Thursday, July 26, 2012

New Rescues X Two

I meant to post this earlier but who knew how fleeting my free time would be juggling a full-time job, a zoo, a boyfriend, a social life, and online classes. Trying to work on my time management skills. Need to, actually.

Last Sunday, I drove about 45 minutes to pick up two dragons from someone who was going to college and could no longer continue to care for them. I met up with his father who was kind enough to meet me halfway between our respective homes and along with the dragons donated their tanks, lighting, and accessories. We managed to smuggle it all into my little Beetle and off I went back home with two new bearded dragons in tow.

Once I got home, I finally got a good luck at the pair and was taken aback. I was told they were healthy (the people did care for them greatly) but there were obvious signs these guys hadn't been receiving proper care. The girl, now named Daisy (seriously, who names a female dragon Godzilla...), was the worst of the pair. Despite being seven years old she's about the size of my eight month old Fuego, her hips and spine are visible, and her jaw is obviously deformed from MBD. Despite this, she is by far the most absolute doll of a dragon I have ever encountered and I can't wait until she fattens up and gets into a better state.

The male, now Pacino, has a much better body condition but he's still short for being six years old and his head seems massive and disproportionate to the rest of his frame. This poor guy is a bundle of stress and tends to panic whenever I have to handle him regardless of how brief. Luckily for me, he doesn't show aggression so giving him time to settle in and calm down a bit and keeping interaction as short as possible for the time being.

Bowel talk here so feel free to stop reading if you get squeamish. So far, only Daisy has pooped and that was only one small, not well formed fecal that she did inside of her tank on Monday which had pieces of undigested beardie bites which were fed by the previous owners. Despite baths every other day, I haven't gotten anything else out of them despite trying belly massages so if there's nothing tomorrow will mix in some olive oil and see if that does the trick. I know, owning reptiles is very glamorous and you can't wait to follow suit. 

Friday, July 20, 2012

Just a Little Rant...

As a rescuer for the reptile rescue, and a volunteer at an animal shelter, I have heard every excuse under the sun for people surrendering their animals. Sometimes, the people have valid reasons and I will never fault a person who is forced to give up an animal for reasons beyond their control and my heart breaks for the pain they must be suffering.

But, I am beyond tired of all the Craig's List ads I have been seeing where people "don't have time for their -fill in reptile here-" so they are rehoming it for usually an insane fee. 

Most reptiles don't require a lot of handling; it's one of the benefits of owning them. How do people not find 20-30 minutes each day, or even every other day, to take a snake out and let it curl around their bodies or explore a safe space?

I work full-time, am taking classes towards my MBA, volunteer at the animal rescue, see my friends & family on a somewhat regular basis, and I still magically find the time to make sure all of my animals are fed, all their cages kept clean, give them some outside-of-tank-time, and even managed to squeeze in additional moments with Katara who currently needs to be syringe fed and given almost daily soaks.

It's not easy. I miss some sleep here and there. I might have to skip out on a night out from time to time. These are my animals. I took them in and I can bother to take the time out of my schedule to meet their limited requirements.

Please, if you are thinking of getting a pet take the time to research what they need and ensure you can fit them into your lifestyle so someone like me doesn't have to take over your responsibility.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Vote for Fuego and Katara!

I entered both of my permanent dragons into a contest to win a leash from Ogle R Pets and am not above asking you to help (don't you feel lucky!).

All you have to do is "like" the pictures of them I entered on Facebook which you can do by clicking on Katara's picture and Fuego's picture.

Promise a more in-depth entry is coming (included how I woke up early to boil sweet potato so it would be mushy enough to add to the dragons' salads).

Thanks to all those who vote/voted!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Where to Begin...

It's been a few weeks since my last post so my apologies there. I got caught up in the whirlwind of work, starting a MBA program, and a short vacation. Now that I'm home, and adjusting to the additional pressures of being in classes, plan to write on a regular basis.

Well, since my previous entry enough has happened with the dragons. Katara has been having unpleasant bowel movements the last week or so which leads me to believe the medication did not eradicate the parasites. Planning on getting another fecal done on her but since the odor has been horrendous, I know that at least the coccidia remains so am trying a new medication to see if it helps. On top of her digestive issues, the poor girl went through an entire body shed so imagine she's been less than comfortable the last few days. I peeled most of it off in her bath this evening and she's showing a much brighter yellow, some green, and a more defined pattern on her back. Once she stops hissing and puffing out at me (she was less than cooperative when I gave her the medicine) I'll try to get a clear picture and compare it to one when she first arrived. 

Fuego is also in full shed mode so his mood is dampened as well. He's been getting daily soaks to help, which he despises, so I'm really not on the top of his good list at the moment. I intend to buy a digital scale with my next paycheck so I can track the dragons (and Memphis') weights but I know just by appearance that Fuego has been packing on the pounds in a good way. Just hoping he doesn't devour all the supers I have on hand before the shipment of roaches arrives later this week. Not going to hold my breath.

And, this is very tentative/unknown, but I might be taking in a "rescue" dragon from CT. There is a person who needs to rehome three dragons as they are off to college and hasn't had any luck placing them. On behalf of the rescue, I reached out and offered to foster one, and place the others with different rescuers, until we could find a suitable home. Glad I decided to clean Jabba's temporary tank tonight...