Sierra Scales Exotics

08/31/2025

Juniper enjoyed a spa day!

I prepared an electrolyte soak for him, adding cucumbers to make the experience more ✨️Bougie✨️.

In the future, I intend to film the process of making the electrolyte mixture, so anyone can try it, no need to buy the powdered stuff online. Elecrolyte soaks are designed to promote hydration, improve skin health, and support both immune and digestive functions.

Juniper fully enjoyed his. His stuck shed skin doesn't feel as "crunchy" anymore either, hopefully soon it will start p*eling. In the meantime, I have to find a way to keep him from trying to scrape it off himself, since he keeps scraping off actual scales and gouging himself.

Check out Sierra Scales Exotics’s video.

08/30/2025

✨ Juniper the Abandoned Tegu Update! ✨

It’s been a while since I’ve shared about Juniper, and wow—do I have updates. Biggest surprise? Juniper isn’t a “she” at all… he’s actually a boy! When I found what looked like s***m plugs in his outdoor enclosure, I reached out to some tegu-savvy people, and after checking tail photos, it was confirmed. Turns out he was just too underweight to show the usual male traits. Still no jowls, but we’re working on it! 💪

💚 Health & Progress:
Juniper has gained weight and finally got strong enough to start injection antibiotics for the mild respiratory infection he came in with. The vet was impressed with his progress, though he’s still much skinnier than a typical tegu and doesn’t eat big meals. His absolute favorite food? Strawberries! 🍓 (He also enjoys quail, chicken, dog food with veggies, eggs, blueberries, squash, watermelon, and LOTS of calcium and vitamins). Considering he was eating rocks when I rescued him, I think his stomach is still adjusting.

The vet now suspects Juniper is either much younger than we thought, or even more heavily stunted than we thought. I plan to do an x-ray down the road, that should help us see the extent of damage the MBD has done internally.

Daily Care:
He still walks a little wonky, needs is food tong-fed to him, and has 5 layers of old stuck shed we’re treating with electrolyte soaks. He even scraped off a bunch of scales trying to rub it off himself before I realized it was stuck shed, so I’m keeping a close eye on him now.

Despite it all the trauma, pain, and suffering, he's been through he loves cuddles under blankets, stealing the dogs’ beds, sipping from their water bowl, and basking in the sunshine on the patio.

From an abandoned tegu eating rocks… to a spoiled boy stealing dog beds. His journey isn’t easy, but every little milestone feels huge to me! So proud of this boy!

PS his enclosure is almost completely done, enjoy sneak p*ek!

08/13/2025

I needed to collect rocks for Junipers tank, and decided to go get some sunshine at the river yesterday! It's about 5 minutes from my house so I brought Juniper along for some enrichment. Never seen a more content lizard!

08/02/2025

Wow, I didn't realize it's been so long since I last posted... I've been super busy with all my projects, including helping Juniper get better.

I gotta say, I really hope I never find out who dumped her and neglected her. I honestly don't think I could keep it together if I did. The amount of neglect or abuse she went through is just awful. It's made me cry a few times. The list of things wrong with her keeps growing as she gets better:

* Weak jaw, so she can't eat well (MBD)
* Weakness (MBD)
* Teeth fell out or are messed up (She has hardly any, and I don't know if they'll grow back, probably from MBD)
* 5 layers of stuck shed (I didn't even notice until she started rubbing herself raw trying to get it off)
* Her feet tremor (MBD)
* Her tail has badly healed old fractures
* Scars from a ton of injuries all over her body that I only found after removing some shed
* Her feet were either badly burned or hurt at some point and have extensive scarring
* More recent injuries under her chin that keep reopening when she loses her balance and skids her jaw on the ground.

Just ONE of those things is a lot for an animal. So yeah, I hope karma gets her previous owner.

But the GOOD NEWS is she's finally gaining weight and getting healthier. Her strength is getting better too. I saw her flip over after falling on her back today, which she couldn't do a while ago. She's starting to trust me more, and she's totally got a good brain haha. She's a smart little thing! But she loves lunch outside, soft blankets, exploring, and naps in the sun, which I try to enable as often as I can. Overall, I THINK she's happy.

She's definitely loved now and will keep being loved. She'll never go through that pain and suffering again.

07/16/2025

Celebrating snakes today... and every day! 😉

07/14/2025

YouTube channel update! I'm finally using mine and I'd love it if you could swing by and show some love if you're a YouTube user!

I'm just 48 subscribers away from being able to do live videos too, so you know what to do! 😉

06/03/2025

Following my passion has led me to this sweet moment. I am always in awe of animals that even after being broken and abandoned, learn to love and trust again.

This incredible, inteligent animal was neglected and abandoned by a human. Yet, when I let her out of her enclosure to stretch her legs, this is how she chooses to spend her time instead.

Looks like I'm stuck for a bit, but thats ok. She deserves the peace.

05/30/2025

Scales & Ales, our 🦎🐍animal meet-and-greet🕷🐊 and beer release party, is happening tomorrow (Saturday May 31)! You'll get to meet Cleo, this adorably sassy little bearded dragon, and 14 of her friends, including a ball python and a crested gecko! Ash from Sierra Scales Exotics will be on site from 11 am to 3 pm to introduce you to these critters as they help us to celebrate the release of our newest West Coast IPA, I Saw the Dragon.

It's going to be HOT--perfect for the lizards!--so we'll have EZ-up tents set up for extra shade. Beer slushies will be flowing and ice cream is in the freezer to keep you cool.

05/26/2025

Juniper Update: She is still doing pretty well, though I am now pretty certain she has a respiratory infection based on some of the open mouth breathing behavior she has been exhibiting and the noises that are made in doing so. Hoping to do a f***l test on Thursday. She is getting more strength and walking a little easier than she was, but still stumbles after a few steps and loses balance easy. But we are still taking it day by day.

Recap for those who may have missed: Last Monday, I was called out for a reptile relocation—an abandoned Argentine black and white tegu hiding in someone’s firewood pile just a few blocks from my house.

My heart broke the moment I saw her. She was so skinny, covered in stuck shed, severely dehydrated, and could barely walk. I honestly wasn’t sure she’d make it through the night… but I had to try.

I set her up in a calm, warm hospital tote. She didn’t eat the first night, but she did drink a little water. I checked all the local lost pet groups—no one’s missing a tegu. In a tiny one-stoplight town, I can only assume she was dumped.

Tuesday, I made the two-hour drive to my reptile vet. To my surprise, he said she looked better than he expected. After everything she’s been through—storms, predators, and total neglect—she’s still fighting.

She’s malnourished, dehydrated, and weak, but with fluids, vitamins, and the right care, we’re hoping she can recover. Since then, she’s started eating (eggs, chicken, gut-loaded insects) and is moving a little better each day.

We’ll run a f***l this week to check for parasites before deciding on next steps—but for now, she’s safe.

It absolutely crushes me that someone could abandon an animal like this. Tegus are smart, social, and incredibly affectionate—and even after all she’s endured, she still enjoys being around people. Animals never cease to amaze me.

05/24/2025

Tegu Update: She is eating like a champ, drinking well (but still dehydrated), her coordination when walking has improved mildly, and the biggest update... she finally p**ped!!

I found out she enjoys blanket cuddles, warm showers, and sunshine strolls. Yesterday she ate a pretty good amount of chicken, eggs, and dandelion greens, enough that her tummy actually looks like it had something in it.

At this point, my main concern is intestinal parasites as her p**p did not look normal at all. The urate (p*e), normally would be white and chalky once dry, was bright orange with strange squiggly textures and a lot of crystallized material. The p**p itself was odd in color and texture, but what really got me was the amount of rocks, sand and small pieces of what appears to be glass in it. I am fairly certain she was eating straight dirt. I looked at two different samples under the microscope (videos nested in comments for those curious) and saw what I believe to be parasites moving around. So if she passes another bowel movement before next Thursday when I can see the vet again I plan to do a f***l test.

Huge shout out to Dr. Billuni and his amazing staff at Upper Ridge Veterinary Care for all the care and patience helping this sweet girl out!

I'll do a video update tomorrow, and the videos of the microscope samples will be down below! 😊