Bert-N-Sheila
DOT COM JUNKIES
- Messages
- 95
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
We just wanted to share our second success story with everyone. Back in May of this year we decided to open our hearts and adopt two very sick little leos. With the success of a first rescue under our belts(with the help of all of you) we felt it was with the best intentions to help these little ones. So we emailed Andrea and let her know that we were fully prepared to take on the task at hand. Here is the original posting she made: original post. Here's a picture of them:
When we got the little ones from Andrea's vet they were in the worst imaginable condition. It took almost a month from the time we made communication with Andrea until her vet felt the geckos were healthy enough to make the trip. In our opinion these littles ones would have been put down a good majority of breeders/keepers. The damage that they incurred was so great it brought tears to our eyes when we opened up the box. We are so grateful that Andrea's vet sent them when she did and God honestly not one day later.
We took a few pictures the day we opened that sad little box:
We had no idea what we were in for. When we took on Melanie and rescued her from PetCo we thought an hour a day(plus the occasional stop in every hour) of solid devotion and ambition was hard on us. Not to mention the normal everyday things with the other ones, so a lot of our time after work was spent on our loved ones. When we got these two little leos it was so sad and disheartening. It was like omg, what did we get ourselves into. We aren't capable of saving them. In the box along with the delicups was medication(Ciprofloxacin Ophthalmic Solution) for their conjuctivitus(pinkeye), medication for their parasites, and a bottle of Reptile Enteral Diet Insectivore since there wasn't a chance the head of a pinhead cricket would fit down either throat. We were prepared for this as Andrea had told us the meds they were coming also. Their eyes were completely closed, almost glued. It wasn't from shed it was from the conjuctivitus. Their legs were thickness of maybe 10 hairs wide, not joking. Their bones on their bodies were protdruding from underneath their skin. Their eyes were sunken in and so brusied looking. You could see how soft their skulls were and almost see every indention on the skull. Ribcages, everything. Words cannot describe. I wish I had had a better camera that was capable of taking quality pictures.
Anyway, about 6 hours spent that first day with making that famous slurry recipe
, feeding them through a tube, dropping their meds down their mouth, putting drops in their eyes. That may seem easy and wouldn't take long but how do you open with force anything on either of these bodies that happen to be so fragile and bones that bend like rubberbands. Exactly... extreme patience and persistance. We went to sleep that night expecting the worst when we awaken. 5am alarm, look in and both of them appear as if the life has passed from them. Barely, wiping the junk from my eyes, I notice that they're breathing. Whew, they made it the night! Same thing when we got home from work. Four hours this night though. (didn't have to make slurry, haha.) Night comes and goes with the worst expectations. Morning comes same as the night before. Another morning they made. I'm sitting at my desk at work all day with ZERO production just googling everything about anything related to what could help me. Didn't matter the reptile or animal for that matter. Everything mattered. My mind filled with the idea that they may actually pull through if we keep up the dedication. Get home at 4:30 and my worst expectation came true before my eyes. The little one (we named her Lucy for 'Lucy in the sky with Diamonds') lifted her head up and opened her eyes to say goodbye then she dropped her head slowly. My first reaction was just that, I thought no, she couldn't have just done that. Such a sad day. Our hope had dwindled to barely nothing after that moment to say the least. So we did the refridgerator for two hours and freezer for 2 thing to be absolutely safe. I mean we were positive she had passed but wanted to be as safe as possible in case she may have gone into a coma or something else. Anyway we look in afterwards at Rubberband Man(appropriately named because his bones were no stronger than rubberbands) and at that moment I thought there's no way this one dies too. I spent every moment for the three months on him. I pulled crap out of his eye that resembled suntanning goggle lenses in the shape of contacts, I dealt with green crap coming from his behind for two months. I spent an hour a day making a special concoction of food for him out of my beautiful $250 dollar blender that I will not use for anything else now. Every waking seconf we were home was spent on this little guy. One morning about a month and a half ago we woke up expecting to see him laying in the middle of the floor because he had no eyesight(besides me prying them open) and were SO HAPPILY MISTAKEN. The biggest most beautiful eyes stared out at me with such hope and determination. It was at that moment Chrissie named him Mr. Peepers. Mr. Peepers progessed to get better everyday over the next 15 or so days and for the last month the little monster is craziest hunter in the world. Anything in his home is attacked and swallowed faster than I can drop it in. To think such little eyes that didn't see or focus for 4 months and a body that didn't move in the same time turned out to be the one thing in my life that no one can ever take away from me. I am more proud of him than anything I have ever done in my life. Every website I've ever created, every windows application ever written, every point ever scored in ice/dek hockey, anything I've ever done up and beyond this point can never be measured to how proud I am of Mr. Peepers. We wanted to share our story with you all. I don't even know if this is in the correct thread. Sorry if it isn't! Picture time!!! (i'll try to put them in order, theres 12 or so pictures in three different days: the very first day, last month, and today)
By the way, he is the most tame gecko I think I could ever have. Maybe it's the 4+ hours a day in my hand over the last 5 months.
When we got the little ones from Andrea's vet they were in the worst imaginable condition. It took almost a month from the time we made communication with Andrea until her vet felt the geckos were healthy enough to make the trip. In our opinion these littles ones would have been put down a good majority of breeders/keepers. The damage that they incurred was so great it brought tears to our eyes when we opened up the box. We are so grateful that Andrea's vet sent them when she did and God honestly not one day later.
We took a few pictures the day we opened that sad little box:
We had no idea what we were in for. When we took on Melanie and rescued her from PetCo we thought an hour a day(plus the occasional stop in every hour) of solid devotion and ambition was hard on us. Not to mention the normal everyday things with the other ones, so a lot of our time after work was spent on our loved ones. When we got these two little leos it was so sad and disheartening. It was like omg, what did we get ourselves into. We aren't capable of saving them. In the box along with the delicups was medication(Ciprofloxacin Ophthalmic Solution) for their conjuctivitus(pinkeye), medication for their parasites, and a bottle of Reptile Enteral Diet Insectivore since there wasn't a chance the head of a pinhead cricket would fit down either throat. We were prepared for this as Andrea had told us the meds they were coming also. Their eyes were completely closed, almost glued. It wasn't from shed it was from the conjuctivitus. Their legs were thickness of maybe 10 hairs wide, not joking. Their bones on their bodies were protdruding from underneath their skin. Their eyes were sunken in and so brusied looking. You could see how soft their skulls were and almost see every indention on the skull. Ribcages, everything. Words cannot describe. I wish I had had a better camera that was capable of taking quality pictures.
Anyway, about 6 hours spent that first day with making that famous slurry recipe
, feeding them through a tube, dropping their meds down their mouth, putting drops in their eyes. That may seem easy and wouldn't take long but how do you open with force anything on either of these bodies that happen to be so fragile and bones that bend like rubberbands. Exactly... extreme patience and persistance. We went to sleep that night expecting the worst when we awaken. 5am alarm, look in and both of them appear as if the life has passed from them. Barely, wiping the junk from my eyes, I notice that they're breathing. Whew, they made it the night! Same thing when we got home from work. Four hours this night though. (didn't have to make slurry, haha.) Night comes and goes with the worst expectations. Morning comes same as the night before. Another morning they made. I'm sitting at my desk at work all day with ZERO production just googling everything about anything related to what could help me. Didn't matter the reptile or animal for that matter. Everything mattered. My mind filled with the idea that they may actually pull through if we keep up the dedication. Get home at 4:30 and my worst expectation came true before my eyes. The little one (we named her Lucy for 'Lucy in the sky with Diamonds') lifted her head up and opened her eyes to say goodbye then she dropped her head slowly. My first reaction was just that, I thought no, she couldn't have just done that. Such a sad day. Our hope had dwindled to barely nothing after that moment to say the least. So we did the refridgerator for two hours and freezer for 2 thing to be absolutely safe. I mean we were positive she had passed but wanted to be as safe as possible in case she may have gone into a coma or something else. Anyway we look in afterwards at Rubberband Man(appropriately named because his bones were no stronger than rubberbands) and at that moment I thought there's no way this one dies too. I spent every moment for the three months on him. I pulled crap out of his eye that resembled suntanning goggle lenses in the shape of contacts, I dealt with green crap coming from his behind for two months. I spent an hour a day making a special concoction of food for him out of my beautiful $250 dollar blender that I will not use for anything else now. Every waking seconf we were home was spent on this little guy. One morning about a month and a half ago we woke up expecting to see him laying in the middle of the floor because he had no eyesight(besides me prying them open) and were SO HAPPILY MISTAKEN. The biggest most beautiful eyes stared out at me with such hope and determination. It was at that moment Chrissie named him Mr. Peepers. Mr. Peepers progessed to get better everyday over the next 15 or so days and for the last month the little monster is craziest hunter in the world. Anything in his home is attacked and swallowed faster than I can drop it in. To think such little eyes that didn't see or focus for 4 months and a body that didn't move in the same time turned out to be the one thing in my life that no one can ever take away from me. I am more proud of him than anything I have ever done in my life. Every website I've ever created, every windows application ever written, every point ever scored in ice/dek hockey, anything I've ever done up and beyond this point can never be measured to how proud I am of Mr. Peepers. We wanted to share our story with you all. I don't even know if this is in the correct thread. Sorry if it isn't! Picture time!!! (i'll try to put them in order, theres 12 or so pictures in three different days: the very first day, last month, and today)
By the way, he is the most tame gecko I think I could ever have. Maybe it's the 4+ hours a day in my hand over the last 5 months.
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