A Rescue Story
Wanda
Wanda came into my care on November 22, 2022. With a lot of bearded dragons, much like Lenny, they are named before their gender is revealed. Wanda is a male bearded dragon. He came into my care from our local rescue Reptile Invasion. nThis is his story.
The first time I laid eyes on Wanda I knew something was wrong. This poor beardie seemed to constantly be black bearding. I had asked some questions of the rescue as to his previous home and came to find out that he was always black bearding 24/7. That was my first clue that something wasn’t right. Black bearing is when a bearded dragon’s chin and throat area turn really, really dark pretty much black. It can be a sign of stress, fear, pain, or sickness. Unfortunately, this little guy had all the above.
Wanda is a six-year-old leatherback bearded dragon who came to Reptile Invasion at 233 grams. As a foster mom I was called with emergency placement for Wanda. Most beardies his age weigh between 500-600 grams. Wanda was severely underweight. He was also very dehydrated. My first instinct was to make a vet appointment. Luckily we have an incredible exotic vet we trust who are an hour and a half drive away. However, we will do anything to get these critters the best care so off we went.
While there they took a fecal sample which revealed that Wanda has an abundance of pinworms in his body. He will take pinworm medication by syringe and then be retested two weeks after the last dose. He will be fed a percentage of his body weight slowly increasing until we can get him up to 400 grams. It was also discovered that Wanda has MBD by the curvature in his back and tail. His skin was extremely wrinkled when we brought him in and confirmed to be dehydrated needing subcutaneous fluids. This poor little buddy had a lot going against him as he entered our care.
Wanda’s story started in an aquarium where he was kept with a top opening lid that a cat sat on each day trying to get to him. With the lamps not connected to the lid it is a wonder the cat didn’t burn themself or the house they were in. The cat could have very easily have knocked the hot lamps off the viv or onto themself. Wanda didn’t have anything covering the glass which caused the cat to get really close and stare at him. He also saw his reflection quite often. These things can all cause severe stress in a reptile. What can we learn from Wanda in the first week we have had him?
* Do not put your bearded dragon in an aquarium if you can help it.
* Do not let your cat have free access to your beared dragons enclosure.
* If you can, secure the lamps to the top of your lid.
* Make sure you understand why calcium is given and to have the correct UVB to absorb it.
* If your dragon is very wrinkled make sure it is not dehydrated. (You can give them a bath)
* Test regularly for parasites with a simple fecal exam.
* Weigh your beardie often. A postal scale with a tub is a very simple to way to keep tabs on whether your pet is loosing weight rapidly or not.
What other things did you think of that could have been improved in Wanda’s care before coming to the rescue? Do you think any of his past will affect his personality? Let me know in the comments below. Sign up for notifications when a new article is written to stay in the know about Wanda and all the critters we care for here at Lovely Lenny Lizard.