Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was at work today(pet store) when a woman came in, asking if we were missing a lizard because there was one down the block in the alley. We said no, everyone is home, but I said show me and I'll take a look.

I couldn't believe it. Beautiful bright orange male bearded dragon! I just walked up to him and picked him up, and he was perfectly fine with it. But Someone painted on him with nail polish - a number on his body. We are in an extremely cold climate and it has already been getting down to the 40's at night - and he was in fairly good condition - So we're thinking he was ditched today at some point.

3 weeks ago, a woman brought another bright orange beardie into the store, saying her dog brought it in from the woods. !!!

Apparently, a man had asked the store owner awhile ago if he could board his beardeds with us for a year, and she said no, not that long. So we naturally are wondering and thinking that the lizards may have been his.

We're also seeing a LOT of stray puppies the last week or two. People are just so disgusting. Get a summer pet, then ditch them.
Makes me so mad.

Anyway; I'm familiar with beardeds and he's chilling in a temporary tank with some crickets and a shallow water tray. I guess I'll have to try and find or make something to keep him in. He's gorgeous and I feel so lucky to have found him. He's about 14-16 inches long right now so I'd better get a cage fixed up, but I'm just sitting here in shock that someone would do these kinds of things.

It is horrible that somebody would just dump a pet, no matter what kind of pet it is. However there are so many irresponsible pet owners and they all hurt us responsible pet owners, especially reptile pet owners.

If you know the guy's name who wanted to board his dragons for a year, I would either contact him or call the humane society or police, and report him. Chances are he may not have gotten rid of his cages yet, unless he just threw them all into the dump. I am sure he could have found good homes for all his dragons fairly quickly if he took the time to advertise and he could have done it free. HE could even have just offered the dragons for free, and I am sure there would be enough people in his area who would take in a free dragon, especially if it came with cage and accessories.

Heck, if I saw a healthy brightly colored dragon available for free, including its cage, I would take it in. I may ditch the cage if its just a big glass tank (or small glass tank) as I have much better cages available that are empty right now. But better to give animals away for free, than just dump them to die in some back alley. Or better to quickly euthanize them, then let them suffer from cold etc.

Kind of makes me want to take these people and dump them without anything in the middle of nowhere and in unfamiliar habitat. See how they like it. Animals may not have our range of emotions but they still can feel the bite of cold, hunger and fear at being thrust into a hostile environment (since 40F nights are not something dragons would typically encounter even in their native land...it may get that cold some nights in Australia in the typical bearded dragon range...but pretty sure that would be the exception and dragons would most likely already be hunkered down brumating so wouldn't feel the effects of unusually cold nights as much as one who was in a nice warm cage one day, out in the street the next).

Odd that whoever dumped the dragons painted a number on it. The only time I have heard marks painted on dragons is with hatchlings, to help distinguish what sex they are and which clutch they are from. Typically done by breeders before taking them to a show. Unless the guy who dump them was hoping he can identify his dragons later on by the paint (if he is the one who wanted to board them for a year...then he's pretty stupid as even if the dragons survived the winter, they would shed at least once in a year and all that paint would be gone with the shed, or simply worn off)
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

I told my grandpa about someone dumping a dragon in an alley, and he replied back in his day they would just kill animals they didn't want like a litter of cats in their barn was found he was told ny his dad to put them in a bag and throw them the river to drown or when his dog got sick his dad hand him a gun. After hearing this [bleep] I'm glad there are places like shelters if can't just keep on caring for a pet. Hope it gets a better home.
Scott
also whats this auto attach your signature box i always have to uncheck?

When checked it will automatically attach your signature, if you created one. You can create a signature under My Account
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess