Charlie

[Libby]

   

Unfortunately my return back is not a happy one.  The happy stories I have to tell will have to wait.  Because today I found Charlie not moving.  He was lying like he always does when he sleeps with his feet spread behind him but he didn't pop his head up this time.  He has been sick the past few months.  I was having to catch crickets and feed them to him for the past month.  He stopped running for them.  He had a few good days where he took over again and I thought he was on the mend.  But then he started to lose weight again and it was back to hand feeding him.  And then this past week he wouldn't move much.  I knew his days were numbered but I didn't want to admit it.  I went threw this before with Kate so I knew the signs.  I think he swallowed something because no matter how often I fed him he just stopped putting much weight on and he wouldn't eat much if at all.  Claire who was housed with him seems a little scared.  She will have to stay alone for a few months until I make sure it wasn't a parasite.  She is at a good weight which leads me to believe Charlie ate something he shouldn't have.
He was a social butterfly.  Always wanted to see what I was doing when he heard me.  Loved climbing on me when I would stick my hand in.  I'm just glad hes not in pain anymore.  He didn't drag out like Kate did.  Small blessings. She was sick the whole time I had her which was 6 months.  He only showed signs for about 2 months.

[Catherine]

Libby I am so sorry. Charlie was such a special lizard.  You are going to miss him.
Claire must be lost without him.

You probably kept him going longer with your hand feeding. I find lizards just start to shut down like that at some point. You don't know how old he was. Maybe he was really old. Since you control his food it is less likely to be a parasite. He could have eaten something, but he also could have had cancer. You wouldn't see anything externally. The weight loss and loss of energy and appetite would fit. It is so hard to tell with  the small lizards.

It is so sad when a little guy like Charlie goes. You had so much fun with him.
The small pets seem to leave big empty spaces when they leave us.

Big hugs to you from me and my lizards.

[Catslave]

So sorry about Charlie he'll be chasing crickets over The Rainbow Bridge now.

[Tobi]

Aw! Dear little Charlie. I am sorry for your loss Libby   What a little sweetie.

[Libby]

(05-30-2017, 01:22 PM)Catherine Wrote: Libby I am so sorry. Charlie was such a special lizard.  You are going to miss him.
Claire must be lost without him.

You probably kept him going longer with your hand feeding. I find lizards just start to shut down like that at some point. You don't know how old he was. Maybe he was really old. Since you control his food it is less likely to be a parasite. He could have eaten something, but he also could have had cancer. You wouldn't see anything externally. The weight loss and loss of energy and appetite would fit. It is so hard to tell with  the small lizards.

It is so sad when a little guy like Charlie goes. You had so much fun with him.
The small pets seem to leave big empty spaces when they leave us.

Big hugs to you from me and my lizards.

I'm not 100% on his age but I got him when Kasey and I first started dating.  Which is the same day Kasey told me he loved me.  He wasn't fully grown yet.  So he would have been under a year or right at it.  That would put him at around 4 years, no more than 5.  I took him to my parents and buried him in the area as Kate, my hamsters, and Scratch, my rabbit.
He was a sweetie.  Never minded being held.  Claire seems better today but I'm kinda wondering if she's pregnant.  She's a little fat right now.  So I'm going to keep a close eye on her.  I might be getting a webcam to watch her 24/7.  I cleaned out her tank with antibacterial soap and bleach and gave her a bath.  So if she isn't sick already she should be ok.  Just have to keep an eye on her for an egg or 2.

I cleaned Jack's tank today too.  I had him in a plastic shoe box on the kitchen table while I cleaned his tank.  I was putting everything back in his tank and went to get him and the box was empty.  My mind jumped to the dog, Fennec had been walking threw a little bit before and I saw him look at Jack so my heart dropped.  I stopped and thought to myself, "the box isn't knocked over it's just sitting there. If Fennec had done anything the box would be in the floor and there would have been a scuffle.  Which I would have heard."  I stopped, caught my breath, and started to look around.  I found Jack on the chair seat right under the box.  Either he found out how to get the lid off or I didn't snap it shut.  I grabbed him and started crying.  He is now safe in his tank.  My sanity is registering pretty low now after Charlie and then Jack giving me a heart attack.

[Libby]

Thank you everyone! It rough but I know he's better off now.

[Catherine]

Wow do I know that feeling. You go to put a reptile back in a clean tank and it is missing. They are all escape artists. I have plastic boxes with locking lids that have holes drilled in them for air. I still had a snake escape. It was found in the house next door.
I am so glad you found Jack.

It would be great if Claire is pregnant. We can hope for eggs.
Charlie was a bit young to die like that. I wonder if he did have cancer.
It is sweet that he is with your other pets. We all have our special garden places where our little friends rest.

Could Claire and Jack share a tank? They must be similar ages.

I hope things settle down and you can feel calmer.

[Libby]

(05-31-2017, 02:06 PM)Catherine Wrote: Wow do I know that feeling. You go to put a reptile back in a clean tank and it is missing. They are all escape artists. I have plastic boxes with locking lids that have holes drilled in them for air. I still had a snake escape. It was found in the house next door.
I am so glad you found Jack.

It would be great if Claire is pregnant. We can hope for eggs.
Charlie was a bit young to die like that. I wonder if he did have cancer.
It is sweet that he is with your other pets. We all have our special garden places where our little friends rest.

Could Claire and Jack share a tank? They must be similar ages.

I hope things settle down and you can feel calmer.

It was a bad couple days.  They are about the same age.  Claire is a lot smaller though so I'll have to keep an eye on her to make sure Jack doesn't bully her.  I'm going to wait 6 weeks before I introduce Jack to Claire though.  By then I will know if what ever Charlie had is contagious (which I'm sure it wasn't since she isn't sick now.) and if she has an egg or 2 she will have laid them by then and can recoup before being throw with a new mate.  I don't want to stress her out too much.  She's just recently started getting used to being held.

I'm reading up on incubating leopard gecko eggs again.  I haven't read up on it since I first got them.  I have 2 egg containers specifically made for gecko eggs.  It holds up to 12 each.  They have thermometers in them too.  I bought them several months ago just in case.  With any luck they will come in handy now.

[Catherine]

You are smart to give Claire some time before you introduce her to Jack.  If she is pregnant she won't want to have a new male around. 
When you do introduce them you should rearrange the tank so it is new for both of them. That is what a breeder told me works best when introducing two Leopard Geckoes.

It will be exciting if Claire has eggs. You already have your egg containers so you are good to go. You can give her some peat moss to lay her eggs in or something like it. Lizards and other reptiles like a clean moist place to lay their eggs.

It would be sweet to have Charlie's babies. It would be like he left part of himself behind.

[Libby]

I've been watching YouTube videos and most breeders big and small seem to use ground coconut fibers. And after the eggs are hatched and moved to the incubator use Horticulture hermiculite. 1 to 1 ratio of water to hermiculite. The peat moss I found but it didn't tell me what I needed to know as far as it being ok for geckos. They are equal in price and pretty equal.
Everything is set and ready. I made sure to get everything set by last night.
I'm on my phone but I'll post a few of the videos I found on breeding when I get home.