Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys,

Well, I woke up this morning and opened up Pebbles cage to give her the medication and pedialyte and also to do the heat compress on her leg and she was not in good shape. She could not move her back legs, one of them was completely dead...dried out and rock hard. Her tail was the same. It was one of the saddest experiences I have had as a pet owner watching her try so hard to fight what was happening to her and to see her in so much pain. I don't know what happened. It's amazing that that sort of damage could happen overnight. It honestly felt like her leg and tail had been dead for weeks and baked in the sun. I took her in to the vet (who had seen her yesterday) and they said there was nothing they could do at that point. So I had her euthanized. She died in my arms. At least she died knowing that someone in her cruel life loved her.

I called the place I bought her from this morning and talked with someone there, although it was not the owner who I had dealt with previously. He sounded much nicer and said the owner would be in tomorrow and would give me a call. I'm going to give them a chance to try and rectify the situation and see what they say...I'll worry about the next step later if need be.

Overall I spent about $600 on her and ended up with an eye full of tears and a broken heart. At least I feel I tried everything I could for her.

I talked with my vet about a necropsy. He made some calls and left some messages at universities to see if they wanted to do one for research. He also said he would do one for free if nobody calls back. Depending on what the owners of the store I bought her from say I may have to send her body back to verify her death.

I snapped a few pictures of her for documentation before I brought her in. You can see them below. Thank you everyone for all your support it's really helped me get through all of this.

Rest in peace Pebbles, may you have a wonderful afterlife; you deserve it.

Peter

.

....what to say??
"oh my God" is the only thing that keeps going through my head.
I'm having difficulty finding the right words..but I want to tell you how very sorry I am to hear of Pebbles passing.
I know how committed you are to your animals...Boulder is living proof, and now everything you've been through with Pebbles, just reaffirmed that.
Thank God she found you, and spent her final days with you caring for her and loving her.

Once again, I'm sorry for your loss.
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Kim

My deepest condolences. A sad loss.
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BigMac
1 Mali Uro - Tank
1 Leo - Doobie
1 Chacoan Monkey Frog - Pilar
1 Corn Snake - Muka

..

Oh no Peter..... what a terrible thing to have to go through .. especially at this time of year.

Please keep us informed over any findings your vet comes up with concerning what happened to her. I've never heard of such a thing happening with a uro and certainly not this quickly.

I know this is little comfort to you right now but if you do find out what happened and share the info it might help save the life of someone elses uro in the future.

RIP Pebbles

Joe

I had hoped that she would pull through. She was such a beautiful Uro! I'm sitting here at work typing and trying not to cry and I feel so bad for you. She would've made a great companion for Boulder. I know you will miss her terribly, even though she was in your life for short but memorable time. I hope that the vet finds out why she had to die. Please let us know the results of the necropsy. Take care and please know that you're in our thoughts.

Veronica
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Beautiful Dragons

np

Wow....
I am stunned that this is the end result of what appeared to be affecting her arm.
You did all you could. She had the best chance of prospering under your care.
Let us know how things get resolved with the vet and the dealer.
At least at this point her suffering is ended.
Ed

To Peter, MY heartfelt condolences. She looks like my Marsha,I'm
asuming she was a Mali. It really hit home as my Marsha has very
weak back legs,when she was younger she could climb up on my head
with ease but now i have to help her up as her claws dont grip like Marty's (razor sharp). I recently clipped her claws as they
were growing out of control.But made no diference.I purchased her
a month before Marty to give her company and they seemed to get
along at first but then Marty got teritorial and was biting her and hissing so i had to separate them and i gave Marty the tank
on top as he's so afectionate and more interesting than her.None
the less i always feel guilty about it and it's like she knows that he's my favorite ie he'll stay on me my face for hours or
sometimes i even fall asleep on da bed to wake up with him staring at me. Marsha seems more wild and looks to run off more
although she's warmed up to me with t.l.c.
Regards,Paul V.

n/p

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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

Pebbles was such a beautiful Uromastyx, and I am sorry that this ended so tragically.

At least the at end of her life she was being loved so dearly.

Thank-you for sharing Pebbles with us, and I hope you can still have a merry christmas.

Hugh
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7:2 Uromastyx acanthinura nigriventris
1:2 Uromastyx geyri
1:1 Uromastyx hardwicki
1:0 Uromastyx dispar maliensis
1:0 Uromastyx aegypita aegyptia
0:1 Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis

1:1 Sauromalus obesus obesus

2:1 Varanus panoptes panoptes
0:1 Varanus flavirufus ssp.

losing an animal is always hard. cudos to you for putting in so much time and effort. keep your head up, and keep working hard.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Peter, I'm sharing in your pain, as I know how attached you can get to these guys. I have been following this, since you got her, because as you know I have a big female (Cleo) and shes a doll baby !

I feel so sorry that she was having alot of pain, and there was no clue as to what was wrong.
I was just wondering if she could have had a stroke, if that was a blood clot in her front leg. And this was why she lost her back leg and tail movement?

Please let us know what you find out. And I'm glad she has no more pain to endure.
Only a memory of you guys, and how hard you fought for her. Shes fine now, You guys be sad, but then get HAPPY again soon, HUG Boulder, and your little guy, and beardies, and kitty, ect... and Each Other, take care !

Eve

So sorry to hear this Peter.I've been following along as many others have been, and was rooting for you guys bigtime.Hopefully the coming days will provide some answers at the very least, and hopefully the seller will step up in some way.

Please keep us updated.

Sometimes the greatest gift you can give is the most difficult thing you can do. You gave her the gift of love, you gave her the gift of care and treatment, and finally you gave her the gift of relief from a body that could not support her any longer. You are a hero. Take care of yourself.
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Stacey

Sorry this is late, haven't been on here for a few days. My deepest sympathy for you on your loss. I cried when I read your post, it is so sad. The only positive thing for Pebbles was that she had you to care for her, she could not have been in better hands. You did everything in your power to save her and did the humane thing when you could not. Your experience was terrible and a wake up call for the rest of us. Buying animals we can't see from people/businesses we don't know is a huge leap of faith. I have bought many, and have been lucky so far, but I know it is only a matter of time before I may be faced with a serious problem. My two male bentis were from Underground and I had no problems, but of course there were no unknown health issues with the bentis, it was just a simple transaction. Try to have a happy holiday and give Boulder an extra squeeze for all of us.

Best regards,

Pam