Transcript
Intro
well it just happened we had our very first special needs reptiles surrendered to us here at snake discovery yep two bearded dragons we have these two beardies that were surrendered here today kind of unexpectedly but what happened was their owner who took very good care of them had them separated in awesome enclosures she showed us pictures life happened and she wasn't able to keep caring for them so she re-homed them to a friend of hers her friend however did not keep them she thought it was a good environment but turns out it wasn't her friend co-had these two bearded dragons together and then left overseas and called her a month later and said hey i left the bearded dragons at my house and no one's been taking care of them you can have them back so she raced over to the house picked them up and she wasn't in a position to take take them permanently so she brought them here and now we've got these cuties so what we're going to do is give them a health inspection so we're going to teach you some things to look for in a healthy bearded dragon because they are displaying things that are not healthy so we figured this would be an educational opportunity for everyone because then we'd show you what we're gonna do to make them healthy rehab them and adopt them out the reason
Ferrari
why she wasn't able to take back these two beardies permanently was because she was very pregnant when she dropped them off and is due any day so i'm glad that she was able to i'm glad you thought of us but let's take a peek at them let's start with this guy this is ferrari and he is actually in pretty good shape so we're going to take him out and give him a little visual inspection together here so the things i'm looking for are it turns out they were not given any uvb in the five months they were with the new home so the first thing i'm going to look for are any signs of metabolic bone disease or hypoparathyroidism and signs of that would be kinks in the spine but as i run my finger down his spine everything feels straight so that's good there his tail is well he's gonna take off tail feels fine so let's see how he walks i'm looking at his legs here next his uh yeah why don't you come and get it can you come and get you over here come and get the meal i'm here look so i'm watching how he's moving his legs they're all functioning properly they all seem to be working just fine it's also not helping he's on yeah he's it's a little bit of a slippery surface so that isn't helping he actually has a good appetite so that's really good yeah take that one too nope you got it there you go okay so i don't see any signs of metabolic bone disease which is great so the next thing i'm gonna look at is his body condition and his like um his weight basically and that is something that is a red flag i'm noticing because if you look here his legs are kind of kind of on the thinner side i mean not so much in the front that you would notice but in the back he's got very thin thighs here it's not too bad really but what makes me realize he is underweight are that his hip bones uh stick out here so he does have visible hip bones and you don't want to see that in a bearded dragon he actually has an indentation beneath or behind his hip bones here so with that being sunken in there is no fat storage here at the base of his tail so he is underweight since he's underweight something we're going to include in his diet at least at first to help gain some weight back on him are wax worms these are fatty little treats that bearded dragons typically love maybe a little too much so they can become overweight if they're given these too much or for too long so this won't be forever but let's see if he likes them do you want some wax worms nice you didn't even eat the one that moved poor things to be left alone for a month and then they called yep you missed it that first time and then they called the owner to say she could get them yeah why why would you think that's okay thankfully i mean he could be a lot thinner yeah he could be dead yeah for a month of neglect he looks pretty good i'm not gonna lie overall he seems to be in pretty good shape other than being underweight he will probably be for adoption sooner than the other one we'll just leave it at that so let's take a look at her all right
Phoenix
here is phoenix she actually she's puffed up right now she doesn't look too bad come here little girl let's take a look oh there it is so first thing you might notice are that hair hip bones are showing just like ferraris were and she also has the sunken in part at the base of her tail you can also see her raised spine almost all the way down and even into her tail too it might be hard to see on it's very hard to see on her okay yeah there is a little bit of a raised spine there but what i first noticed when we looked at her were these wrinkles in her side and having wrinkles like this especially like big flaps of skin that's a sign of dehydration in a lot of animals including bearded dragons how's your spine feel uh it felt straight i don't think i feel anything there's nothing that's obvious anyway and her legs she's holding fine she's a little dent right here in her tail a little dent right there yeah yeah so she must have must have had maybe stuck shed there kind of cutting off blood flow or he might have nipped her because they were housed together at this place that's right they were housed together at their new home so actually what i'm going to look at and i took a look at the males too i just forgot to mention it uh look at we're looking at their toes too to make sure they have all of their toes including all the toned nails and yeah so she has all of her toes and all of her toned nails which is good it's actually surprising since they were housed together yeah her eyes look good her eyes aren't sunken in if a dragon's eyes look sunken in that's a definite sign of dehydration so she isn't at that point yet which is nice do you have much of an appetite girl oh there's a good example of the sunken insides oh yeah you can really see it there she kind of puffed out i think when we opened up the lid so she hid it that's the great thing about having a pet store is you can try all sorts of stuff we have all the feeders at our disposal okay how about him will you try him she's looking at you yeah here try the roach yeah she's a little worse off i'm guessing the male probably took all the food when they were feeding them before they moved overseas essentially i mean my guess is they just put like a bowl of food in yeah and basically went well we're good for a month or two or whatever and then he just engorged himself and she got a little bit so he's still doing all right where she's not feeling great yeah all right well i still want to see her move so let's watch how she'll kind of like tickle her oh okay she's moving all the legs fine that looks good okay she's holding her legs fine she's moving fine that's good so i heard main things are just dehydration and being a bit underweight a lot more underweight than the mail too
Hydration
the first step in their rehabilitation is getting them both hydrated the male again isn't too bad but this isn't going to hurt him what we're going to do is soak them with this reptile electrolyte soap it has b vitamins vitamin a vitamin c prebiotics and probiotics as well as electrolytes what the body craves and this will help rehydrate these little guys so i'll show you how to do it in case you ever need this in the future for the electrolyte soak you basically mix just a gallon of water with five cc's of this powder it comes in a powder form it also comes with a scoop and this is five cc's right here so we're gonna take this mix it in with a gallon of water warm water because this is gonna be a bath for them warm not hot yep we're looking for roughly 85 degrees for their water temp fahrenheit that is that would be really hot and celsius all right we've got their bath water mixed up and then we're just going to simply i mean this is the reason why we have them in totes these are bathtub sized totes we're just going to pour in about a half an inch no what is that and we're going to let them sit in this for about 10 minutes and we're actually going to do this about three times a week for them you don't want to do more than that because that can be just too much on their systems with everything that's in this electrolyte soak but this should really help them out and get them onto the right track they should be able to absorb some of this through their cloaca it'll also just reabsorb or they'll soak it in through their skin a bit and they might drink some of it too which would not be a bad thing they don't seem to mind nope they're just sitting there watching like bearded dragons do yeah after they're soaked we're gonna put them in their new enclosures okay it's been about 10 minutes and the transformation is actually pretty impressive here ready three two one look at that oh they've poofed out a little bit sure have i think she's flattening out a little bit again but she's going pancake mode yep pancake mode is activated on her but i think she does look better i mean he looks better yeah just the one soak is all it took so far and we're gonna continue this three times a week but what we have to do first is put them in their new enclosures
Enclosures
we are going to put these two in individual enclosures so they will not be kept together like they have been the last five months can't wait to see her colors pop out she's beautiful from what i can see yeah i guess she is quite pretty like she has a lot of orange in her face so i'm really looking to see how they how they color up yeah they will so let's see we'll put the girl in here she gets a nice ceramic cave yeah that cave will absorb a lot of heat from the basking light here i'll put her right up there definitely still has those wrinkles now that she's sucked back down so she's gonna need a lot of soaks all right and then our boy is gonna go in here here's a buddy look you have a basking spot oh wow right in the basking spot that was perfect now they have uvb as well which they haven't had for a while but yeah we're going to let them settle in for tonight and then tomorrow we're going to come back give them a salad yup give them a sourds some bugs and then we're gonna give them nail trims yeah let the healing begin
Feeding
all right it's been one night and they are both out basking and they look a lot better actually than yesterday he looks fantastic he's got his beard out he's super alert she doesn't look as wrinkly or dehydrated as yesterday and i mean obviously they haven't really had much of a meal for us yet though so we are going to try to get them to eat a nice salad oh you know what i forgot calcium powder hang on a second there we go a calcium vested salad they've got some wax worms to help get some fat on them some veggies a little snack with some blueberries and there's some black soldier fly larva in there too because those are packed full of calcium so hey little girl phoenix do you want a salad i'll leave it here for you because i'm not expecting you to take oh she's eyeing it up yeah come on over she's like but i'm really comfy on this rock why would i want to go down there just for food well i'll leave you bee and we'll see if ferrari will eat his salad for us here ferrari look oh you're hot you're hot cause you're sitting directly in the sun dude you can get out of the sun if you want hey look there you go come on down enjoy some food we'll see if they eat hopefully they do they might just want to bask for a bit first because it's still early but we'll see oh my gosh good job ferrari you ate a piece of lettuce awesome do you want some more come on down yeah you're pretty wrinkly too actually so it'll be nice to give you some more soaks look at all those tasty things there's mealworms and wax worms and black soldier fly larva what are you gonna pick next oh wow another piece of lettuce that's actually really impressive i thought it was gonna be tough to get them eating their vegetables after going so long without them well good job ferrari wow that is awesome he's eating right away okay that is great then over here we have phoenix who's still just eyeballing your food oh phoenix is coming down now what are you gonna eat oh you're gonna eat that meal worm probably go on you can do it eat something you can do it yeah all right oh and a piece of lettuce got snuck in there too that is awesome i was a little worried about her because she didn't want to eat anything yesterday but i mean it was understandable because she had a big day but still this is oh wow she's going straight for the lettuce oh that's amazing all right well i think these two are going to be just fine with some tlc well
Update
we've had these two cuties for just over two weeks now and their personalities have really come out they're doing really well just take a look see how much better they're already looking they just look fantastic they're doing really really well and it also turns out we were told that um phoenix is a female and ferrari was a male so we just assumed okay phoenix is a female and ferrari is a male but we didn't actually visually check to make sure that was accurate and it just occurred to us today to do that and it turns out ferrari is actually a female so they're both girls yeah that was an exciting discovery today both of these are eating their salads really well for us they also have a huge appetite for their insects and we're feeding them the salads in the morning insects in the afternoon to make sure they get a well-rounded diet and they're gaining quite a bit of weight already like i think ferrari is going to be ready for adoption in another week or so phoenix however is still a little bit underweight she still has those prominent hip bones but they're not as bad as they were before and she doesn't have nearly as wrinkly of skin as she did before so she is i don't think she is considered dehydrated anymore we've been doing regular soaks with these two electrolyte soaks and their poops have been looking amazing recently so yeah they're doing really well yeah ferrari actually already has a home yep ferrari has a home lined up for as soon as she is ready to go hi cutie yes i know and phoenix is although she was a little wiggly at first when we were starting to handle her she's really calms down she's doing really well she's doing better than ferrari is yeah right now she's already in the bath because emily's having difficulties yep she's uh ready for her bath they kind of know the drill now so we're gonna put phoenix and hers here you go we're still doing the zoo med electrolyte soak and i think that does really help oh girl no really okay i want that bath yeah okay you can have this bath you can have that one come down that bath is not better i promise they're both the same no no that one's obviously better both the same guys okay so yeah we're going to check back in another week or so with another update but they are doing so well for us we are very excited to see this progress bathtub brooch oh that was snap get it it's like i can't it doesn't stick i can't i can't get it it's a good way to sneak water in them i don't know it got away oh how did it escape from you in the bath you know you want it oh can you get it oh no all right this is our way of sneaking even more water into them something we've noticed is that ferrari seems to always be looking for food or a way to escape her bath whereas phoenix actually does seem to be liking the bath itself do you like soaking you having fun you just want to escape really ferrari yeah i don't blame you for wanting to get out of the bath now all right let's put you back all right her soak is over you did a good job little girl now it's time to give her a nail trim i've been meaning to do this for a little while but i also wanted to film it to show you so we finally have a chance to do that today for nail trims with bearded dragons you're basically just going to take off the skinny little tip of the nail that extends past the thicker base and to do that we just use normal human nail clippers just like that so we're going to go through all the little tips take care of those and we have a video about bearded dragon or how to give a bearded dragon a nail trim that should already be out by the time this video comes out actually so you'll probably already know how to do this and on that note we're going to check back in a couple of more weeks
Ferreri Update
well exciting news about ferrari as ferrari's running away from you we're running carl you're fine you're fine maybe she's just so excited yeah she just has so much energy today uh ferrari is officially up for adoption and i think we might actually have a home lined up for her already but she has been eating her greens very well her bugs very well she tries to eat the lock here whenever i'm like moving it back and forth she tries to eat it as i so she tries to eat everything she eats shadows yeah you eat shadows don't you yeah explains the chunk of belly yeah she yeah she's got a super big belly now yeah she's doing really well and she has won over the hearts of many people walking by and i think we do have a home or ed says we've got a home lined up yep so we just have to give her a call so she can come pick her up and today will be your big day
Phoenix Update
so what's going on emily ferrari's going home hi pretty girl come here she was showboating today as soon as somebody was coming over to look at phoenix and ferrari hurt and she ran right up she's like no look at me yeah she loves attention and loves food so she gained her weight right away and yeah so today's the big day she gets to go home ferrari's going to go live with takaya now and we've had this in the works for a couple of weeks now actually i've waited and you have waited now just phoenix needs a new home and we're good yep so this is phoenix we've had her for i don't know five weeks now and she's looking so much better she's eating her veggies really well she's eating everything and she's gained a lot of weight already her colors are coming in like she's yellow now like you're you're a gorgeous dragon phoenix yeah you're looking so much better i'm thinking one to maybe two more weeks and she should be good to go actually she's doing so well and has come so far since when we first got her you're gonna be such a good dragon for someone oh you should get that bug get that bug right there get it yeah phoenix do you want a broach ready stick yeah good job well good news now that we've had phoenix for like six eight weeks something like that she has gained enough weight that we feel comfortable adopting her out and good job girl you ate all of your veggies today that's that's awesome that's only been in there for like 20 minutes too you are such a good little eater aren't you and you are so oh come here i know i know you were basking you're really warm there we go hey phoenix i know you're really warm you have so much energy so much energy i'll give you crickets in a little bit as a reward for eating your salad but yeah her hip bones are just barely noticeable now and she isn't dehydrated anymore look she's got no wrinkles after she shed she turned like yellow she is just stunning now i didn't know you had such pretty colors underneath that brown and gray that you came in as yeah you're such a pretty girl everybody since she shed has been wanting to adopt her but we have not been letting her go yet because we wanted to make sure that she had gained enough weight first and now we are comfortable letting her get adopted yeah so let's see uh it's wednesday today and we are going to open on friday so let's see if we can get her a nice new home so what's going on emily
Phoenix Adoption
phoenix is getting adopted i'm gonna miss her so much she didn't eat her salad this morning hey no girl you still have to eat this she's like i know i'm going home yeah i'll get food not salad i don't have to eat the salad well phoenix oh you're very excited aren't you she has a ton of energy today she's been basking you ready to go to your new home she put on quite a bit of weight yeah she's put on a lot of weight still see her hip bones a little bit still see him a little but she's at the point where we're comfortable adopting her out and she could not be going to a better home she's going to makaya and her family and they're over here look ready for her here you go oh she's got a wiggle so makaya you already have a ball python and a corn snake right yeah was there anything else that i that i missed nope this is your first bearded dragon oh well she's gonna be oh good are you gonna keep her in phoenix i was meant to ask you um no we're changing her name to sisu see you soon like in raya the last dragon yeah oh that's amazing that's such a great idea i know with all of your experience too with reptiles like you work with komodo dragons right yeah like super reptile family so i'm so excited that she's gonna go home with you guys well thank you so much for giving phoenix such a good home we're gonna miss her a lot here i know all the staff is gonna miss her too because we've had her first i don't think hayley's gonna miss her you know okay haley had to change her water because she would poop in her water dish every day but everyone else is gonna everyone else is gonna miss her cool thank you again so much for adopting here thank you well we are really gonna miss ferrari and phoenix they were a ton of fun to have here for six weeks or so i think we had phoenix for in a good month we had ferrari but it was so rewarding watching them get nurse back to health really they gained weight they became rehydrated again and they couldn't be in better homes right now they found such great adoptive families and if their adoptive families are watching this thank you so much for giving ferrari or phoenix their forever home we are very happy with the outcome i felt odd though not having a reptile in my hands here so this is our newest surrendered reptile this is mittens the leopard gecko without any toes or any toenails rather um so the cycle continues over at adoption island thank you all so much for watching today's transformation video of ferrari and phoenix from the day we brought them in till the day they got adopted and we'd like to seriously thank our very generous patreon backers because it's your contributions that help funds the medications and vet visits for the reptiles that could surrender here that need medical assistance so thank you very very much for allowing us to take in these rescues and find them new forever homes and we of course don't want to leave out everybody who's watching our videos you watching this helps us out tremendously too so thank you everybody involved you are helping us help the reptiles so thanks again and we'll see you next [Music] time you
