Post by kornhypknotic on Apr 3, 2010 14:34:01 GMT -8
Hello!
I am a proud iguana owner of almost a year now. I began as the person that all good iguana owners fear the most . . . "I just think iguana's are so cool and this one's cheap and really friendly!"
Ursula (named after Ursula Iguaran from the book 100 Years Of Solitude) spoke to me from the 10gal tank at a Mexican flea market last May. At that time her SVL was 8". I purchased her and took her back home I did a little more research . . . and realized that she was one very sick lady. MBD, stomatitis, and a broken tibia and I was a poor farm intern earning $300/month. What a dumb move on my part! But I had committed to her, so I built her a habitat out of a dresser, bought her all the right lighting, maintained her temperature, humidity, fed her collards, turnip greens, kale, chard, etc, and gave her baths daily. I even found a vet that understood my financial situation. He actually treated Ursula in exchange for farm produce (I felt like I was in Little House on the Prairie or something . . . exchanging vegetables and free-range eggs for veterinary care ).
Now I am a student of veterinary technology and I'm lucky to have teachers who love Ursula too because this March she had to undergo surgery to remove 27 eggs from her ovaries. I knew that she was gravid for months and finally after 4 weeks of not eating and me treating her with shots of oxytocin and calcium gluconate we decided that she was not going to lay on her own. We were right. The malformed unshelled eggs were located in her ovaries where no amount of medicine could have helped her pass them.
Ursula, now SVL 12", is still recovering from her surgery and she goes into school to get her stitches out this Tuesday! ;D
Soon I'm going to have a more stable source of income so I can make some improvements in her life to make her just as happy and healthy as can be!
I'm excited to be a part of this community! Ursula says howdy to you all as well!
Edit: This is a picture I gave to the vet and vet tech (my teachers) who performed Ursula's life-saving surgery.
I am a proud iguana owner of almost a year now. I began as the person that all good iguana owners fear the most . . . "I just think iguana's are so cool and this one's cheap and really friendly!"
Ursula (named after Ursula Iguaran from the book 100 Years Of Solitude) spoke to me from the 10gal tank at a Mexican flea market last May. At that time her SVL was 8". I purchased her and took her back home I did a little more research . . . and realized that she was one very sick lady. MBD, stomatitis, and a broken tibia and I was a poor farm intern earning $300/month. What a dumb move on my part! But I had committed to her, so I built her a habitat out of a dresser, bought her all the right lighting, maintained her temperature, humidity, fed her collards, turnip greens, kale, chard, etc, and gave her baths daily. I even found a vet that understood my financial situation. He actually treated Ursula in exchange for farm produce (I felt like I was in Little House on the Prairie or something . . . exchanging vegetables and free-range eggs for veterinary care ).
Now I am a student of veterinary technology and I'm lucky to have teachers who love Ursula too because this March she had to undergo surgery to remove 27 eggs from her ovaries. I knew that she was gravid for months and finally after 4 weeks of not eating and me treating her with shots of oxytocin and calcium gluconate we decided that she was not going to lay on her own. We were right. The malformed unshelled eggs were located in her ovaries where no amount of medicine could have helped her pass them.
Ursula, now SVL 12", is still recovering from her surgery and she goes into school to get her stitches out this Tuesday! ;D
Soon I'm going to have a more stable source of income so I can make some improvements in her life to make her just as happy and healthy as can be!
I'm excited to be a part of this community! Ursula says howdy to you all as well!
Edit: This is a picture I gave to the vet and vet tech (my teachers) who performed Ursula's life-saving surgery.