kingofnobbys
BD.org Sicko
Fluffy passed away this afternoon ,
Rescued 14 Nov 2017 was estimated 4 or 5 yr old.
RIP 12 Feb 2024 ( est 11 to 12 yr old , quite ancient for a eastern water skink ).
Her history.
She was regular visitor inside, in our garden, often hung about under the back steps and under our house , and regularly visited me in the shed when I was tinkering, and she become tame enough to occasionally feed from my fingers.
I estimate she was as old as 5 yr old when rescued.
Fluffy was found in our backyard on 14 Nov 2017 by my wife who through she was dead til she picked her up (she started moving) and she brought her inside thinking she was near death due to injuries from being accidentially whippersnipped ( large infected lacerations on back and sides ) while heavily pregnant.
She miscarried 5 babies as still births (were delivered dead) a few days after being rescued.
I nursed her back to health and fully healed and she became mega tame and affectionate so I couldn't bare to release her .
She's been a fabulous interactive pet who everyone loved meeting and interacting with who became very pple orientated.
A few months ago I noticed she was developing a swollen area on the left side of her neck just behind her ear. Initially thought it was an abscess or cyst but it didn't effect her behaviour and she was still feeding well. So I decided to monitor more closely. I have zero faith in the local reptile vets and their competency.
Best I could hope for would be a course of antibiotic injections if it was due to an infection, and I have no intention of ever again putting a pet lizard through surgery under a general - too stressful for the lizard and too risky.
The lump grew slowly at first , then in the last several weeks it grew fast to be a quite large and was not a soft abscess or cyst, I consulted my books and determined it was likely a cancerous growth in the back of her skull, asked local vet about prognosis if surgically removed = VERY POOR , not likely to survive surgery.
Given her advanced age (estimate > 11 yr old) I decided to let nature take it's cause and only euphemise her (carbon dioxide method at home) if her quality of life became poor.
She was still active, thermoregulating, interacting, and feeding w/out assistance til about 4 weeks ago when she started needing to be handfed ( mealworm lavae and pupae and BSF lavae guts ) as she was no longer able to swallow whole insects , and was starting to loose condition ( fat reserves disappearing ) .
This last week it become very difficult to get her to feed, but I was still able to get her eat enough to sustain her and she was still thermoregulating and drinking , but was sleeping lots more (she was still loving quality time and snuggling in my hand and under my shirt) .
I've been expecting to wake to discover she'd passed away overnight for last month or two. And have been giving Fluffy extra attention and loving. She has been a greatly loved pet.
Today I found her asleep in her fav spot and she woke up and moved about as normal and eventually had a drink.
Discovered her had passed away this afternoon. She had a very long snuggle on me last night and she clearly enjoyed the comfort as she didn't want to go back into her tub (even at midnight) , usually she'd crawl off me when she was getting too warm or was ready for bed.
RIP Fluffy.
Mum and Dad, and miniperson will miss you. She's left a very big hole in our hearts .
Rescued 14 Nov 2017 was estimated 4 or 5 yr old.
RIP 12 Feb 2024 ( est 11 to 12 yr old , quite ancient for a eastern water skink ).
Her history.
She was regular visitor inside, in our garden, often hung about under the back steps and under our house , and regularly visited me in the shed when I was tinkering, and she become tame enough to occasionally feed from my fingers.
I estimate she was as old as 5 yr old when rescued.
Fluffy was found in our backyard on 14 Nov 2017 by my wife who through she was dead til she picked her up (she started moving) and she brought her inside thinking she was near death due to injuries from being accidentially whippersnipped ( large infected lacerations on back and sides ) while heavily pregnant.
She miscarried 5 babies as still births (were delivered dead) a few days after being rescued.
I nursed her back to health and fully healed and she became mega tame and affectionate so I couldn't bare to release her .
She's been a fabulous interactive pet who everyone loved meeting and interacting with who became very pple orientated.
A few months ago I noticed she was developing a swollen area on the left side of her neck just behind her ear. Initially thought it was an abscess or cyst but it didn't effect her behaviour and she was still feeding well. So I decided to monitor more closely. I have zero faith in the local reptile vets and their competency.
Best I could hope for would be a course of antibiotic injections if it was due to an infection, and I have no intention of ever again putting a pet lizard through surgery under a general - too stressful for the lizard and too risky.
The lump grew slowly at first , then in the last several weeks it grew fast to be a quite large and was not a soft abscess or cyst, I consulted my books and determined it was likely a cancerous growth in the back of her skull, asked local vet about prognosis if surgically removed = VERY POOR , not likely to survive surgery.
Given her advanced age (estimate > 11 yr old) I decided to let nature take it's cause and only euphemise her (carbon dioxide method at home) if her quality of life became poor.
She was still active, thermoregulating, interacting, and feeding w/out assistance til about 4 weeks ago when she started needing to be handfed ( mealworm lavae and pupae and BSF lavae guts ) as she was no longer able to swallow whole insects , and was starting to loose condition ( fat reserves disappearing ) .
This last week it become very difficult to get her to feed, but I was still able to get her eat enough to sustain her and she was still thermoregulating and drinking , but was sleeping lots more (she was still loving quality time and snuggling in my hand and under my shirt) .
I've been expecting to wake to discover she'd passed away overnight for last month or two. And have been giving Fluffy extra attention and loving. She has been a greatly loved pet.
Today I found her asleep in her fav spot and she woke up and moved about as normal and eventually had a drink.
Discovered her had passed away this afternoon. She had a very long snuggle on me last night and she clearly enjoyed the comfort as she didn't want to go back into her tub (even at midnight) , usually she'd crawl off me when she was getting too warm or was ready for bed.
RIP Fluffy.
Mum and Dad, and miniperson will miss you. She's left a very big hole in our hearts .
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