Look at his tail-- it was SO swollen that the scales weren't even touching each other. :( No wonder he was mad and feisty. He was in major pain. A friend of mine went and picked up Ziggy and brought him to me. His tail had obviously been chomped off by another beardie, was left untreated, and had gotten seriously infected. The tissue was dead.
The original owner of Ziggy had built an outdoor greenhouse and finished it off by adding 6 bearded dragons that he brought up from the Las Vegas area. The six beardies were left largely alone in the greenhouse and soon became over 36 beardies. All the other beardies were sold except Ziggy. No one wanted him and he was the last one to leave.
Ziggy went to my vet where he had just over an inch of his tail amputated. He also had to have a finger removed because it had been bitten off and died. Because Ziggy was basically raised as a wild beardie until he was between a year or two (the owner had no idea how old any of the beardies were because he didn't know when the eggs had hatched), he did not like people.
To this day, Ziggy is my least friendly beardie. He's not mean at all; he's just very much a loner. He likes his tank where it's at, with all the pieces in the same place, and he doesn't want a blankie or hammock or to be held or pet. I once tried to move him to a tank by a sunny window area. He was so stressed out by the move that I moved him back to his original tank area within 24 hours.
Ziggy will stay with me for the rest of his life. He wouldn't be an easy one to adopt out since he avoids human interactions. He's fine here, and I don't mind taking care of him. Sometimes I pet his head and he will tolerate it for two or three strokes. After that, he shakes his head or moves away. It's okay. We have an understanding that he needs very little from me to be happy. And I'm totally okay with that.
Plus, he's pretty adorable, if I do say so myself. :)
