# Rescued Beardie aka 'Big horn lizard' lol.



## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

My sister's friend brought the beardie over late last night. He came in a good sized tank, but it was REALLY dirty & smelled awful. He had hardly any decor...a plant & a tiny log hidey hole that was pretty pointless as he couldn't even use it. His diet consisted of lettuce & pellets.
The friend told me her uncle [the owner] had a huge grudge against the dragon as he had tried to breed him a while back & he bit the leg off the female & killed her, ever since then he hated him.
He came with a tiny lamp with just a regular household light bulb 

I had to just clean the tank quick last night as it was late...but today we bought him a nice basking log & put a hole in my wallet spending $70 on a Zoo Med power sun bulb 
He let me handle him fine last night, but he was sleepy & cold...hes been a bit more feisty today, doesn't really like being picked up but he enjoys being petted. I managed to bathe him [i think hes going to shed soon] & tho he was unsure at first, he took to being tong fed some super worms...was funny, we showed him a cricket...NOPE, a roach...WHAT IS THAT??...super worm...NOW THAT LOOKS GOOD ;D

I think with some work he will come around...I think he was loved & taken care of at one point, but I guess after he attacked the female they just neglected him. He was very stressed out this morning, but after a nice bath & a good meal he is happily relaxing on his basking log.

Heres a pic of the set-up he came in...only snapped one quick pic [she brought him to me at 11pm last night!] it doesn't show how filthy it was & the stench of the sand...smelled like rotten veggies & cigarette smoke 








Some pics of the handsome guy.
































I put a skull statue in there originally as it was all I could find last night lol didn't work so good for basking haha but hey it looked cool 








New basking log.








Bath time!








My set-up for him.








I named him Spartacus. & he is a full grown male leatherback. Next on the agenda will be taking him to get his nails trimmed!


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

I LOVE the setup! Awesome name, too!  He looks like one content dude.


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

He is now! Was pretty aggitated this morning...beard all puffed & black...probably woke up from his sleep like "where am i???" then the tank was downstairs [fiance works nights & i couldn't lift it upstairs] so my dogs kept sniffing the tank. 
I know using sand is an arguable substrate...but I've used it for my Leos with no issues & I always tong feed...so no real risk of ingestion.
& thanks it fit him perfectly haha ;D


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

Oops keep forgetting too many '?' equals weird puzzled face haha.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Don't worry, every time I try to put 8 in parenthesis for something it keeps doing this 8) kind of annoying but oh well. (this happens to me quite often btw).

Lovely guy though. I don't want to imagine what his nails are right now. (I'm guessing your pretty scratched up already?)


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

You can see them pretty well in the bath tub pic...yes he has some talons right now! & I'm not even going to attempt to trim them myself lol...luckily our local reptile place does nail trimming.


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## maychu365 (Apr 5, 2013)

I LOVE the setup! Awesome name, too! He looks like one content dude.


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## ratatattat (Aug 31, 2012)

He is cute!!! 

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## BlackBirdSeesYou (Nov 4, 2012)

aww, i've always wanted a beardie.


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

Thanks he has such personality & is one big dude! I really want to get another one now (not to be roomies with him tho lol) I have fell in love with the Leucistic (spelling?) morph.


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

A couple of updated pics of Spartacus...hes really settled in now & we are able to hold him [his nails tear us up tho lol still need to get those done!] he will scratch like crazy when we go to put him back lol. His colours also have been looking brighter...hope that means hes happy


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

OH MY GOSH THOSE CLAWS!!! But he's a handsome dude! So glad everything is going well!


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

Haha yeh you can just see his talons digging into my fiance's hand, he was about to put him back before I requested a quick photo & I think Spart was getting ready to hold on tight like "ohhhh no you don't!" lol.


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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

Oh my god what a lovely little guy he is!! 


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## alexn (Sep 30, 2012)

He looks awesome  If he's done most of his growing, I wouldn't worry too much about trying to feed him insects, but do still try to get him around to them 

Quick Q, the viv looks good (and I know you know what you're doing  ) but I can't see a UVB bulb in there - does the power sun bulb give out both? (I'm unfamiliar with that model  )

I really want a beardie... but we just don't have the space yet


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

Yeh we feed him bugs twice a week & fresh veggies every day...with the occasional treat of fruit, but he's REALLY picky probably where he was only given iceberg lettuce before. He will eat romaine lettuce & I've got him liking cabbage but that's all he'll eat so far...even offered him some fresh strawberries today as a treat...nope! So we are working on encouraging him to eat a variety. He gets calcium supplements every day. As for the bulb it has everything all in one heat, UVA & UVB...this is it: http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=74 except I paid $70 =/ its why it is so expensive...it also has a 1yr warranty.


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## alexn (Sep 30, 2012)

Aha, awesome  have you tried rocket salad and red pepper for veggies? Ours at work love it


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## Eden10 (Aug 11, 2012)

I shall have to try those! He's quite the diva about his veggies...we've tried to hide other veggies amongst the lettuce & cabbage but he uses his tongue almost like a chameleon & picks out the ones he wants lol. He did end up eating the strawberries, but I know I can't give him those on a regular basis. I'm also going to change the sand for reptile carpet...guess I was wrong about that, my Leos are fine with it but he makes such a huge mess with his salad where he picks out what he wants, I've noticed sand gets on it. Even tho he's lived on sand all his life, I still don't want to risk impaction.


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## alexn (Sep 30, 2012)

Yeah, impaction risk is a lot lower in adults, but if he is still getting sand with his food, best to switch out the substrate.


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