Another update on Bug's tail.... ( and another tale)....

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Posted by JohnT on April 20, 2002 at 07:51:06:

Well, we're entering the third week of wrapping Bug's tail....
For those of you who are unaware of what this means, he's been biting his tail enough to cause serious traumatic injury, so we've been wrapping it in Coban (soft, elastic sticks-to-itself stuff). This stuff is well tolerated, and has been doing the job. Mary and I just finished another wrap job. It's been doing so well, we've extended the time we leave the wrap in place to a week's interval , because of the good progress.

Another reason that we're extending the time between wraps is that he hates it so, and so do we. He'a really a good natured ig, just gets a little salty in breeding season. He's easy to pick up, stroke and pet. He's beginning to anticipate what's coming, though, and today was a real circus. As much as I hate to, we must use restraint, because he won't tolerate 10-15 minutes of cutting off the old wrapping, and replacing it.

We have been placing him on a board covered with outoor carpeting resting on a table. Big mistake. I place him on the board, he tenses up, and gets ready to croc roll and freak, and I have to apply the pressure. that's the part I hate. I don't want to hurt him, but I must restrain him. A towel over his head helps. At any rate, this has worked well, and I haven't had to wrap him completely in a towel or anything like that to get the job done. Until today. As Mary was cutting off the old wrap, instead of a croc roll, he got a good grip on the carpet covered board, and those big orange legs ejected the board out from under him, off the table, and into Mary's thigh. This startled me just enough to lose my grip on the front end (which is, of course, the business end), and I'm suddenly waving an angry iguana in the air like a flag, holding onto this back end, while he makes like Sarah Hughes at the Olympics.

I decided that caution was the better part of valor, and decided to let go before the business end got busy....

Now we have an extremely angry, disgruntled iguana making like a hungry Komodo dragon flying around the bathroom. (That's where he lives) Oh, by the way, he's also flying his own battle flag, because the tail wrap was about halfway removed, and now its' helping to destroy the bathroom and contents.

We're trying to corner him, he's trying not to be cornered, and everything from makeup to toothpaste is covering the walls, and floor while those big orange legs keep scrabbling and churning. Finally, after I got my hands on him three times and still lost him (He is STRONG), he ran between my legs, up the shower curtain, jumped 3 feet into the door of his enclosure, and went to the highest basking spot, and dared us to try again. Poor critter! I felt bad enough having to put him through this, and now, we had to start over.

At any rate, about an hour later, we went for round two, but this time, we went to the smooth vinyl floor where no grip was available to those big legs and feet. We got the job done. Whew!

The tail is looking much better, except for the last inch, which will have to be removed when this is over. We're hoping that if everything is healed, we can remove the wrapping, and this problem won't self-perpetuate any more.

Best Regards,

JohnT

Follow Ups:

Hope everything works out for you guys! np JNelson 04/20/02 (0)
Might as well update Goliaths tail too. Brian 04/20/02 (0)
Re: Another update on Bug's tail.... ( and another tale).... Sklavin 04/20/02 (0)
what a day! Tmom 04/20/02 (0)
Re: Another update on Bug's tail.... ( and another tale).... Mr. D 04/20/02 (0)

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: Well, we're entering the third week of wrapping Bug's tail.... : For those of you who are unaware of what this means, he's been biting his tail enough to cause serious traumatic injury, so we've been wrapping it in Coban (soft, elastic sticks-to-itself stuff). This stuff is well tolerated, and has been doing the job. Mary and I just finished another wrap job. It's been doing so well, we've extended the time we leave the wrap in place to a week's interval , because of the good progress. : Another reason that we're extending the time between wraps is that he hates it so, and so do we. He'a really a good natured ig, just gets a little salty in breeding season. He's easy to pick up, stroke and pet. He's beginning to anticipate what's coming, though, and today was a real circus. As much as I hate to, we must use restraint, because he won't tolerate 10-15 minutes of cutting off the old wrapping, and replacing it. : We have been placing him on a board covered with outoor carpeting resting on a table. Big mistake. I place him on the board, he tenses up, and gets ready to croc roll and freak, and I have to apply the pressure. that's the part I hate. I don't want to hurt him, but I must restrain him. A towel over his head helps. At any rate, this has worked well, and I haven't had to wrap him completely in a towel or anything like that to get the job done. Until today. As Mary was cutting off the old wrap, instead of a croc roll, he got a good grip on the carpet covered board, and those big orange legs ejected the board out from under him, off the table, and into Mary's thigh. This startled me just enough to lose my grip on the front end (which is, of course, the business end), and I'm suddenly waving an angry iguana in the air like a flag, holding onto this back end, while he makes like Sarah Hughes at the Olympics. : I decided that caution was the better part of valor, and decided to let go before the business end got busy.... : Now we have an extremely angry, disgruntled iguana making like a hungry Komodo dragon flying around the bathroom. (That's where he lives) Oh, by the way, he's also flying his own battle flag, because the tail wrap was about halfway removed, and now its' helping to destroy the bathroom and contents. : We're trying to corner him, he's trying not to be cornered, and everything from makeup to toothpaste is covering the walls, and floor while those big orange legs keep scrabbling and churning. Finally, after I got my hands on him three times and still lost him (He is STRONG), he ran between my legs, up the shower curtain, jumped 3 feet into the door of his enclosure, and went to the highest basking spot, and dared us to try again. Poor critter! I felt bad enough having to put him through this, and now, we had to start over. : At any rate, about an hour later, we went for round two, but this time, we went to the smooth vinyl floor where no grip was available to those big legs and feet. We got the job done. Whew! : The tail is looking much better, except for the last inch, which will have to be removed when this is over. We're hoping that if everything is healed, we can remove the wrapping, and this problem won't self-perpetuate any more. : Best Regards, : JohnT

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