3 at the Vet

On Monday, I took two tortoises and a beardie to the vet. It's because I had paid off my rescue credit card on Saturday! Ha! A $0 balance must mean a vet visit! 

Lolly had her jaw bitten by grumpy Loner Leo who managed to sneak into her tortoise box. It ended up being okay and Dr Folland thinks her runny nose is because her eyes are so misshapen that they drain onto her face & nose. She was an easy visit-- except for her pooping all over. 

Gramps has been acting very lethargic and sickly lately. During his physical examination, Dr F found a mass in Gramps' belly that felt like a bubble or blister with a hard center. When he aspirated the lump with a needle, he immediately pulled out black fluid (bile) and then nothing else. Both bad signs. For some reason, Gramps' gall bladder is HUGE. It's encapsulated in a bile filled bubble. Sadly Gramps' mouth is a mess too-- he has very few teeth and mostly exposed jaw bone because his lower jaw is so messed up.

Gramps is old and in poor health. We are giving him a week of force feeding to see if his gallbladder will empty itself, and, if not, I believe we will choose to let him be done. :( He's not eating on his own and he's been super stressed and more sickly since his gallbladder was messed with. Also bad signs. In the past two days, he has hidden in his tank under his blankies or under the paper towels. His colors are poor and he seems in pain. Poor baby. I wish I could make up for his poor life, but 7+ years is a long time to be neglected.

Red is a 5 year old sulcata that weighs 3 pounds (and she lost weigh in the last month). Her buddy Bunsen (who just went to a new home in St George, Utah) is also 5 and weighs over 13 pounds. He eats & drinks & poops & motors around without stopping. Red, on the other hand, doesn't move. She's been like a pet rock. I gave her a month of good heat, lots of sunshine, the offer of food all the time, and there was no change. Her nose still drips and she still sleeps all the time. That's why I took her to the vet.

We didn't do anything with Red on Monday, but she's at the vet all day today. They will sedate her, draw blood, and take an x-ray. Hopefully the blood work & x-ray will show us what is wrong with her. I'm not overly hopeful since she's not grown at all since I got her two months ago (you can see their new growth easily on their bellies). I think whatever is wrong with her is serious and I'm anxious to hear if Dr Folland finds anything obvious.

Outside Time

I spent all morning running around (40 miles south to get the MBD beardie and then 50 miles in the opposite direction to get the adult for a total of 110 miles in 3 hours) and when I finally finally got home, I still had a ton of things on my "To Do" list.

I had my youngest take his beloved pet chickens outside. They are almost 100% fully feathered and will soon be able to stay outside. My youngest begged me to sit outside with him. So I ignored the groceries in bags on the table and the messes that needed to clean up and sat outside with him. For awhile we ate cherries and played with the chickens.

Bunsen, my 10 pound sulcata tortoise, came over to check out the chickens too.

It was a fantastic afternoon in the backyard. I enjoyed it a lot and am glad I chose to ignore the list for awhile and enjoy my family & my animals. <3 nbsp="" p="">

Pan, rescue 126

Ah, it's raining tortoises!! 

This is Pan, an almost 3 year old female sulcata tortoise. 

She's not very happy to be moved here and was feeling very shy. Her owners were unable to continue carrying for her. She's almost the same size as Heidi & Derp 

Here's Pan with Heidi. Heidi is at the top of the picture. 

I tried letting Pan wander around but she's not used to being a free roamer. When I saw how stressed she is, I put her in a tank. I'm sure she'll learn quickly.