How Me is doing - a novel, by me.

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Posted by Mr. D on April 29, 2001 at 21:54:03:

In Reply to: wondering how Mel is doin'!?!?!?!? ... nm posted by iZ + mom on April 29, 2001 at 15:27:13:

Thanks for asking Bon... It's been pretty crazy around here with construction, rehab, Mel and everything else.... Mel's doing just fine. After we scheduled her surgery twice we cancelled it twice. 1st time because she started digging in her box so we put it off for a week. 2nd time because the day before surgery the little SOB actually laid an egg in the bath tub while soaking. SO, instead of bringing her in to have them removed, we brought her in and left her for the day in order to have an Oxytocin IV. She laid a total of 8 eggs that day.
Over the course of the last week she's laid a total of 24 and we think she still has 2 or 3 left. She's actually been pretty amazing in laying them. Right on the top shelf of her enclosure (as opposed to her hide box) where we've been able to watch her do it. She wouldn't let the Mrs. take the eggs as she laid them but would let me for some reason. Rather odd. She's started eating again - good thing too because she's not much more than skin and bones right now.
The only problem we've encountered is that, while she was rampaging through the house looking for suitable nesting spots she somehow managed to literally wear through the "balls" of her hands. We honestly can't figure out how she did it. It was so bad on one hand that she severed a tendon before we even realized that it was happening. Fortunately, we caught it before she went through the other hand. Silvadene twice a day has helped in healing the wounds but we don't think the tendon will repair itself. It's not causing her problems for her as far as we can tell so we're just going to keep an eye on it for now.
The only thing that we can figure is that with the loss of appetite her body simply wore down enough that it wasn't repairing any damage or wear and tear and that it just caught up with her. Now that she's eating again she seems to be making up for lost time. She'll go back in for a follow up vet visit nest week whether we see any more eggs or not but other than the hands she's doing fine. Since we finished renovating our living room she now has her window back and spends most of the day basking on the marble slab that sits on top of the radiator. I'm not sure but I think that the windows in our house are so old that they don't filter out any UV. Lately, Mel's spikes have been drooping significantly but the other day and every day since they stand straight while she's in her window.
I think I've figured out a way to easily screen in our porch so THAT project is on the list - right after finishing the apartment so we can rent it again, building Mel's doors FINALLY, and finishing the enclosure for Dharma that was started back in January. Anybody else need anything done while I'm at it ??.....;)~ And SOMEwhere in all of this I need to find time to go have a "chat" with the vet (not our regular) that saw Mel back in January for our midnight trip. There's something about a guy who calls himself a herp vet who misses 24 (and counting) eggs. Even after looking at the x rays he said that, if anything, Mel had re-absorbed them and there weren't any problems to be concerned about. Think I may just bounce 24+ frozen iguana eggs off of his noggin one by one and then ask about the $185 that he whacked me in the shins for while making the bogus diagnosis.

"Don't make me angry, Mr. McGee. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." - Bruce Banner

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+ a most excellent story it is! ...... more iZ's mom 04/30/01 (0)
A John D. McDonald fan, I presume? NM JohnT 04/30/01 (0)

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: Thanks for asking Bon... It's been pretty crazy around here with construction, rehab, Mel and everything else.... Mel's doing just fine. After we scheduled her surgery twice we cancelled it twice. 1st time because she started digging in her box so we put it off for a week. 2nd time because the day before surgery the little SOB actually laid an egg in the bath tub while soaking. SO, instead of bringing her in to have them removed, we brought her in and left her for the day in order to have an Oxytocin IV. She laid a total of 8 eggs that day. : Over the course of the last week she's laid a total of 24 and we think she still has 2 or 3 left. She's actually been pretty amazing in laying them. Right on the top shelf of her enclosure (as opposed to her hide box) where we've been able to watch her do it. She wouldn't let the Mrs. take the eggs as she laid them but would let me for some reason. Rather odd. She's started eating again - good thing too because she's not much more than skin and bones right now. : The only problem we've encountered is that, while she was rampaging through the house looking for suitable nesting spots she somehow managed to literally wear through the "balls" of her hands. We honestly can't figure out how she did it. It was so bad on one hand that she severed a tendon before we even realized that it was happening. Fortunately, we caught it before she went through the other hand. Silvadene twice a day has helped in healing the wounds but we don't think the tendon will repair itself. It's not causing her problems for her as far as we can tell so we're just going to keep an eye on it for now. : The only thing that we can figure is that with the loss of appetite her body simply wore down enough that it wasn't repairing any damage or wear and tear and that it just caught up with her. Now that she's eating again she seems to be making up for lost time. She'll go back in for a follow up vet visit nest week whether we see any more eggs or not but other than the hands she's doing fine. Since we finished renovating our living room she now has her window back and spends most of the day basking on the marble slab that sits on top of the radiator. I'm not sure but I think that the windows in our house are so old that they don't filter out any UV. Lately, Mel's spikes have been drooping significantly but the other day and every day since they stand straight while she's in her window. : I think I've figured out a way to easily screen in our porch so THAT project is on the list - right after finishing the apartment so we can rent it again, building Mel's doors FINALLY, and finishing the enclosure for Dharma that was started back in January. Anybody else need anything done while I'm at it ??.....;)~ And SOMEwhere in all of this I need to find time to go have a "chat" with the vet (not our regular) that saw Mel back in January for our midnight trip. There's something about a guy who calls himself a herp vet who misses 24 (and counting) eggs. Even after looking at the x rays he said that, if anything, Mel had re-absorbed them and there weren't any problems to be concerned about. Think I may just bounce 24+ frozen iguana eggs off of his noggin one by one and then ask about the $185 that he whacked me in the shins for while making the bogus diagnosis. <sigh> : "Don't make me angry, Mr. McGee. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." - Bruce Banner

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