Greg is a Bearded dragon who has been living with us for about a year or so and we have been helping to rehabilitate. Now that he is healthy and happy it's time for him to move on.

Greg's story.

One day we got a phone call from a vet clinic the next town over, someone had found a bearded dragon in the local supermarket carpark and handed him in. The vet and vet nurses didn't know much about reptiles and were actually a bit scared of poor Greg when he first came in.

We picked him up and took him home, after checking him over we discovered he had a few wounds. It looked as if a bird or something else had grabbed him as he had puncture wounds on his back and underside, he was also a bit underweight and dehydrated. It's not uncommon for people who get wildlife as pets to release them when they're sick of them or need to get rid of them, I know it seems like a lizard that can be found in your garden should be fine but the reality is most wildlife that is kept as pets like lizards and snakes will not survive if left alone in the wild.

Greg a couple of months ago after he was fully healed and healthy, meeting and educating people at a demonstration

Reptiles can put up with a lot of neglect and Greg looked as if he had been on his own for a while, the first thing we did was give him a bath. Two reasons for this, one to clean his wounds and remove any possible mites and secondly to help hydrate him. A lot of reptiles need either moisture or humidity to be able to shed properly and a bath both helps to hydrate their body and their skin. Always be careful to use only very slightly warm water but not cold, also be wary of the depth and make sure they are able to keep their head above water without trouble, to help this we would place a log in the sink for him to rest his head and top half on while the bottom half soaked.

After a good bath we put him in a temporary tank whilst I finished building his permanent home.
We gave him some fresh veggies, mostly leafy greens like kale or spinach, and a good serving of mealworms and he devoured it all happily.

He also loves capsicum

He seemed quite content in his new tank except when he was hungry and he would try and climb the perspex doors of his tank (probably to go try and find food). We would take him out in the backyard and let him roam around in the grass and we also had a mesh tent that's perfect for leaving them partially unattended outside in the sun.
Bearded dragons generally like pretty warm temperatures so we only put him outside on the warm days but always ensured there was some shade for him in case it got too hot.

Every few days Greg would get a bath and then we would wash his wounds with disinfectant. Reptiles seem to heal fairly slowly and even today he still has the marks on his underside. They seemed to heal well though and he has had no lasting issues because of it.

In bath

After the bath :D

Greg's new home.

Now I don't like rehoming my animals or moving animals around, I believe if you take something on you should give it a home for life. That being said there are a number of animals that came into our possession just like Greg, whom we never intended to get or keep. If I can find them a loving, caring home then I am more than happy for them to go there.

We recently spoke to a family friend who told us they were looking for a bearded dragon and had just gotten their licence, when we mentioned the possibility of Greg going to live there she seemed quite excited and so did her kids.

They went ahead and bought him a new tank with new stuff in it and did lots of research about bearded dragons.
Before we took him to his new home we gave him a big all-you-can-eat buffet of mealworms and lots of pats and cuddles. (not that reptiles could really give a shit about a cuddle)

We took him around and the kids just loved him, they put him in his new home and he cuddled up under his warm spot and went to sleep. We went through everything with the lady and the kids and they all seem to know what he needs for his care, they're a very lovely family and I think beardie will like it there. He will also get the chance to get out of his tank and play more which i'm sure he will enjoy.

Anytime we rehome an animal I tell the people "If for whatever reason you cannot keep them anymore or need to get rid of them, please contact us and we will take them/make sure they have somewhere"
The most important thing to me is making sure they have a home for life and they are well taken care of. I couldn't imagine giving one of my loved friends to someone who neglected them later.

I have visited a couple of times since he's been there and he seems as happy as he ever was with us. I'm sure I will see him again but it still gets a bit sad to say goodbye.

Such a pretty boy

I'm very glad to of had you Greg, from a skinny dehydrated orphan in a parking lot to happy, healthy loved home. I can't be too sad about that.
Good luck to your new life buddy!