Update on Sunny

Sunny ended up having surgery to reattach her colon to her abdominal wall. 

She has an inch long incision above her vent. 

The success rate is usually about 75 to 85% and I'm hopeful she will be fine. 

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. 

I Love My Lucy

Lucy is my baby. She always will be. I just love this girl! 

She's the only snake I have since I let Buddy become a class pet. She's been pretty mellow this winter. I'm excited for her to be more active now. 

Tonight I took her out to show my nephews and now she's hanging out on me. 

She put her head near my ear and I was listening to her breathe. 

I love this girl. :) She's my Sweetie Pie Snake. 

Lucy, my Beautiful Snake

Lucy's hanging out on the bed with me tonight. 

Balya, rescue 93

I'm helping my friend with Balya's rescue. She's a red tail boa in really really bad shape. Poor thing is so skinny that her belly folds over her back.

Today she's at the vet getting some fluids and having an abscess removed. She should be okay once she starts being tube fed some Critical Care. And hopefully the abscess is an isolated problem and not a symptom of a systemic infection. 

She had at least seven layers of stuck shed on her. 

Update on Buddy-- I'm so Proud!

Buddy went to the vet today for his check up and it went SOOOO much better than I thought it would. I knew he needed a final clearance, but I wasn't sure if it would be all good news or half good news & half bad news.

"Hey! Where are we going?" 

Of course, ironically, when I made the appointment on Monday, Buddy looked & acted poorly. I realize now that was just him getting ready to shed and being grumpy because of it. Last night, he completed his shedding. Today he was active and curious. He explored his travel box and the office.

He was so active! 

First of all, Dr Folland was SO impressed with how beautiful Buddy he is. He said he's rarely had such a beautiful specimen brought in and it had been a long time since he had seen such a gorgeous ball python. I was so proud!! ;)

Second, he said Buddy looks GREAT. His "bad" eye is actually not that bad and though it has some scarring around it, it still works fine.

His "good" bad eye

Third, his good eye looks great and the wrinkling on it is normal and not at all a problem.

Buddy has several healing wounds and scars on his mouth, jaw, and upper neck where he was obviously attacked by a feeder rodent. Those are all healing and look great. Buddy's mouth looks good and I was told to try to give him a frozen/thawed rat tonight. I have a nice & fat one in the freezer right now. Dr Folland even gave me some tips on how to train Buddy to take a f/t rat instead of a live one.

He'll get one last antibiotic shot tonight, a tank heating upgrade today, and a fat rat for dinner. Overall, Buddy is a healthy, beautiful, and mellow snake-- a far cry from the sickly snake who was foaming at the mouth and freezing cold that I picked up before Christmas. I'm so proud. :)

Buddy's Bad Eyes

It looks like one of Buddy's eyes is dying. Both eyes are covered with layers of stuck eye caps, but one of them is starting to shrivel up. He will be blind in that eye for sure. His last antibiotic shot is Wednesday morning and then he'll go back to the vet to see if we can treat his eyes somehow. I'm not very hopeful though- I think he'll be mostly blind for the rest of his life. 

His "good" eye (that's really not that healthy): 

His bad eye: 

Buddy, rescue number 78

I took in this sweet adult ball python who has s severe respiratory infection. He also has a swollen, wounded jaw. He has multiple layers of stuck eye caps on his eyes and needs a good shed. 

He went to the vet right after I got him and is now on antibiotics for the next three weeks. 

Luckily he's not dehydrated or skinny. He has really good muscle tone and should recover quickly from his URI. I'll give him a week or two on antibiotics before I try to feed him-- he hasn't eaten for weeks. 

Lucy

We recently added this beautiful girl to our zoo. She is a rescue, found in an unheated box with three other snakes. She was literally starving to death. 

She is doing great now. She is super friendly and eats like a horse. 

Survivor, rescue number 73- my BIGGEST rescue ever

Thankfully, this 7 foot snake isn't at my house (phew!), but I am helping with his recovery & vet bills. His care taker gave me bragging rights. :)

Survivor is an albino Burmese Python with *severe* mouth rot. SEVERE! He is on antibiotics and should, with a lot of time & meds & intervention, make a full recovery. I couldn't have created a better home for him to go to. He will be very happy & healthy from now on.