Author Topic: [Loc] Gelby (Read 53337 times)

Loc · « **Reply #125 on:** April 19, 2015, 02:03:39 pm »

Vivec approached me on his own today

Put my hand in his tank and he was licking around my fingers while Dany was splodged out in my other hand.

After I put Dany back for a bask, I scooped out Vivec. He was nervous and bundled up, but not being aggressive or trying to flee, and once he was out he had a bit of an explore around my arms. He's still nervous, but not bad tempered. If he's this calm and happy as a baby, he's going to be a lovely thing when he's grown up.

He's a shy little noodle.

Loc · « **Reply #126 on:** April 21, 2015, 08:07:15 am »

Dany went to the vet today.

In good news, her bones look strong, the bone disease of her past considered, and what is slightly abnormal in most beardies seems to be the standard for her.

In less good news... She had some x-rays. They revealed lumps in her soft tissue, around one kidney and her liver. She's had some blood tests drawn to try and determine if they're calcification, gout, or something else.

Loc · « **Reply #127 on:** April 25, 2015, 08:24:26 pm »

Vivec escaped today.

I got home after being away for the night, and found that one of the vents on the back of his tank had fallen inwards, leaving a hole I could fit my fist through. Carefully removed everything in his tank, including his bedding, and he was nowhere to be found.

I only just avoid breaking down, look up how to catch corn snakes online (fat lot of good it was too) and then start slowly moving everything out of my room, hoping to God he was still in there.

Fortunately, he hadn't gone far - My room is a large place to a little snake, and fairly cold outside of the reptile tanks. He'd got chilly and curled up in a pile of underwear at the foot of my bed that I'd left for going into the wash. He's used to curling up in my clothes - Since I got him, he's had a sock in his tank that I'd cuddled for a few hours to get him used to my smell. I guess he went there because it was soft, dark, he could burrow into it and it smelled of me.

He was pretty happy to be found. He let me pick him up and fuss over him in tears before draping himself around my neck. Aside from being a bit cold, he was none the worse for wear, still strong and active, not a scale out of place. I had to put him into a little cardboard box while I reassembled his tank and snake-proofed the vents, and he kept peeping out over the top, looking to get out again XD He got a little boop on the snout and put inside a sock til the tank was ready to go.

I think he was out for a good six hours, if not longer - Could have been closer to 20. I'm going to glue the vents in place as soon as I can (they're taped front and back at the moment). I'm just so glad I got him back. After the first few days of being out, if a snake can't find somewhere suitably warm and safe with some food or water, they tend to move on. If he'd left my room to go out into the flat, I never would have found him.

Purrrl · « **Reply #128 on:** April 27, 2015, 02:57:17 pm »

Well, this happened :|

Loc · « **Reply #129 on:** April 27, 2015, 05:21:34 pm »

Loc · « **Reply #130 on:** April 28, 2015, 01:33:50 pm »

Heard from the vet.
Dany has lost some definition in her lungs.
This is usually cause by a growth, fluid, or changes in tissue density. But the upshot is, her lungs are probably not working as well as they could, causing her sluggishness.

My options at this point are:
1. Put her in for invasive surgery, with the understanding that it has very high risks, due to small animals and aesthetic, and also her reduced lung function, and may not tell us anything anyway.
2. Monitor her, try and make things easier for her, with the understanding that if she starts to suffer, putting her down will be recommended.

This might be something she's always had. It might be something she can fight off and sort out on her own, with a little assistance. It might not. I don't know.

Loc · « **Reply #131 on:** April 30, 2015, 06:58:33 pm »

Dany seems to be improving. A combination of a helping hand onto her basking spot in the morning, warmer temperatures and a new UV lamp are slowly making her more active. She's scoffing up wax worms and spends a good five hours early in the day ambling up and down her logs. I'm hopeful that this shows she can get by with a little extra help.

Loc · « **Reply #132 on:** May 11, 2015, 12:08:49 pm »

Dany had her vet follow-up x-rays today.

The lumps have gone completely and her lungs are unchanged.

The vet is concerned that she might have fluid buildup in the chest area, which usually points to heart failure, but if so it's been going on a while and she is still trucking. There is no medication currently existing for heart failure in reptiles, and due to the positioning of the heart, x-rays don't show anything and echocardiograms are hard to interpret, due to reptiles not having four chambered hearts. However, heart failure patients of any species can have decently long, happy lives. And it is only a maybe - her heart could be fine.

She's had as much of an all clear as she is going to, and is back at home with me. I'm going to keep on going giving her extra support, although she is going to have the fatty waxworms cut back on.

Loc · « **Reply #133 on:** June 02, 2015, 08:00:41 pm »

Vivec shed a few weeks ago. His first shed with me, and it was a good one - His eyes misted a little bit for a few days, cleared, and then the next day he'd shed in one long, continuous piece along the back wall of his tank. Tail tip and eye caps all there. It's a bit rumpled around the neck and the lower jaw is gone, but it's a wonderful shed. I plan to try and keep it in a scrap book.

Dany likes soup. I was drinking some from a mug and on the offchance she wanted some (it was tomato soup) put a little bit in the syringe she had her antibiotics in and splodged it on her snout. She started licking it up and changed to her happy colours (pure white stomach, pink beard and yellow back), so I kept gently squirting it onto her nose while she drank it.

I'm now blending her some veg every day with a bit of water and making lizard smoothies for her. It's the only way I can get her to eat her veg, and she seems to tolerate it at worst and loves some flavours. So far, tomato is still her favourite. Only downside is it is very messy - I have to drip it onto the end of her nose and she then drinks it when it falls onto her mouth, but she misses bits that end up going down her beard. So I have to feed her on a towel and mop her up afterwards XD

Old Rabbit · « **Reply #134 on:** June 07, 2015, 12:43:30 pm »

It's interesting how colours show the emotional condition of your pet snake.

I suppose it's related to how emotional stresses affect her blood circulation.

Hopefully she is doing better.

Loc · « **Reply #135 on:** July 28, 2015, 05:33:02 pm »

Meet Gelbstoff.

She belongs to a uni friend (K) who has been fostering her with another uni friend (M) for a few months while she was in America. M is moving back to Australia, and K is moving to America for at least six months, possibly longer, and she can't take Gelb with her (shipping her there and then maybe back again would be too traumatic). So today, I got an email asking if I would be interested in long term fostering Gelb. She's a carrot tail leopard gecko, somewhere around 3 or 4 (but she's a rescue like my Dany, so exact ages are unknown). I'm going to be talking to K and M to work out a time that I can collect her from M's house. K is heartbroken to have to leave her behind, but I've promised her a loving foster home for as long as she needs it. She's apparently a very sweet, mild tempered little thing.

So if all goes well, my little reptile family will be up to three in the next few months. Even more reptile updates XD

phinox · « **Reply #136 on:** July 28, 2015, 06:45:23 pm »

I love leopard Geckos. My friend has one and he used to let me feed it. Shame my parents hate reptiles.

Loc · « **Reply #137 on:** July 28, 2015, 07:15:32 pm »

I don't get how people can hate reptiles. They can be such laid back, relaxed little things with a bit of love and care. I'm told Gelb likes to cling onto people and ride around while they go about their day. How cute is that?

How can people hate something that hides in your hair and peeps out at the TV.

phinox · « **Reply #138 on:** July 28, 2015, 07:21:02 pm »

I know. I ueed to have a few grass snakes that live in my garden. Obviously I never went up to them but I used to watch them from my back door window. They stopped coming after a fox decided to start coming in. Which means we were constantly checking on my rabbit to see if he was okay (nothing happened).

Loc · « **Reply #139 on:** July 28, 2015, 07:25:35 pm »

A Dany update as well.

She has a new tank - a 4 foot x 2 x 2. She has a lot more floor space - a foot extra length and half a foot height and width. It seems to agree with her so far - She's been a lot more active. She has more space to turn around and is actually climbing a bit now - Not very well, due to her leg problems, but she's trying. She actually ran across her tank earlier today to come to my hand and boop against me.

Her tank is on the floor now instead of on a table, and I like lying next to it with a couple of pillows and having a read. I leave the glass open on one side, and she wanders in and out of her tank as she likes, climbing on to me and then heading back in when she gets cold. Free range reptile. But only while supervised - She's decided she likes to climb wires at the moment, and I don't want her doing that and getting into trouble.

Dany's old tank is going to be fixed up (it needs a lot done to make it fully secure) and then used as Vivec's adult tank.

charcoal · « **Reply #140 on:** July 28, 2015, 07:51:30 pm »

Hey loc can I get your advice on what I should get I'm caught between a tortoise or a gecko

Loc · « **Reply #141 on:** July 28, 2015, 07:58:12 pm »

Read up on both first. I've only had very limited experience fostering a tortoise and have never had a gecko before. Things to think about:

Feeding - Are you okay with providing live food? Can you get hold of live food easily? Tortoises are vegetarian, while geckos need live insects. Some people are not good with handling and looking after insects (yes, they need looking after too before they get eaten), and if you don't have easy access to a pet shop or the space to breed your own insects, an insectivore might be tricky.
Temperatures - Does where you live lend itself better to the required temps for one or the other?
Hibernation - Tortoises famously can do it for several months of the year. Can you provide a safe place for them to do it? Would you want a pet that you can't interact with for long stretches?
Activity time - Do you have to stick to a rigid schedule of sleeping? Tortoises are more active during the day, but some gecko species are nocturnal. Having a pet that is on a similar schedule to yours if you are fairly fixed can make cleaning, handling and feeding easier as you won't have to stress them out by waking them up.
Space - Read up on tank requirements for them both. Are you pressed for space?
Life span - Tortoises are a very long lived species. Leopard geckos average 6-12 years, but some are alive and breeding into their late 20s. Are you willing to invest the decades needed to look after them?

Reptiles need a lot of reading up on them before buying. From what I know though, both tortoises and geckos are fairly hardy and laid back, for the most part - They're generally good starter reptiles. But without knowing your living situations I can't recommend one over the other I'm afraid.

charcoal · « **Reply #142 on:** July 29, 2015, 09:42:17 am »

Ok thanks loc

Loc · « **Reply #143 on:** July 29, 2015, 10:11:01 am »

No worries

And since the others have had pictures, here's Vivec, giving a little tongueflick to the camera.

charcoal · « **Reply #144 on:** July 30, 2015, 02:57:03 am »

Aww he's so cute how old is he

Loc · « **Reply #145 on:** July 30, 2015, 10:27:09 am »

Vivec's 8 months. He hatched in November 2014.
Dany's between 4 and 5 years.
Gelb is 3 or 4 years.

Loc · « **Reply #146 on:** August 06, 2015, 12:55:39 pm »

Gelbstoff is joining my little family on Tuesday :3

Loc · « **Reply #147 on:** August 11, 2015, 02:56:24 pm »

I picked up Gelbstoff today.

Her tank needs some work done - She has no damp hide, no calcium dish, no thermostat for her heat mat and was on sand. The sand is gone and she is now on newspaper, a damp hide has been improvised, a thermostat is on order, and I'm going shopping tomorrow to pick up a proper hide and some calcium without D3.

She has some retained shed around her feet that is a potential concern. I'm going to give her a day to calm down, and then try and give her a shallow bath tomorrow evening.

The guy who has been looking after her up until now has not handled her much, if at all. While she is okay with hands in her tank and being petted, she doesn't like actually being picked up. I held her to take her out of the travel box, holding her low over her tank. once she was in my hands, she was calm enough, licking at me. But she's going to take a little bit of work.

Iara Warriorfeather · « **Reply #148 on:** August 12, 2015, 12:39:23 am »

Your reptile family keeps growing! It was so kind of you to foster the lizard...so many times pet owners lose their pets during a move and it's heartbreaking...

Glad all is well

Loc · « **Reply #149 on:** August 12, 2015, 10:23:27 am »

K was so upset she couldn't take Gelby with her, and wanted to know she'd be looked after and loved while she's gone. She's been a good friend to me for about three years now, and I couldn't say no to Gelby's cute little face. K is repaying me costs for food and anything else Gelby needs.

I got her a new hide to use as a damp hide today, as well as a little reptile hammock. She was trying to climb the glass last night, so I thought she might appreciate something there to scramble up. She was active almost all of last night (I went to bed at 4am, and she was still out then) and was out again until 11:30am. She's asleep under her cold side box at present, just her chubby little tail poking out. She's going to get a bath tonight if she's calm enough, and I'm going to offer her some food.

Within three hours of coming to her new home, she had desecrated it by pooping everywhere XD Still, suppose that shows that the sand she was on hasn't bound up her insides at all, so I don't have to worry about potential impaction.