of Nigel's arm. Instantly, a pea-size chunk of dead skin popped off and fell with a plop onto the exam table. Thick, yellow pus started oozing from the whole. Dr Folland put Nigel to sleep and spent 45 minutes scraping out pus, removing dead tissue, and cleaning up the wound. 

For 6 weeks, Nigel had daily soaks in betadine, pus removal, and antibiotic shots. Three weeks after his first surgery, he had a second surgery to remove more pus and dead tissue on his hand. He had more antibiotic shots after that. For the first week or two, we weren't sure if we'd be able to save his arm or his finger. My vet was sure that his broken finger would eventually fall off (it still hasn't). 

After his last antibiotic shot, I placed Nigel in an AMAZING home where he has been loved and cherished. He grew from 140 grams to over 500 grams in about 6 months. His red color is truly amazing-- I have never seen a beardie so intensely colored before. He is GORGEOUS! 

Two months ago, Nigel developed another infection in his arm. Thanks to watching his first surgeries and taking care of him for two months, I was able to remove two pockets of infection myself. The vet gave him another round of antibiotics and he is good as new now. Considering how deeply diseased his arm was, it doesn't surprise me that he still battles infection to this day. 

I consider the $600 to be a training course for me on how to take care of injured beardies. I've used that knowledge to take care of all the beardies I've gotten since then. 

Nigel, before he got sick

You can see how swollen & infected his foot was when I got him. 

Nigel was so happy to be held & loved

Shortly after his surgery to remove the infection and dead tissue

His arm looked bad for several weeks, but we were pretty sure we could save it

Enjoying a nice heated corn bag and a snuggly blanket

Kip decided he wanted to enjoy the warm, snuggliness too! 

Nigel, on his old skull rock, showing off his new size-- he is even bigger now!

Nigel sunning himself outside at his house, June 2013

Lizzie-- the Beardie who started it all

My daughter got Lizzie for her 9th birthday. She picked the name and it stuck-- even after we discovered she is actually a he. 

My daughter and her baby

Lizzie is a leucistic beardie

Lizzie is our snuggliest beardie- he loves anything soft