The Odd Couple Of Sandhill- Oscar and Mia

Just a short update on my boys, as I can't sit with my leg down for very long.

Putzy seems to be spending most of his day, dozing. Except for when we go out for some sun, which is when he perks up and tries to escape. I need to order him a new light as his present one is about 6 months old now. Hopefully that will help wake him up and get his appetite going again.

Oscar, on the other hand, is, well, a bottomless pit. He will eat any thing, anywhere, anytime. This includes my fingers, my hair, my feet etc. If it moves, he tries to nom it. As soon as I have the $200+ for his vet visit, it's fun time. (loves going for rides) But his poops are getting firmer and less stinky, so I think it was mainly due to his cricket diet and suddenly getting as much food (bugs and salad) as his not so little tummy could hold.

I'll be posting new pics as soon as I get this dinosaur 'puter to upload the software for my camera. Night all, from me and my boys!

 

[Goonie]

Congrats on being a published author! Can't wait to read the article.

Thank goodness Osca is back to eating. That'd always been my biggest worry after each of Digi's clutches. It takes her such a long time to gain her weight back.

 

[slavetoIzzie]

Well, folks. we have a new problem with Osca! She has decided to follow the example of Deb's crew. The little pooper will sit in front of her salad, tilt her head at me and refuse to eat unless I hand her each and every piece! I've tried talking to her, Mia's tried insulting her, but she just gives that snarky little grin and opens her mouth for the next bit of greens. Not sure who to blame for this, but I think someone (cough-Lonzo-cough, cough) has been giving her tips on how to drive a slave crazy. Actually, it could anyone of that bunch, but he's going to be blamed as he's the oldest.

Poor Mia is presently sulking in the dining room window. I'm afraid I did the worst thing you can do to a cat. Yes, I laughed at her! She managed to sneak in to the bathroom during Osca's bath, jumped on to the edge, and promptly fell in. I almost p'd myself, I was laughing so hard! I mean, c'mon! A cat so clumsy that she falls off a 3 inch wide ledge! Of course, Osca saw the whole thing. Her only reaction was to swim to the shallow end, have a drink and then a nice poop. Which is when Osca puffed up and demanded out. Not because a huge furball fell into the tub, but because it was now dirty! :roll:

Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. Didn't need much, but it's times like this that we really need the handholding. Hopefully, it will be a one time thing. If not, I know I can count on you guys to talk me through the panic again.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Frances, it drives me nuts that I have to hand feed everything to them, even worms. It's all Roger's fault, as he's the original spoiler. So if Lonzo got that over to Osca, well I have to apologize, the best thing you could do to try to break this bad habit is just leave the salads in her tank & just ignore her to see if she'll get hungry enough to eat from her dish again. I've been trying for months to get these guys to eat from a dish, but to no avail, they'll run through it or poop in it, but that's all. So I've given up, but hopefully it's not too late for Osca & I'm going to tell Lonzo to keep that kind of thing in our household, it's not cool to be sending that message to other beardies who don't usually have to be hand fed! Good luck with that!

So Mia fell into Osca's tub, I can imagine how much you laughed & I'll bet she's miffed with you. Did she at least have a good vet visit, or is that possible? Mia is quite the handful, makes me miss having a cat. Hopefully Mia will get over this & get her balance back :mrgreen:

As for helping you out, that's what we're all here for, especially when it's something totally new. We also thought Sweetie was a male until she laid an egg in her tank, so I know what you went through at the beginning. Hopefully she won't be like Sweetie & will stop the egg laying now. I'm glad she's recovering so well, too.

 

[slavetoIzzie]

Deb, you can relax, at least about Lonzo. He is off the hook for Osca's latest habit. Turns out, my fish spies observed Osca pulling out a hidden I-phone and texting. I found the contraband phone, checked it's messages and discovered the real culprit. If I were you, I'd check Didi's hide for his cell. Seems they've been exchanging texts for awhile now. Your boy has been bragging about having the run of the house, while you're at work. Not to mention, asking for naughty pics of Osca, who is much too young for that kind of thing.

Mia has, as usual, forgotten all about her experience with the tub. All has been forgiven and she's back to being her not-so-normal self. I'm beginning she has some kind of brain damage, always falling off things, tripping over her own feet, and running into walls and furniture. Good thing she has a hard head, otherwise she'd be knocking herself out half of the time. I wonder how much a brain scan would cost? I'll have to ask the vet, when we go next week.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I will definitely see if I can find Didi's phone, little bum, Osca is way too young for pics to Didi, who's 6 years old for pete's sake.He does have the run of the living room when I go to work, he's the only one I have that will stay on the ramp all day, the others would be hiding within an hour, so this gives Lonzo & Leo some run around fun in their tanks, the usual black bearding, stomping, bobbing & running around, plus Didi gets to watch TV all day, until Jake comes in to put him back into his tank & to bed. Naughty, naughty Didi :mrgreen: I'll be checking his tank more thoroughly, plus the living room, lots of places to hide a small phone!

Poor Mia, that's really not normal, she might have some ear trouble, that does cause dizziness & off-balance. Definitely talk to the vet next week, as if may be a simple fix. Give her a hug for me!
Deb

 

[sweetiepie9]

So I found Didi's phone & it's now confiscated & he got a good talking to. I didn't even realize he had a phone, little bum. So there won't be any more "suggestions' to Osca!
Deb

 

[slavetoIzzie]

Osca, too, had a good scolding. Not pleased with me at all. Her phone has been taken away and her internet privileges as well. But, as a reward for eating most of her salad (only had to hold her dish up for her), we went outside for the first time this year. Turns out, she loves the nice hot rocks, the noon day sun, and the occasional dandelion flower. What she doesn't like, is me wearing sunglasses. As soon as she sees my face, she puffs up and gapes at me. Take off the glasses and she's fine! I was hoping today would be bright and sunny again, but it's cold and rainy instead.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Too bad about the sunglasses, she'll just have to get used to a different look on you. We had sun all day yesterday & Rubio spent 2 hours moving from patch to patch (on the balcony), the others will only stay in the sun for like 5 min, then run off to do something else. So Rubio will get the sun again today as soon as it warms up. Then I'm off to my moms, meeting my sibs there, to feed her supper, dessert & then we clean up. She's not allowed in the kitchen at all (yearh, sure, that'll work!) but we do try!

Tell Osca when she's got internet priviledges, she can come over to my thread & see pics of Didi, if you're ok with that.!
Deb

 

[slavetoIzzie]

Sorry, Deb, but no more pictures for Osca! Finally let her back on to check out Yaddle's adventures at Repticon, as well as your latest. And guess who suddenly isn't hungry anymore? Guess who is dropping daily mini-poops? Last chance. Guess who is once again digging for China, at the back of her cave? That's right! Little Miss Osca Boom Hissy-beard! Gaaaaa!!!! Can't even blame Didi for this one. So as soon as the man gets home from work, it's off to the local coop for supplies. Poor Mia won't be pleased as she'll have to be locked up while the laying takes place.

Work is going both good and bad. I lost 2 of my specials in the past two weeks. M. Bergeron fell in the bathroom, and had a bad concussion. He's had to leave us, and his wife, for long-term care at the hospital. At least, he's still close by and his wife can visit pretty much daily. My other special, Madame Auray, passed away on the 8th. Just two days from their 67th wedding anniversary. He's devastated and totally lost without her. I go and visit with him every day that I work, to make sure he's alright and his family is insisting he eat downstairs in the dining room, so he gets out of the apartment and socializes with others. His family came and asked my boss " which one is la fille fine?" (means the nice girl). She wasn't sure so asked M. Auray to describe me. His description was " the nice, english girl that always made sure my wife was comfortable" Once they knew who I was, they came and thanked me personally, for the care their mother had received. They felt that she wouldn't have been able to stay at home for as long as she had, if I hadn't done so much for her.

Yikes! It's 12:30! Time for housework.

 

[fresnowitte]

Hello Frances!

Congratulations on the publishing! Please post the link if you can I have been looking for it all morning. I would love to read it!

It is good to here that Osca is eating for you after laying those eggies. Wait! you posted while I was typing...she's at it again? Yikes!

Hope all will be well with Mia...hugs and prayers!

Deb, you can relax, at least about Lonzo. He is off the hook for Osca's latest habit. Turns out, my fish spies observed Osca pulling out a hidden I-phone and texting. I found the contraband phone, checked it's messages and discovered the real culprit. If I were you, I'd check Didi's hide for his cell. Seems they've been exchanging texts for awhile now. Your boy has been bragging about having the run of the house, while you're at work. Not to mention, asking for naughty pics of Osca, who is much too young for that kind of thing.

:laughhard:

Sorry to hear about your specials.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Me too, Frances, sorry about your specials, you have such a kind heart & I'm glad Madame Auray's family sought you out to thank your for your great care. You're definitely in the right job, they all love you. Makes the job worth while.

So Osca is laying more eggies, hope that's it for her for this year. Just do what you're doing, especially keep up with the liquid calcium daily, I'd keep that up for the foreseeable future, just to make sure the calcium levels in her blood stay good. Have fun with the digging, digging, digging, hope she lays soon.

Tell Osca that Didi still thinks she's a pretty beardie but he only wants to be friends. He had a good talking to & I did find his phone & confiscated it, won't even let him on the computer right now. He is 6 yrs old after all & Osca is way too young for her to be look at in that way!

Take care
Deb
Hugs to Mia & Osca!

 

[slavetoIzzie]

No sign of eggs yet, but Osca is now showing off quite the lumpy belly. If she doesn't pop them out soon, I'm going to go crazy! She hasn't eaten in 4, yes I said FOUR, days! All she does is pace her house, dig and scratch at the floor and walls, bask for awhile, give me the stink eye, then start the whole thing over again. I put her in the lay box and she jumps out, with the most outraged look on her face. Like " What are you doing? That's ucky dirt, I'm not staying in that!" :roll: Mia, in the meantime, can't get over the indignity of being locked up, while I'm trying to convince Osca that the lay box is a great place to be. Gina, my complete admiration to you for managing to maintain a semblance of sanity, with two girls laying at the same time!

Well, I'm off to the hardware store, we need a new piece for our water pump. Once that's done, I can give Osca her bath. Couldn't do it yesterday, as the pump was leaking water and running almost constantly. Which meant; no dishes could be washed (Yay!), take-out all week end (double Yay!) coffee was rationed ( ) and worst of all, No showers, just a sponge bath ( ). I can survive alot of things, but I love my showers!

I'll check in on your threads after lunch.

 

[slavetoIzzie]

We have water! So after making a nice fresh pot of coffee, I had the privilege of washing 2 days worth of dishes. Then a nice warm bath for Osca, deep enough that she could float for awhile. Then I did a copy and paste of my articles in the Off topic forum. Now it's time to catch up on everyone else's threads.

 

[beardie parents]

I'm glad you have water. Do you have a well? You mentioned a water pump. The last time we had to have the well pump fixed it cost just over $700 X 3. We are on a well share which is good because all we have to pay for monthly is our portion of the electric to run the well.

 

[slavetoIzzie]

OK, Osca seems to be in competition with MoMo. First she lays 30 eggies, then finds out MoMo had 34 in her first clutch. So now we get up to a deflated dragon, smugly sitting beside a pile of 34 eggs, with #35 hidden behind her! Take that, MoMo!!! Right now, Osca is basking and digesting her 9 worms. After Todd leaves for work in an hour, she'll go have a nice, long soak and some more worms and salad. Unfortunately, while bright and sunny, it's pretty cool outside. I hope it warms up later, so I can get Miss Flat and Hissy out for some real UVBs.

Mia is totally PO'd with us. We are now holding her down and forcibly brushing her. So far, we've managed to get 10-12 kitten-sized fur balls off of her. She doesn't mind having her back done, it's her belly and chin she hates being touched. At least, now that the heat is off, she's no longer getting shocked every time someone touches her. We're also awaiting for test results to come back, concerning her clumsiness. There's a possibility that she has neurological damage to her ears from a bad ear mite infection. The vertigo doesn't affect her all the time, just some times. It's like her body moves too fast for her brain to catch up and she'll get dizzy.