sing like wildflowers

Recently, our beloved Dart had some medical drama! Last Wednesday, out of nowhere, Dart’s tail developed a red, dry, and inflamed tail. The redness was around the middle area of its tail too.

At this sight, the E-trio freaked out instantly! Elliot had read about leopard geckos getting tail rot and the redness looked similar to it. We instantly assumed it was tail rot and thought the worst was going to happen to Dart.

It took me a day to decide what to do since Ellis was feeling sick and took her rescue med for 2 days in a row. I couldn’t make an appointment for Dart in case we had to go to the ER. It was mental overwork for me.

This whole time Elliot was coping but he cried, more like weep, two times over Dart. He was upset with himself and us that Dart was not getting as much attention as Teddy and he was upset that we had to leave a musical show early because Ellis was getting chills and developing a fever on Wednesday night. I understand how tough it must be for him to be at the whim of his sister’s condition. But it was a proud moment for this mama to see how he didn’t take it his anger or frustration on anyone. We talked about it later and he confessed that it took a lot out of him to control his emotions.

I digress. Ellis was feeling better by the next morning so I made an appointment for Dart that Thursday afternoon. When I asked Gemini how much a tail amputation might cost, it gave an estimate of $800-$1000 for the exotic vets in our area. I sighed and gulped a bit. Elliot and I made a compromise that we’d settle for a lesser amount or else we’d have to euthanize. He agreed. I told Chris that we were heading out for the appointment, and he told us to wait since he was 3 minutes away from home. I initially thought he was so thoughtful to go with us, but he smirked and said he wanted to preclude us from making bad financial decisions!!

Dart was seen by the vet and he did a quick examination of Dart’s tail. Thankfully, it wasn’t tail rot. It was a bacterial infection from a cricket’s bite! Dart is a clueless hunter and will only eat when a cricket or mealworm is dangling in front of its face on a metal tong. So a cricket might have been accidentally dropped and forgotten in the terrarium. Well, that cricket was determined to seek revenge and bit its predator in the tail.

On the drive to the vet’s office, Chris had set our budget to $200 and I thought that was enough budget to euthanize him. A tail amputation? Forget it. That’s probably way out of budget. But God was so good to us and Dart!! The tail treatment came up to $204 and I declined the $400 blood test. The vet said that he would clamp the tail and that would make Dart release its tail. It was a 3-5 second procedure and its tail was flopping around by itself.

I brought the tail home as a souvenir! Dart is now on antibiotics for 2 weeks and gets a betaiodine soak every night till the open wound seals and scabs.

Big news! Dart is a female. So we gave her a feminine middle name “Darcie.”

Dart has been the center of attention at home since last Wednesday and her tail drama has challenged us as pet owners. She only weighs 55 grams but she is a a beloved member of our family. I am so thankful to God that her vet bill was reasonable and that she is on the mend. It’s been a growing experience for all of us!