Dragon in distress

Today was my last day of pet-sitting for my daughter. She came home from her field trip today. I am glad she is home but a little sad she’s taking over the care of her animals now.

But today, something kinda crazy happened in the case of her Bearded Dragon, Spike.

Last night, after I had fed Spike, I noticed he was in one part of the tank and not really moving so much. Yeah, I know that sometimes they don’t move around too much, but with the position he was in, I thought he might be stuck.

Here is a picture of it:

So I decided to hang out in Jen’s room for a while to see if he would move from his spot. Jesse and I were in there reading for 20 minutes and Spike didn’t move. He was breathing and he didn’t “look” like he was in pain or anything. So in the end, I decided maybe he was just relaxing in that one spot.

We went to bed, and I figured that Spike might move during the night while we slept. (He IS nocturnal, after all.)

But when I woke up the next morning, Spike was still there in that same spot!

“Spike! Spike! Are you okay?” I cried out, getting on my knees as I turned on his heat lamp and examined him.

He seemed to be okay. But I was starting to feel concerned that he hadn’t moved at all and that he had spent the night in that one spot!

Finally, I got an idea. I figured I should put some frozen peas (his favorite food) into the tank to see if he would move to go eat them. (Food is a good motivator.) It was time for his breakfast, anyway, and that’s what he eats for breakfast!

So I put some frozen peas on his food dish, as well as in other areas of the tank.

And pretty soon, Spike moved from his spot to go eat the frozen peas.

He was MOVING! Yay!

I watched him as he moved. He didn’t seem hurt or seem to have an injury anywhere. He seemed to be okay. He was happily eating his peas and he seemed fine.

Kinda strange that he had stayed in that particular spot for hours. But then again, he is currently shedding, so maybe that was just part of the process. Or maybe he was meditating, or something. Who knows!

Here are more pictures taken of Spike shortly after that one.

Spike

Today was a big day for my daughter, Jennifer. It’s the day she would gain a new pet: A Bearded Dragon. At first, I thought it was a Water Dragon, but when we went to pick the lizard up, it didn’t look like a Water Dragon. I asked questions about it and was informed it was actually a Desert Bearded Dragon. I guess there was some confusion when Jen got the call.

Anyway, yes! We have a lizard in our home now. And it turns out that this lizard is actually a rescue: His previous owner is moving and cannot take the Bearded Dragon with him. He called everybody he knew asking if anyone would take him. I found out after the pick-up that we were the only ones who agreed to give him a new home. So we pretty much saved this Bearded Dragon from going to a pet store. Yay!

When we went to pick him up, I learned that he is 3 years old and his name is Spike. I gotta say, for a lizard, he is cute! (But of course, having lived in the desert for 14 years, I guess I would end up saying that THIS particular lizard is cute!) We instantly fell in love with him. He is just so darn cute!

When we were loading the tank and everything into my car, I accidentally dropped the heat lamp and the bulb broke out. Oh, no! I was devastated. I knew that Spike NEEDED that heat lamp, with a good working bulb! I talked to the lady and she said the bulb is sold only at pet stores. There is one pet store that we frequent and so I just HOPED they were still open.

So after we loaded Spike and all of his stuff into my car, we headed to the pet store. Unfortunately, it was closed. I knew someone who owned another pet store, but that one was closed too! I knew of a third pet store I used to go to to get stuff for my Chihuahua but that third one was also closed! Argh!

So Jen got on her phone and looked up both PETCO and PETSMART. We had an emergency situation! We needed a new bulb for the heat lamp! I didn’t want this lizard to die. Not on my watch! She fed me the information about both stores as I was driving and, being my co-pilot, she directed me on how to get there. At first we headed for PETSMART, but since PETCO was on the way, we checked out there first. Thankfully, they were open! Woo-hoo!! We went inside and someone who worked there helped us get a new bulb for the heat lamp. (I had to run the heat lamp in so she could test it to make sure it was the right bulb.) So we got the bulb for the heat lamp and were back in business in providing Spike with everything he needed for his new home. Yay! I was SO relieved we were able to get that bulb. And as I was driving home, I started to think, what if this kind of situation had happened to some other pet owner after pet store hours? What if there was an emergency but nobody was open to help? I started to wish there was a pet store open 24/7, just for pet emergency needs!

After we got home, I helped Jen carry the tank to her room. She got everything set up and now Spike is safely and comfortably in his new home.

As we ate dinner later, I told Jen I was really glad we were able to take in this lizard nobody else wanted. It really made me feel good knowing we helped an animal in need. I started thinking more on that and thinking that maybe just one day we can have our own animal sanctuary. Helping animals in need – the family business!