THANK YOU FOR WELCOME--HERE's MY STORY

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Posted by xta on May 11, 1999 at 20:33:16:

I checked out your photo link-- very nice, makes me miss Salvador, but now I know there are a lot of bigg'ens out there.

I live in Orlando FL and currently have a Bearded Dragon "Flapjack" (4-5mos old) & a rhino iguana (minus the horn now)named Sleestack (Remember Land of the Lost?) He's maybe a year old, possibly less) He was kept in some terrible conditions in a pet store-- layered in an aquarium with many of his brothers & sisters--some of them near death with MBD & who knows what else. This batch was older than most which struck me as odd & pulled at my heart, so I impulsively bought one to replace my late "Salvador" 3 weeks after his death. Sleestack had a very unique color combo & seemed heartier than the rest. I held him & he seemed calm (later I found he was quite full of piss & vinegar) I nearly bought this seriously ill female who ate readily from my hand, but I knew it would be a matter of taking care of her until she died & didn't think I could bare it after one loss)

Here's the Salvador part. Someone gave me this pathetic creature about 7 years ago-- he had massive melted scales on his belly-- to the point where I did not even know if they were scabs or what. He had a terrible virus that was causing erruptions on his tail, ruining scales, & many scratches/scars. I thought this thing was hardly worth putting $ into because he surely wasn't going to make it. Then I fell in love with him-- my maternal instinct kicked in hard! I was applying salve to his belly, giving him antibiotic shots in the back for 3 weeks, & reading everything I could find about iguanas. He ate like a pig & grew to a nice 5 feet orange male-- but he was so sweet. Sure he tried to mate with my boyfriend's arm once & did mate with several clothing items & towels, but he always lowered his head to MOM & let me kiss his forehead or scaley neck. He never bit me or opened his mouth to me in 7 years. He never whipped me. He would lift his tail to warn when I held an object he did not recognize, but never
whipped. He would bob his head to let me know who is boss. He would try to eat the yellow circles when you were looking for a job. If he saw you eating from across the room, he would scamper over & scratch at you until you gave him some-- or steal it right out of your hands. He was potty trained to wait until I came home from work- I would put him in the bathtub & he would go (my new one is already trained in the same manner, although he'll go again anywhere but in his cage) Salvador starred in a local commercial, went to the park & kidergarden classes, & anywhere else that I could show him off! He was such a character & I'll give you my web site address after I update it-- it's dated since he died. Oh-- I forgot to mention that my parakeet rode around on his tail. The bird loved him! & he tolerated the bird--tried to ignore him mostly.

I am not sure why he died-- there are several causes. We had an autopsy. He came down with a respiratory infection Sat night & He died Mon on the way to the vet. Looking back, I believe I missed some signs, chalking it up to him getting older. His autopsy showed he had spleen damage & liver(or kidney--can't remember now) but the damage was long term. I know I fed him right & gave him the right care, but I wonder if the damage in his youth took some years off the back end of his life. He also had several objects in his stomach that had been there for years (a penny, a rock, & a toy 6" slug) which probably caused him to back up passing some bacteria (so the vet said) I wish I would have paid more attention to his stools, but he had a bad history of eating things he shouldn't & then passing them later (so it was not odd for him to go awhile without having a good looking stool-- until he passed a rock or newspaper article or any other inanimate object he could get his claws on) Also, the penny could have caused some damage-- poisoning to some degree. So I am not really sure which thing was too much for him to handle or if it was his past catching up to him, but whatever the case, I wish I could turn back time to about a year before, & had bloodwork/xrays or whatever so I would have known. Maybe he could have lived a lot longer. I was so happy he made it through our wedding & the holidays-- too bad he couldn't at least make it until 2000. At least I was there with him at the end... this will sound silly, but I imagine this scaley little flying iguana angel flapping around me. & I did have a good dream the other night-- I swear it was real-- I was laying on my side & He crawled in the bed, looking at me intelligenlty as if he was there to comfort me & would allow this human indulgence just this once. Then he lay against me, licking me & putting his arms back & going to sleep. I put my arm around him & could actually feel his big scales again! I was soooo happy! Now you all know I am a bit overly sentimental & crazed! My new lizards are adorable, but don't have my entire heart I'm afraid. Maybe one day...

Sorry this is so long. Hope no one is bored.
That is my lizard story-- believe me, I could go on, but I think that was long enough...

-xta

Follow Ups:

WELCOME-to the forum Joan 5/13/99 (0)
Re: THANK YOU FOR WELCOME--HERE's MY STORY cirsisue 5/12/99 (0)
Sweet story! Juby 5/12/99 (1)
- story xta 5/12/99 (0)
Re: THANK YOU FOR WELCOME--HERE's MY STORY Lorry 5/12/99 (2)
- your pics xta 5/12/99 (0)
- Hey! I did it! Dropped a link, I mean!! (n/p) Lorry 5/12/99 (0)
thank you! iZ's mom 5/11/99 (0)

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: I checked out your photo link-- very nice, makes me miss Salvador, but now I know there are a lot of bigg'ens out there. : I live in Orlando FL and currently have a Bearded Dragon "Flapjack" (4-5mos old) & a rhino iguana (minus the horn now)named Sleestack (Remember Land of the Lost?) He's maybe a year old, possibly less) He was kept in some terrible conditions in a pet store-- layered in an aquarium with many of his brothers & sisters--some of them near death with MBD & who knows what else. This batch was older than most which struck me as odd & pulled at my heart, so I impulsively bought one to replace my late "Salvador" 3 weeks after his death. Sleestack had a very unique color combo & seemed heartier than the rest. I held him & he seemed calm (later I found he was quite full of piss & vinegar) I nearly bought this seriously ill female who ate readily from my hand, but I knew it would be a matter of taking care of her until she died & didn't think I could bare it after one loss) : Here's the Salvador part. Someone gave me this pathetic creature about 7 years ago-- he had massive melted scales on his belly-- to the point where I did not even know if they were scabs or what. He had a terrible virus that was causing erruptions on his tail, ruining scales, & many scratches/scars. I thought this thing was hardly worth putting $ into because he surely wasn't going to make it. Then I fell in love with him-- my maternal instinct kicked in hard! I was applying salve to his belly, giving him antibiotic shots in the back for 3 weeks, & reading everything I could find about iguanas. He ate like a pig & grew to a nice 5 feet orange male-- but he was so sweet. Sure he tried to mate with my boyfriend's arm once & did mate with several clothing items & towels, but he always lowered his head to MOM & let me kiss his forehead or scaley neck. He never bit me or opened his mouth to me in 7 years. He never whipped me. He would lift his tail to warn when I held an object he did not recognize, but never : whipped. He would bob his head to let me know who is boss. He would try to eat the yellow circles when you were looking for a job. If he saw you eating from across the room, he would scamper over & scratch at you until you gave him some-- or steal it right out of your hands. He was potty trained to wait until I came home from work- I would put him in the bathtub & he would go (my new one is already trained in the same manner, although he'll go again anywhere but in his cage) Salvador starred in a local commercial, went to the park & kidergarden classes, & anywhere else that I could show him off! He was such a character & I'll give you my web site address after I update it-- it's dated since he died. Oh-- I forgot to mention that my parakeet rode around on his tail. The bird loved him! & he tolerated the bird--tried to ignore him mostly. : I am not sure why he died-- there are several causes. We had an autopsy. He came down with a respiratory infection Sat night & He died Mon on the way to the vet. Looking back, I believe I missed some signs, chalking it up to him getting older. His autopsy showed he had spleen damage & liver(or kidney--can't remember now) but the damage was long term. I know I fed him right & gave him the right care, but I wonder if the damage in his youth took some years off the back end of his life. He also had several objects in his stomach that had been there for years (a penny, a rock, & a toy 6" slug) which probably caused him to back up passing some bacteria (so the vet said) I wish I would have paid more attention to his stools, but he had a bad history of eating things he shouldn't & then passing them later (so it was not odd for him to go awhile without having a good looking stool-- until he passed a rock or newspaper article or any other inanimate object he could get his claws on) Also, the penny could have caused some damage-- poisoning to some degree. So I am not really sure which thing was too much for him to handle or if it was his past catching up to him, but whatever the case, I wish I could turn back time to about a year before, & had bloodwork/xrays or whatever so I would have known. Maybe he could have lived a lot longer. I was so happy he made it through our wedding & the holidays-- too bad he couldn't at least make it until 2000. At least I was there with him at the end... this will sound silly, but I imagine this scaley little flying iguana angel flapping around me. & I did have a good dream the other night-- I swear it was real-- I was laying on my side & He crawled in the bed, looking at me intelligenlty as if he was there to comfort me & would allow this human indulgence just this once. Then he lay against me, licking me & putting his arms back & going to sleep. I put my arm around him & could actually feel his big scales again! I was soooo happy! Now you all know I am a bit overly sentimental & crazed! My new lizards are adorable, but don't have my entire heart I'm afraid. Maybe one day... : Sorry this is so long. Hope no one is bored. : That is my lizard story-- believe me, I could go on, but I think that was long enough... : -xta

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