The Toasted Tidbit of Tindalos
Jun. 30th, 2003 10:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
helen99We'd already agreed, no more animals. No. More. Animals. There simply isn't enough floor or wall space to put any more tanks. So a few weeks ago, when ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rialian walked into the house saying, "you are going to kill me, but I had to", I knew what had happened. Instead of asking "why am I going to kill you," I asked,
"What do you have?"
He opened the box, and inside was a tiny iguana (about 3 inches long). Its owners had left it in a tank with a heat rock which had malfunctioned (as they often do). If an iguana is on a heat rock which gradually becomes hotter and hotter due to a malfunction, the iguana will not feel it - their system adjusts to whatever the temperature is if the change is gradual. A sudden change would be noted and responded to, but not a gradual change. So as the heat rock continued to heat up, he didn't get off of it, and his underside was badly burned. There were crusts and scabs all along his belly, legs, and tail, and his back was dry and brittle. He was literally toast. As soon as I saw him, I was also toast. I, who would never *ever* consider getting a klutzy, messy, dangerous, crotchety, silly-looking animal like an iguana, was instantly adopted by this little toasted dragon. The first week we soaked him daily in a dilute solution of betadine to make sure there was no infection. Gruadually, the crusts started to fall off as he shed the burned skin and scales. The areas where he was burned are not green - they're sort of a transluscent grey - he lost all of his scales on his tummy. I still take him out every day to get him used to being held, and soak him in the sink to help keep him moist so he doesn't get brittle and dry again. When Rialian first brought him in, I asked what his name was, and he said "Something that starts with a T, but I don't know what it is". I don't think I'm going to name him "The Toasted Tidbit of Tindalos", but that does start with a "T"...
rialian walked into the house saying, "you are going to kill me, but I had to", I knew what had happened. Instead of asking "why am I going to kill you," I asked,"What do you have?"
He opened the box, and inside was a tiny iguana (about 3 inches long). Its owners had left it in a tank with a heat rock which had malfunctioned (as they often do). If an iguana is on a heat rock which gradually becomes hotter and hotter due to a malfunction, the iguana will not feel it - their system adjusts to whatever the temperature is if the change is gradual. A sudden change would be noted and responded to, but not a gradual change. So as the heat rock continued to heat up, he didn't get off of it, and his underside was badly burned. There were crusts and scabs all along his belly, legs, and tail, and his back was dry and brittle. He was literally toast. As soon as I saw him, I was also toast. I, who would never *ever* consider getting a klutzy, messy, dangerous, crotchety, silly-looking animal like an iguana, was instantly adopted by this little toasted dragon. The first week we soaked him daily in a dilute solution of betadine to make sure there was no infection. Gruadually, the crusts started to fall off as he shed the burned skin and scales. The areas where he was burned are not green - they're sort of a transluscent grey - he lost all of his scales on his tummy. I still take him out every day to get him used to being held, and soak him in the sink to help keep him moist so he doesn't get brittle and dry again. When Rialian first brought him in, I asked what his name was, and he said "Something that starts with a T, but I don't know what it is". I don't think I'm going to name him "The Toasted Tidbit of Tindalos", but that does start with a "T"...
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Re:
Date: 2003-06-30 02:26 pm (UTC)