A little over a week ago, we made a serious mistake, and I almost had this little guy put down Wednesday. Axe and I were feeding the imported babies and did not notice a larger cricket in the scooper still and added the 1/8-1/4 grown crickets and fed the smallest of the imported babies..... well as luck would have it the smallest of them all grabbed and ate a 1/2 grown cricket... way to large for this baby.
Within two hours he could not move his back legs..
it was pitiful to watch him moving around the reptarium pulling himself on his front legs only... he even climbed to the top of the reptarium to sleep using only his front legs.
I gave him two drops of warmed sweet oil (purified olive oil from a pharmacy) and a warm soak. I was afraid he would fall so we put him in a hospital tank with an undertank heater for the night in our room.
The next two days he was the same. Each morning we took him out to be with his siblings so he would not be stressed with more changes. Each day he pulled himself around on his front legs, climbed the side to rest and sun, even chasing crickets that way and he was eating still, not much but a few crickets and he dragon gatorade good...each night we put him back in his hospital tank and soaked him and gave him the sweet oil and gatorade. We did not see him going to the bathroom.
Monday night we left him with his siblings for the night, the next day he stopped eating on his own was bloated and his one front leg was not working either, I put him in for his regular soak, but kept adding hotter water til it was about 120F and massaged this legs and made him move them with help, more sweet oil and back into the heat padded hospital tank. Tuesday he could not move ANY legs and you could see an obvoius swelling in his lower back. He just kinda floundered around and was hiding under the cave, something he never did, but he ate a whole dropper full of waterdowned baby strained chicken and sweet potatoes like a champ.
Through all this he would drink well and eat a little if he could get to food or hand fed.... it was so sad as this baby had the strongest will to live of any baby I have seen, was not accepting defeat but trying to adapt to it and it looked hopeless and our fault... We put him in the hospital tank and I was going to take him to have him put down the next day if he was the same. In the morning we put him back with his sibling. Wednesday I had to take a child to the dentist and got tied up there for 3 hours, when I came home he was again pulling himself on his front legs and climbing the reptarium sides that way, but his back legs were useless, he tried to catch crickets on his own but they were too fast for him so he had more baby strained chicken and sweet potatoes. We thought at that point he might had gone to the bathroom as the area he was laying in had a poo, but he was in with the other so we were not sure.
Each day he got warm soaks, olive oil, gatorade and massages on his legs, back and tummy and into the hospital tank with heat pad at night.
Friday he was able to catch some crickets and looked like he was moving his back legs slightly, this morning he was difinitely moving his back legs some, but staying low on them, this evening he ran across the tank and caught several crickets and we KNOW he poo'ed this day.... I am so surprised!!!
I really thought we were going to lose him... this baby is such a fighter to be like the others and keep up, he did not let this stop him or give up...everyday but the one he pulled himself up with his front legs and climbed the sides and hung there like the other, he seems normal now, but we still brought him into the hospital tank for the night on the heatpad.
He is much smaller now after this rough week than his siblings, but we pray he catches up again now that we know he is going to the bathroom and moving all four legs, even standing up on them and running. Poor thing even shed on his lower back since the swelling has gone down... tonight I tucked him in his hospital tank and got several licks, made me cry.



