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Good on you for keeping up the hope for him. :)

I'm just interested in how you would go about keeping him if he were not to make a full recovery. I haven't heard many stories of this happening with private owners, just with Zoos, etc. so I'm just interested in what sort of process you'd have to go through.

If release wasn't an option, he'd most likely go in a "ballot" of suitably licenced keepers and hopefully Kathy would end up the new owner. That's been my experience anyway with my Scrubbie.

Good luck Kathy, he's certainly a little cracker:)!
 
Kathy has he done a poo yet? I would think that "good" poos could be an indicator of how his internals are functioning?
 
YEAHHHH !!!! Went in to give him a feed and saw him sitting with his head up so ran back to the house for the camera. Look at my young fella :D He is showing great improvement every week. He can get his head up without shaking now, except when he moves fast, then he needs to steady himself. He lunged at me, hitting the glass :( and gave himself a bit of a shake but the head did not go down. And his right side (sorry I have said left previous, got my left and right mixed up. Definitely the other left) is looking almost as strong as the other side.

I still have not seen him flicking his tongue, but that's not say he doesn't. He is probably more warey of me than wanting to show any curiosity, and I can't see or smell any crap. Can't say I've taken that much notice and I am not about to go digging in a wild lacy's tank looking for poop. Just popped another mouse in there. No doubt he'll leave it a few days before he eats it - lacies are disgusting :lol: Karly I am not exactly sure what a healthy poop looks like for a lacy, considering what they eat, but I'll even take a picture of that when I find one :D

I only dared a couple of photos opening his door, he is starting to show is attitude, so most are through the glass.
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Watching me from his injured side..
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He looked like he was gonna have a crack when I reached in so I dropped the mouse and left it there.
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IMG_2921.jpg
 
Bit of a concern that you haven't seen the tongue. Defensive lacies typically stick their tongue out as far as it will go and flick it around the side of their jaw and then withdraw it. I would have expected that from this guy, since he is lunging forward.
 
:( So I wonder why he isn't flicking his tongue. Hope he still has one. I don't remember leaving any parts behind on the road. I wouldn't be able to tell just by looking into his mouth eh?
 
Well if you ever catch him feeding then you should catch a glimpse of it's tongue. They always flick it out after a feed. Maybe he bit it off when hit by the car and it was swallowed?? Unlikely, though.
 
I was hoping to dangle the mouse in front of him for a bit, to see how he reacted. He did turn his head towards it but water from the defrosted mouse dripped on his back. It startled him and I dropped it at his feet. He didn't chase to eat it so I left him alone before I upset him too much.
 
wonderful news........so lovely to read this thread

I would have thought Ricky would need his tongue to swallow or is that a mammal thing ?

Trouble is...now he has attitude you're going to have fun trying to catch him to try and see his tongue !!
 
I am not sure I wouldn't anyway. Their tongue lives in a little pocket (sorry, not up on terminology). They have forked tongues and when they flick it out it comes back in to the jacobs organ - assists with their sense of smell. You'd think he wouldn't be eating but he is.
 
I would have thought Ricky would need his tongue to swallow or is that a mammal thing ?

It's a mammal thing, more than a monitor thing. I think some lizards such as blue tongues will use the tongue to help get food down, but monitors grab the food in their mouth and then throw it back to swallow it. No tongue involved.

. Their tongue lives in a little pocket (sorry, not up on terminology). They have forked tongues and when they flick it out it comes back in to the jacobs organ - assists with their sense of smell. You'd think he wouldn't be eating but he is.

Personally, I think their sense of smell is so acute that the tongue could probably pick up scents with just the very tips of the tongue emerging ever-so slightly from the mouth.
 
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when you think about it tongue flicking is neurological...maybe he is still sore or there is stil some swelling to go down that is effecting him using his tongue...still you will know soon enough !!

Please keep letting us all know how he is getting on...

and we will keep sending our good wishes

Kind Regards

Elizabeth
 
........maybe he is still sore or there is stil some swelling to go down that is effecting him using his tongue...still you will know soon enough !!.....

Definitely still room for more improvement so that is possible. He still has a slight lean-to and shows one one side of him to be less alert than the other.
His good side
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The injured side..
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When Jamie sussed him out he said he saw his tongue flick out. I haven't seen it, unless, as Serpenttongue as suggested, he's only just poking the tip out and I am missing it. Either way, lets see where he's up to this time next week :D
 
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Brilliant work Kathy, hope he keeps getting stronger and stronger
 
That looks like a huge improvement to my admittedly inexpert eyes. Go Ricky!
 
If he isn't sticking his tongue out, look for gular pumping - his throat going up and down. You'll usually have to wait until he's stopped puffing it out, as in the photos, for that's a defensive thing. They can smell with their nostrils as well as their tongue/Jacobson's organ. My monitors tend to use their nostrils to check me out when I open the enclosure but will use their tongue if there's something of particular interest, like food.

I know all of this was covered much earlier, but what's the surface temperature of his basking site?

No doubt he'll leave it a few days before he eats it - lacies are disgusting :lol:
That's definitely not all lace monitors - yours is still struggling with the concept of eating in captivity, or because of his injuries. Mine would never leave food long enough for it to rot - in fact, if I throw the food in at them it will not even reach the floor of the enclosure because they'll catch it mid-air.
 
His basking site directly under the light gets up to bit over 50c. Just off the light is 40+. I turn his light off at night, but he has a heatcord under that mat going 24/7.

Yeah I figured the captive feeding would be an issue with him, and I haven't seen him eat, only that the rodents disappear after a couple days.
 
That's definitely not all lace monitors - yours is still struggling with the concept of eating in captivity, or because of his injuries. Mine would never leave food long enough for it to rot - in fact, if I throw the food in at them it will not even reach the floor of the enclosure because they'll catch it mid-air.

I wonder if it is to do with the smell...if the food is rotting then it stinks...whereas when it is fresh he might not smell it so much if his tongue isnt working so well

How is he today ?
 
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