Sweet Tiger

Today I had decided to be brave and do what I've been putting off for weeks. I made an appointment to have our beloved pet beardie Tiger put down. He's been growing sicker and sicker and nothing we've tried has helped. Because he was adopted by my daughter, I hesitated to do it-- especially when I learned on her birthday that there was nothing else to try to make Tiger well. :(

Tiger has gotten really bad the last two days. And even though today has ended up being a super crappy day here, we decided we owed it to Tiger to stop his suffering.

I had hopes of putting up his first pic versus later and how we trained him to give us kisses and how he's been the best beardie ever. I'm not quite to the point of feeling numb, but I'm close. I can't do it. Two of my three kids have been crying over Tiger. So I'm crying for me because I am losing two in one day and I'm going to miss Tiger and I'm sad because my kids are losing another pet.

It's too much today.

Here's Sweet Tiger, wrapped in his Christmas blankie. Even though he feels terrible, he still had to bob his head at Ziggy. Silly Tiger. Fly high, my love!

Today's Vet Visit

Today was a BIG trip to the vet. I took Kiwi the chameleon, Noel, Tiger, and the female gecko who had been chomped on by her mate.

Kiwi passed her exam with flying colors! Her bones are strong, her casque is firm, and she gained 4 grams. She is ready to move on with life. Woo hoo! Even Dr Folland said she had an amazing transformation. :) I didn't take a single pic of her. I mostly left her in her ice cream bucket because she hates being held & looked at.

Noel has doubled his weight since I took him to the vet last and tripled his weight since I rescued him. He's such a handsome boy. He's already getting ready to shed again.

Noel decided to poop while we were waiting for the vet. OH BOY! It smelled SO bad! I let them do a fecal test on it and it turns out that Noel is loaded with coccidia. We'll be treating him for that. He has an eyelid defect that makes his eye get really goopy and I'll give him two different eye drops for a week to see if that helps.

The female gecko actually looks good and acts good. Hopefully she'll start eating on her own soon. No pics of her.

Tiger did NOT like his vet visit at all. Poor guy is very miserable & sickly. His breathing is labored, his mouth is yellowing, his eyes are swollen, his nose is dripping, and he has severe diarrhea. We have exhausted almost all possibilities with him except for the $500 CT scan. Even that is not likely to show us anything that can be actually fixed. My daughter adopted him after her beloved beardie, Lizzie, died and she's loved on him ever since.

After Dr Folland examined him thoroughly, Tiger looked terrible. He folded his arms across his chest and kept his eyes shut tightly. :(

By the time we left, Tiger was looking less deathly.

It's hard to know what to do with him. He had a really bad beginning and was practically dead when I rescued him. This is what he looked like: 

Sometimes it's just not possible to ultimately overcome a bad beginning. I'm not sure what we will be able to do with Tiger next. I'm honestly going to have to pray about it and talk to my husband and daughter about it. $500 is a lot for a test that is not likely to show us something we can fix. 

Another hard part of rescue. 

Sickly Tiger worries Teddy

I had Tiger out tonight so I could see how his breathing sounded. He's been sick lately though we haven't been able to figure out what is wrong with him. He sounds worse tonight than he ever has. He's got a vet appointment in the morning and I'm hoping maybe his symptoms are more obvious now that we can figure out what is happening.

Every time Tiger took a wheezing, gurgly breath, Teddy (who had to sit on my lap too) showed deep concern.

I tried to take a video of Tiger's breathing, but he stopped gasping and gurgling every time I had the video feature on. Hopefully he'll do it tomorrow for Dr Folland so we can figure out what is wrong and how to fix him.

Tiger's eyes are hugely swollen and they leak tears/fluid. His nose leaks fluid too. His mouth seems abnormally red. His breathing is labored. This will be the 4th time we've taken Tiger back to the vet in the past 3 months. His blood work and physical exams have all been fine. Perhaps he had an early onset respiratory infection that wasn't showing up yet?? I'm stumped. Dr Folland has been stumped. Tiger is worse now and I'm hoping that will make it more obvious what we should do now. We've tried antibiotic shots, antibiotic eyedrops, flushing the eyes with saline, flushing his nose with saline, anti-inflammatory eye drops, etc.

I'll update you tomorrow.

Noel is also going back in because his eye never cleared up, and Kiwi will hopefully get an "All Clear" report for her MBD and broken bones.

Reptile Roll Call for January 5, 2017

Here's most of my reptile zoo (minus the 3 ball pythons who didn't want to leave their hides to have their pictures taken; I have Lucy, Sunny, & Bones). Also, Gumby, the MBD leopard gecko didn't want to come out either.

First the Torts. I only have FOUR! That amazes me. 

Georgie, my female Leopard tortoise 

Hermy, my hibernating Desert tortoise

Leo, the happy little Russian tort

Otis, our house tort

And now my beardies-- 

Baby Sawyer, with a little pudgy food belly

Dash, my old man who is shedding

Flame, who is also shedding 

Gen, my big girl who is sorta bruminating

Max, my big boy who is 6 years old

Neville, the latest addition 

Noel, who is looking sickly this morning

Smaug, my big boy who is looking for a home as the ONLY beardie

Tiger, who has been wheezing again :( 

Ziggy, who has pretty much trashed his tank in the last few days 

 And last, but not least, Lady Squinty Dink the Dainty Skink of bluTonguesville!

Couldn't get the lighting right for a good pic 

We also have two dogs (Belle & Teddy) and a hedgehog (Pixie).

Bruminating Beardies

When the seasons change and the days grow shorter and colder, most beardies start to bruminate. Bruminating is a light version of hibernating. For a week to several months, adult beardies will sleep constantly. Some will open their eyes and raise their heads; some will not move at all.

Don't panic. This is normal-- BUT only for beardies over a year. Juvenile beardies who appear to bruminate are actually sick and need bet attention immediately. 

So what about food? I always keep pellet food and water in their tanks. I cut way back on the greens, offering them greens only every couple days and only when I see they are alert and moving around. Most of my boys will pop right up if they see the roach container in my hand still.

Ziggy hasn't moved for 4 days.

For the most part, just let your beardies be. Lights go on and lights go off at normal times. Just let them sleep. It's pretty boring for us, but necessary for them. If you want, you can make them a cozy little box to hide in or a blankie to sleep on. My guys tend to just plop down and nap. The older they get, the longer they bruminate too.

I've been a bit more assertive with Drake as he's starting to bruminate because he's been sickly. So I'll let him sleep, but I'll also check him daily to make sure he's alive and responsive. :) He hates it, but it makes me feel better.

If you notice sunk in eyes or no response at all when you touch them, this could be a problem. Wake them up and give them some water to drink to keep them hydrated.

Read more information HERE about bruminating from a past blog post.

Big Trip to the Vet

Yesterday I took 5 reptiles to the vet. 5! 

And I didn't take a *single* picture. 

Elvira, a very sick Dumerils boa, got added in last minute. She's been on antibiotics for almost two months with no improvement. Sunday night, she regurgitated her meal from Tuesday. Monday morning, she started writhing around. We took blood and let the vet examine her. This morning, she is dying. 

I'm so sad. I'm sad that we couldn't save her. I'm sad that she's been sick so long. I'm sad because she may have a IBD (a horrible, contagious snake disease). I'm sad that her previous owner let her be sick for 8 months and thought her "crackling" lung noises were "cute," like she was talking to them. Ugh. 

So sorry, sweet girl. 

< Deep Breath> 

Hermy, my desert tortoise, was seen because her eyes are swollen. She got anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drops for her eyes. 

Tiger, my daughter's bearded dragon, checked out okay, but is still breathing noisy. I'll continue antibiotics on him for a week. 

Lotus, the chameleon, got her stitches removed from being spayed last month. 

Akime, the chameleon, got a new arm wrap to protect the wound on her arm which is healing nicely. She should have the bandage off totally in two weeks. 

The whole bill came to just under $500. Ay yi yi. Gratefully, I have a good credit card to use for vet bills. I'm hopeful that this holiday season will help me make enough money on Etsy that I can pay it all off. 

Today I'm feeling like Eeyore and can't generate much enthusiasm or energy. I hope to be back up to speed tomorrow. 

Beardie Roll Call

Here's all my current beardies. 

Smaug-

Tiger-

Ziggy- 

Gen- 

Flame- 

Max- 

Remy- 

Milo- 

Dragon- 

Clack- 

Tiger at the vet

Tiger has been very lethargic lately and has had severe diarrhea. I took him with me to pick up Dex so we could do a blood test. He was nice enough to have diarrhea all over me and the front desk and his blankie and the exam table. But at least they were able to do a fecal smear and float. I hope we can figure out what's going on. I suppose it's possible the diarrhea is caused by his adenovirus, but it seems more extreme than the others. 

Random Phone Pics

My ridiculously photogenic dog, Teddy. 

My new frog tank. I've never had tree frogs and, since I had all the supplies to set up a good tank, I bought 3 green tree frogs. 

Our axolotl, a creepy cute fish thing. 

My daughter's beardie Tiger. He's almost 2 and "pocket-sized." 

Found a box big enough for Heidi and Derp so they could share. Sadly, Heidi still pushed Derp out sometime in the middle of the night. 

Dragon looking like a beach ball because he hasn't pooped for 3 days. He pooped this morning and looks fine now. 

I've been taking Smaug upstairs to work with me. He likes to run around and explore. It's the only area without another beardie for him to freak out over. He has been trying to intimidate Junie, the grumpy iguana, but it's not working. 

Smaug is a very sweet (and BIG) beardie. I'm looking for a home for him where he can be the ONLY beardie now and for the rest of his life. Other beardies make him too crazy & aggressive. By himself, he is gentle and mellow. 

And a random funny photo saved to my phone. 

Beardie Roll Call

Skye-- basking like a Queen

Katy-- healthy and ready to go home

Nova-- really not well  :( 

Dragon-- the cutest thing ever

Nubs- Fear him! He's adorable! 

Smaug-- looking SO much better 

Max- not amused with the picture 

Ziggy-- very up close & personal 

Tiger-- about to shed his milk mustache

Gen- gorgeous girl 

Clack-- still not well