On a Break

Things have grown increasingly difficult at home and I'm taking a break from my rescue for awhile.

Thanks for all your love. I'll be back.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

GiveAway Winners!!

Winners of my First Ever Giveaway:

$25 gift certificate for Pampered Beardies: Laura Smith
$25 gift certificate for Pampered Snakes: Karyn Mountain

Emergency Warming Blanket with 2 Uniheat packs: Stacey N Clark

2 Uniheat packs: Lauren Alexandra, Amy McNair, Stephany B Rogers


Message me at Pamperedsnakes(at)gmail(dot)com for info. I will ask you to verify your name & info for me too.

THANKS!!

Final Call: Enter my First Giveaway Ever! Closes tonight.

Now that I have a second Etsy shop going, I want to promote both of them along with my Instagram and Facebook pages. I do have Twitter.... but that's too much! ;) 


OFFICIAL RULES TO WIN (Prizes listed below): 

1- Visit this blog. Shazam! I just gave that to you! (you're welcome)

2- Follow me on Instagram. Click HERE.

3- Favorite my Pampered Snakes Etsy Shop HERE.

4- Follow my Rescue Page on Facebook. Click HERE.

       BUT! Before you leave, Complete Step #4 BELOW!

5- Go to the PINNED POST at the top of my Rescue Page on Facebook and Comment "DONE" when you have done all 4 steps above and you'll be entered to win. Comments on the Blog won't count! You have to comment on Facebook!! :)

ALL "DONE" ENTRIES MUST BE POSTED **BEFORE** Midnight Mtn Standard Time on Sunday, May 28, 2017. Winners will be announced on Blogger, Facebook, & Instagram on Monday, May 29, 2017. Winners will be contacted before the announcements through Facebook & Instagram.

I did it again! Rescue 187, Tank

I made a mistake of looking in my local Facebook's Marketplace. Ugh.

Found a juvenile beardie in a small tank with NO UVB light. Never had one. And to make things worse, the heat bulb broke and the owner didn't want to buy a new one.

Ugh.

Remarkably, this little guy's bones are still pretty firm.

I asked if he'd been fed greens. Yep! Once. Papaya & green onions.

One time only in 3 months.

And the owners wanted him gone so they could go camping for the long weekend. And since they paid $70 for the beardie alone, they wouldn't come down on the price.

I paid $100 from my "Blood Money" or "Bail Money" account to get him into a good tank with two lights and good food.

Ugh!

I grumbled all the way there and back. I just couldn't walk away from this little one and leave him with no lights for a long weekend.

I need to take a break from searching ads so I can regain my niceness towards people.

A BIG THANK YOU to all who sent money to help build back up my Blood Money Savings account. You helped me get this guy! And if you'd still like to donate, please click HERE.

Mystery Solved!

Problem solved!!! I took Derek to the vet today because since I got him 12 days ago, he's not been eating or pooping. I started to worry.

Well, Derek is a GIRL! 😱😱 And she's not fat, she's pregnant (sorta)!!! Derek is making infertile eggs and has a lot of ova growing around her ovaries.

Not eating, not moving, not pooping are all bad signs in males, but totally normal in egg laying females. I'm going to wait a couple weeks to see if she lays them. If not, I'll spend the money to have her spayed (about $400) so we don't have to deal with eggs again.

I've had 4 female beardies spayed and it's been fabulous. Undeveloped eggs start to decay in the belly and the resulting infection will kill them.

Noel's Weights

As of yesterday, I have had Noel for 5 whole months. He first weighed 62 grams when I got him before Christmas in his half-dead state. Today he is 5 times that weight at 328 grams!!

He's still growing too! And he's SO red!

He pooped all over his favorite orange hammock and I gave him a girly one as a "Back up." He was not amused. He's definitely a boy! Every morning he does his beard exercises.

Click HERE to see what he looked like when I saw the ad for him.

Outside Time

I spent all morning running around (40 miles south to get the MBD beardie and then 50 miles in the opposite direction to get the adult for a total of 110 miles in 3 hours) and when I finally finally got home, I still had a ton of things on my "To Do" list.

I had my youngest take his beloved pet chickens outside. They are almost 100% fully feathered and will soon be able to stay outside. My youngest begged me to sit outside with him. So I ignored the groceries in bags on the table and the messes that needed to clean up and sat outside with him. For awhile we ate cherries and played with the chickens.

Bunsen, my 10 pound sulcata tortoise, came over to check out the chickens too.

It was a fantastic afternoon in the backyard. I enjoyed it a lot and am glad I chose to ignore the list for awhile and enjoy my family & my animals. <3 nbsp="" p="">

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!

Adding More to Pampered Snakes

Check out some of the latest listings in my NEW Etsy Shop Pampered Snakes! 

While you're there, be sure to "Like" the page!