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Hey! Most of you have probably seen this because I've cross-posted, but I think seeing what happens to monitors when they're kept in conditions typically suggested by pet stores is important.
I'm thinking the new sav is male, but who knows lol I'm calling it a 'he' for simplicity's sake.
He was recently tossed out in a dumpster, inside his enclosure. I'm assuming someone went to take out their trash only to find a live lizard. The correct authorities were notified, and I was asked to rehabilitate him. As you can imagine, he's in poor shape (maybe an understatement). As far as I can tell, he was housed in the same terrible way 99% of savs are housed--- in a small glass aquarium (~20 gallons) with a mesh top on an inch of dry substrate with a half log hide, without humidity and the appropriate heat gradient for thermoregulation. But, he's quite defensive, and tried to end me while I was cleaning him up (biting, hissing, tail-whipping all the way).
He's already seen a vet. She gave him a clean bill of health as far as ecto-parasites, and suggested that he be stabilised in the right environmental conditions before further testing.
DAY ONE
Trying to bite me during his antiseptic bath... He has a mouth wound.
Overgrown claws on his front paws, while he's missing claws on his rear paws.
Old scars from spot burns... arise from cool basking spots too small to cover snout to vent length. His skin is mostly black, and he's covered in stuck shed.
His lower jaw protrudes slightly. Could be indicative of MBD.
Emaciated with sunken eyes (severe dehydration and likely organ damage) Hissing at me after entering his new enclosure.
Enjoying a warm spray shower... He actually moved into the spray.
I love reading stories like this, where things seem impossibly turned around and going up, up up! Good on you for the rescue, and best of luck getting him back to good health
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0.1 Jungle Carpet "Bhageera", 2.0 Corn snakes "Castor & Pollux", 1.1 Cal Kings "Lux & Nyx", 0.1 Honduran Milksnake "Demeter", 0.1 Rosy boa "Neki-monster", 1.0 Axolotl "Grendle", 2 tarantulas, 0.1 Leopard gecko "Remus", and a freezer full of mice (and Rats!)….
Its so disappointing that someone could actually just throw away. So great of you to take it in and give it a good home. Its amazing how resilient these animals are. Hopefully there isnt any permanent organ damage.
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The plural of anecdote is not data
Thank you all for your kind words! And thank you for reading my post! I will definitely post updates as he improves
He's getting stronger everyday! It's nuts. He spends a lot of time resting, but when I come in the room he's up and interested in what I'm doing. He tries his best to tong-feed, but whatever is going on with his lower jaw makes taking the worms off of the tongs pretty much impossible for him. I think it's a combination of things--- he's not up to full strength yet, so he can't bite down as hard, and his lower jaw is a little swollen so he's not able to maneuver items as easily. I usually just set the worms down on the substrate for him to maneuver. He tries really hard to pick them up, but sometimes he can't, and the worms out run him so I have to pin them down. He's got a good appetite.
I started offering him larger night crawlers yesterday. I don't think he's crushing the worms effectively before for swallowing them so he regurgitated a little bit of fluid shortly after the first worm. But he's great at pacing himself! He's no longer defensive about my presence and enclosure maintenance. He'll even sit with his back to me while the enclosure is open.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jarich
First of all, hey there! Good to see you again.
Its so disappointing that someone could actually just throw away. So great of you to take it in and give it a good home. Its amazing how resilient these animals are. Hopefully there isnt any permanent organ damage.
The word rescue gets thrown around in this hobby a lot, I find. A true rescue, this time! I'm so glad he was found and that you are able to give him a good home. Good job.
The word rescue gets thrown around in this hobby a lot, I find. A true rescue, this time! I'm so glad he was found and that you are able to give him a good home. Good job.
Awesome job. I hope you post pics daily so we have a record of your progress. This would be a great link for others who find abused monitors like this. Again kudos to you.
__________________ When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. -John Lennon
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