Just an update for all of you since the last time I posted about her. I recieved her about a month ago. She had layed her first clutch of eggs about 3 weeks prior, and subsequently gotten a repiratory infection. She was medicated by the previous owner and seemed to recover, so she was shipped.
When I opened the box the cutest purple bar ambanja female I have ever seen came crawling out. She has the best personality I've ever seen. What a sweet heart. She ate and drank right away. 3 days after I received her she started keeping her left eye closed and puss started coming out of it. She stopped eating on her own, but was still drinking. I decided to flush the eye with RO water once a day and supplement with repta-aid from Flukers. Over the next few days her weight dropped from 42 grams to 36 grams.
I took her to a vet clinic near by that was supposed to be a reptile specialist. They gave me a very mild antibiotic oitment to apply to her eye 2 times a day. I did so religiously. As well as force feeding her which I hate. She's such a sweetheart that she won't ever gape. I had to pull her chin with my fingers to get her to open, and I could tell it hurt her. I hated that.
The infection seemed to go away, and she started eating crickets on her own. One more each day until she reached 6 in one day. Then she crashed hard and fast.
She had been fluctuating between 35-37 grams for more than a week. Her other eye was now infected, and the infection started again in her left eye too the next day. She dropped to 34 grams and now had an absess over her nare, and I was REALLY worried.
I took her to Ivan, whom I'd heard so many conflicting stories about. After meeting with Ivan he took a look at Silk and said that he'd seen worse. I found that hard to imagine (until seeing Icequeen's pics of Chancey). He asked me if I wanted to do things the quick way or the right way (testing me without my knowledge). I said that I wanted to do right by her, as I fell in love the minute I opened the box. He grinned and went to work. He got her to open her mouth within 1/2 a second. He showed me how to do it without causing so much stress. He prescribed 2 stronger medications, and we ran a bacterial culture of the eye infection (still waiting on the results from that). I was really impressed with his level of knowledge and professionalism. Ivan is BY FAR the best at what he does in this neck of the woods. I can't say enough about him. Any less than flattering stories I might have heard have certainly lost their "meat".
Silk seems to be mildly responding to the meds. She still drinks like a feind (which is good for her kidneys). She's not eating on her own yet, but I'm hopeful. She still has her absess which I'll probably have to have Ivan drain for her, but I have to keep my eye on the ball and do the most important things first. I'll post updated pics and today's progress when I get home from work tonight. Thanks again Ivan.
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Doug.
0.1 Veiled Chameleon
1.3 Ambanja Chameleons
2.1 Blue bar Ambilobe Chameleons (now 1.0 
)
0.1 Blue bar Ambilobe coming 6/2/04-Amazing Blue Reptiles
1 marine reef aquarium (home)
1 marine aquarium store
