Flotsam in hospital

[Squamata]

I really feel for you Pythoness,:cry: i have had hatchlings die from compaction (i was using a calcium sand at the time) and that did my head in. I use desert red sand for my baby beardies and beach sand for my netteds. I have not had a problem lately and find that using a MVB bulb and a UV fluro seems to be a happy medium. I cannot agree with you on the use of paper for the adults tho, they need to dig and love to make their burrows in the sand. To prevent compaction in the future, try taking her out of her enclosure and feeding her in a tub, no sand to worry about and you also get to monitor how much she is eating.

All of my captive bred adults are kept on beach sand with a MVB (ozbrite or similar) and dust their food with repti cal, i also supplement their diet with different insects and give them dandelions and nasturtiums. I will be paying xtra attention to them, to prevent any MBD. Thanks for the warning, sometimes we just have bad luck, i hope your little girl improves, try taking her outside in the natural sunlight for 20 minutes every couple of days (once she is out of hospital) i have heard that this will prevent MBD, it is a natural vitamin boost and they love it too!

 

[pythoness]

Thanks Squamata, i know what you mean about the digging, i had a big 'what the' moment when he told me :O and yep apart from the tube and red sand instead of beach, everything i did was the same, bad things can and do happen where do you get beach sand from? the beach? ( i know dumb question) and do you bake it to steralise it or just straight in?
I think when she comes home i will do paper for a while, ( she will go spare not beiong able to dig ) and then feeding in a seperate container, still not sure what i will do about the sand tho, which is why i ask about the beach sand, but after what it'll cost to get her better i'll probably just not risk it.

 

[jonesc1]

i think its just calcium based sands as they intentionally eat it to get calcium. if u use a quartzite/silica based sand they dont eat it intentionally. most hardware stores u can find differant types of sands. try sand pit sand, pretty much just filterd beach sand.

 

[pythoness]

Just got off the phone to the vet, and the x-ray showed massive impaction. she's carrying almost double her body weight in sand. she's very weak, still in a coma and may not make it, but there doing all they can. Please keep fingers crossed for her.
Thanks.
Mwah,
Sil.

 

[codeth]

hope she gets better

 

[TOMatoPASTE]

good luck, fingers crossed

 

[OuZo]

Very sorry to hear that pythoness . Netteds are one of my favourite lizards so I know how you must feel :cry:

One thing to also consider is that too much calcium can have the same effect as not enough. So in theory she could have MBD because every feed was dusted instead of every few. My adult netteds only get dusted maybe once a week or so. Perhaps you could try some Electrodize also as it's supposed to help prevent and reverse MBD.

I think keeping lizards on sand is unfortunately one of those things that's usually fine but every now and then you'll have an animal that gets an impaction. I've been keeping my Netteds on sand for about 3 years now and never had a problem. They won't eat out of their enclosure so instead I have a plastic container in their cage which has fluon around it, and when it's feed time I just throw a few roaches in there and they come running. That way they're less likely to ingest as much sand as I've noticed Netteds quite often go for food so enthusiastically they'll get a big mouthful of it.

Good Luck...really hoping she pulls through for you

 

[kelco]

more than our fingers pythoness we all thinkin of ya's and crossed all my fingers and toes!!!!!!!please keep us posted this is a important thread for us newbies (as sad as that sounds)our thoughts are with ya n goodluck!!!!!

 

[pythoness]

Thanks for all the well wishes, but sadly she died yesterday.
Now her tank is empty and i'm not sure what to do next.
I can't even think about it right now, she was my only dragon and had pride of place in my house, and i just can't even look at the empty tank.

 

[jordo]

Oh poor thing, you did the best you could for her so try not to beat yourself up.
jordo

 

[slip_phreak]

Bummer pythoness i feel terrible for you... but try to take it as experience for the future and dont let this one incident get in the way of continuing on with Herp'ing. You did the best you could so try not to bring yourself down too badly

 

[whiteyluvsrum]

i thought this would be about a snake?

 

[kelco]

so sorry to hear ya loss a pets a pet it doesnt matter a dog , herp or goldfish losing them sucks!!!!!!! our condolences to ya :cry: :cry:

 

[Reptilian]

sorry to hear m8...as others have said, take it as experience for the future...

 

[pythoness]

Thanks guys, and thanks to everyone who pm'd me, too many to mention names.
I appreciate the support guys, means worlds to me.