The Karma Progress Thread

[GoodKarma19]

Poor little man. Hopefully you got some sleep last night and did not stay up googling all night lol. How is he liking his enclosure with everything you have done to it? You got a mist king too right?

Well, I got a bit of sleep... and then I woke up and couldn't quite fall asleep again!

Karma seems to be more or less content with his enclosure, and has been much more active than he had been prior to reorganizing his cage/upgrading his lights. I've been absolutely slammed at work, though, and haven't had the chance to set up the MistKing yet! I did read the manual/watch a video though, so hopefully it won't be too bad. I'll try to get it set up at some point this week. At least his hydration levels look pretty good!

I hope everything turns out well, and these are just some minor bumps along his recovery road. I'm still so thankful you had the heart to take this on. I think that's an amazing thing.

Oh believe me, I'm not especially discouraged! I'm very familiar with how slowly reptiles can recover. I was hoping that Karma would be a little more progressed at this point as his recovery was looking so promising, but set backs were expected. I definitely have no regrets in taking Karma on, and am grateful for the learning experience! He'll get better one way or the other if I have anything to say about it!

Karma and I appreciate the continued encouragement!

~Amanda

 

[Calummaty Jane]

What an amazing story. I'm pulling for little Karma. It definitely gives me pause as I contemplate bringing in one of these animals to my life: it is easy to be a neglectful reptile owner...they are just so physically and psychologically different from us and the birds and mammals we usually keep.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Phew, it's been a busy week!! Lots of late night emergency surgeries. I'm exhausted!

I ran a fecal float today, and Karma's finally parasite free. I'll recheck again in a week or two just in case, but it looks promising! One of our locum vets with a special interest in reptiles was in today, so we had a long chat and she agrees that Karma may be vitamin deficient. Since he's still refusing to eat on his own, I'll be adding 1 drop of 10,000 UI Vitamin A (retinol palmitate gel capsules) to his formula once a week for 2-3 weeks, and then reassess his condition.

Otherwise, Karma's still his grumpy little self and has been quite active. He just won't eat for me right now, and I don't want to starve him out when he has so little weight to spare!

I've been putting some thought into Karma's next enclosure, and I think I'm going to go all in and try my hand at a bioactive build with an Exo Terra 36x18x36 glass enclosure, including a "Great Stuff" foam background. I'm not 100% sold yet and have some serious researching to do, but I won't be starting a build for a few months yet so why not! It seems like an awesome artistic endeavor, and it really appeals to me.

I think I'll stop by a local greenhouse and poke through their plants. Maybe someone on shift will have some ideas!

~Amanda

 

[Beman]

Phew, it's been a busy week!! Lots of late night emergency surgeries. I'm exhausted!

I ran a fecal float today, and Karma's finally parasite free. I'll recheck again in a week or two just in case, but it looks promising! One of our locum vets with a special interest in reptiles was in today, so we had a long chat and she agrees that Karma may be vitamin deficient. Since he's still refusing to eat on his own, I'll be adding 1 drop of 10,000 UI Vitamin A (retinol palmitate gel capsules) to his formula once a week for 2-3 weeks, and then reassess his condition.

Otherwise, Karma's still his grumpy little self and has been quite active. He just won't eat for me right now, and I don't want to starve him out when he has so little weight to spare!

I've been putting some thought into Karma's next enclosure, and I think I'm going to go all in and try my hand at a bioactive build with an Exo Terra 36x18x36 glass enclosure, including a "Great Stuff" foam background. I'm not 100% sold yet and have some serious researching to do, but I won't be starting a build for a few months yet so why not! It seems like an awesome artistic endeavor, and it really appeals to me.

I think I'll stop by a local greenhouse and poke through their plants. Maybe someone on shift will have some ideas!

~Amanda

Awesome girl! so happy to hear that he is free and clear of the parasites now! On the right track. I hope the vitamins will help his eye. Bioactive huh there have been a few awesome threads lately on this.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Karma's eating a bit on his own again as of right now! I offered him a cricket from a pair of feeding tweezers, and he gobbled it up after I rubbed it on his lips! I repeated this a couple times, and while he wasnt overly enthusiastic (probably because he had already been syringe fed) he did eat several crickets for me. His tongue seems a little weak and his aim was off, but he managed to get most of them at a 1-2" range. The tweezers have a pretty firm grip and I was struggling with it a little, so it was a little tougher than it could have been. Karma's very concerned regarding my fingers, so I didn't want to push him! He may have a hard time feeding with his eye/tongue have some coordination issues, and I'll try a combination of hand feeding and cup feeding going forward.

Yay!

Awesome girl! so happy to hear that he is free and clear of the parasites now! On the right track. I hope the vitamins will help his eye. Bioactive huh there have been a few awesome threads lately on this.

Yes, I've been very eagerly devouring the bioactive threads! I think I'll start by making a "living wall" piece to serve as a free range. I have just the spot for it above my desk, and I have a spare plant/uvb light I can suspend from the ceiling. I'll do some number crunching..
I'm a little light on cash right now, but I'm feeling creative! Karma had his first dose of vitamin A today, and I've got my fingers crossed!

 

[Beman]

Karma's eating a bit on his own again as of right now! I offered him a cricket from a pair of feeding tweezers, and he gobbled it up after I rubbed it on his lips! I repeated this a couple times, and while he wasnt overly enthusiastic (probably because he had already been syringe fed) he did eat several crickets for me. His tongue seems a little weak and his aim was off, but he managed to get most of them at a 1-2" range. The tweezers have a pretty firm grip and I was struggling with it a little, so it was a little tougher than it could have been. Karma's very concerned regarding my fingers, so I didn't want to push him! He may have a hard time feeding with his eye/tongue have some coordination issues, and I'll try a combination of hand feeding and cup feeding going forward.

Yay!
View attachment 223562



Yes, I've been very eagerly devouring the bioactive threads! I think I'll start by making a "living wall" piece to serve as a free range. I have just the spot for it above my desk, and I have a spare plant/uvb light I can suspend from the ceiling. I'll do some number crunching..
I'm a little light on cash right now, but I'm feeling creative! Karma had his first dose of vitamin A today, and I've got my fingers crossed!

That is really cool. Post pics when you complete it

 

[Beman]

It is awesome that he is taking even a few of his feeders! Do you have the reptile tweezers? They are much easier to use.

 

[GoodKarma19]

I have a pair of the ZooMed short feeding tongs. They're very grippy! I might try a longer pair of a different style, but I definitely won't be dropping any feeders with these ones haha!

I'll definitely be posting pictures once I get started on the living wall project! I'll go and price it out and make some decisions.

 

[Beman]

I have a pair of the ZooMed short feeding tongs. They're very grippy! I might try a longer pair of a different style, but I definitely won't be dropping any feeders with these ones haha!

I'll definitely be posting pictures once I get started on the living wall project! I'll go and price it out and make some decisions.

You might like these ones. I really like them and you don't have to hold on with a death grip. Plus they have some length between you and the Cham. I don't know how they compare to yours but they are about 8.5 inches long and comes with both the curved and straight for 6 bucks. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HRI4U7Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[GoodKarma19]

Ooh, I might have to try those! I think there's a similar model I can pick up locally. Karma would probably appreciate the additional distance - my current ones are about 5 inches. Thanks!

 

[Beman]

Ooh, I might have to try those! I think there's a similar model I can pick up locally. Karma would probably appreciate the additional distance - my current ones are about 5 inches. Thanks!

Your welcome hun!