Fido, rescue number 59

All my tanks are full and I don't really have any more room in my house for more tanks. So I haven't been taking in other rescues.... until yesterday.

Meet Fido, an adult red iguana with aggression issues. And a malformed jaw due to MBD. And some other problems.

He was surrendered to another rescue who intended to put him down by sticking him in the freezer, but a friend of mine intervened and took him home (even though (s)he was scared to death of iguanas). I went the next day to check him out (it was the least I could do since there was NO way I could take him in!!).

Fido looked pretty bad and I offered to use some of my rescue funds to take him to see the vet. Considering his anti-social personality and his mouth issues, etc., I fully expected Dr Folland to offer to put him down humanely.

Four hours later, Dr Folland calls to tell me that this is probably the healthiest reptile I have ever brought to see him.

uh oh.

So then I panicked. What on earth do I do with an aggressive, special needs iggy that no one else wants?!? I didn't have the heart to give him back to my iguana-terrified friend. Luckily, PetCo is having their Dollar-a-Gallon tank sale. I went to the store and bought a 55 gallon tank (WAY too small, but better than the  plastic crate he was being carried in.)

I put the tank in my craft room and set it up quickly. The poor iggy had been in a box or crate for the whole day and was cold. He freaked out at first in his new environment, but calmed down after awhile.

Look at his scrawny chicken legs! He's so underweight!

I found a 75 gallon tank with a locking lid that I'll pick up tomorrow for him. AND (thankfully) I found a lady who has rescued iggys before and who would like him. Phew! He's got heat & UVB and water (it was clean until a little bit ago when he decided to play in it). He's been eating greens and iguana pellets and resting up. His tank is too small for him, but it is temporary and is far better than where he came from.

Fido still tries to show me he's boss when I walk in the room and he whips his tail at the tank. This morning while I worked on my Etsy orders in the room, he found me to be boring and went to sleep:

Iguanas should always be viewed as a wild animal. They will always stay more wild than tame and are not good reptiles for normal people. They absolutely can be kind & loving, but they can bite & whip & attack too. I'm not a big iguana fan (I do love my boy Sancho) and understand that it is hard to rehabilitate an iggy because they are slow to adapt and adjust, but I cannot and will not just throw one away because it's easier.

This guy will have a chance at a good & happy life instead of ending up in a trash can somewhere. For that, I'm grateful.

REPOST: "Uh Oh! Is my beardie dead?" Learning about Brumination

Take a deep breath. It's totally normal.

Adult beardies bruminate-- it's in between a torpor and a hibernation. For a few weeks or a couple months during the summer, your beardie slows way, way, way down. Bruminating beardies don't move much, they don't run around, they might not eat or drink at all.

The first brumination can be very stressful.

So this is what I ask:

1- is your beardie over 1 year? Juvenile & sub-adult beardies should NEVER bruminate. They may slow down, but they shouldn't stop.

2- do you have a good UVB light? is your basking spot between 95 and 105 degrees?

3- has your beardie pooped recently? is their stomach still squishy & soft?

If you answer "Yes" to these questions, chances are your beardie is bruminating. Leave him alone and let him sleep. Our beardie, Lizzie, slept for 4 weeks last winter. We poked him every so often to make sure he wasn't dead (because he looked dead!). We took a piece of cardboard and made a little shelter for him. We turned his basking spot down a bit and left him alone. One day he was back up and moving around-- and HUNGRY!!

Right now, Max, my super size boy, doesn't move much. He doesn't eat. He won't eat roaches (his favorite). Sometimes he's standing up, leaning against the perch in his tank; sometimes he is laying on the ground. He doesn't move much. It's totally normal. No need to panic.

Here's a cut-and-paste paragraph I found from one of my favorite beardie websites:

Brumation

Brumation is basically hibernation-lite.  It occurs is some dragons that are a year of age or older, although it does not occur in every Bearded Dragon.  Brumation can happen at any season of year, but the vast majority of the time it happens in the winter of whatever place you are in.  Every Bearded Dragon brumates differently.  Some just slow down for a few months, some slow down and stop eating, some take long naps, and some sleep for months at a time without break.  Its also possible for a Bearded Dragon's brumation habits to change as it gets older.  
During a typical brumation, your Bearded Dragon should not lose any weight to speak of. 
They should get a vet check just prior to brumation, when they are showing the first signs of lethargy, and the vet appointment should include a fecal check. 
You should provide your Bearded Dragon with a hide of some sort on the cool side of the habitat in which he can rest.  Temperatures can safely fall into the low sixties during brumation.  If your Beardie wakes up briefly offer water and food.  They may not take the food, that's normal.  If they do eat, encourage them to have a bowel movement before they fall back to sleep, otherwise the food may rot in the stomach.  Bearded Dragons have an instinct about this, and probably will not fall deeply asleep while still carrying lots of food in their stomach.
In a few weeks to a few months, depending on the Bearded Dragon, normal activity should be resumed.  

 Here's another link to check out: 

BeardedDragon.org

Cole, rescue number 58

I never know what to expect when I go to pick up a bearded dragon, especially when they tell me the previous owners didn't get him a UVB light and the current owner wants him gone ASAP.

Cole, a two year German Giant male, surprised me greatly! He is used to his leash and loves to snuggle in his blanket. He's a bit underweight and has a crooked tail and crooked fingers, but overall appears very healthy.

He spent the day in the direct sunshine our window and quickly showed us that he LOVES to climb. We got him down from the top of the window screen several times.

Tonight he crawled into my tree and then onto my daughter's head. He's definitely a climber and is loving the freedom and his new blankie. He should be an easy one to adopt out.

Sweet Crikey

I did something I don't normally do-- I held onto Crikey while the vet injected a lethal dose of anesthesia this afternoon. I pet his head & talked softly to him while he passed. He didn't want to be held, so I laid him on his soft blankie and let him rest that way.

This was him after he was "gone."

Another educational bit for you--- reptiles' hearts are notoriously slow at stopping, even long after death has occurred. When my beardies die at home, I wait until they are done breathing and then I wrap them in a blankie and put them in my freezer to finally stop their hearts. The vet gave Crikey a fatal dose of anesthesia (as normal), but even two hours later, his heart was still going. I just went back to pick up his body and found, instead, they were giving him a second dose of meds. I'll go back later to get him.

Some reptile hearts can beat sporadically for several hours after the time of death! If you have a reptile die with you, I recommend that you put them in the freezer for a few hours before burial to stop all random body processes.

Sick Eyes

They say that eyes are the "windows to the soul" and that is true for beardies too. Yesterday, when I picked up Crikey, I took one look at his eyes and knew he was in very bad shape. That got me thinking about how the eyes are such a good "window" into a beardie's health.

Here is a picture compilation of sickly beardie eyes. They are heartbreaking-- I'll just warn you of that upfront.

Survived

Died 

Died 

Died

Died

Died, several months later

Survived 

Died 

Dying

Died 

Died 

Died

Crikey, rescue number 57

This is Crikey, a 14 month beardie who, I think, is suffering from severe gout. Poor boy. He's got a vet appt first thing tomorrow morning at 8 am. A friend of mine rescued him from a bad situation in Vegas and has done a good job with him, but his condition continues to worsen.

Gout is a condition where the kidneys fail to work correctly and uric acid is released into the bloodstream where it accumulates in the joints. The acid crystals are sharp and make movement very, very painful. You can see how swollen Crikey's joints are. He's stopped moving almost completely and has very little appetite. 

Gout is very difficult to treat because it's root cause is kidney malfunction. You can often get rid of the symptoms, but you will always have a beardie with poorly functioning kidneys. So you have to have a special diet and continual treatment to keep the beardie's uric acid levels in check. 

Look at his poor feet & knees! Every joint in his body is swollen and so painful to move. Poor little buddy. We'll see if we can get him better. Dr Folland is a rock star (in case you haven't figured that out from my posts already) and offers Crikey the best chance of survival.

I will keep you posted. 

Ember, rescue number 56

I picked up this sweet, beautiful female last Friday night. She is, by far, the most timid beardie I have ever met. The change in her owners and the change in her tank (and surroundings) have overwhelmed  her and she spends most of her time in the corner of her tank.

She is gorgeous and the most amazing orange coloring on her beard. She's healthy and still young-- so no problems there. She is just going to be very, very slow to adapt & adjust. Plus, I think she's still mad at me for cutting her nails when I picked her up. :)

And yes, her name is "Beardie." I expect we'll change that, but for now that's what we call her. Or we call her "the female." Her tank is hiding in my bedroom away from all my hormone-crazed males who primp & posture for each other. Oh boy! I can't imagine how bad they'd be for a female. 

NOTE: We named her "Ember" for her beautiful orange beard. She has become very tame and LOVES to be wrapped in a blankie and night and tucked into my shirt.

New Items in my Etsy Shop

Check them out HERE! 

Spike the 2nd, rescue number 55

Spike has a pretty good history, as far as my rescues go. He was bought as a baby from a pet store near here a year ago, but his owners (one of which was a 7 year old) decided they were tired of him. He did have crushed walnut in his tank (never, ever use crushed walnut shell or sand-- read why HERE) and was fed lettuce, spinach, and carrots (not terrible, but not nearly healthy enough-- read about a good diet HERE) and mealworms (not the best source of protein plus they are constipating to babies & juveniles).

All teen beardies go through a "difficult" period where they are grumpy with everyone. Spike learned that being grumpy got him left alone and they've left him alone for quite awhile. When I reached into pick him up, he puffed up huge, put his beard out, turned black, and tried to bite me. He will quickly learn that I don't respond to that behavior and will stop being so grumpy all the time. That's my biggest goal with him now.

I brought him home and put him in my sunny window while I got a tank set up for him. He really enjoyed being out and free. He even let me dress him up quickly before putting him away and feeding him some tasty roaches. This is my latest Etsy shop creation:

Check out my Etsy shop HERE.

My Costumes are at Salt Lake Comic Con this weekend!

If you're headed to the Salt Lake Comic Con this weekend, you'll find some of my costumes at the RockStar Pets booth, #931. :)