Yellow Fungus Grapic

Femoral Pores Graphic

UVB Guide Graphic

Summer Surviving

I've gotten lazy with the blog as I try to survive summer vacation with my kids. I post all the time on Instagram, but neglect this blog because I still don't have a good app that works. I'll get updated again once my kids start school. And, as always, you can get instant updates if you follow me on Instagram.

HERE.

Before & After Savvy

My rescue sister rescued a juvenile Savannah monitor for me a couple weeks ago. Here's a "Before & After" picture of the Savvy. He's doing great & headed to a new home soon. Glad to have helped with this with one.

Top Pic: Most Recent
Bottom Pic: the One in the Online Ad I saw

Lil Spike, Rescue 200

This little buddy came to me in very, very bad shape yesterday. :( He's not eating, he's not moving, he's not healthy. He's been force fed for the last week without any improvement.

One look at Spike's picture told me the problem-- he has SEVERE Metabolic Bone Disease. I can feel at least one broken rib on him.

The biggest impact of MBD is brittle bones (which this guy has). A secondary, less known, symptom is poor gut motility. Without calcium, a reptile's digestive system stops working properly and they easily become impacted. Another MBD symptom is muscle loss which prevents the beardie from completely emptiness put their bellies. I can still feel sand in this baby's belly, even though he's been off sand for months. 

I gave him a saline injection to rehydrate his tissues and some calcium. He's already been in the sunshine today for an hour and is now I under a brand new UVB light. Now we just wait and see how he does. Direct sunlight is the BEST treatment for MBD (and it's FREE!!!) 

He looked pretty poor last night and I didn't know if he'd still be with me this morning. 

Hooray! He was! I gave him another saline injection, some calcium, and then I got him to lick some watered down baby food squash off a syringe too. All good signs! The experience exhausted him and I'll leave him alone for the rest of the day. 

Now we just keep doing Baby Steps forward to hope he can pull through. 

3 at the Vet

On Monday, I took two tortoises and a beardie to the vet. It's because I had paid off my rescue credit card on Saturday! Ha! A $0 balance must mean a vet visit! 

Lolly had her jaw bitten by grumpy Loner Leo who managed to sneak into her tortoise box. It ended up being okay and Dr Folland thinks her runny nose is because her eyes are so misshapen that they drain onto her face & nose. She was an easy visit-- except for her pooping all over. 

Gramps has been acting very lethargic and sickly lately. During his physical examination, Dr F found a mass in Gramps' belly that felt like a bubble or blister with a hard center. When he aspirated the lump with a needle, he immediately pulled out black fluid (bile) and then nothing else. Both bad signs. For some reason, Gramps' gall bladder is HUGE. It's encapsulated in a bile filled bubble. Sadly Gramps' mouth is a mess too-- he has very few teeth and mostly exposed jaw bone because his lower jaw is so messed up.

Gramps is old and in poor health. We are giving him a week of force feeding to see if his gallbladder will empty itself, and, if not, I believe we will choose to let him be done. :( He's not eating on his own and he's been super stressed and more sickly since his gallbladder was messed with. Also bad signs. In the past two days, he has hidden in his tank under his blankies or under the paper towels. His colors are poor and he seems in pain. Poor baby. I wish I could make up for his poor life, but 7+ years is a long time to be neglected.

Red is a 5 year old sulcata that weighs 3 pounds (and she lost weigh in the last month). Her buddy Bunsen (who just went to a new home in St George, Utah) is also 5 and weighs over 13 pounds. He eats & drinks & poops & motors around without stopping. Red, on the other hand, doesn't move. She's been like a pet rock. I gave her a month of good heat, lots of sunshine, the offer of food all the time, and there was no change. Her nose still drips and she still sleeps all the time. That's why I took her to the vet.

We didn't do anything with Red on Monday, but she's at the vet all day today. They will sedate her, draw blood, and take an x-ray. Hopefully the blood work & x-ray will show us what is wrong with her. I'm not overly hopeful since she's not grown at all since I got her two months ago (you can see their new growth easily on their bellies). I think whatever is wrong with her is serious and I'm anxious to hear if Dr Folland finds anything obvious.

Lil Man & Monica, Rescues 198 & 199

These two were brought to me by a friend who felt they were being neglected by a family member. They are underweight but otherwise healthy and very friendly.

Lil Man is the BIGGEST beardie I have ever had! He's 22 inches long! When I get weight put back on him, he will be HUGE! It's awesome! He loves to be held in soft blankies.

Monica has a lot of weight to regain. Poor thing is a stick. She loves to be held and carried around. She's adorable and very friendly. 

Bubba, Rescue 197

Bubba was an easy rescue! Healthy, happy, and fun. He is "Pocket Size" because he didn't grow up with a UVB light. Surprisingly though, he has no signs of Metabolic Bone Disease besides being small.

I love his "Puppy Dog" eyes. I adopted him out last night. Love those easy adoptions!

Fecal Testing

I've been checking a lot of poop lately and found a way to take a pic of the slide in my microscope.

The red is circled around pinworm eggs which tend to be green in color. The blue is circled around tiny, clear coccidia eggs.

Here again is another fecal test with a lot of green pinworm eggs (circled in green). Air bubbles are in yellow.

I bought all my fecal testing supplies online through BeautifulDragons.com  I bought my microscope on Amazon to save money. Each test (sample cup, Fecasol, glass slide, and glass cover) costs about $1 each and is well worth the money if you do a lot of rescues.

Rosie & 2 Cresties, Rescues 194, 195, 196

As a favor to help someone out, I took in Rosie and two juvenile crested geckos. I realized I didn't actually take a picture of the geckos though. :) They are all healthy & friendly(ish). Easy. 

Ladybug, Rescue 193

I took in another leopard gecko who was left behind by a young adult owner. She had shed stuck on her toes and face. Her water dish was black. She's obviously not used to being held, but she's been well fed.

Adoptable Beardies

I have a couple of beardies that are available for adoption. I will give higher priority to people who can pick them up here in Salt Lake City Utah, but I will consider shipping ($40 adoption fee plus you pick up actual overnight shipping costs to US only).

Chance, around 8 months old, most likely male 

Diego, 2 years old, male 

Noel, ~1 year, male 

Poncho, 3, male 

Quasi, 5 months, unsure of gender

The last Two Weeks in One Post

Derek had surgery to have her eggs removed a week ago today. She seems to be doing okay! 

The same day Derek went in for surgery, Justice tried to die on me. It was touch and go for a couple days, but now he is doing great. It's as though nothing ever happened.

I let Norman go to a new home where he can be an educational animal and live in a palace tank complete with a waterfall & wading pool. :)

The Savvy I rescued a couple weeks ago is doing fantastically in his foster home. He's waiting for his adoptive owner to finish building a big cage for him. The top pic is of him this week and the bottom pic is of him the day before I got him.

Poncho attended our local city parade with me and did great. He will make a great Emotional Support Animal, but will always need help eating because he can't catch his food well due to his enlarged corneas. My vet checked him out and declared him to be in good health. I'm now actively working on adopting him.

I got pics of the last two baby beardies I rescued in their new home. Tank & Raptor are owned by a 8 year old girl (and her mom) and are adored beyond belief. These are pics of them on their pet horses. I love it!

Updating

I've been posting info on my Instagram account and then forgetting to update my blog! So be sure to follow me on INSTAGRAM or on my Facebook page to get more up-to-date info.

I'm going to update my blog right now. :)

Sorry Guys!

After my PTSD meltdown earlier this month, I went to California to "pull myself back together." After about a week, I started feeling like myself again; after two weeks, I came home.

And I find myself falling apart again, never really knowing what the triggers will be that take me from fine & happy to sobbing.

PTSD is a bitch.

So in an effort to reduce stress, stop the guilt overload, and keep my sanity, I'm pulling back again. So I'll be blogging less and posting less, etc.

I'm sorry! I thought after 20 years of the trauma not being a problem that it wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't be a problem again. :(

Blah.

Thanks for all your love and support.

Another Savvy, rescue 192

On Saturday night, a friend from back home in Utah sent me a link to a local Salt Lake City ad that showed an adult savannah monitor not in good shape.

Poor baby! The ad originally listed the Savvy & set up for $300.

I immediately got my rescue sister on it. She managed to get the guy talked down to $50 for just the Savvy. The poor baby was stuck in a 55 gallon tank with ONE light-- a single 75 watt bulb set 18 inches above the bottom of the tank and programed to turn on for only 4 hours a day. :(

Again we feared he'd be in bad, bad shape and were happy to find he wasn't *too* bad. Every time the sunshine would hit the plastic transport box he was in, the savvy would stretch out and bask in it.

The second Marybeth got him home, he went into her bath. He was SOOO happy to splash and soak. He had at least 3 or 4 layers of old shed on him and was happy to soak it off. At first, when Marybeth would lightly splash water onto his back to get him all wet, he'd respond by whipping his tail and splashing her back.

After awhile, Marybeth reached up and started scratching his head. Oh he liked that! Then he started whipping his tail to splash her when she stopped!

After helping to get a layer or two off, she took him outside for some direct sunshine time. He did great on a leash.  

Marybeth will keep him until I get home and then I'll find him either a new home or a foster home to take care of him. I'm relieved that he was a fairly easy rescue-- especially since right after he got to Marybeth's house, she took in a small Nile monitor for our rescue brother.

Diego, rescue 191

I found Diego on Craig's List and I couldn't ignore it. Look at this ad:

The ad even said the 10 gallon tank was too small but they couldn't afford a new one. Diego is a year and a half now and has been in a 10 gallon tank his whole life.

Since he obviously had never had a UVB light either, I was prepared to find a beardie with Metabolic Bone Disease. Imagine my shock that his bones were perfect! :O WOW! He is incredibly healthy and strong though a tiny bit on the skinny side. 

Diego is one of the mellowest beardies I have ever had. We held him and loved on him and he didn't flinch. Because we were down in San Diego, I wanted to go to the San Diego dog beach with my daughter. Since we had Diego, he went along with us, and he did great! 

I plan to get him back home to Utah and get him set up in a 40 gallon tank. He'll be an easy & quick adoption. In fact, I may even look into adopting him out as a Emotional Support Animal because he is SO mellow. 

I've been snuggling with him almost every night here too. He's not crazy about the other beardies here, but once he's in his blankie, he forgets all about them. 

2 Beardies + 1 Uromastyx in *ONE* Tank, rescues 188, 189, 190

So yes, I'm on vacation. But I'm not dead! ;)

Last night I picked up 3 reptiles off this ad:

Once I read the ad, I realized that there were two bearded dragons and one uromastyx in the single 40 gallon long tank.

Today, I got them all set up in individual tanks. 

In the big tank is the 2 year old male bearded dragon named Pancho. Once we wrapped him up in a soft cloth diaper last night, he wouldn't leave it. He has a hammock in his tank now and he won't leave it. 

Gramps is the smallest of the 2 beardies even though he is around 8 years old. He obviously had severe MBD when he was little because he has an underbite and misshapen mouth. His upper lip was stuck out and coated with lots of junk (dirt, old food, old shed, etc.) I cleaned off his mouth and he looked better. 

He's an adorable little guy and loves to hang out with us on the couch. He got a water bowl and spent 20 minutes swimming in it. Then he parked himself on his soft hammock for a nap. 

The uromastyx is pretty stressed from all the moving around. Every time I pull him out, he pees on me. :( I'll let him settle in to his new tank before I trim his nails and give him a bath. I'm pretty sure he's a Mali uromastyx. 

So now they are all in clean tanks with fresh clean paper towel and NO smell or dead things. Once I get them home in a few days, they will get better water bowls and UVB lights. 

An HUGE SHOUT OUT to Liam L, Ginger S, and Jordyn H who helped me pay their fee ($150 total) and for their basic tank supplies. THANK YOU!!! 

On Vacation

I suppose looking on Craig's List while "on vacation" wasn't the best idea I had, but I'm only on vacation-- I'm not dead! ;)

While on Craig's List, I found two ads that need help. Which means I need help with the money. I still have $150 in my Rescue account but these will cost more than that. Plus then I'll need to get them set up into tanks, etc. So if you can, please help! If not, no worries!

First beardie that I will be picking up on Friday for $60 but with no supplies. Yes, that's a full grown adult dragon in a 10 gallon tank.

Then there is this ad for a Uromastyx with two bonus beardies. This one will be $150 for everything.

I always hesitate to post pics in advance because sometimes in the rescue world, people undercut you and try to rescue the critters before you can get there. I know, it's lame & frustrating.

These pick ups are already arranged, but I am just trying to gather some extra money to pay both fees and have extra for getting them into appropriate set ups.

If you can donate, please click HERE.

And I promise to stop searching on Craig's List for the remainder of my vacation time....

Quick Update

I'm trying to think of how to give a brief, but insightful, summary into how life fell apart last week. One of my kids is adopted and has a severe case of Reactive Attachment Disorder along with a handful of other difficulties; also the older he gets, the more bipolar he is becoming. The end of school always throws him off and last week (being the last week of school) sent him into a tizzy that ended up with him triggering some pretty intense PTSD symptoms in me (something that I hadn't dealt with in almost 20 years). My reasons for the PTSD are found HERE in my book "Not Another Sarah."

It was quite the meltdown for both of us. :( In order to pull myself back together again, I put everything "extra" on hold-- including my rescue. I'm down to 5 tortoises, 1 turtle, 9 beardies, 1 snake, and 3 geckos. That's all I can handle right now. ;) These are my babies anyway (with the exception of one sickly sulcata tortoise) and it's easy enough to continue their care.

My amazing hubby is currently at home taking care of the zoo and I am in LA (where I'm from) taking a bit of a breather, trying to build up my emotional stamina again. Today my daughter & parents toured Catalina island. Anywhere near the beach is a blessing for me. I have salt water in my blood, I tell you! I'm already missing home and looking forward to returning.

So enjoy this picture I took and know that I'll be back soon. 

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.