Divinitous
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Long time lurker. This site has helped a lot in the past years since I discovered it.
I've had Luey for close to 10 years now and out of the two others he's always been my favorite. Recently things have gotten tough with him and I'd like to see if you guys have any input or stories. Primarily I just need to vent a bit.
Backstory: When I bought all 3 of them they were much too young to sex. I ended up with two males (Andras & Luey) and one female (Hella). I observed Andras bullying Luey once or twice during feeding. The final straw came when Andras left a few good marks on Lueys head and back (scars can be seen in picture). At this point Andras was permanently removed and is not in solitude confinement at work. He's become a nice mascot.
Since then everything has been fine. Hella & Luey shared the 40g breeder tank well without issues. I went on a weeks long vacation and arranged for someone to stop by every other day to throw a few crickets in and feed the fish. This was done; we nanny cam with a webcam to make sure the "kids" aren't doing anything weird. When I returned on Saturday I noticed Luey was all the way up on the log. This is weird for him. I then saw some blood leading from the ground to Luey. At this point I realized the severity of the incident.
They must have gotten into a serious fight. Hella ate 3/5 of Lueys back right foot, broke his knee (femur sticking out of skin), and removed a good amount of skin from the base of his tail (no meat, just skin). On monday the girlfriend brought him to the vet for antibiotic shots and I have daily instructions to bathe him in this stuff that resembles windex, coat his crickets in pain killer goo, put anti-inflammatory cream on his wounds and keep him separated from Hella. Today was his follow up visit see how things are going and to figure out a plan for his leg.
The options from the vet are...
-amputate the leg above the knee (personally I see this as the better solution)
-cut the protruding bone and splint his leg with hopes it heals
-fold the skin over the bone and attempt to fuse/splint
Our vet is very good with dogs and cats, but exotics are something she's only beginning to see. She's more than willing to help and has always spoken to other vets who are more reptile oriented before offering options, which we love.
I feel sorry for my little buddy. He is mobile, eating (~4 crickets and ~4 "comfort food" butterworms), drinking, and overall in high spirits. Yet, he hasn't pooped since Saturday.
It all sucks. Heh, I'm 30 years old and can handle doing minor surgeries to myself, but the sight of my hurt lizard really gets to me. I told a coworker the situation and they can't see why I would want to spent the ~$600 on a $35 lizard.
On the backside of the knee that small bit of meat is actually his femur bone.
I've had Luey for close to 10 years now and out of the two others he's always been my favorite. Recently things have gotten tough with him and I'd like to see if you guys have any input or stories. Primarily I just need to vent a bit.
Backstory: When I bought all 3 of them they were much too young to sex. I ended up with two males (Andras & Luey) and one female (Hella). I observed Andras bullying Luey once or twice during feeding. The final straw came when Andras left a few good marks on Lueys head and back (scars can be seen in picture). At this point Andras was permanently removed and is not in solitude confinement at work. He's become a nice mascot.
Since then everything has been fine. Hella & Luey shared the 40g breeder tank well without issues. I went on a weeks long vacation and arranged for someone to stop by every other day to throw a few crickets in and feed the fish. This was done; we nanny cam with a webcam to make sure the "kids" aren't doing anything weird. When I returned on Saturday I noticed Luey was all the way up on the log. This is weird for him. I then saw some blood leading from the ground to Luey. At this point I realized the severity of the incident.
They must have gotten into a serious fight. Hella ate 3/5 of Lueys back right foot, broke his knee (femur sticking out of skin), and removed a good amount of skin from the base of his tail (no meat, just skin). On monday the girlfriend brought him to the vet for antibiotic shots and I have daily instructions to bathe him in this stuff that resembles windex, coat his crickets in pain killer goo, put anti-inflammatory cream on his wounds and keep him separated from Hella. Today was his follow up visit see how things are going and to figure out a plan for his leg.
The options from the vet are...
-amputate the leg above the knee (personally I see this as the better solution)
-cut the protruding bone and splint his leg with hopes it heals
-fold the skin over the bone and attempt to fuse/splint
Our vet is very good with dogs and cats, but exotics are something she's only beginning to see. She's more than willing to help and has always spoken to other vets who are more reptile oriented before offering options, which we love.
I feel sorry for my little buddy. He is mobile, eating (~4 crickets and ~4 "comfort food" butterworms), drinking, and overall in high spirits. Yet, he hasn't pooped since Saturday.
It all sucks. Heh, I'm 30 years old and can handle doing minor surgeries to myself, but the sight of my hurt lizard really gets to me. I told a coworker the situation and they can't see why I would want to spent the ~$600 on a $35 lizard.
On the backside of the knee that small bit of meat is actually his femur bone.
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