Just thought I’d give an update on how the collection is going, after the troubles of late last year. In the end I lost one western bluetongue, one male and one female shingle. The bluetongue was a baby that had various issues related to poor care before it came into my possession. Both of the shingles were obviously quite old, neither of them having any teeth. I probably could have kept going with them, but I think it was the right decision to prevent any suffering.
Happily things are going much better. The last problem shingle has finally eaten today after 3 months of tube feeding. Her condition went up and down a few times and I really didn’t think she was going to make it, until finally in the last week she began to show signs of improvement. I moved her back into the main enclosure a week ago, given the good weather we have finally been having. I suspected she had something to eat a couple of days ago, and today I finally saw her eating. Surprisingly once she started she really wolfed it down. As you can see in the pics below her condition is shocking, so it is quite a relief to see her change today. She is young and I now hope she makes a full recovery. I think she is still pregnant, although I’m not expecting a live birth sadly.
Despite this the breeding season is looking better than expected, with 3 girls looking very gravid and another maybe gravid. A couple of months ago I would have been happy just to have escaped with most of the collection in good health. All the little ones are going strong, although not at quite the same rate as Jeff’s “Alex”
The larger one weighing about 450g today and the 2 smaller ones now around 300g.Will keep you updated – hopefully next time this will mean some pics of new babies...
First pic from ths spring - you can see the female from the last pic to the right with the red head. Note how much condition she has lost below. The bluetongue (top left)
and the orange shingle it is laying on were both eventually lost, and were already in poor condition when this pic was taken.
Pic of the gravid girls getting some late afternoon sun today, just coming into summer shed. The girl to the left is a little cranky after being dug up from her sleeping hole...
2 of last years offspring also enjoying the last sun for the day.
Unwell girl today, showing extreme weight loss over past 3 months.
