Yeah, bad move. TOO many beardies for sale.
I perform "Visual Triage" on the ads I look through. I look at the beardie, his eyes & weight, the tank & the lights, etc. If it's bad, I'll text on it. If it looks fine, I pass. I only go for the sickly ones.
One of the first beardie ads that caught my attention was for a juvenile beardie who *obviously* had/has MBD. You can see from the pic that his wrist is broken/bent in the classic MBD way.
I sent a text to the owner stating there were obvious problems, etc. The response said "Fine, you're a rescuer, you take him." I said I would and that I'd only take the beardie so he could sell the set up.
"No," came the very strong reply. "I am not giving him away. If you want him, you have to buy him & his setup. I need the money."
When I get unexpected donations through PayPal, I set the money aside in an account for the purposes of rescuing. Honestly, I call it my "Blood Money" fund for times like these when an owner is bent on getting money for their sickly animal. It's like paying bail money to get them out of hell. :( I made arrangements to buy the beardie & his setup this morning for $80. Luckily the cage is nice and I can clean it up and sell it to recoup some of my costs.
The cage he was in had ONE 60 watt black bulb. That's it. No day lamp, no UVB, no basking spot. A thin layer of nasty sand on the bottom.
When I picked him up today, I asked if he liked greens. There was an awkward pause. "We didn't know you could feed him veggies and so we never tried." They fed him mealworms only twice a day for months. No calcium. No UVB. No food. No pellet.
This guy is a miracle that he's even alive. His wrist is abnormally bent, but overall his bones are surprisingly strong!
Within an hour of being in a new "sick" tank, he had the biggest, oddest poop I've ever seen from a baby. I fed him some roaches and he loved them. He doesn't seem to be slowed down by his bent wrist at all.
Still trying to think of a name since I refuse to call him "Little Devil." He's probably about 4/5 months old. I can't wait to get him in the direct sunshine tomorrow.
If you'd like to help build back up my "Blood Money" or "Bail Money" or "Emergency Rescue" Funds, please click HERE! And Thank you!
