My Weakness or How the Zoo expanded Today

This is the time of year that I adamantly avoid the local feed & tractor stores.

Why?

Baby chicks.

I adore baby chicks! I LOVE chickens! I have always loved chickens.

It's been years since I had chickens-- at least 5 years. My last two special hen girls, Queenie & Princess, died and I just didn't have the heart for any after that.

My youngest has been struggling with severe anxiety lately and everything in life is a challenge for him. He has had his heart set on baby chicks and as an incentive for going to & staying in school, I took him to look at the baby chicks at the feed store.

My downfall was the box of 2 day old buff orpington chicks. Buff orpingtons are my FAVORITE! Of all time. They are very mellow and very sweet. Queenie & Princess were buffs. They didn't used to be very common at all.

We left with 5 two day old chicks. My youngest is over the moon. My husband is rolling his eyes.

The zoo has grown.

Wait until next week when we watch a mini pig named Cisco over Spring Break! That will be fulfilling my daughter's dreams. Luckily my other son only dreams of Crested geckos and I can borrow from my rescue sister. Animals are my Spring Break survival guide.

Poop Tracks

I left the house for a couple hours to run some errands with my kiddos. When we returned, I found Otis had entertained himself by dragging his poop across the kitchen floor. 

Nothing got put away or moved until the poop tracks got cleaned up.

Poop!

Norman's Back!

I made it two whole days before I realized that I really missed Norman.

Like really.

He may be a brat, but he was MY brat!

And he hated Joe. Like HATED. Lunged at him, tried to bite him, hissed at him.

Crazy! Joe is the Tegu Whisperer! But Norman wasn't buying it.

I drove down (120 mile round trip) and brought Norman home yesterday. I used my baby talk voice the whole time and called him "Mr Puffy Pants." I'm so happy!

You can tell Norman is happy too! ;) That's his "happy" face.

He didn't eat last night, but I'll try again tonight.

I'm SOOOO happy that he's home.

He's a brat, but he's my brat! :D

A Video of Junior Crawling

• Look at this wee lil' baby go! Such progress. Love him! SO happy to see him moving-- even if I have to stop working to make sure he doesn't fall out of his box. 

Our Yearly Tortoise Checkup

Spring means "Tortoise Checkups" and so I made an appointment to take all 5 in today. And then Junior went along to get his second Calcitonin shot. It took two laundry baskets to transport them all. Thankfully, my daughter went along with me to carry one of the baskets. 

Here's a line of torts-- Sissy (box turtle but honorary tortoise) at the top, then Leo the Russian, Curly Q the desert tortoise, and Otis the cherry head (red foot) tortoise at the end. 

All of them got weighed and checked. Otis & Leo & Sissy got beak trims.

Leo took some persuasion to come out of his shell so we could trim his beak. He was not thrilled. See?

Otis wanted to mount all the other tortoises and we had to keep pulling him off of them.

Curly Q peed all over the counter & floor & Dr Folland's tie. I told him he should keep a backup tie in his office on days I come. The last visit with Norman started with Norman projectile pooping onto his tie too. ;)

Sissy got a few dead spots of shell scraped off and we checked her nails. She's missing most of her toe nails on her front feet. And she obviously got bit by a dog at some point in her life too. She's a very sweet box turtle. I don't normally like box turtles, but I really like her. She fits in the zoo well.

Georgie has tripled her weight since last year. She's my leopard tortoise who stayed in the laundry basket for most of the visit. She is not social and doesn't like to interact with anyone. I didn't even get a picture of her.

Junior got his second Calcitonin injection which will help pull calcium back into his bones. I watched him poop out urate pieces this morning but no fecal matter. He still has a lump in his belly, but it is actually smaller and on the opposite side of his belly than it was before. So strange! He's a lot more alert and aware than he was before. But his bones are still rubber. He'll have a long road to recovery.

The vet's staff blocked out a whole hour for me so we could get everyone checked in, examined, and treated. We stayed right on time. It was great!

While it was expensive to have them all checked (just over $500 for all 5 & the shot), it's important to me to keep my regulars updated in the vet's system. They become established clients and we can track weights and such.

Saying "Thanks!"

I've had a mellow morning with not as many things to do as normal. It's given me time to catch up on little "To Do" items that I've never gotten to-- like making an overdue yearly physical with my primary care doctor and sending out "Thank You" emails to those who have donated to my rescue over the past few months.

I'm still working out the details for Sponsoring some of my rescues. It involves getting a cool bracelet to show that you love the critter you're sponsoring! So stay tuned for that.

Here's the adorable Email Card I mailed:

Want one of your own?? :D It's pretty easy. Click on the link below to donate through PayPal.

paypal.me/SarahsBeardieRescue

Why I should NOT be allowed in Pet Stores, part 4

I can't remember if I've actually posted about not being allowed in pet stores-- pretty sure I have. Just in case, I'll add "Part 4."

I gave in to temptation today.

I bought a baby silkie bearded dragon.

I've never had a baby silkie before and it seems important to have that skill base. Right?!? ;) No name yet. I'll post more pics when I think of a name.

Also, I bought another tree frog.

I originally bought 3 tree frogs for my little terrarium, but 2 of them died. Then I just had one lonely frog. Last week (or the week before), I bought another frog. And today, I bought a third. Now I have 3 frogs back. The pic shows 2 of the 3 resting. 

I have been avoiding the local feed stores because I LOVE baby chicks! I end up buying baby chicks when I see them. Now I'll have to start avoiding the cool pet stores that have unusual pets (like frogs & silkie babies). 

Update on Junior

No poop yet for Junior and so I've only done a once-a-day tube feeding. Today he was a lot more active and his movements were more coordinated as I fed him. Good signs!

Junior's X-ray

Look at this picture of Junior's Belly. I circled and annotated the spine because it's almost impossible to see: 

 Now look at an X-ray of the belly of a healthy Savannah monitor:

Healthy & strong bones almost glow on an x-ray. The calcium in them shows up bright and the edges are clearly defined. Junior's bones are a mess-- you can't see his spine and his ribs are hardly visible. Poor baby Junior. His body didn't get enough calcium and his body robbed it from his bones, leaving his bones a rubbery mess.

Norman's Vet Visit & Clearance

Today was Norman's vet checkup after his surgery. It went super fast and easy since he's been shedding and all the stitches fell off on their own.

Norman let me know -- without a doubt-- that, nothing personal, he hates my guts. :O Ha! Silly boy. His feet are a mess but they are a healing mess. There is still one toe tip that might fall off and he's lost a couple toe nails on his own.

Because he's been so grumpy with me lately, we are going to move him to Joe's house (Joe of the "Kreature is my best friend now and comes on command and is potty training really easily and taps my ankle so I can rub his belly & jowls" house). Norman was raised from a baby by a man and only tolerated the guy's girlfriend.

I'm guessing that Norman (like Kreature) will ADORE Joe. Let's be honest, I adore Joe too! Really! He's my rescue brother. Am I a bit bitter that Kreature is a puppy dog for him when he was a total brat/toad/stinker to me? . . . . . Maybe. But I'm getting over it! ;) Ha!

Joe will continue to make sure shed doesn't build back up on Norman's feet (I'm picturing Norman holding out each hand to Joe while reclining on his chest and purring!) and he'll be fine.

Mostly I'm teasing. I do roll my eyes as I see all the adorable pictures of Kreature with Joe and then look down at the brown spot on my bedroom floor carpet where Kreature pooped. Yep. It's okay. Because Pepper (a bearded dragon) LOVES me and didn't like Joe.

Junior pooped a Wee Little Bit!

Junior pooped this morning, a tiny pea-size nugget. Yay!

I have been super worried that the mass in his belly was blocking his digestive system and that tube-feeding him would cause lots of problems. Phew! He pooped so that should be okay.

I gave him another tube feeding this morning and will give him some this afternoon. I waited two days before repeating it because I was terrified of giving him a lot of Critical Care and having it create problems. Now that I know his guts are mostly working, I can give him more food. Hopefully with more food & calories, he'll be more active.

He did wobbly walk around his tank today. He fell over onto his back and laid there for a few seconds until I righted him. I took out the washcloth I had folded into a basking spot so there are no longer uneven ledges he can fall off of. I hope that helps until he gets more strength back.

So today's rollercoaster is a bit more up than down.

Tomorrow? Who knows!

Two Successes and a Dope Move

I got both the male & female Savannah monitors placed in good foster homes. Yay! The male is doing great, and the female went to her new home and immediately started drinking.

Male

Female

My "Dope" -- as in D'oh!-- as in Drat!!-- as in Dummy Me!-- move was that I left my tortoises outside yesterday afternoon. I didn't remember until I got home just after 9 pm. DRAT! It wasn't dangerously cold, but it was chilly. So I had to hunt around in the dark backyard to find Georgie & Otis and then pull the little ones out of their big yard box and get them all inside and under a night light so they could warm up.

They are fine, but I still felt dumb.

See? Even people you think know almost everything still make mistakes!

Junior's Hard Day

Junior is having a down day. He's very lethargic and not opening his eyes much. I'm SO grateful that the sun is shining and I can give him an hour of sun therapy.

Rescue is a rollercoaster- up & down and up & down! Some days, you think "Alright, we got this; he'll pull through;" other days, you think "What am I doing? Am I just making him suffer longer?"

It is exhausting. And heart breaking.

Dr Folland told me yesterday that if Junior does die, it will be quick. That is a comfort. There are so many praying & pulling for him, but his poor little body might not have the ability to continue.

For now, I'll focus on his sunshine time. In an hour, I'm dropping off one of yesterday's rescued savvys to another rescue who will rehab him and rehome him. Tomorrow the female will go to a foster home.

An Update on Kreature

Every day, my rescue brother Joe and my rescue sister Beth and I chat on Facebook about everything from movies to animals to what is frustrating to us in life.

Part of today's discussion revolved around Junior (who is having a tough day) and Kreature. I'll just let you read the screen shots.

First one-- when Joe & I posted at the same time.

Second one-- (after I asked Joe to take pics for me)

The GIF I put on was PERFECT! She was making the jealous/stink face that I was making when I read that!

Well, just because Kreature never ever once did that for me doesn't mean he doesn't love me too! ;) So there! :P

You can see why I had no issues sending Kreature back to Joe. They both adore each other. And maybe Kreature never came to sit with me because I never sat down. I am always going and moving. I can't think of a time when he could have sat with me or asked for his jowls to be scratched. Yep, that must be it.

I'm still a bit jealous too.

I might let Joe watch Norman in a few weeks when I'm on Spring Break. I'm guessing that Norman will do well with Joe because he was raised by a man.

P.S.-- more about Junior in the next post.

Bathing the Demon Tegu

Since I felt pretty confident after bathing two "aggressive" Savannah monitors,  I decided to bathe Norman (who is actively shedding right now).

Yeah, that exhausted me the rest of the way.

I couldn't take any pics because it took both hands to contain him. I put cream on his hands & feet and noticed he's missing a few more toenails. He goes back to the vet on Monday. I hope that Dr Folland is happy with his progress.

I argued with Norman as I tried to smoosh him to my chest to hold him still and keep him from whipping me. I told him I had to make him look good and show I had tried.

Norman wasn't impressed.

He started to poop on me.

Ugh.

Norman, Norman, Norman.

I call him "Mr Hissy Pants" because he huffs and puffs when he sees me.

Again, I will say it's amazing how my definitions of and tolerance for "Aggression" has changed after having iguanas. Norman is all huff & puff, but he doesn't even compare to the demon iguana Ramses. Or Midnight. Or Junie.

Perspective. It's a beautiful thing.

An Update on Junior

Junior saw Dr Folland today (my primary vet). Dr Folland didn't think the lump in Junior's belly responds like a poop plug should and so he had an x-ray taken. Poor Junior's bones barely showed up on the x-ray. :( They are faint outlines instead of bright, white lines.

There was no mass at all that showed up. A fecal mass would have had distinct edges and shape.

Curious.

But the thing is-- Junior is not strong enough to survive a surgery right now. So for his sake, we need to pretend as though it's not there and go back to feeding Junior. He needs the calcium and calories right now. I tube fed him as soon as I got home.

Junior got a shot of Calcitonin to help pull calcium back into his bones.

On the way home, Junior was quite active! I think he enjoys Ray LaMontagne too! ;)

Now we wait. I tube feed him twice a day and see what happens. If he has a bowel obstruction, then we will know soon. If there is a mass somewhere in his belly, we will deal with it later when he's stronger. He's got a lot of spunk in him and that helps.

As Dr Folland was leaving the room, I asked him if I was doing the right thing by keeping him alive. He said "yes, at this point." He then warned me to not put a lot more money into Junior because the chances of his survival are still low because of how bad off he is.

That's the hard thing in rescue-- you just never know. $5,000 couldn't save a $60 chameleon named Lotus. But I've saved other reptiles without a single vet visit. You do the best you can given the information you have.

So as long as Junior keeps fighting & trying, I will too.

It's Raining Savvys!

About 40 minutes before I had to leave to take Junior to the vet, I had two almost adult Savannah monitors dumped off at my house.

With nothing.

Thankfully, I had an empty tank. All I could do immediately was dump them into the tank.

Ironically, this brother & sister pair had been dumped on a sister by a brother. The sister did NOT want them or like them. She said they were mean and hadn't been fed for awhile.

Once they warmed up, I was able to feed the male. The female had no interest. I left them in their small tank with a towel and heating lamp and went to the vet.

After dinner, I debated bathing them, but wasn't sure I wanted to stress them out. But then the male pooped, stinking up my entire house. That helped made my decision. I cleaned out their tank while they soaked.

For being the same age, the male is quite a bit bigger than the female. The male is covered with nasty old shed.

My last experience with this size Savvy did not go well. I had a female Savvy chomp onto my finger and not let go. Dr Folland grabbed a pair of forceps and pried her jaw off me. Needless to say, I'm rather bite-shy around savvys now. The thought of these two being "Aggressive" made me nervous.

I'm happy to report that they were totally mellow as I got them out of the bath. The male is actually more docile than the female!

Here's me with the male:

Here's me with the female:

Savvys are quite cute. But they are big and have a POWERFUL bite (trust me on this one). I think I already have homes for both of them. Phew.

Waking up Junior

I turned on the lights on this morning and didn't have to move Junior to make sure he was still with me. Instead I found his head up and his eyes open! Woo hoo!

Vet visit at 4:45 pm today to deal with the poop issue.

Swapping Custody

I share custody of Kreature with my rescue brother, Joe. It was his turn for visitation rights! ;)

So I'm happy-sad or sad-happy that Kreature is now at his dad's house! (hee, hee, hee)

I sent his favorite Target shopping bag, my red dress that he loved to cuddle up in, and his favorite blankies to poop on. Joe is going to potty train him better. Woo hoo!

I'll still post Kreature updates since Joe & I talk everyday, but there won't quite be as much tegu drama without him here to body surf down my stairs or hide under my bed when he's mad at me!

Junior Holding up his Head

Still no poop! But this little guy had more fight as I was giving him today's saline injection. When I put him back, he held himself up right.

His next vet appointment is tomorrow and I'll have my primary vet exam him and see what needs to be done.

Such a cute little dinosaur!

Junior's Day

When I returned to the house this morning, I found a tiny bit of poop and a tiny amount of urates that Junior had managed to push out.

That was a good sign.

This afternoon, he got a water bath and then a sunshine bath.

He's so weak that everything wears him out and he ends up sleeping a lot.

I sure hope he makes it. My regular vet, Dr Folland, has an idea for how to treat him next if he hasn't pooped by Thursday afternoon. I have an appointment scheduled and, depending on the poop situation, he may get more meds for his constipation or we may be able to start him on Calcitonin shots that will help bring calcium back into his bones.

An Update on Junior and Sadly, Still No Poop

My vet gave Junior a dose of Omega oils to help coat his digestion tract and hoped that would help start him pooping. Nope.

They then gave him a saline injection directly into his belly to help hydrate him more. That didn't start anything either.

He got a belly massage and a couple of baths. Nope. 

I'll continue giving him saline injections and switch him to oral calcium. No more Critical Care or feeding tube until he's able to poop. I'll also give him at least two warm baths a day.

If by Thursday there's no poop, Junior will go back in to the vet. Hopefully he won't need to have his poop plug surgically removed. 

Keep praying for poop! 

My Beardie Purse

This first run only has 12 purses. I may do a second run while we wait for the pattern to be digitized for our embroidery machine. Each one will be a little different because I sew them by hand. :) Just remember that.

CLICK HERE! 

Monday's Craziness

Mondays are the day of the week that tries to kill me the very most. Ugh. So while I have planned to list the beardie purses today-- and am still planning on it-- I haven't had any extra time to do it. I did get 3 sewn.

But first I'm off to the fabric store to check out their premade straps before I pick up the carpool for junior high.

Keep watching. I won't disappoint if I can at all avoid it.

And no news on poor little Junior yet.

Junior off to the Vet

Junior made it through the night and is already at the vet. I'm hoping they can help him poop and clear the blockage in his belly.

I'll keep you posted on how he does.

Norman's Bath

Norman's tail has been shedding so he got a bath today. And used the bath to poop everything all out! 

Because he pooped, he didn't have anything to spray with me!

I ended up only covered with Silvadene antibiotic cream! Bonus!

We are making progress! ;)

A Kreature IN my Bed!

Yesterday, Kreature went upstairs and disappeared. After quite a bit of searching, I finally found him snuggled up under my son's blankies *on* his bed! Somehow he managed to jump onto his bed so he could an extra soft resting place.

He was NOT happy when I moved him.

Today, after I heard a lot of banging & thumping, I discovered that Kreature had crawled onto my bed!

He started off behind my pillows and then moved down to my soft blankies.

He huffed at me when I pulled the pink blankie back to see him.  Later he moved under my pillow to sleep.

He made sure to sleep in both of the spots where my dogs always sleep. Always! They were so unhappy with him taking their sleeping area.

Kreature is rather spoiled and believes he must now have the softest blankies and most cushiony places to sleep. His cage has several towels and blankies to burrow into instead of bark to dig in. I'm pretty sure I'm ruining him, turning him into a big softie!