Sick little Raptor girl

[fl_orchidslave]

Last weekend we were at the show in Kissimmee and I picked up a female Raptor for 10 bucks -with issues. Approx 6-8 months old. She had some bad sheds and over time built up quite a cap over her eyes. Skinny. Unable to get food herself and would have to be hand fed. I couldn't not bring the poor thing home. One of the educational presentations at central FL Repticon shows is Dr. Ivan Alfonso, a reknowned chameleon specialist, who has an established vet practice in Orlando. People drive several hours to take a sick cham to him. We are fortunate that he has a table at the shows, allowing anyone to walk up and talk to him about stuff.

So I took my little girl to him to seek his advice. And to pick up a bottle of eye solution to begin her treatment immediately. What happened next amazed me! He took her and pulled the huge wads of goop out of her eyes, and it took some doing. One eye looked good, not sure about the other, she may loose sight there as it was ulcerated. He applied some antibiotic ointment which I also purchased. When he put her back in her 6qt tub she pooped so he ran a fecal. It takes 10 minutes for the results so I went back and saw the video of huge hookworms in her little belly. He cannot dispense panacur at the show so I got that from his clinic. What I learned from him was invaluable, as I have a passion for rehabbing lizards. We vend at the shows so I had talked with him before about some things but this time was a hands on education. He was wonderful! I didn't ask nor have any expectation he would do what he did- it cost me $35 for the meds and that's it.

This was last Saturday, now on Tuesday evening she's in her happy little hide with both eyes open, and a belly full of slurry. She doesn't like getting her eyes treated 3 times a day but tolerates it. After we get past that I will give her the parasite treatment, when her tummy isn't flipping around with stress from being handled so much. Keeping my fingers crossed she continues to do well.

Thank you Dr. Alfonso

 

[Tony C]

What a great experience, best of luck with her.

 

[Autra]

That's incredibly awesome!

Congrats to the n-th degree!

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Thanks Tony, it really was I learned so much watching his technique. When I cleaned out her eye at home, I realized I had pulled the q-tip the wrong direction. If not for seeing it done I wouldn't have known.

Thank you Autra, your profile photo is too cute I have a male juvie Raptor so my little Annie will have a boyfriend next year. He's banded and she's the classic patternless. Big fun

 

[fl_orchidslave]

She took 2 superworms tonight! Finally, after 12 days of slurry. Still doing the eyes every day, hopefully that will show improvement soon. Annie may be blind in one eye tho, too early to tell. They keep filming up but I haven't been able to dig that out yet. I don't want to cause any further irritation while they heal. She has been at 25 grams and her tail has a small plump spot (no pencil tail) so now that she started eating supers hopefully will begin to put on weight. A week ago Friday she had the 1st round of panacur. And a big poop (why are we so obcessed with poop??) The more we've looked at her she appears to be about a year old, by length and head size. I've been worried she would give out from the stress of all the treatments, but she's been a real trooper, and I'm encouraged that Annie will recover. Once again, thank you Dr. Alfonso.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Annie took 2 more supers this morning! But I don't think she can see them yet. She's zipping around her cage with a new found energy tho, and seems quite pleased with her little self Oh and the supers are freshly shed so there isn't a struggle chewing or problems digesting. Whew!

 

[fl_orchidslave]

An update on Annie's condition-
The second round of panacur upset her stomach for a couple days and she went off food. Thank goodness that didn't last long and she's back to taking 3 supers a day. Last night she finally saw it, or at least a shadow. Her eyes are still a problem tho and being treated. I don't think she will ever see from the left eye but the right one will hopefully be okay, or at least mostly. Little Apple Annie is going to pull thru and I'm happy I have her