Diego, rescue 191

I found Diego on Craig's List and I couldn't ignore it. Look at this ad:

The ad even said the 10 gallon tank was too small but they couldn't afford a new one. Diego is a year and a half now and has been in a 10 gallon tank his whole life.

Since he obviously had never had a UVB light either, I was prepared to find a beardie with Metabolic Bone Disease. Imagine my shock that his bones were perfect! :O WOW! He is incredibly healthy and strong though a tiny bit on the skinny side. 

Diego is one of the mellowest beardies I have ever had. We held him and loved on him and he didn't flinch. Because we were down in San Diego, I wanted to go to the San Diego dog beach with my daughter. Since we had Diego, he went along with us, and he did great! 

I plan to get him back home to Utah and get him set up in a 40 gallon tank. He'll be an easy & quick adoption. In fact, I may even look into adopting him out as a Emotional Support Animal because he is SO mellow. 

I've been snuggling with him almost every night here too. He's not crazy about the other beardies here, but once he's in his blankie, he forgets all about them. 

2 Beardies + 1 Uromastyx in *ONE* Tank, rescues 188, 189, 190

So yes, I'm on vacation. But I'm not dead! ;)

Last night I picked up 3 reptiles off this ad:

Once I read the ad, I realized that there were two bearded dragons and one uromastyx in the single 40 gallon long tank.

Today, I got them all set up in individual tanks. 

In the big tank is the 2 year old male bearded dragon named Pancho. Once we wrapped him up in a soft cloth diaper last night, he wouldn't leave it. He has a hammock in his tank now and he won't leave it. 

Gramps is the smallest of the 2 beardies even though he is around 8 years old. He obviously had severe MBD when he was little because he has an underbite and misshapen mouth. His upper lip was stuck out and coated with lots of junk (dirt, old food, old shed, etc.) I cleaned off his mouth and he looked better. 

He's an adorable little guy and loves to hang out with us on the couch. He got a water bowl and spent 20 minutes swimming in it. Then he parked himself on his soft hammock for a nap. 

The uromastyx is pretty stressed from all the moving around. Every time I pull him out, he pees on me. :( I'll let him settle in to his new tank before I trim his nails and give him a bath. I'm pretty sure he's a Mali uromastyx. 

So now they are all in clean tanks with fresh clean paper towel and NO smell or dead things. Once I get them home in a few days, they will get better water bowls and UVB lights. 

An HUGE SHOUT OUT to Liam L, Ginger S, and Jordyn H who helped me pay their fee ($150 total) and for their basic tank supplies. THANK YOU!!! 

Today's Second Rescue-- an "Aggressive" beardie, rescue 186

The second ad I found last night also horrified me! Two in one night was pretty intense. There wasn't a pic, just an ad saying the beardie was "Aggressive." I sent a text request for a pic and got this one:

Crappy, dirty sand. Half closed eyes. NOT good.

I asked about his set up. The answer wasn't *that* bad: a 40 gallon tank, sand, a hide, a plant, and some dishes. Okay, that's doable. What about the lights, I texted back.

The answer horrified me. "I keep him in the sunniest room in my house so he doesn't need lights."

Um? Excuse me?

What about a basking spot?

"We keep our house pretty warm."

Like 100 degrees? I don't think so.

This beardie had NO lights and NO heat and NO UVB. Is anyone really surprised he's "Aggressive??" Without heat, he can't digest properly. Without UVB, he can't metabolize calcium.

The tank was gross. Thin layer of sand, tiny hide, chameleon plant, lots of poop. He was not taken care of well because he was mean. No name either. He's very thin too. :( I paid $70 to bail him out. The beardie was only $40 but for an extra $30 I got the tank so it was a good deal (sorta).

I brought him home and got him into a clean tank with lights. Once he stopped freaking out, he took a very long drink from his clean water bowl.  And once he discovered the heat lamp, he did NOT move from it. :(  He kept his eyes closed and his face pointed towards the heat.

You cannot tell me he was "Fine" with no lights. Look at that face!!

He never was named and I haven't decided yet what to call him. Poor baby needs good nutrition, a blankie, love, and probably a good deworming.



If you'd like to help rebuild my "Blood Money" or "Bail Money" or "Emergency Rescue" funds, please click HERE.

Today's First Rescue- MBD Juvenile, rescue number 185

I got myself into a bit of trouble last night-- I started browsing the local online Reptile ads.

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!

The Anatomy of a Really BAD Tank

Today I rescued a "really healthy" bearded dragon. Well, "really healthy" according to the owner who also felt like the set up and price were a "really good deal." Um, not so much.

I realized when I got this sweet little beardie that her tank would make the PERFECT example of what a really, really, really, really nasty-bad-inappropriate-gross tank is.

 Exhibit A: This tank has one single light-- a regular light bulb. No UVB.

Exhibit B: Fish tank decorations and plastic plants. Not even big enough to use as a hide or climb on and super dirty.

Exhibit C: A piece of old 2 by 4 wood as a ... decoration? This kind of wood is treated with chemicals that can be very hazardous to your reptile. Use non-treated, pesticide free wood in your tanks.

Exhibit D: I couldn't actually figure out what this is-- like a piece of vine or rope? It was filthy.

Exhibit E: Massive piles of runny, sticky poop. Never cleaned up; never wiped off. The poop itself shows a poor diet and parasite infestation.

Exhibit F: Calcium sand that had never been sifted or replaced or cleaned. It was filthy. I need to use a putty knife to actually scrape the sand off the bottom of the tank.

Exhibit G: Slimy water dish with no water in it. This is a terrible dish anyways for beardies as it is too shallow for them to drink well out of.

Exhibit H: There were piles of dried iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, and purple cabbage spread all over the tank. WORST DIET EVER!!! No. No. No. No. NO!

Exhibit I: There were at least 18 inches between the heat source and the closest basking spot. This is a 30 gallon tall tank and is one of the worst kinds you can use for bearded dragons. There was no way for her to get anywhere close to the very dim, very dull bulb above her head. I'm guessing she was never able to get her basking temperature over about 82 degrees.

Exhibit J: This little beardie is a stunted, dirty mess. She was very dehydrated and very underfed. :( Her nails have never been trimmed and she hasn't been held for a long time.

Exhibit K: The inside of the glass was *filthy.* It was hard to see through parts of the glass.

Exhibit L: An under-tank heat (UTH) mat without a thermostat control or without a piece of tile on top of it to help spread the warmth around. UTH mats can get over 125 degrees and will heat up the sand enough to burn your bearded dragon. There are better ways to keep a tank warm. If you can't use a thermostat control, please don't use a UTH.


No lights, no hide, not enough heat, no cleaning, not good food, no clean water, no poop cleaned up-- honestly, I can't think of anything that I actually LIKE about this set up. :(

This is a perfect of example of someone who got a pet because it was "cute" and quickly lost interest in it without doing any research. A simple Google search would have given the owners better information about diet, lighting, and tank set ups. I had to explain to a surprised owner that UVB is necessary for metabolizing calcium and without it, the beardie would have slowly and painfully died. They had never even heard of that.

DO YOUR RESEARCH!! 

I just think we are past the point in society where we can blame it on the pet store (which I still hear way, way, way too often). It is not the job of the pet store to tell you *everything* you need. Their job is to make money. Your job is to be responsible for your pet by providing the best and most appropriate habitat & diet & care for your new pet. Research, research, research.

Some other pics from the tank:

Her New Tank: 

I ran out of paper towels and put down towels until I can get to the store. She has a clean substrate, a 100 Watt heat bulb, a brand new ZooMed 10.0 UVB light hanging inside her tank (less than 18" above her), a basking spot that she can climb up on or hide under, and an actual water dish that she can drink out of. 

So much better! She doesn't even know what to do with all the room and the heat. 

She acted like she had never been in the bath before. I can honestly believe that. I was so relieved to see her drinking it up.