In memory of little Cara

[Mel&Keith]

Tonight we lost one of our sweetest Leopard geckos, Cara. Earlier this evening I saw her laying against the front of her tub. She looked ghostly pale so I knew something was wrong. After opening the tub I could tell that she was bleeding internally. She was fine yesterday so we're not sure yet what exactly happened. It wasn't trauma related. I was hoping she would make it through the night so she could see the vet in the morning but she didn't make it.

Some of you may remember her daughter, Ike. In 2008 Cara laid one fertile egg. That egg was the only one in the incubator when Hurricane Ike hit and we lost power for 10 days. With all of the temperature fluctuations we didn't think the egg would survive but it did and out popped an adorable, perfect baby. I'm so glad we still have Ike as a living reminder of her sweet mom, Cara.

Rest in peace, Cara. We'll love you forever.

 

[rawson5084]

So sorry for your loss

 

[KelliH]

What a pretty little gecko. I'm so sorry!

 

[robin]

i am so sorry mel

 

[thestack510]

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I'm glad that you have Ike as a reminder of Cara. Just out of curiousity, do they look similar by chance?

 

[Landen]

Definately not the fun part of our hobby....

 

[JordanAng420]

I know we've talked, but i'm so sorry about little Cara. I'm glad you have Ike as a living reminder, though. Please let us know when you find out what happened.

 

[T&KBrouse]

Oh, Mel, I'm so sorry. She was a beautiful girl.

 

[Kristi23]

I'm so sorry Mel.

 

[Mel&Keith]

Thank you for your thoughts, guys. Keith and I are really going to miss her so much. It's heartbreaking to lose any of our pets but she was extra special.

Ken, Ike does look a lot like her. I don't have any recent pictures of here but I posted an Ike update pic in this thread a while back. She's lost her juvie pattern since then so she looks more like Cara.

 

[dprince]

I'm so sorry, Mel. She was so beautiful. *hugs*

 

[Mel&Keith]

Thank you, Debbie.

I just left her at the vet for a necropsy so hopefully he'll be able to figure out what happened.

 

[gothra]

I'm sorry for your loss, Mel. I had the exact same thing happened to one of my perfectly healthy girl a couple weeks ago. I came home and found her sleeping right against the glass of her tank and her belly had a dark patch. She died the next day.

Ever since I started keeping leos, I had 3 of them died; and all of them came out and sleep against the glass at the cool end of their tanks before they die.

 

[Mel&Keith]

That's so weird, Bonnie. I wonder why they do that. Maybe since the cold slows their bodies down it helps ease the pain or expedites their death? I set her up in the incubator to keep her at 85F hoping she would make it through the night for surgery but she actually drowned herself in her almost empty water bowl. I guess she decided to end the suffering on her own. It was the weirdest/most disturbing thing I've ever seen regarding Leopard Geckos. I'm hoping to get the results of her necropsy tomorrow and I'll share what the vet finds.

 

[Mel&Keith]

I just got a call from the vet with the necropsy results. There were two large follicles that had not been reabsorbed. One of them hemorrhaged and she bled out internally. It was a fairly unusual complication from ovulation. At least they were able to reassure us that it wasn't caused by anything we did or didn't do. I'm still heartbroken that she's gone but I do feel a little more peace of mind at least knowing what happened.

 

[gothra]

Thanks for letting us know what happened, Mel.