First up is the male, who seems to be in the most pain. He was also the most underweight but he has been chowing down on his CGD and already looks healthier in that regard. :D However, he's absolutely PSYCHOTIC to handle (I think due to the pain), just moving him to get a photo and then into his new tub was a zoo. He tried to bite me multiple times, gaped, ran and jumped as suicidally as possible... even got into the vacuum at one point. ](*,) So for now, I am mostly leaving him alone to just get more weight on him and some extra vitamins and calcium in through his CGD. Here he is (I'm considering calling him Straightjacket but I thought that might put off future adopters, maybe I'll call him Zen):
He has a very hard, wavy tail and hips twisted to the right. He was very underweight when he arrived but has already gained several grams (though this is uncomfirmed because I'm sure at this point a date with the scale = I'd be missing a finger and he'd be hiding somewhere in the basement). He also has a back deformity most likely due to the MBD.
This is what he has to say about being handled! Though he did give me a very nice view of his non-existent calcium sacs.
Though seriously he didn't have as much to complain about as he was - this is his superdedupercustommadeforhim tub. It's a lower/shallower tub so if he does happen to fall he won't hurt himself, with low things to climb on and plenty of hiding spots (he loves paper towel/toilet paper tubes). He's been all over the place exploring.
This is the big girl of the group, mature and I'm fairly certain gravid. She's also got the hip twist and a wavy tail, though it has actually already improved a little bit. It's not as hard as the other two and I have hope with supplementation/UVB she might get it even straighter. She's pretty sweet too, not used to being handled but fairly even-tempered despite that.
She has a sweet face. <3 She is the only one whose jaws look slightly affected by the MBD (which would make sense if she's been laying), but it isn't very significant thankfully.
Exploring her tub, checking out the laybox (which I cross my fingers and pray she can use successfully... incubator ready and waiting just in case.)
Her tub. And I realized I had not yet put food and water into the tubs yet when I took these pics - don't worry, they're in there now!
Little girl, a beautiful butter yellow! Her hips are not as rotated as they look in the photo, it's just the way she's sitting (though they are twisted to the left somewhat). Her tail is very hard and the worst affected. She's underweight too and I hope that changes now that she is by herself.
She just looks scared of life! I feel so bad for her. She's very flighty to handle. I really hope she is not gravid, she's much too small and malnourished.
And finally, her tub. Lots of climbing things, she's the most active climber of the three. Added a laybox for her just in case and she's already played around in the moss.
So... my plan of action is this: I'm first going to start supplementing their CGD weekly with Herptivite (a multivitamin powder), and when they're eating well on that I plan to treat them all with Flagyl (a medication used to treat protozoan infections such as Entameoba invadens). I'm fairly certain of parasites in all three due to their appearances, lethargy (in spite of the crazy moments), and consistency/smell of their poop. When they get settled in a little more I'll be dosing them all with Super-Cal (a high dose calcium supplement). I'm also putting one tub under UVB a day, so they get it every third day (didn't want to run the risk of any eye problems). I've placed all their tubs in an area which gets a good dose of sunlight for much of the day too. Hopefully this will do the trick as far as nursing them back to health and they can be adopted out to good homes after awhile. And I do mean hopefully, I may need to sell a kidney to recoup what I have spent on them!
I plan to keep the blog updated with their progress so keep your eyes peeled for rescue posts! :-)
