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. :)

Animal Roll Call

So here's our current pet roll call:

-Lizzie, beardie **
-Max, beardie *
-SweetPea, beardie *
-Toothless, beardie **
-Hurley, beardie we are babysitting for 3 months
-Honey BooBoo, going to her new home this weekend **
-Volcano, in retraining **
-Spiny, in retraining **

-Lil Foot, red foot tortoise midget **
-Master Oogway, Russian Tortoise *
-Hermy, Desert Tortoise *

-Cannoli, FAST-growing female iguana * (she may be rehomed in the next few weeks)

-Frankie, canary *

-Kip, old grumpy poodle **
-Belle, young neurotic Maltese */**

-Golgi, pink & purple Kitchen Betta
-Algae, yellow Kitchen snail

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* Rehomed animal (took him in from someone we know)
** Rescued animal

Volcano, rescue number 25

Volcano was bought by a family a couple weeks ago who quickly learned that he was not as "friendly" and "nice" as the previous owners said he was. That did not go over well with the little kids in his family. His hissing and spitting and black beard freaked them out.

So after many discussions, I traded Apollo for "Cano."

I brought him home and got him out of his 20 gallon sand tank and into a, you guessed it, 40 gallon tank with astroturf. :) Can you tell what my favorite tank set up is?

He is a 2 to 3 year old male and he is TINY for his age! He's definitely going to take some work to get him friendly again, and he's already learning that when he puffs out his beard, I don't shrink back.

"Uh huh, Tough Stuff, what else you got?" is how I respond.

Beardies can be like dogs (or kids)-- if they learn that a certain behavior gets them left alone, they'll do it over and over again. Volcano's previous "mom" spent at least 20 minutes getting him out of the tank. Nope, not here. I've been bitten, scratched, whipped with a tail, pooped on, hissed out, head thumped at, poked. It just doesn't phase me anymore.

Here he is in his nice new cage-- I don't even think he knows what to do with so much space! He's a bit spooked out so we'll give him a couple days to adjust before I start really training him. Before he knows it, he'll be thrilled to go on car rides and be the center of attention after school. :)

Spiny, rescue number 24-- renamed "Pickle"

Spiny is a 4 month old beardie with a bit of an attitude! Mostly, I just think he's freaked out and I'm a stranger. So when he sees me, he puffs out his beard and jumps back into a defensive position. He's young enough that he just needs to adjust to his new environment before we start working with him.

I don't have anything else to post on him yet. I'll add updates later as I get to know him.

Master Oogway, our new Russian Tortoise

I've got a thing for small, hard-shelled reptiles. :) And we added Master Oogway or Oogway or Oogie for short. In my continual reptile tank switcheroo, I'm waiting for the right tank for him to open out. So for now, he free roams our house and his pen in the backyard during the day and sleeps in his turtle box at night.

Honey BooBoo, rescue number 23

Honey BooBoo originally came to me to babysit, but then her owners (who had just been given her) decided to let me place her for adoption.

Honey is around 8 years old, which makes her a bit of a beardie senior citizen. I got her out of her small tank and into a clean 40 gln tank with astroturf instead of sand.

She got a bath and I scrubbed her scales gently with a toothbrush to get her nice and clean again. She loved being in the water and swam around too.

Because she is a "senior" I found a special home for her where she can live out the rest of her days in love. She needs a calm & mellow environment without little kids mauling her or big boy beardies trying to mate with her. She's earned the right to retire!

Apollo, rescue number 22

On Saturday, I picked up Apollo, a 3 year old male beardie.

Overall, he's healthy. He has had a bit of MBD in the past because his jaw is a little wonky. I switched out his tank to a better size/fit and gave him a couple hours outside yesterday which he loved!

He was roaming around our house when he discovered my female, SweetPea. At first, he seemed totally puzzled by another beardie. He spent several minutes just starting at her as though he wasn't sure what he should do. He then figured out he wanted her (like all the other boys before him) and tried to get at her. SweetPea, who must be training to be a nun, didn't even blink at him. She's not into boy beardies.

I'm hopeful that Apollo will be super easy to place into a good home. He was loved by his previous owner, but not super socialized. I can already see him blossoming with good food and outside sun time.

--------------UPDATE 9/20/13--------------------------

Apollo was placed today in a lizard-loving home filled with boys! They adored him and he is going to be spoiled with love and attention there. :)

I LOVE Beardie News Stories!

The firefighters put out a fire started by the beardie's light and gave him oxygen to help him feel better. Awwww....

Read the story HERE! 

Rescues 19 through 21 and How Hospice Continued

Remember how I said I was done with baby beardies? Apparently I lied.

I brought home three baby beardies on Sunday. Two babies that were 2 grams each.

And a 7 gram baby with a fractured spine.

Baby #1 died on Monday. Baby #3 with the broken back died on Tuesday. Baby #2 died yesterday. We buried them all in my herb garden. The two little babies were just too little and too far gone by the time I got them. It's possible they had genetic issues too. The baby with the broken spine had stopped pooping and was impacted along with his fractured spine. There was too much wrong with him that couldn't be fixed.

They all had a happy, safe, and loving end. That was all I could do with them.

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Here's Yoda who I thought was so tiny next to one of the 2 gram babies. He looks huge & healthy!

Yoda, rescue number 18 *and* the Start of Hospice Care

Today I brought Yoda home to die. He is a tiny beardie, only 6 weeks old and weighs only 7 grams. He has been having full body seizures for the past 24 hours and I don't think he's strong enough to survive. His owner tried everything he could to get him healthy and keep him that way, but it wasn't enough. Sometimes beardies are just genetically flawed.

Having some sun time

I gave him a bath to get him to drink a little

He's a tiny little guy 

 After getting him out of his bath, he had a full body seizure. He went completely rigid while shaking and then flipped upside down. Poor little guy. It's heartbreaking to watch.

Sometimes beardies can't be saved. Sometimes beardies just die. Sometimes all you can do is make the end peaceful & loving.

So once again I am doing hospice care for an animal.

----------------UPDATE 9/12/13-------------------

Yoda is still alive. He is healthy and happy and headed to his new home on Saturday. Crazy, huh? Even though he had all the right supplements & lights, his body was not processing calcium. I gave him calcium syrup & an injection and he never had another seizure. By the next Wednesday, he was running around and active. He's been eating like a champ -- only when I give him roaches-- and has a new lease on life.

Crazy, huh? You just never know sometimes.