Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This weekend I decided I needed to clean out my "Viquarium" setup which, admittedly, was a task I was not looking forward to doing. I armed myself with all the tools I'd need to clean: uninterrupted time, scoops, hoses, buckets, brushes, even new fish to occupy the freshly cleaned Viquarium, and a giant smoothie to carry me through the first couple of hours of work. I was well prepared, or so I thought.

After spending no fewer than three hours in the bathroom soaking, scrubbing, and rinsing gravel and Viquarium parts, I was finally ready for the aquarium itself. Carefully I carried it from the other side of the house to the bathroom where I very, very slowly started to lower it into the tub for scrubbing. Despite all the care I took to avoid catastrophe, once my weight shifted just far enough over the side of the tub to offset my balance, my right foot slipped on the wet tile floor and down I went on top of the 29 gallon aquarium into the bathtub. Fortunately for the aquarium and not so fortunately for me, all the weight of the glass (and my body) was cushioned by five of my fingers--three on the right hand, and two on the left. Much to my surprise, I don't think my fingers are broken, but I haven't had them x-rayed yet. The swelling in one of my fingers on my right hand was immediate and huge. The gash on one finger of my left hand was like an open maw smiling at me . . . but the aquarium, with all my not-so-feather-like weight landing squarely on top of it, survived completed unharmed. I can't believe it.

The crash in the bathtub was much like a car accident--I couldn't tell where I was hurt until the next day. I am still finding new sore spots all over my body two days later, but I'll live. Does anyone know if my finger will ever be the same size again?? Has anybody else had such fun and exciting adventures while cage cleaning, or am I the only one with such talents? (wink)

élan
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0.3.0 Collareds
1.0.0 Mali Uromastix
0.0.1 Butterfly Agama
1.0.0 Green Anole
1.0.0 Chinese Dwarf Newt
2.0.0 California Newts
0.0.1 White's Treefrog
0.0.1 Fire bellied toad
0.0.1 Midland Brown Snake
2.1.0 Felines
0.2.0 Canines
1.0.0 Equine

when i was about 10(5 years ago i think) i was washing out my native lizard tanks, and i had a 10 gallon from my fencies, that was wet. id washed hundreds of cages before and never had problems, but as i walked across the grass with the wet tank, it slipped and broke over my knee i was trying to catch it with... and not a scratch, just a fright. well, i am mad now because that tank was retro, from around the 70's, it had this thick silver trim around the edges and corners on the outside, it very neat... oh well.
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0.0.37-blue lab chichlids
0.1.6-sandiego gopher snakes
0.0.1-cal. kingsnake
0.0.1-anole
0.0.2-f.b.t
2.3-coturnix quail
0.1-cockatiel
0.2-s. black widow
1.1(fixed) cats-eddie/buzz

That's funny that you'd mention that the cage you broke was vintage. I had been thinking the same thing when I nearly destroyed mine. That was the aquarium that I had in my room since I was a small child and my father set up my very first fish tank. Since then it's held collareds and at least a half dozen other reptiles. It's silly for me to have a sentimental attachment to a plain glass aquarium, but sentimentality is one of my weaknesses.

élan
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0.3.0 Collareds
1.0.0 Mali Uromastix
0.0.1 Butterfly Agama
1.0.0 Green Anole
1.0.0 Chinese Dwarf Newt
2.0.0 California Newts
0.0.1 White's Treefrog
0.0.1 Fire bellied toad
0.0.1 Midland Brown Snake
2.1.0 Felines
0.2.0 Canines
1.0.0 Equine

even if your fingers are broken all they are going to do is tell you to tape them, but since you have open wounds i would be really careful, if not see a doctor about them.
so many stupid things have happened to me in my life that if i posted them all we could catch up with the bearded dragon forum. but i have one that involves a small plastic carrying cage and a printer.

anyway there was this printer i hated. my sister nabbed my good printer while i was in chile and i was stuck with this crappy one and soon got mad at it and unplugged and put it on the floor to take to my parents' house. well one day i sat the plastic cage near it and never thought much about it until one night my bad knee gave out. i tried to catch myself with the good knee but i slipped on a piece of paper and then tried to catch myself on my leg with the bad knee, which of course gave out. i went crashing down on the printer and the plastic cage which sharded into a billion pieces and of course i landed on the right side of my butt. the metal from the printer pretty much took care of my bum and the plastic from the cage took care of my upper leg. sitting in class the next day was so much fun, especially since i could not put any weight on the right side
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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 ***

Ouch, Vonnie! Though I'm sure it wasn't particularly funny at the time, the visual I have of you trying to sit sideways in class the next day makes me chuckle.

Wary of infection, I did my best to sterilize the wound on my left finger. I am happy to say that it hasn't shown any signs of infection like redness or even any inflamation. Maybe I dodged a bullet because of all the bleach I was using to sterilize the cage? I appreciate your words of caution, though.

By the way, what are you talking about on the Bearded Dragon forum? I haven't visited that forum yet.

élan
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0.3.0 Collareds
1.0.0 Mali Uromastix
0.0.1 Butterfly Agama
1.0.0 Green Anole
1.0.0 Chinese Dwarf Newt
2.0.0 California Newts
0.0.1 White's Treefrog
0.0.1 Fire bellied toad
0.0.1 Midland Brown Snake
2.1.0 Felines
0.2.0 Canines
1.0.0 Equine

n/p
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0.0.37-blue lab chichlids
0.1.6-sandiego gopher snakes
0.0.1-cal. kingsnake
0.0.1-anole
0.0.2-f.b.t
2.3-coturnix quail
0.1-cockatiel
0.2-s. black widow
1.1(fixed) cats-eddie/buzz

well once i realized where i landed, i actually started laughing because that stupid printer got me one last time, even though the laughter was between the winces. i definitely gave a partial explanation on why i was sitting funny.
i think someone explained the beardie reference but it is because they have sooooooo many posts like the highest or second highest out of all the forums. if you look on the main page and scroll almost the bottom you will see the top ten forums on thr right
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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 ***

A GLASS BUBBLE to keep you safe, LOL

As far as the bearded dragon forum, ahhhhhhhhh I read each one of those MANY posts each day, and now there have been 3 -4 sub forums added to the parent forum.

HUMONGUS Forum
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PHEve / Eve

lol, that is what my friends always say. knock on wood, nothing too strange has happened to me in a while. i cannot believe you have to read the BD forum! they should have like two or three of you hosting that!
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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 ***

lately !

Your alright Vonnie, no matter what they say, hehehehhe lmao

Bearded Dragon forum DOES have a handful of Hosties to watch over it daily, its so big. But ya still have to read them all,

Hows the eggs?
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PHEve / Eve

the eggs are still alive. they are all nice and firm, gertie's eggs are pretty white, ivan's are kinda tan. i think i had it too moist in there at first but i think things are ok now. i have 8 chances to get a grandchild so i am keeping my fingers crossed. the earliest that the eggs will hatch is april 22, mark it on your calendar! it's on mine
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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 ***

those things are nasty, they just pull ya right in on top of them,

I hear they are the worst kind to deal with , the ones in the tub, lay there planning their ATTACK ......

Glad your okay Elan
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PHEve / Eve