Pocket Buddy, rescue number 42

Tonight I picked up a very small beardie named Buddy. He's supposed to be between 1 and 2 years old, but he is half the size he should be. I'm guessing that he had very poor nutrition as a baby and is (and will be) super stunted his whole life. I think he's a boy, but I'm not positive because he's so small. My little boy Toothless, who had severe MBD, is bigger than this guy. Buddy weighs 120 grams; Toothless weighs 145 grams.

Buddy isn't super friendly, but I think he'll adjust quickly to being handled. He won't be good for kids-- yet. I'll be working with him to get him friendlier and used to being held.

I did wrap him up in a blankie to bring him home and he loved that.

I put him in my empty 55 gallon tank and I don't think he knows what to do with all the room!

Nubs, rescue number 32

One of the worst rescues I've ever taken in. He has THREE stumps, a shortened tail, and is severely malnourished. He is about a year old and was in a 10 gln tank filled with dirt and dirty paper towels. He had one light bulb on him (not even a heat bulb) and it was turned off every night in the basement laundry room. He was filthy, covered with his own poop and often got so hungry that he ate his poop.

You can see his hip & tail bones because he's so thin

"Nubs" shows me both the stupidity of owners and the resiliency of beardies. He's basking in the sun right now and has had a dose of critical care omnivore diet. Gotta get his calcium levels back up and put some weight on him.

Here's a better pic of his nubs

Here's a pic of the tank he lived in:

This was AFTER the poop-filled dirt was removed. Look at how filthy the walls are.
Nubs was caked with poop. It was disgusting.

Raji, rescue number 31

Raji is a 13 month old leucistic female who came to me yesterday. She is healthy and strong-- her family just got into a bad situation and couldn't keep her. She should be pretty easy to place because she's beautiful & friendly.

Rather nice to have an "easy" rescue... especially after I got #32 today.....

The Color Babies, rescues 26 through 30

Since these 5 little baby beardies came last week, my life has not been calm or easy. They require continual care and it's been a struggle to feed them. Until yesterday, I fed them by using the end of a toothpick to drop formula onto their mouths.

Yesterday, I got serious though. Thanks to my amazing vet, Dr Doug Folland at Parrish Creek Vet in Centerville, Utah, I got supplies that have made feeding time MUCH easier.

LaFeber's Emergency Exotic Carnivore diet and a 1 cc/mL syringe with part of a cat catheter on the end. The new syringe fits perfectly in their mouths and I can feed them a tenth of a cc twice a day. No more drops on toothpicks! Hooray!

So here's the babies:

Pink
He's only 4 grams, but has always been one of the more active ones.

Yellow
He's only 3 grams and has done really well lately.

Green
He's only 3 grams and has always been one of the sicklier ones. Dr Folland discovered some sort of lump in his belly yesterday. I'm hoping he'll pass it on his own and not end up having a serious problem with impaction.

Blue
He's the other sickly one. In fact, I didn't think he'd make it past last Friday. But he's still alive & kicking. He weighs between 3 and 4 grams.

Purple

He's my most active baby and weighs 4 to 5 grams. 

They are now getting all the nutrition and care they need to survive. It's up to them to put forth some effort to live. I sure hope they make it!

Volcano, rescue number 25

Volcano was bought by a family a couple weeks ago who quickly learned that he was not as "friendly" and "nice" as the previous owners said he was. That did not go over well with the little kids in his family. His hissing and spitting and black beard freaked them out.

So after many discussions, I traded Apollo for "Cano."

I brought him home and got him out of his 20 gallon sand tank and into a, you guessed it, 40 gallon tank with astroturf. :) Can you tell what my favorite tank set up is?

He is a 2 to 3 year old male and he is TINY for his age! He's definitely going to take some work to get him friendly again, and he's already learning that when he puffs out his beard, I don't shrink back.

"Uh huh, Tough Stuff, what else you got?" is how I respond.

Beardies can be like dogs (or kids)-- if they learn that a certain behavior gets them left alone, they'll do it over and over again. Volcano's previous "mom" spent at least 20 minutes getting him out of the tank. Nope, not here. I've been bitten, scratched, whipped with a tail, pooped on, hissed out, head thumped at, poked. It just doesn't phase me anymore.

Here he is in his nice new cage-- I don't even think he knows what to do with so much space! He's a bit spooked out so we'll give him a couple days to adjust before I start really training him. Before he knows it, he'll be thrilled to go on car rides and be the center of attention after school. :)

Spiny, rescue number 24-- renamed "Pickle"

Spiny is a 4 month old beardie with a bit of an attitude! Mostly, I just think he's freaked out and I'm a stranger. So when he sees me, he puffs out his beard and jumps back into a defensive position. He's young enough that he just needs to adjust to his new environment before we start working with him.

I don't have anything else to post on him yet. I'll add updates later as I get to know him.

Honey BooBoo, rescue number 23

Honey BooBoo originally came to me to babysit, but then her owners (who had just been given her) decided to let me place her for adoption.

Honey is around 8 years old, which makes her a bit of a beardie senior citizen. I got her out of her small tank and into a clean 40 gln tank with astroturf instead of sand.

She got a bath and I scrubbed her scales gently with a toothbrush to get her nice and clean again. She loved being in the water and swam around too.

Because she is a "senior" I found a special home for her where she can live out the rest of her days in love. She needs a calm & mellow environment without little kids mauling her or big boy beardies trying to mate with her. She's earned the right to retire!

Apollo, rescue number 22

On Saturday, I picked up Apollo, a 3 year old male beardie.

Overall, he's healthy. He has had a bit of MBD in the past because his jaw is a little wonky. I switched out his tank to a better size/fit and gave him a couple hours outside yesterday which he loved!

He was roaming around our house when he discovered my female, SweetPea. At first, he seemed totally puzzled by another beardie. He spent several minutes just starting at her as though he wasn't sure what he should do. He then figured out he wanted her (like all the other boys before him) and tried to get at her. SweetPea, who must be training to be a nun, didn't even blink at him. She's not into boy beardies.

I'm hopeful that Apollo will be super easy to place into a good home. He was loved by his previous owner, but not super socialized. I can already see him blossoming with good food and outside sun time.

--------------UPDATE 9/20/13--------------------------

Apollo was placed today in a lizard-loving home filled with boys! They adored him and he is going to be spoiled with love and attention there. :)

Dracaryis, rescue number 17

Sometimes rescuing beardies is an honor to me. Dracaryis came today with all her supplies after her owner was unable to find her a good home before moving. She will stay with me until I can find her a home where she will be loved and adored again. It was hard to say goodbye to her owner who had tears in her eyes. :( It's so hard to say goodbye to pets you adore. 

It's hard to say which is harder-- taking in beardies people don't care about or taking in beardies that the owners feel heartbreak over. Either way, it makes me more determined to do right by my beardies and get them into a good home.  

I think I already have the perfect home for her too where she will be adored like before. 

She loves strawberries!

She loved her owner's dog

Snuggling with me while I type

Neville, rescue number 16

I discovered Neville in the beardie tank at my local PetSmart and noticed his foot was bloodied. The manager pulled him out of the tank and took him to the vet the next day. He ended up losing all but one toe on that back foot and the tip of his tail. The vet (my vet too!) couldn't find anything else wrong with him. He is healthy, active, and eats great. Because he's "special" they couldn't sell him normally. Originally one of the managers was going to take him, but she changed her mind.

You can see his little stump on his right leg

Today they let me adopt him for free. I took him-- against my previous decision to NEVER again take a baby-- because his little pinky toe sticking out is adorable and makes him look like a prissy British lady drinking her tea. And because he is partially green! You don't often find green on beardies.

So I brought him home and set him up in a tank with supplies I already had. He's a wiggly little guy so we didn't have him out much today. I figured he could take the extra time to get settled. Tonight, after I turned off his lights, I couldn't find him on his hide. That's when I discovered that he was in the corner, tippy toeing on one foot, with the other foot pulled up; one hand was straight above his head and the other hand was out. He must dream of being a ballerina! :)

"The Girls," rescues number 14 & 15

I received a pair of female beardies today. They are only a year old and have never been named. One is a beautiful red color and the other is a pretty pastel.

They are both healthy & super friendly. I'm hopeful that I can place them for adoption really quickly. I cleaned their cage and replaced the ground walnut shell substrate with astroturf.

Toothless, rescue number 12

Toothless was given me today by the lady who adopted Spike. She is about a year old and has MBD already. Her lower jaw is starting to protrude and her spine is curving near her tail. She's young enough that I think a good diet, a lot of outside time, and some calcium injections/supplements will make a difference for her. 

See how tiny?

Trying to get her basking temp up but she kept sitting on the thermometer

Bath time- making sure she is hydrated

Sunday Sun Time

The weather was beautiful yesterday so I took 4 of the 6 beardies outside. I also had two tortoises outside and my two dogs. It was great!

A Full House

Spike after a long day of sunning & playing at our house

Between my three beardies (Lizzie, Max, & SweetPea) and my two rescues (Squiggy & Thor) and the beardie we are babysitting, Spike, we have a FULL beardie house! Five of the six are boys so we have lots of interesting head bobbing displays around here. They are all vying to be the top dragon and to impress the lone female. Sadly for them, SweetPea could care less for any of them. They'd be lucky if she even blinks at them.

Hopefully, we'll find Thor a good home in the next few days. Squiggy will be adopted by his biggest fan in Florida. I'm currently arranging for his shipping "chariot" to carry him to his new home near the beach. Then we'll be down to the regular three.

Thor, rescue number 11

Finally! A nice, healthy, functional, social beardie to rehome! Phew! After the trauma of the baby beardie, I am relieved to have an easy placement.

Cutie boy hanging out on the back of the couch

Amazing set up here 

I expect this guy to go soon! Which is good because we don't have a lot of room around here any more. Had to move Squiggy into my room for now.

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.

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.