3 Years with Lil Foot/Baby Foot

These two pics showed up in my FB newsfeed yesterday. Hermy with a very small Lil Foot. 

Today I attempted to recreate the pics. Lil Foot (who we call "Baby Foot" to avoid confusing him with the bigger Lil Foot) did not want to hold still. 

Lil Foot was fairly sick when I got him. His shell was soft and had shell rot. His eyes were goopy and he was just not very healthy. 

He's still rather stunted and his shell will never be shaped normal, but he's very healthy and active. 

Lil Foot's Sleeping Spot

Lil Foot, a red foot tortoise, has decided that the box on the bottom shelf of my reptiles shelves is HIS box. 

When we bring him inside, he walks to the food bowl to eat, walks through the front room and into my bedroom, and climbs into his box. 

Tortoises are smart! Hermy, my desert tortoise, is the same way. She puts herself to bed in the laundry room. 

Ownership

Lil Foot the Bigger has decided that Belle's crate is the perfect napping spot. Therefore, it is now his. 

Morning Heat

I often find Heidi, Georgie, and Lil Foot under the red heat lamp in the morning before I turn on their Mercury Vapor bulb.

Vet Visit

I was brave (dumb?!) and took 4 animals to the vet on Monday. Teddy, my dog, needed a shot; Lil Foot had a drippy nose; I wanted to do bloodwork on Nubs; and Dori has not been doing well. 

Teddy- 

Lil Foot-

Nubs- 

Dori- 

Nubs' bloodwork came back perfect. I was very relieved. Lil Foot should be okay with increased nighttime heat. Teddy charmed all the staff and was only happy when someone was holding him. He didn't even flinch for the shot! Dori had a very low percentage for her iron level, but, when we retested today, it was fine. So now I need to figure out what else is wrong with her. 

Water Drinking Reptiles

I love watching my reptiles drinking.

Our House of Sickie Pets

Our house feels like a pet hospital right now. 

#1 is Mr Nubs. He perks up after I give him the saline injections. Tomorrow will be his last day of injections and then we'll move to food.

Nubs this morning, 11/5/13

#2 is Nigel. His amputation wound is doing great and looks good, but the stubborn beardie is still not eating. Silly boy. 

Nigel likes to sleep under his tank covering

#3 is Spike. He is still fighting a pretty bad infection caused by an untreated bite wound from another male beardie. He's on antibiotics and twice a day I have to clean out his wound.

Spike is plugging along 

#4 is my dog Kip. He's old, he's grumpy, and he's determined to eat nasty things that make him ill. Twice in the last month, he's had a horrible night where I've wondered how much longer he'll be alive. Currently he's wheezing and whimpering when he breathes because of his collapsing trachea. His eyes are cloudy and weep all the time, but he won't let me clean them any more. His teeth are gross but I can't touch his mouth without him biting me. His heart is bad, his knees are bad, he's covered with liver spots & warts, and his ears bother him. He can still smell (and he smells! ;) ), but that's about it. Silly dog. I've had him for over 8 years and we are guessing he's at least 13 years old. This may be his last autumn.

Kip is happiest when he's snuggled up in my blanket

#5 is Lil Foot, my tiny tortoise. He has grown from 99 grams to 150 grams over the past 4 months, but he is still tiny and rather sickly. He shares his tank with my Russian tortoise Oogway because they both are happier with a friend. Lil Foot eats more and is more active with his buddy.

He's palm-size!

Buddies

Normally, tortoises are solitary reptiles and spend all their days alone. I didn't expect that any of my tortoises would want anything to do with the other, but I was wrong.

Master Oogway, the Russian, has taken a liking to Hermy, the desert. I let them free range the kitchen & laundry room yesterday while I was gone and came home to find them like this:

The corner of the laundry room by the washing machine has ALWAYS been Hermy's corner. That's where she sleeps when she's not hibernating. I guess yesterday Hermy must have put herself to be and Oogway followed her.

He loves to watch her when she wakes up. He follows her around and shares the sunlight on the kitchen floor with her. He'll even try her food-- to see if it tastes better than his own.

There's only two sad things:

1- Hermy can got outside and roam, but Oogway is too small. He can get through our fence so I can't let him go out by himself.

2- Hermy will be hibernating in about a month and then he'll be lonely for her. Perhaps by then, Lil Foot will be healthier and they can be buddies. . . . hmmm, maybe Lil Foot would be healthier if I let him hang out in the house with Oogway during the day. I'll ponder on that one. :)

Another Little Rescue-- Lil Foot

Meet Lil Foot, a 2 year old red foot tortoise with lots of problems. He is severely stunted in his growth, has a missing foot, has eye problems, has had shell rot, and was just diagnosed with severe Metabolic Bone Disease. I've had to soak him several times a day because his eyes seal themselves shut. I finally took him to my vets last Tuesday and they diagnosed him with MBD. He got a high dose calcium shot and gets liquid calcium daily. 

He's a cute little guy. I sure hope he pulls through and starts growing. He loves to be outside. 

Way, way too small for a 2 year old

Breakfast time with Hermy

"Mom? Is that you?" 

Outside with Squiggy

He loves the grass

All of his problems were totally preventable with proper care & diet. No reptile should EVER get MBD. It makes me SOOO angry!