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.

Another post about Sand

If you've read this blog, you've ready *many* posts about the dangers of sand. I'm not going to get in to that. You can click the "Sand" label at the bottom of this post and it will take you to other posts where I rant about how bad sand is. For this post, I want to focus on the aesthetics of sand.

One- sand makes your beardie dirty & stained. Look at the difference between Noel's belly after being on a solid substrate and being on sand. The sand side of the picture shows when his belly started to shed. The solid substrate side shows how clean his leg is until it reaches the old skin that hasn't shed off yet.

Gross, huh?

Two, sand & the even-worse walnut shell STINKS! Hand me a beardie and let me smell him and I can tell you right away if he's on sand or on a solid surface. Sand beardies smell SOOOO BAD! It's hard to keep the sand clean and bug/parasite free and it breeds stinkiness.

So get your beardie on a solid surface (tile, slate, laminate, shelf liner, paper towels) than for no other reason than you want him/her to be prettier and smell better. Their guts & digestion will thank you too.

MuShu, rescue number 90

My vet's office called today and asked if I could help with a female beardie who had a pretty severe prolapse. Her owner needed to surrender her because he didn't have the money to get her treatment.

Of course, I said "Yes." 

Dr Folland got her all fixed up and I brought her home. She'll be on pain meds for a few days and antibiotic shots for three weeks. As soon as I can, I'll do a fecal test on her to see if she has parasites that caused the prolapse. If she does, I'll treat her for that. Luckily for me, I have all the supplies & shots necessary to treat her. 

I did find out that she was on sand in her previous tank and had no UVB light. Sand collects in bearded dragon guts and eventually forms a blockage that causes a prolapse and/or death. 

SAND IS BAD!!!! I don't care what the pet stores tell you!!!!! The sand does not pass 100% out of a beardie's intestines. Over time it collects and collects particles of food. 

DO NOT USE A LOOSE SUBSTRATE!!! Paper towels, paper, newspapers, AstroTurf, tile, linoleum, fleece, Repti Carpet. You have lots of options besides sand.