Quick Update

Of my 3 sicklies, Roscoe is doing the best. He's such a sweetheart.

Bugsy still has fluid in his lungs and blood when he poops. 

MuShu has stopped pooping all together and actually started throwing up today. :( That is very bad. Her intestines are not working normally since her prolapse was fixed. Back to the vet we go. 

Critical Care Mornings

Once or twice a day I force feed my 3 sickly beardies: MuShu, Bugsy, and Roscoe. Bugsy and MuShu are both sick and not eating well on their own so they get the morning Critical Care (CC). Roscoe gets it twice a day plus a dose of calcium syrup.

I mix the CC with homemade Pedialyte for extra hydration. Each beardie has their own syringe. 

MuShu and Bugsy hate me pushing the syringes in their mouth and fight me. Roscoe doesn't fight but I have to be really careful since his bones are so fragile. 

He hates the calcium syrup so I usually give him some water to flush it out. 

He's got a cute tongue! 

Roscoe Update

Roscoe is doing pretty good. He's still pooping on his own and has a little pudgy belly. :) 

He gets calcium and Critical Care twice a day along with frequent water drips to keep his mouth moist (since it doesn't shut tight). 

He's so sad looking. But he gets himself around by dragging his body with his elbows. I'll take a video of it soon. 

The tip of his tail is crispy dead. When he gets a bit stronger and more comfortable, I will have the vet amputate it so the infection stops spreading into the healthy tissue. 

Here's another pic to show how small he is. 

Baby Steps and Poop

Sometimes the most exciting (and most common) part of rescue is poop! 

Last night, Roscoe pooped out more walnut shell in his own.  This is a great sign because it means his intestines are still working. 

This morning, he pooped even more and was able to pass more of the walnut shell out. His hips are so deformed now that I worried he'd not be physically able to poop. I'm glad to see he can. 

It took a couple tries, but I finally created a soft & safe tank for him where he can move around to regulate his temps without getting his claws stuck or falling off anything. 

He's getting 1 cc/mL of Critical Care every morning and night. Along with .05 mLs of calcium syrup. Throughout the day, I dribble Pedialyte on his mouth with a tiny syringe to keep him hydrated. 

Baby steps forward. :) This is the second step in his rehab: getting his calcium & nutrition levels up. 

The Sick Room

My bedroom has become the "Hospital Ward" for my rescue. 

Here's an Update on my Sicklies: 

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Turbo is doing okay. He has good days and bad days. The swelling in his arm & spine has slowed. On good days, he eats and is active. On bad days, he doesn't want to be pet and he sleeps all day. This pic shows how he sleeps. It's adorable!! 

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Bugsy is not doing well. He's on antibiotic shots but he still sounds like a whoopee cushion sometimes when he breathes. He stopped eating too so I started force feeding him today. He just mostly sleeps a lot. 

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MuShu is still having a hard time with her guts. I'm waiting to make sure she can poop normally after such a major prolapse. Some days she's really lethargic and hardly moves; other days she's very alert. It's just a slow recovery process. And she still won't eat on her own so I'm force feeding her too. 

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Roscoe is now the newest member in the ward. His tank is where Ginny's tank used to be. He's got a long hard road ahead, but I expect him to eventually recover. His whole cage is covered with polar fleece so he can't get his nails stuck and everything is low so he can't fall off. 

Roscoe, rescue number 91

Roscoe was my first real long distance rescue. I was contacted through my blog about him and asked to take him.

Look at this little face! How could I say no? 

Plus he obviously has SEVERE metabolic bone disease. 

This morning I met Roscoe's owners halfway between my house and their's-- a 2.5 drive one way for each of us. His bones-- ALL of them-- are 100% rubber. He had no solid bones in his body. :( 

I immediately started a triage list in my head of things to deal with. First & foremost was to deal with the growing impaction in his tummy. 

I held him most of the way home because that was the only way he would sleep and be calm. That's exactly how Newt, the MBD chameleon, was when I got him. It was so sweet. Roscoe went to sleep in my hand. 

Once I got home, I followed my vet's step by step instructions and gave Roscoe an enema (my first beardie enema ever).  It was quickly clear that something bigger was going on. Luckily, my awesome vet and his staff let me come over quickly just when they should have been closing.

Roscoe weighed 40 grams before he saw the vet. Dr Folland decided to flush out Roscoe's vent and that's when we discovered the nasties. Oh man, it smelled SO bad!

Roscoe's belly was filled with walnut shell  (a commonly sold substrate bedding for bearded dragons). Most of it had been encapsulated by mucus and had formed such a large lump that he never could have pooped it out on his own. Did I mention how BAD it smelled? Like it was rotting in his stomach. Eeewww! 

There is still more walnut shell in his belly but the hardened majority is gone. I will watch him to see if his guts can start working normally again to flush the rest out. After we were done, I weighed him again-- 36 grams. He had 4 grams of walnut shell in his belly (10% of his body weight!!)

The second step is to spend the next 2 weeks getting his calcium levels up and re-establish a good level of nutrition. Once his blood calcium level is in range, he will get 2 Calcitonin shots that will help his bones pull calcium back inside.

Then we will deal with the tail rot (probably through an amputation) and some mouth sores. 

At least for today, Roscoe is done with the hard stuff. Poor guy is so weak and rubbery that he can't even hold his weight up on his arms. I'll give him Critical Care mixed with homemade Pedialyte later.


OK-- here's my Soap Box: 

BABY BEARDED DRAGONS (under a year old) SHOULD NEVER, EVER, EVER BE ON SAND, CALCI-SAND, PLAY SAND, CRUSHED WALNUT SHELL, OR ANY OTHER LOOSE SUBSTRATE. EVER!!! 

I don't care what it says on the package-- the company is trying to SELL you a product. Don't buy it. Don't get mad that they tell you it's SAFE. It's their job to make $$$$$ not educate you. 

If your bearded dragon is OVER 1 YEAR, you are still taking a BIG risk using any loose substrate. I don't think it's worth the risk. EVER. 

Paper towels, newspaper, tile, astroturf, shelf liner, slate-- there are many cheap options for putting at the bottom of your tanks that are easy to clean and will not impact or kill your bearded dragon. 

Loose substrate can be just as bad for other reptiles too-- iguanas, geckoes, etc. DO YOUR HOMEWORK/RESEARCH. Don't just buy what the pet store tells you to buy. 

MuShu went back to the Vet

In the past two days, MuShu has been bleeding less, but she also stopped pooping. Instead of taking her stitches out myself, I took her back to my vet today. 

Dr Folland was able to probe her vent and see that the prolapsed tissue looks great. The swelling has gone down and it looks healthy. With a prolapse, you always worry that the tissue has decreased blood flow for too long and it will just die once it is pushed back in. 

While he was probing her, MuShu was able to push out a blood covered urate plug. I think the stitches were too tight to allow her to push the urate out. 

When Dr Folland tried to pry her mouth open, MuShu tried to take a bite out of his finger. Her mouth & tongue are pale meaning she is low in iron from all the blood loss and trauma. 

At least for the next week, I'll be force feeding her Critical Care to get her nutrition levels up and to get some weight back on her (she lost 14 grams).  I'll keep doing the antibiotic shots for her and she'll have another follow up next week. 

Within an hour of being home, MuShu pooped a little bit. Slowly but surely, we should be able to get her back to being healthy. And once she really poops, I'll be able to test her for parasites to see if that's why she prolapsed. 

Ginny made it safely!!

Ginny is now in her forever home and will be spoiled beyond measure. :) 

Phew! What a relief! Shipping is so stressful for me. I don't text until they arrive safely at their new home. 

Ginny is Headed Home!!

Last week, Ginny got clearance to be shipped to her new home in Florida. She was healed and healthy and ready to go!! 

Tonight was the night. 

It's so hard shipping! I worry all night about my critters and can't relax until they make it safely. 

Ginny got packed with her soft blankie and will sleep the whole way there. 

She'll arrive in Florida tomorrow morning by 9:30 am. 

Once she gets there, Ginny will have an amazing life with her new owner. I am confident that this is the right thing for her to live a very happy life. 

Happy Shark Week!!