I wanted to follow up from my vet visit earlier this week with Kaiju, the new Halmahera BTS. I have had him for 3 weeks now
I took him to the vet to get a wellness check and to look at a dark spot on the base of his tail and his stuck shed around the bottom part of his tail. This was really difficult for me to do, as I was afraid that his "personality" would be affected by the stress. My vet, who owns a 15 year old grouchy Northern BTS, and worked at a zoo for many years, reassured me that his brain is not big enough to be affected. Lol. That helped me.
As for the visit, it was really great to hear from someone so passionate about reptiles and proper BTS care. I am very glad I brought him in, as his tail had many layers of previous shed stuck which had been cutting of circulation! The vet said a few more sheds, maybe even this one, and it would have been amputated for sure. I had been soaking him every other day to help, but it took him actually cutting it off - a LOT of skin. It is apparent that previous sheds in his life had not been properly tended to. Because of this suffocation, he had infection around the injury. The vet is optimistic with Kaiju, but told me that infections can quickly be grave with reptiles.
He received a shot of antibiotics, and was given cream for me to put on daily. He will go back Friday and then Monday for another shot (I could do it myself, but I don't want him associating me holding him in his room with pain).
My vet told me that he refused to see the animals of our local Pet Stores because of how sick they were coming in and how the stores refused to make changes to keep the animal safe, alive, and healthy. He used to be the area's "reptile vet" for the box stores, but refused due to ethical reasons. I wish that I wouldn't have contributed to the reptile trade, but I am also glad to give my guy the best life I can now.
He is on paper towels right now and I FEEL SO BAD!!! He is so "exposed" and really hissing a lot and opening his mouth defensively when I mess around in his enclosure. I try to hold him and give him treats when he opens his mouth at me, which he's very gentle and receptive when held, but I just feel bad.
Has anyone else had their BTS on paper towels? If so, for how long? The only reason he's on the papertowels is because of the cream I put on him daily can have substrate "stick" to it as it dries. Do you think it's safe to go back to the previous?
