EE needs a small pets & exotic pets thread

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Rabbit video 

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Turns out almost everything I had for Moon Shadow can be used for a Chinchilla. All I'd really need to get is the dust for his dust bath and different pellets. Because they are from Chile and that region they do need cooler temps than what I generally put up with.
I want to move anyway, so not necessarily a huge stumbling block.

Crestie looks so sad and frail that I actually have my purple jacket on that he thinks is a giant flower. Would like to see if I can get him more crickets. 

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So Crestie is in trouble and I thought he was depressed, but it might be other things too. 

www.lizards101.com/how-to-tell-if-my-crested-gecko-is-dead/

Physical injury – falling from high structures, broken bones, brain injury, damage to internal organs.


Very high temperatures – this can kill very quickly, even in an hour or less. If there is no temperature gradient in the cage, your crested gecko can die easily from high temperatures. Temperatures of over 80 F (26.6 Celsius) will cause heat stroke and overheating. Especially if there is no gradient.


Chemicals used to clean/paint the enclosure – chemical gases can actually kill a crested gecko. If you decide to paint, seal the cracks or even clean the tank, remove your crested gecko from the tank and keep it in a different room while doing so. Let the tank off-gas before returning your crested gecko. Only use reptile-safe chemicals and always dilute the chemicals such as bleach if using them at all.

Unfortunately it does get over 80 in my place during July and August and just recently parts of June. He has always coped, but he is getting older and I think I haven't done enough misting. I do need to do a deep clean on his cage, but it will be done mostly with water at various temps and diluted or full strength vinegar. He really isn't on a substrate per se. I have moss and other things in there but am aware of the problems because of AJ my first and longest lived Bearded dragon.

He did not even seem to notice the few crickets I released yesterday in his cage. Half or more of the eight? I bought are in the cage and the rest are in the cricket keeper. Given he is lethargic I don't want the crickets preying on him, so I will probably toss in some veggies for them to eat. 

Will check temps in the cage for the gradient. If he's well enough, the coldest part of the cage is where he has been hanging out, although he needs to be inside the heavy manmade reptile cave. I would let the beardeds hibernate in theirs whenever they wanted to. Cresteds sleep with their eyes open, no eye lids, so sometimes its tricky for me to tell if Crestie is asleep, so dehtdrated he's out in the cage somewhere I will notice. I tend to over mist usually in Spring through summer as I don't have a humidifier by him. Mine is actually on its last legs too. Gave Crestie quick lizard first aid, dumped more water on him when I got him into his carry cage. If this is husbandry issues I missed, not severe depression maybe he'll be OK in a week or two. 

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For the preceding post, I did not have Crestie x-rayed, so he might have incurred physical injuries during the earthquake. I'm hoping not, but they could be more subtle than what happened to my beloved Moon Shadow. But the high temps thing is definitely in play. Neither of us have gone through so many high temp heat index days ever, and I've been in this particular location for fifteen ish years.

And the temps are going up today through Monday. 

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ymam.proboards.com/post/3526599

After my doctor's appointment I got the opportunity to get crickets for Crestie. I did look at and talk to the Chincilla, but did not get to hold him. I think he was priced at $190 or $199. IDK.

He has all new cage furniture in blue. He has one of the smaller plastic houses in blue that can be used for guinea pigs, a new bigger chincilla wheel in a slate blue and some kind of tiny hay ball that the small young guinea pigs above him had in their cage. I was pretty excited that just by talking to him for a minute or two, he was willing to come out of the house hide. When I left he was on top of the house hide and squatted down a bit. He was such a round piece of fluff at that point. I don't know how big he is, but he did seem a lot bigger than the last time I was there which may have been a month ago. 

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Male crested gecko vocalizing. I disagree with the bites not being bad. Crestie drew blood once.

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Sounds like a bird! Possible Crestie has done this early morning like 5AM and I did not realize it.
Please send prayers to Crestie. Not sure if my hydration help and cooling will be in time.

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I enjoy watching lizards sun themselves on my patio during the hottest part of the day even though the hottest part of the day is 80F and dry.  Best weather so far in the past 10 years for July.

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More gecko videos

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I just saw a bat attached to the screen on the window with its wings folded as if asleep at 2am.  when I went to get my phone to take a pic, it flew away when I opened the door.

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Still debating on what to do with Crestie's dead body. Unlike past lizards or toads, I buried, he has never been outside for sun etc. And since it's not my property I do not have an ongoing compost bin either he could go into. He's disease free so I hate adding him to the garbage which contributes to the production of methane gas if this garbage is not incinerated first.

Poor Moon Shadow's body was a mess after he got maytaged by the earthquake probably in his wooden hide up against a minimum of two walls. His body was double bagged and slipped gently into the garbage dumpster. It was also Spring not the high heat and sun of August, so I wasn't worried his decomposing body would attract critters to the dumpster.


I feel like it should be a Viking funeral for some reason, but not really set up for that either. IDK TBD

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Find a local park to burry your lizard under a tree so as to continue the life cycle.