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Post by Klarissa on Jul 18, 2016 14:16:51 GMT -5
I've seen it several times, but it never fails to shock & disgust me: being ignorant is not an excuse to neglect & downright abuse animals. I've seen it in ferrets plenty, but this time I rescued a scaly critter - a 4 year old female bearded dragon who I've named Santana (after Chato "El Diablo" Santana from Suicide Squad). Her basking light had been out for a month (which she NEEDS for digestion & temperature regulation). Her UVB light had been out for a week. She was being kept in a cage 2ft long and 1ft wide - barely big enough for her, let alone appropriate water & food bowls. No hides, no hammocks. And adult beardie should have roughly 80% veggies (no more than 10% of that fruit), and 20% bugs. They had her on crickets, and pellets if they ran out. She was disgustingly dirty & stinks as did her cage (as well all know with ferrets, poor husbandry is the number one cause of stink). They seldom handled her. And they knew. They knew they were crap owners... and they never changed. Willfully ignorant. They've had this sweetie for years, and never bothered to research what care she needs. When I held her, she laid on my forearm - I imagine because I'm warm. But they were amazed she wasn't thrashing about. I swear Santana knew that I would take better care of her. I've already found her a new home, where she will go in September. My sister & her boyfriend will take him. Her boyfriend eats an insane amount of vegetables, and I joked what a perfect match Santana would be. Plus the bonus of they have minimal risk of allergies & apartments seldom restrict reptiles. And the cherry on top - I can make sure she is doing well & lizard sit when necessary. Reptiles aren't for everyone - but then don't get one. We are going to watch Jurassic World together 😂  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2016 14:35:15 GMT -5
Good job rescuing the poor girl. I've always loved reptiles but the ferrets keep me pretty busy so I've never gotten one. Glad she's in good hands now!  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2016 15:07:38 GMT -5
Klarissa, your tone is spot-on in this thread. And you made me laugh out loud (no kidding here) when you ended with the fact that Santana and you will be "watching Jurassic World together"!
Here's To You and Yours -
Best!
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Post by unclejoe on Jul 18, 2016 18:15:46 GMT -5
How's she doing? I never equated reptiles with intelligence until we adopted a bunch of wild turtles at our last place. In any case, if you taken in any animal, you are responsible. Neglect is abuse and is punishable by law. If you can't be bothered to feed a lizard, you are pretty much worthless gawd
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2016 18:32:37 GMT -5
How's she doing? I never equated reptiles with intelligence until we adopted a bunch of wild turtles at our last place. In any case, if you taken in any animal, you are responsible. Neglect is abuse and is punishable by law. If you can't be bothered to feed a lizard, you are pretty much worthless gawd Unfortunately, where I live animal abuse laws only apply to dogs mostly. The animal control here doesn't care about critters or reptiles and when they have gotten them in they were neglecting them. I understand that they can be short staffed but there's really no excuse for neglect. When I worked at a shelter I didn't know how to care for reptiles but I learned. An animal doesn't deserve to not be fed or cleaned out just because someone isn't familiar with the animal. They wouldn't do it to a cat or dog, why do it to a rabbit or reptile or ferret or... I wish the animal control here was held to higher standards.  |
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Post by Klarissa on Jul 18, 2016 19:59:20 GMT -5
She's doing well. I have her in a 40 gallon tank temporarily, I have a 75 gallon on my back deck, but I sprained my ankle  So tomorrow I will have some help getting the tank in the basement. Once she is in the 75 gallon she will get her first salad ever. I'm excited to prep her food, she's my only omnivore. I give her a soak in the sink every other night, and gently scrub her with a children's tooth brush. She seems to really enjoy it, and it's gradually getting her cleaner. The water is dark murky brown after her soaks since she has spent years living in feces. Beardies aren't the brightest, and will walk through their urine/feces normally, but her last set up gave her no choice but to wallow in it. It's hard to get follow through on animal neglect/abuse if it's not a dog or cat, even harder if it's scaly. Scaly beings are like the second class citizens in the animal world. But to me, if you don't value the lives of reptiles, then you can't call yourself an animal lover. |
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Post by FerretsnFalcons on Jul 18, 2016 21:02:42 GMT -5
Thank you for rescuing her, it looked like she really needed you. She's adorable, I've always loved beardies, they are one of my favorite lizards. Does she have any diseases/deficiencies from eating crickets her whole life? Poor thing, but I'm glad she's in a good home now.
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Post by Klarissa on Jul 19, 2016 12:23:22 GMT -5
It's hard to tell - the most common deficiency is metabolic bone disease. But they were dusting her crickets with calcium. They also fed her pellets intermittently. Similar to how ferrets who are fed Marshalls kibble are deficient, but it becomes more noticeable when they are switched to raw. Her eyes aren't infected, but I have a friend who is a reptile expert he says they look off, probably as a result of being fed crap. When I plugged in her basking bulb she ran to the rock. The little enclosure is what she came in, and the back tank is her new habitat  |
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Post by antismurffette on Oct 19, 2016 0:36:04 GMT -5
What a huge size diffrence in tank. That poor baby. Bearded Dragons are so cute but I don't know a thing about them.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2016 13:54:17 GMT -5
Your setup looks nice! That tiny cage is awful.  When I've taken care of beardies in the past, one trick I use is to stack bricks for an elevated basking platform. The bricks warm up nicely so they are getting belly heat as well as heat from above, similar to the rocks they would bask on in Australia. Some female beardies also appreciate "dig boxes" even if they aren't currently breeding and laying. I've had so many people show me animals they are "spoiling" and I'm cringing on the inside because their setup, diet and care is miles away from what the animal needs. There's a local lady who brings her bearded dragon everywhere - in the car, into stores, to work with her eight hours a day - and sets him up in a tiny bird cage and a heat light (no UVB, no chance for him to thermoregulate). I'm sure he has a good setup at home, but I'm also sure he would like to stay there and bask during the day and not be dragged around like a stuffed animal. (headwall) |
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Post by Klarissa on Oct 20, 2016 20:04:06 GMT -5
Santana is quite the character, every day I think how awful & lazy her previous owners were. She went to my sister, who was renting her own apartment for the first time. And after a few weeks it became the clear the landlord upstairs was crazy. Not "hahaha" - crazy. She's police involvement, fear for safety crazy. So my sister had to find an apartment in 10 days, and couldn't find a pet friendly apartment. (Even though it's a primarily tanked animal...). Long story short - Santana is back with me. Can't say I'm too sad 😊 We've built some more cage decor for her, and I'm going to acquiring some more rocks. She is very heat picky, and doesn't like it more them 100°. She actually stopped basking because she didn't like how hot the rock got, which was only 105° ish. It took a lot of tinkering, but we finally got the lights the way she likes them. Silly dragon She LOVES bean bag chairs. She wiggles into them, and its the cutest thing.  |
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Post by Klarissa on Oct 20, 2016 20:06:52 GMT -5
She always looks disappointed in me, lol. Reviewing my homework for me "y u get 18/20?! y no 20/20?!"  |
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Post by FerretsnFalcons on Oct 20, 2016 23:55:48 GMT -5
Oh she is SO cute!  Is she friendly, like does she enjoy interacting with people? Or is she more like a bird of prey, where she tolerates people but doesn't actually like them or want to be around them? |
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Post by Klarissa on Oct 21, 2016 0:22:15 GMT -5
She tolerates people 😂 A lot of beardies can be super friendly, but she went at least 2 years, if not 4 years without being regularly held.
But she is really tolerant. She was constipated & needed twice daily bathes - not a happy camper. Never hissed. Never nipped or bit.
She loves exploring - wiggling in bean bag chairs, hiding under plastic bags. We are working on making her set up more dynamic. I don't think she is used to having all that space. She was so used to being confined to that tiny cage.
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Is she friendly, like does she enjoy interacting with people? Or is she more like a bird of prey, where she tolerates people but doesn't actually like them or want to be around them?