NEED SOMEONE IN THE SF BAY AREA!!!!
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EllieN said:
Fantastic! That's great to hear!
Wonderful! Great job...you know, from experience sometimes you just dont want to let go. They tug on your heart..
Wow, Ellie. Great job in getting Dude. I didn't see this coming; that is, you falling in love with Dude. I'm going to ask Jacqui to pm you about Dude, unless you've already pm her. You're a beautiful person Ellie to fall in love with this rescue. I think Jacqui has some kind of a program she was going to put Dude in, but like I said, you can discuss Dude with her. Thank you so much Ellie. I hope to bear more from you either way.
I won't say I am not disappointed, but I can understand about falling for and connecting with a tortoise. You are the person the owner wanted to have him after all.
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Wow this is awesome news! Can you post some pics of him??
I know how this hurts, but you know what's best. At least Dude won't have to go through the stress of being transported. You've been a trooper from the beginning. I respect that!
AWESOME!!!! Thanks Ellie! I'm REALLY glad to hear Dude is doing well. Were those old pictures of Dude or were they just misleading? It really looked as though he couldn't use his back legs. Please post pics and updates!
Ellie, you sent me a PM asking me a question, but you have your ability to receive PMs turned off. So do you want to turn it on or want me to post my reply on this thread? (I know this may sound like Ellie and I are having problems from just reading my request to her, but really folks we are not. She was just basically asking what my future plans had been for Dude, if I had gotten him.)
I didn't know I had it turned off, and I have no idea how to turn it on. I know this doesn't belong on this thread, but can anyone help me?
EllieN said:
Ellie at the top of the page left side it says something like:
Welcome back Ellie your last vist was Today (User CP)
Go to the User CP. Once there on the left had side is a colum of things you can do. Go down to Your Profile then to Edit options. Hit that and it takes you to another page of Edit Options. Look for the "Messaging and Notification". You need a check mark on the one that says, "Receive private messages from other users."
I'd love to see some pics of Dude. How is he doing?
Thanks, Jacqui! Did it.
I had more time to spend with Dude today than I did yesterday after getting him, and I'm starting to worry that he may need more experienced help than I can give him. He does use his hind legs, but he can't stand upright on them. When he walks he kind of pushes himself along with his hind legs, and he's practically dragging along the ground in the back. His plastron doesn't seem to be scratched up back there, though. I gave him a good long warm soak (I think he might be a little old for that, but they always look so dry, don't they?) and I'm glad I did, because his whole hind end was caked with fecal matter that I was able to remove with lots of wet Q-tips. It was caked all around his tail and between his thighs and his plastron. He didn't enjoy that procedure, and I think that at that point I got to see the maximum speed he can achieve and it wasn't very fast. Also due to his back legs he couldn't even get himself out of the pyrex baking dish I was soaking him in, and it only has 2 1/2 inch sides. He has been living mostly in a 22" x 45" enclosure that only has 6" sides. I wondered about that at first - a tortoise his size should be able to escape that pretty easily - but he sure can't.
I just want to hold him and love him and make him better. But it's going to take more than love. I want what's best for him. I am more that willing to take him to a herp vet and do whatever he or she says, but I don't know if I have the needed resources. Jacqui, you have way, way more experience than I do. For Dude's sake, I will do whatever you decide. Here are the options I've come up with, but you tell me what needs to be done.
1. send him to you right away.
2. I take him to a herp vet, and if I can do what's needed, I keep him. If I can't, I send him to you.
I really, really want what's best for him. What do you think?
BTW, I will post some pictures tomorrow.
I had more time to spend with Dude today than I did yesterday after getting him, and I'm starting to worry that he may need more experienced help than I can give him. He does use his hind legs, but he can't stand upright on them. When he walks he kind of pushes himself along with his hind legs, and he's practically dragging along the ground in the back. His plastron doesn't seem to be scratched up back there, though. I gave him a good long warm soak (I think he might be a little old for that, but they always look so dry, don't they?) and I'm glad I did, because his whole hind end was caked with fecal matter that I was able to remove with lots of wet Q-tips. It was caked all around his tail and between his thighs and his plastron. He didn't enjoy that procedure, and I think that at that point I got to see the maximum speed he can achieve and it wasn't very fast. Also due to his back legs he couldn't even get himself out of the pyrex baking dish I was soaking him in, and it only has 2 1/2 inch sides. He has been living mostly in a 22" x 45" enclosure that only has 6" sides. I wondered about that at first - a tortoise his size should be able to escape that pretty easily - but he sure can't.
I just want to hold him and love him and make him better. But it's going to take more than love. I want what's best for him. I am more that willing to take him to a herp vet and do whatever he or she says, but I don't know if I have the needed resources. Jacqui, you have way, way more experience than I do. For Dude's sake, I will do whatever you decide. Here are the options I've come up with, but you tell me what needs to be done.
1. send him to you right away.
2. I take him to a herp vet, and if I can do what's needed, I keep him. If I can't, I send him to you.
I really, really want what's best for him. What do you think?
BTW, I will post some pictures tomorrow.
He will need to see a herp vet before shipping anyways. All sulcatas have to have a certificate of health that states they are free of any external parasites. The vet I have taken all my fosters too is always kind enough to give me some advice on what care each one needs.
I was afraid of that whole back leg thing. I was hoping I was wrong in that one. Darn it.
A soak won't hurt him...or several. One rescue I got needed to really scrub and soak her butt. I also used a TINY bit of baby tear free shampoo and some bededine (sp). That helped kill any nasty germs that were hanging around also.
Poor Dude!
I was afraid of that whole back leg thing. I was hoping I was wrong in that one. Darn it.
A soak won't hurt him...or several. One rescue I got needed to really scrub and soak her butt. I also used a TINY bit of baby tear free shampoo and some bededine (sp). That helped kill any nasty germs that were hanging around also.
Poor Dude!
Okay, let's see if I can get these photos on here...
In the first one he's just basking. Then I gave him a piece of strawberry (forgive me! Colleen said it's his favorite thing, so I used a slice to get him motivated enough to move around. I will not be feeding him strawberries!!!) to get him to move. Another piece a little distance away did the trick for me to get good pics of how he walks. He must have been tired yesterday, because today he's got more lift. His hind legs never go any further forward than what you see in these pics. When he is startled he can't pull is hind legs in all the way. I didn't want to intentionally scare him, so there's no pic of that.
In the first one he's just basking. Then I gave him a piece of strawberry (forgive me! Colleen said it's his favorite thing, so I used a slice to get him motivated enough to move around. I will not be feeding him strawberries!!!) to get him to move. Another piece a little distance away did the trick for me to get good pics of how he walks. He must have been tired yesterday, because today he's got more lift. His hind legs never go any further forward than what you see in these pics. When he is startled he can't pull is hind legs in all the way. I didn't want to intentionally scare him, so there's no pic of that.
Attachments
Having trouble attaching pictures. Have to go to work. Will post them as soon as I can.
I don't know if this will work, but I'm going to post it and maybe someone will know what the problem is and tell me how to fix it. I'm having trouble attaching pictures.
In case it works this time, the first picture is Dude basking. Then I used a slice of strawberry (forgive me - I didn't know how else to motivate him, but I knew strawberries are his favorite thing) to get him to walk. He must have been tired yesterday, because today he has much more lift from his hind legs. His range of motion with them is better than I thought, but still not great.
Something I wasn't expecting, and of course you can't see it in the pictures, is the digestive sounds he makes. When he eats and when he poops you can hear his stomach gurgling. It's actually really cute, but he makes more noise than an adult human. Is this normal? I wish I could attach a sound track, but I can't even get the pictures to work
Cool! They worked!
...but they're not in the right order...
In case it works this time, the first picture is Dude basking. Then I used a slice of strawberry (forgive me - I didn't know how else to motivate him, but I knew strawberries are his favorite thing) to get him to walk. He must have been tired yesterday, because today he has much more lift from his hind legs. His range of motion with them is better than I thought, but still not great.
Something I wasn't expecting, and of course you can't see it in the pictures, is the digestive sounds he makes. When he eats and when he poops you can hear his stomach gurgling. It's actually really cute, but he makes more noise than an adult human. Is this normal? I wish I could attach a sound track, but I can't even get the pictures to work
Cool! They worked!
...but they're not in the right order...
Attachments
He looks so awful I couldn't even study in on these pictures. It brought tears to my eyes. Now I know why you all were going to such lengths to get him.
God that's heartbreaking... I absolutely hate people who do this stuff to animals. I know this lady was given wrong information but god.... She must have never once gotten online to look into care for him. How do you have a pet & not read up & educate yourself on it? Especially an exotic? It's not just a dog or cat. I just can't comprehend this.
In any case I am so truly glad Dude has now found his way into a good home with one of our members who we know will provide good care. He really needs you Ellen. So appreciative of you & what you're doing. It takes a special person to do rescues. I just couldn't... It pains me too much to see injury like that even though those babies are who need people the most.
God that's heartbreaking... I absolutely hate people who do this stuff to animals. I know this lady was given wrong information but god.... She must have never once gotten online to look into care for him. How do you have a pet & not read up & educate yourself on it? Especially an exotic? It's not just a dog or cat. I just can't comprehend this.
In any case I am so truly glad Dude has now found his way into a good home with one of our members who we know will provide good care. He really needs you Ellen. So appreciative of you & what you're doing. It takes a special person to do rescues. I just couldn't... It pains me too much to see injury like that even though those babies are who need people the most.
Scrubbing butts??? You must be talking about my Mesa ;-) I think by far hands down Dude is the worse condition rescue that has been done.. So sad that with each rescue we do it is worse than the one before it. We are all doing such great, heartbreaking work and should all be proud of the lives we have changed and saved.
BodaTort1 said:
Yes, Cari! It was Mesa's stinky butt I was referring to. LOL
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