Sending Prayers to the US East Coast

Two of my adopted beardies are in the path of Hurricane Matthew on the East Coast.

Squiggy near northeastern Florida:

Ginny in southeastern Florida:

My husband's parents and a couple of his siblings and their families live in northeastern Florida too right off the St John's River.

Needless to say that my nerves are a bit frazzled and my prayers are going full force-- especially as Hurricane Matthew gets bigger and slower.

Ginny made it safely!!

Ginny is now in her forever home and will be spoiled beyond measure. :) 

Phew! What a relief! Shipping is so stressful for me. I don't text until they arrive safely at their new home. 

Ginny is Headed Home!!

Last week, Ginny got clearance to be shipped to her new home in Florida. She was healed and healthy and ready to go!! 

Tonight was the night. 

It's so hard shipping! I worry all night about my critters and can't relax until they make it safely. 

Ginny got packed with her soft blankie and will sleep the whole way there. 

She'll arrive in Florida tomorrow morning by 9:30 am. 

Once she gets there, Ginny will have an amazing life with her new owner. I am confident that this is the right thing for her to live a very happy life. 

Sicklies Update

Ginny got her final approval from the vet on Monday. Her wound looks great and is healing nicely. She's starting to shed and has put on 40+ grams.

Next week, Ginny will be traveling to her new forever home in Florida to her new momma Linda who is beyond excited. Ginny will have a good, good life there. 

Bugsy is doing better on antibiotics but still struggles with his pnemonia. It'll take all 3 weeks (and maybe more) to get him completely better. At night, he lives to snuggle on my shoulder. 

It wasn't such a good day for Turbo. He got up, basked in the sun for a bit, and then went back to his "bed." He didn't eat and when I got near him, he bobbed his head at me. :( 

Poor Turbo. He's been doing okay lately and I tend to forget that he's so sick. Then days like today remind me that he won't be with me long. 

Water Drinking Reptiles

I love watching my reptiles drinking.

Not Such a Good Day for Rescues

Ginny's arm keeps swelling and the scales are discoloring. :(

Plus she's darker than normal and a lot more listless. 

Turbo is having a bad day and his eye socket is bleeding. He keeps trying to nip at me and he bobs his head at everyone else who gets near him. That's his "Back OFF!" move. 

I bumped their vet appointments up from next Monday to this Wednesday. No reason to wait. I'll keep you posted. 

A Set Back for Ginny

Ginny's shoulder stump swelled up a lot in the last few days and today she went to the vet.

It was not good news. Her incision and shoulder were filled with infection and the tissues were dying. Dr Folland opened up the incision, scraped out the pus, removed a lot of dead & dying tissue, and trimmed back her remaining arm bone again. There was very little blood flow to the area which is a bad sign. 

Her shoulder is now an open wound so I can flush it out twice a day. If it is clear and healthy in two weeks during her recheck, we'll stitch the opening closed. If not, .... I'm not sure she'll have much chance of survival at that point. 

Between the antibiotic shots and the wound care, Ginny's shoulder has a good chance of healing. I just hope she has enough strength to fight this and that the infection hasn't become systemic (in her blood stream and impossible to treat). 

After the procedure, Ginny was done! I wrapped her up in the blankie I brought her in and tucked her into my shirt. 

Good News & Bad News about Ginny

The good news is that she's been eating roaches & greens on her own and drinking water. She's pooping fine and much more alert. She still LOVES to be wrapped in her blankie at night and tucked into my shirt.

See? No swelling a few days ago.

The bad news is that her shoulder area above where her arm was amputated is very swollen. :( Vet visit scheduled for Monday morning.

Before the amputation, Dr Folland noticed that the healthy part of her arm was very swollen. I was worried about it being filled with infection, but it was only fluid built up. He called it edema. 

I'm hopeful that her shoulder is swollen because of the same fluid build up now and can be easily fixed. I'll keep you posted.

Progress for Ginny!!

She moved on her own, pooped, and then drank a lot of water. 

Then after she wobbled her way over to her basking spot, she ate a roach. 

Happy to see this! 

Ginny, rescue 88

Poor little Ginny came in last night after we had been told her arm had gotten "pinched" over the weekend and was dying.

This is how she looked: 

That arm has been dead for a LONG time!!! 

Today she went to my awesome vet who amputated her entire arm. :( She is severely malnourished and very underweight. She was fed spinach which is terrible for bearded dragons. She is missing several fingers and toes. 

Tonight she looks sad and is still groggy from anesthesia. So I'll let her sleep. 

Tomorrow we will start all the interventions that will help get her healthy. She'll have 3 weeks of antibiotics, pain meds for a week, and at least a week of Critical Care. 

I have learned that Ginny and her "sister" were kept by a teenager who was given inaccurate info from a pet store (pet stores are NOT experts!!! Do your own research!!!!!) The parents of the teen also didn't provide any supervision. It wasn't until yesterday that the mother saw the arm and immediately sought help. 

Words of Wisdom-- 

1- Do your OWN research. Don't rely on the pet store only.  

2- If the parents aren't willing to supervise and help and take over, do NOT get a pet!! Teens and kids are NOT capable of carrying 100% of the burden of pet care. If parents won't help, don't do it. Too many of my sicklies were rescued from kids who lost interest. 

3- Beardies do NOT need friends!! It is only a matter of time before they hurt each other. Please don't put two beardies together. Ever.