Verde, rescue 111

Tonight I rescued a juvenile female chameleon who I named Verde. 

She wasn't in a *horrible* situation, but it wasn't very good either. :/ Poor cage, terrible diet (all veggies), not enough heat or humidity. 

Verde's pretty stressed tonight so I put her in a quickly arranged Reptibreeze. It's not perfect, but it's also not in a cage held together with hot glue, twist ties, and clothespins. 

Tomorrow I'll add a live plant or two and some more climbing branches. 

Midori, rescue 110

Today  I got a totally normal chameleon named Midori. Normal? Healthy? 

That's crazy! What do I do with it? ;) 

He was adopted out from a pet store who has been treating him for an upper respiratory infection for the past 3 months. When he was finally healthy, they decided he was "too big to sell." 

He's in a small cage right now while I get a large cage set up. Considering he was in a large plastic critter keeper for 3 months, I'm sure the small cage is fine. 

And it looks I'll be getting another chameleon tomorrow. Oh boy! 

Look! No Blood!

I had to move Junie's set up today and he let me hold him. No flailing or hissing or whipping or biting. He was calm! 

He is a pretty iguana. This pic shows off his overbite. That makes me think the meme below is his motto: 

And he obviously thinks everyone is "thupid" including me. ;) 

Sami made it through the Night

Sami woke up and started walking around her tank this morning. I got her to drink on her own too. 

She looks a lot more lively now than she did last night. Which is a good sign. 

I brought Dragon the vet this morning for his first Calcitonin shot and brought Sami along with me. 

She was nice enough to poop all over the back counter and is now running around the back room. Which is also a great sign. 

Her poop smells dreadful and has for a couple days. :( So one of the techs is running a decal test on it to see if that explains why it smells like old cat pee. 

At least for now, I'm very pleased with her progress. 

Sickly Bedtime

Dragon is all curled up in his bed. 

Sami is looking even worse than she did before. :( 

I'm sure I'll be checking Sami's breathing at least once or twice tonight. I sure hope her body can pull through this. 

Cutting Beardie Nails

Here are two good pics to show you were to cut. I always use baby fingernail clippers. 

There are also quite a few videos on YouTube you can watch if you prefer a demonstration. 

It's really easy to cut nails. The hardest part is getting the beardie to hold still. 

Dragon, rescue 109

Dragon is a little beardie with severe MBD. :( His bones are like rubber and he's unable to eat on his own. 

I've already got him under a new UVB bulb and am giving him calcium syrup every day. Yesterday I started mixing in small amounts of Critical Care and baby food. 

His arm bones have already started to spread out and thicken. He'll probably end up walking on his wrists like Peanut does. 

Dragon reminds me a lot of Peanut when I first rescued him. Dragon is much smaller at 18 grams. Peanut was 41 grams. 

He's got a long road ahead, but I think he'll be able to recover from the MBD.

Bad News for Sami

I took Sami in yesterday for bloodwork and got the results today. Originally, the vet recommended I wait a week after the x-Ray and then test bloodwork if there was no improvement. But after watching her all weekend, my gut instinct said not to wait. I'm glad I didn't. 

She has a raging infection and has started becoming toxic. I've already started antibiotic shots and will continue to giver palliative care (fluids & food) for the next 3 weeks. 

I hope we can pull her through this. As you can see, she looks dreadful. Poor baby. It will be at least a week before she will even start showing signs of improvement. 

Sami came back

Last year, I adopted out Sami & Lexie for Christmas. They are in a fabulous home with amazing owners. I wish all my beardies went to such great places. 

On Thursday morning, I got a text from their owner. Sami wasn't doing good. She hasn't been eating and is very lethargic. I got this pic: 

I had them bring her to me. She's in a sick tank in my room. Dr Folland saw her today and took an x-ray. Everything is normal with that though we did find an old, healed break in her leg. 

I'm going to force feed her Critical Care and watch her for a few days to see if I can get some weight back on her. If not, we'll have to do some blood tests to find out what's going on. 

Once we get her better, she'll go back home. Until then, she's doing okay and loves to be wrapped in a blankie and snuggled every night. 

The Faces of Brumination

It's winter here and all my guys have slowed down. Some are eating; some aren't. Some are active and run around; some lift their heads and that's it. 

Here are pics of the ones who are bruminating the most. 

Ziggy--he's been in this position for three weeks. He lifts his head and lowers it. That's about it. 

Nubs-- he crawled under his log and gives me the stink eye when I make eye contact or touch him. At least his eyes are open today. 

Max-- he's like Ziggy. He's in one spot and doesn't move much. He watches things, but doesn't get up. 

Dori-- she goes in her blankie and won't move for days. I have to check her at least once a week to make sure she's still alive. I've been waking her up more often to feed her since she doesn't look great. 

Milo, Tiger, Peanut, and Gen are all active and daily eating. 

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my Junie gave to me.....

Lots of smeared poop everywhere. 

Oy Vay! 

On the chair, on the floor, on the wall. 

Stinker Junie. 

Merry Christmas!!

From my zoo to yours-- 

Have a safe & happy holiday week at the end of 2015. 

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. 

Etsy Vacation

It was with great relief that I turned on "Vacation Mode" for my Etsy shop this morning. 

240+ orders in the first 3 weeks of December. Wowsers! 

I need a break from filling orders. I'll be back at it after January 4th. 

And look! I even cleaned my craft room. ;)

Junie and the Snow Day

Yesterday, we got 2 years worth of snow in 24 hours. Oh boy!! 

During the middle of the morning, the electricity in our house went out for about 2 hours. Of all my critters, I was worried most about Junie who is currently shedding. 

After 30 minutes without his light, he started looking darker & darker. I activated a heating pack and put it in a fleece pouch. 

I managed to slip it under his belly and wanted to take a pic of it. Just at the moment I snapped the pic, he tail whipped me. This is how the pic turned out: 

Ha! I laughed so hard. What a stinker! 

I took a big step back and retook the pic. 

He's a brat, but he's my brat. ;) 

Mooshy made it!!

After a very long, sleepless night for me, Mooshy made it to his new home. For some reason, FedEx didn't scan the package after I dropped it off and there were no updates until 4:24 am my time when it arrived in Memphis. They have never done that before and it had me freaking out, wondering if he was still in Salt Lake. 

But he's home now! And I can breathe and take a nap. 

Bon Voyage, Mooshy!

Mooshy is on his way to his new home in Oklahoma. Every time I ship a reptile, I think "This is too stressful!! I can't do it again!"

And then I find the most perfect homes for my guys in other places. And I make the trek back to the Fed/Ex hub where I send my guys off. And I sleep poorly and check the website for updates on where he is. 

This is him before I packed him up. Look at his skin! It's almost normal now! Woo hoo! 

Be safe, Moosh! You're going to be adored without measure. 

Honored

Yesterday I received a most unexpected message-- could I share the link to my donation page so it could be listed on an obituary the man's wife was writing for their son? They wanted to encourage their son's friends and families to donate to a reptile rescue in lieu of flowers.

My heart broke and swelled at the same time.

That they would chose my rescue humbled me. That they writing their son's obituary saddened me greatly.

I have never met this man, his wife, or his son. They have impacted my life in a way they'll never know. People are turning to this page as a way to honor the memory of their friend & loved one. Some of these same people are donating money to me as an honor to his memory. I want you to know that I hold those donations sacredly. I didn't know Damon and don't know much about him (yet), but the donations will be set aside and used for something special. It may not be grand or life-changing; it won't be a new building or an amazing discovery; it won't make the news or be the big "To Do" of the month. But one day, there will come an opportunity for me to do something with that money and my heart will say "Ah ha. *THIS* is for Damon. *THIS* is where I leave his small portion of legacy entrusted to me."

On that day, I will most definitely blog about the grand work I was able to do in the memory of Damon and the love of his family & friends. Until then, know that I am honored and humbled behind adequate expression. May God bless your hearts and fill them with peace.

With Love,
Sarah

Working Donation Link on the Right Sidebar

For some reason, my HTML link for PayPal donations is only working from the "Donate" button on the right side bar link-- which does not show up on a phone screen. :(

To donate, you'll need a laptop, desk top, or iPad-- something bigger than a phone to use the link.

A Little Touch of Christmas

RAWR!!

Fear me!! I am a big bad boy! 

Don't call me adorable. ;) 

Well Phooey

Somehow I have a bad influence over iguanas. :( Poor little Noel went from being a tame, mellow iguana to being a nightmare almost as bad as Ramses within a few days. 

I have agonized over this for the past few days. It didn't help that on Monday night Junie B (the brat) managed to chomp my thumb in the very same way Ramses did earlier this year. A tiny bit deeper and I would have needed stitches. Ugh. 

Between a ton of Etsy orders, a tortoise being returned to me, and everything else in life, I've been overwhelmed. I don't have the time or energy to work with a crazy Iggy. 

So it's with a heavy heavy heart I chose to return Noel back to the store. :( 

Quitting is so hard for me. I hate to do it and I don't often do it. Once I finally committed to returning Noel, my heart felt lighter. 

I'll use myself as an example. Impulse purchases of animals are generally a bad idea. I feel lame that I bought a reptile I didn't want and then returned it. But better I fix it now than wait until things got worse. 

:( 

Noel in Action