PardalisGirl
Avid Member
Tuesday was a tough and sad day for me. I've had one Veiled pair in my collection. Kyros and Zafia. Both wild caughts. I've had them for about six months. Both as hissy and pissy as they could be. I don't handle them much. The female became gravid about two weeks ago. She was gorgeous and healthy looking. A good eater. Then on Monday I noticed her eyes looked a bit sunken. I took a close look at her. Everything seemed fine with the rest of her body. She had just eaten a big silkworm and was drinking normally. I decided to give her one more day and take her to the vet if she still looked off on Tuesday. Tuesday morning she had that look of death. Her belly was tight with swelling. My vet got me into his schedule within an hour. He confirmed what I thought. She had an internal egg issue and would not survive surgery to correct it. I had him put her to sleep and then I watched as he cut her open to see what the problem was and if the eggs were developed enough for incubation.
Gravid female Veileds have two sets of egg "strings" inside them. One on each side of the body. With my female one string looked normal. The eggs were probably about 10 days away from being laid. They were not fully calcified. I'm going to try to incubate them even though it's unlikely they will hatch. The other string of eggs was a mess. Several egg yolks had ruptured along the string and fused into two large masses. The other eggs in the string were turning into mush. You could see that the bacteria from the situation was spreading out into the body. The vet pointed out areas of irritation in the body cavity interior caused by infection. The normal fat pad on that side had started to deteriorate. The organs looked good but the liver had a little patch of bacteria laden pus forming on it. I learned a lot from having the vet point out everything he noticed inside her body.
There was no possiblility of her surviving the situation. It made me feel a little better knowing that the outward signs of trouble did not become noticeable until it was already way to late to treat her with antibiotics. Something went wrong with her egg follicals on that side. Probably right at the time of fertilization. It really hurts to lose her. I don't have a single picture of her. She would bask in her cage as bold as she could be when I was out of the room. As soon as I walked into the room she would hide behind a plant. I would peek into the room before I walked in so I could see what she was up to. She ate lots of food, drank water at each misting and was happy to be out in the open in front of all the other chams in the room. She would stay out in the open when all seven cats were in the room with her too. She just did not like me (or any other human) one bit. That's why I don't have a single picture of her.
I brought her home so I can bury her in my yard. I came home to find 23 beautiful large eggs laid by one of my two gravid Diego Suarez females. She had started digging the day before and finished laying while I was gone. Not even those eggs cheered me up.....Boo Hoo....I miss Zafia....I still want to peek in the door before I go into the room she was in
Gravid female Veileds have two sets of egg "strings" inside them. One on each side of the body. With my female one string looked normal. The eggs were probably about 10 days away from being laid. They were not fully calcified. I'm going to try to incubate them even though it's unlikely they will hatch. The other string of eggs was a mess. Several egg yolks had ruptured along the string and fused into two large masses. The other eggs in the string were turning into mush. You could see that the bacteria from the situation was spreading out into the body. The vet pointed out areas of irritation in the body cavity interior caused by infection. The normal fat pad on that side had started to deteriorate. The organs looked good but the liver had a little patch of bacteria laden pus forming on it. I learned a lot from having the vet point out everything he noticed inside her body.
There was no possiblility of her surviving the situation. It made me feel a little better knowing that the outward signs of trouble did not become noticeable until it was already way to late to treat her with antibiotics. Something went wrong with her egg follicals on that side. Probably right at the time of fertilization. It really hurts to lose her. I don't have a single picture of her. She would bask in her cage as bold as she could be when I was out of the room. As soon as I walked into the room she would hide behind a plant. I would peek into the room before I walked in so I could see what she was up to. She ate lots of food, drank water at each misting and was happy to be out in the open in front of all the other chams in the room. She would stay out in the open when all seven cats were in the room with her too. She just did not like me (or any other human) one bit. That's why I don't have a single picture of her.
I brought her home so I can bury her in my yard. I came home to find 23 beautiful large eggs laid by one of my two gravid Diego Suarez females. She had started digging the day before and finished laying while I was gone. Not even those eggs cheered me up.....Boo Hoo....I miss Zafia....I still want to peek in the door before I go into the room she was in
