Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thought I'd cross post this from another site:

So... the story goes... I dropped soem big cash on two Sudanese Uros yesterday and they "stink" so I started calling around for some "SafeGuard" to treat them. A shop not a quarter mile from my house that I didn’t know about had a tube so I took a trip down to pick it up. Took a look around and saw some active and happy herps. Talked a little bit and they mentioned they had a "blue" Uro. I hadn’t seen it, so I asked ot see it. Been lokoing for females, so a match would be cool.
"Male or female?"
"We asked for male, but we got a female."
"Looks like a male, he looks horrible. Can I hold him?... this animal is covered with bugs, he’s cold and he’s very dehydrated."
"Bugs, where? Yeah, they’re supposed to look like that this time of year."
"????? Have you ever seen its eyes open?"
"Yeah, a couple days ago. I’ll give him to you for $10" (tank said $160)
"Huh?"
"If you take care of him you can take him home now."
There was more to the conversation, but they seemed honesty concerned for the animal and had no idea what to do, SO.... I’m now working with it. My homework is suffering and I’m going to have to tote this to work everyday for feedings...
He’s ten inches long and 66 grams. My other macfad male is about the same dimension but 160 grams. Covered in mites. This is one sad animal...
Followp--
I got my neighbor to get me some setup supplies at Home Depot while he was out. Was able to get 7g's of fluid into the boy and the pet store donated some pesticide for the mites. Took him for a ride down to the local emergency pet care center and the staff was very helpful and interested. Gave him some fluid shots for no charge and was going to set me up with some other supplements which I already had. Good people working there. Was able to rig up the equivalent of a toolbox with a heat lamp in it for the time being as all my other supplies got taken up by the new pair I just bought...

oh my god, that is the saddest looking uro i have ever seen! i am glad you have him and are taking care of him now. please keep us updated on his progress. your story has a happy ending but it makes me sad that that ever happened
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

i wish you the best of luck. it's sad to see uros (or any animal) that are malnourished and not taken care of properly. please keep us posted,
tristan
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Tristan
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Mars and Puffer)
1.2 Egyptian Uromastyx (Dog, Cleo, Slo Mo)
1.1 Suriname Red Tail Boas (Stoney and Browser)

That's messed up! I still can't believe pet stores will carry animals that they have no idea how to care for, just for potential profit. I wish you all the luck. He looks pretty far gone, hopefully you can reel him back in.

Jim
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2.1 - Rocky, Runako, and RoxyIII (my care sheets)

That's so sad.

Did this happen recently?

If it happened awhile ago do you know if it survived?

Poor thing. I wonder if it arrived in that condition.
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2 Mali Uromastyx-Ares & Apollo
2 Bearded Dragons- Draco & Hades
1 Saharan Uromastyx-Iris
1 Leopard Gecko-Kalypso
1 Tokay Gecko-Sid Vicious
1 Tarantula-Peter Parker
1 Amazon Red Head Parrot-Pancho
1 African Gray Parrot-Keya
1 Dog-Cheeka
3 Fish-no names
1 Beta Fish-also no name
1 Zebra Finch-Beeps

>>That's so sad.
You're telling me! This rings to the egoist/altruist debates we've held in social psych and ethics this past year...

>>Did this happen recently?
>>If it happened awhile ago do you know if it survived?
Well, I've got the blue boy in a bucket next to my desk, so I'd say it's very recent. I've had him less than 24 hours.

>>Poor thing. I wonder if it arrived in that condition.
If so, it wasn't quite this bad. The store had at least seen its eyes open... they felt he was a captive bred animal. This doesn't happen overnight...
He's much more responsive this morning, had him on heat all night and he'll get his first of three meals before noon. Was putting up a fight yesterday, but haven't seen the eyes open.

The other store I drove up to visit this weekend (and paid for animals at) wasn't taking very good care of the Uros- cold and a high protien diet, but nothing this bad.

the people always seem concerned once someone says something about their lizards being unhealthy. like the manager of the pet store where i got/rescued helga told me that she didn't like what the owner did but she stayed for the animals. what did she stay for? to watch them die? she obviously wasn't taking any initiative to improve their conditions.
the local animal control and humane society wasn't any better. i guess la mesa animal control only has one officer because when i called they told me he was out of town and there was no one else to direct my call to. the humane society told me they were too busy with sick puppies coming out of mexico so i guess they are only humane towards those with warm-blood and fur
sorry, now i am ranting. it just really irks me
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

>

No one here would believe that, right?

It sucks to see an animal sick.

I hope he/she recovers quickly and gains more weight.

Are you going to keep him/her?

Have you named him/her yet?
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2 Mali Uromastyx-Ares & Apollo
2 Bearded Dragons- Draco & Hades
1 Saharan Uromastyx-Iris
1 Leopard Gecko-Kalypso
1 Tokay Gecko-Sid Vicious
1 Tarantula-Peter Parker
1 Amazon Red Head Parrot-Pancho
1 African Gray Parrot-Keya
1 Dog-Cheeka
3 Fish-no names
1 Beta Fish-also no name
1 Zebra Finch-Beeps

>>Are you going to keep him/her?
If I can I will. If the eyes don't open and he can't eat on his own, that will be a difficult decision. If he's healthy, he'd be the second male for my future macfad breeding attempt.

>>Have you named him/her yet?
I'm not a believer in luck, but I think it would be bad luck to name him yet. To me a name would be expecting the best. I've got some bouncing around in my head, though. The girl at the vets office asked this morning. I almost asked her "It's barely alive, I've had it for 36 hours, and you want a name?"

This brings up an ethical question:
I need to get a tank for the Sudanese pair I also picked up this weekend- the female looks gravid. I like to help small neighborhood businesses like this mom-and-pop store, but it raises an ethical problem. With a brief perusal, their other animals looked fine and they seemed honestly nice, so his condition may be a fluke combination of the unique specimen, the importer/dealer, and their inattention. Honestly, my male geyri took a severe downturn when I acquired him so I know how easy it is to blow it and I know the nightmare described with acclimating macfads so as much as we want to I'm finding it hard to put all the weight of his condition on them as individuals and as a business. NOW that they know I'm around, they may take greater interest in interventional aid, so I can promote a positive repoir and help them and the animals should a future crisis arise (and we all know it will).

That said, the other two businesses I'd favor supporting are about an hours drive (Scales and LLLReptile) and have a glass tank that would suit but can't ship the glass and I'm already short on time (time debt is a closer description). PehistoricPets, a ten minute drive, doesn't have the tank size I'd want. I'd rather not hand money to big stores like Petco in favor of keeping the specialists around. Reptile Depot, the place I picked up the Sudanese, seemed to have nice employees, but the condition was not nearly as "positive" as any of the other stores I've been to... decisions, decisions...

well, as for the babe being blind, it may not matter that much since they don't have to catch live food. if the dish was always in the same place then he would always know where to go for the food. and it may always be dark to him but i bet if you showed him where the heat was, he would start to learn day and night. i think the true inconvenience would be never being able to move around the set up of the cage, and that is really not all that bad (just trying to be optomistic for you) i am emaling you too about the stores
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

I can play both positive and negative sides of an argument. I'm a realist and it's a reason I do what I do very well
I don't know how well an animal will take to being blind. Humans no doubt have depressive states and we know the animals are moody all on their own, so a disabled animal may lack the capacity to sustain itself in any way. I know nothing about their senses other than the vision seems to be sharp and they identify tasty things with their tongue. The vet feels he'll recover and open them eventually, so it's a matter of time.

I did pick up a cage from them, but they're not really conversational. No real eye contact or conversation beyond direct business. Don't know if it's the situation with this animal or just their personal nature. Might send a friend in to look at their puppies.

Gack, a free dying animal and an $80 vet bill, I guess altruism isn't a bi-directional phenomenean.
Had a long talk with the vet and the little boy, he expects that the eyes will open again once he's properly hydrated. The whole needle thing weirds me out. He's extremely low on fluids still, but that should be remediable with the following treatment:

4cc Normosol-R electrolyte solution, daily injections for four days, then every other day for general rehydration. Needles give me the chills. Brrrr.....
0.1cc Neo-Calglucon administered orally 3x daily do stimulate the digestive system.
Continued daily feeding with baby food/ensure/banannas and daily soaks prior to injections to soften the skin...
Continued heated environment.

The vet was very suprised I've been able to feed him so much so far without any regurgitation.

[nm]

How horrible but you gave that little guy a shot of life. As I know you wanted I wish you could have saved him. Poor little guy. I am sorry for your loss. You did try everything but he was to far gone.
debs
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The addiction can be dangerous. 1 Uro named Buddy aka Big Boy & 1 Ig named Tiny

oh, i am so sorry. i was really rooting for him. at least he got to feel some love and care before he went on
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

I was afraid of that - he looked so awful in that picture. Thank you for trying! If the little guy had a shot, it was with you.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
2.0.1 Uromastyx Dispar Maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and Spike)
1.2 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser, Leeloo, and Sprocket)
0.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I will keep him in my critter prayers, you too. Sure hope with LOTS of care he can make it!

I have done it with emachiated collared lizards.

Just keep meals small and often, mushy easy to swallow, so he does not have to do much work in his weakened state.

Let us know how he does!
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PHEve / Eve

This is so sad. Good luck and great job for rescueing the poor guy/girl. This abuse makes me crazy.

that is so sad to see when i found my guy he wasnt even in that bad a shape good thing u it when you did that pic is so sad good luck getting it back to 100%

Holy buckets. That's the most upsetting thing I think I've ever seen. I wish you all the best luck in the world on saving this little guy's life. You've got your work cut out for you, but it sounds like you've got determination and the support of good vets! My hopes and thoughts are with you.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
2.0.1 Uromastyx Dispar Maliensis (Tank, Turtle, and Spike)
1.2 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser, Leeloo, and Sprocket)
0.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

That just makes me SO MAD! people should only live like the way they treat their animals.
Well I rescued a Mali Uro about 7 months ago and in pretty much the same condition. Could not hold his head up, flat as can be and not really able to walk and if he did he would collasp. Try to get Cridical Care(from a vet) and force feed him. I mixed mine with baby fooid green beans. I did this for 3 days before he put up a fight and refused any more. Then I hand fed him leafy greens(Collard green, escrole etc.) Now he is fat and healthy. Good luck and keep us posted.
debs
This is buddy whenI got him and months later.

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The addiction can be dangerous. 1 Uro named Buddy aka Big Boy & 1 Ig named Tiny

Here he is now. He is also in his first shed since I got him.

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The addiction can be dangerous. 1 Uro named Buddy aka Big Boy & 1 Ig named Tiny

Well, the boy has gotten better with systematic force feeding with a HUGE caveat- he still can't open his eyes. He's been wandering around the box I've got him in, feeling out the corners and stumbling about. I'd say he's active and acting normal for an otherwise starved and particularly blind animal...
Making the attributions we humans make, to me he seems interested and motivated to me but it's always night for him. Had a misunderstanding at the vet this morning, they thought he was a drop-off, so I've got a 2:30 appointment to ask about the eyelids. I really hope at least one of the eyes underneath are functional. I've tried letting some water soak in over them but no results there yet.

best of luck! i had a macfad and he was a great little guy.
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1 Uromastyx Macfadyeni named Magnus
(Magnus is one of Anne Rice's vampire characters)

60 tropical fish

2 African Clawed Frogs named Reef (olive) and Barnacle (albino)

4 Fiddler Crabs

- Mike
Morris Cty, NJ