Beardie Roll Call or Our House feels Slightly Empty

Toothless

Spike

Max

Hurley (who is leaving Monday)

SweetPea- the lone female

Our boy named Lizzie

Down to only 6. Raji got adopted out last night. Yeah! All the others have gone home or been adopted. Dr Folland was teasing me that if I'm down to 8, I'd better load up! ;) I think we're okay with just a few for now.

P.S. taking pics of the beardies in their tanks showed me how dirty the glass has gotten! whoops! Time to wipe some glass down.

Cannoli, our Diva Iguana

She's cute! And large! And still gets lost in the house sometimes. Like the yesterday when I found her on the stairs, posing with a pumpkin. 

It's always a good day with Cannoli when she doesn't make me bleed. :) 

Tiny Tim Update

Tiny Tim went outside with my two other tortoises yesterday and had a great time. The direct sunlight is super helpful for him in treating his severe Metabolic Bone Disease. 

Today Tiny Tim went to the vet with Nubs to get checked. He's pretty sickly and has pretty severe MBD. I'll try getting him to eat on his own this week and if that doesn't work, Dr Folland will teach me how to tube feed him.

He's getting his sun time right now. The direct UVB rays will help him be healthy. Just to make sure he stays warm enough, I put a heat lamp on top of the cage.

Nubs is Going Home!

Two weeks ago today, Nubs looked this: 

Barely hanging on to life.

Today, on the day he is going home!, Nubs went back to Parrish Creek to meet two of the people who helped me to save his life:

It's hard to believe that it is the same beardie.

I can never say enough good things about my reptile vets at Parrish Creek Vets. 


Snuggling with Nubs while we wait for Dr Folland to come in.

My Dream.........

I look forward to the day that I don't have to poke sickly animals in the morning to make sure they are still alive.

That's all.

Quick Update

Nigel went home and is doing GREAT! Yeah!

Volcano went to a great home today! Yeah!

Nubs goes home on Monday! Yeah!


Raji is still available for adoption. Tiny Tim is eating, but his eyes are still bad and his shell is still soft. Spike's tubes are working and I've been able to get a lot of pus out of his beard in the last two days. Hurley will be headed home next month too (been babysitting him).

And I honestly don't think I'm strong enough to give up Toothless. Several have offered. I don't think I can do it. I think he'll have to stay. Maybe one day if the perfect home comes along.... until then, I am as close to perfect as you can get for my little buddy. He's my "Toofers." He came to me at 60-something grams. He's now 99 grams. I can't wait for him to be over 100!

He played on my bed tonight before snuggling in my hoodie & falling asleep

Snuggling with Nubs

Hooray! Hooray! Nubs pooped today. What a relief.

Tonight I held him on my chest on a heating pad and he snuggled in and fell asleep. He's such a sweet thing that loves to be held & snuggled.

I'm taking Nubs back to the vet on Monday so we can get a picture with Dr Folland who helped to save his life. Then Nubs is going home! Thanks to all who said you'd be willing to take him. The lady who rescued him is taking him back and she is SO excited for him. He will be very, very spoiled. You can follow him on Facebook too to get updates.

Our next goal is to get him eating & pooping regularly.

Hard Choices

Originally I started off with 1 beardie, Lizzie. Then a friend asked me to take her 2 special beardies, Max & SweetPea. The other beardies came and went, but these three always stayed. Then Toothless came to me and I fell in love with him.

Every night he snuggles into my shirt and sleeps. He's the sweetest, nicest, cutest beardie ever. Which makes him totally & completely easy to place. He stole my heart and I decided to keep him.

Then Spike came back to me. Spike has been bounced around so many times in his life that I hate to do it again. But every beardie that stays takes up space, making it harder for me to take in future needier beardies.

So I'm contemplating finding a good home for Toothless, knowing how much joy he could bring to someone else and knowing it would free me up to take on the harder cases that no one else wants. If you think you could adore Toothless the way I do and snuggle with him and love him and carry him around in your shirt at night, please let me know and I'll think about it. :) I can't promise I'll adopt him out, but I will consider other homes.

Tiny Tim

Last night, I took Tiny Tim, a tiny, sickly, neglected little Sulcata tortoise. His previous owners decided he needed to be more colorful, so they painted his shell. UGH! He's in a sick tank now and I'll work today on getting him warm, fed, and some sun.

It's hard to say how good his chances of success are at this point. I've never had a Sulcata tortoise before and certainly not one this small. Time to do some research.

Nubs' Next Hurdle

Nubs is putting on weight-- he's up to 240 grams. He eats great and is enjoying food. I still give him Critical Care formula once a day to help boost his nutrient levels back up. 

Every chance I get, I take him outside in the sun. The Critical Care has enough calcium for him and the direct sunlight helps him metabolize it. It honestly amazes me that he doesn't have more symptoms of Metabolic Bone Disease.

These are outside pictures from Sunday when he loved sitting on my black skirt and soaking in the heat and light.

Today I gave him a bath to see I could get him to poop. Instead he took a nice long drink of water.

Then I took him outside to dry and to warm up.

The white towel wasn't warm enough so I moved him to a soft blanket on the grass. 

He immediately decided he wanted to walk on the grass so I let him.

It's been almost a week since Nubs started eating again and it's about time for him to start pooping. If he doesn't, it could signal some intestinal distress or problem. I don't think  I've ever been so anxious for a beardie to poop! :)

I plan to ask my vet at what point I should be worried and if there is something I can do to help inspire him to go. Until then, we'll do daily baths since most beardies love to go potty in water.