It is with sorrow and regret that I have to write in here about our precious Baron Greenback who only spent but a week with us in our care. I hadn't reported this sooner as I couldn't bring my self around to writing it, and obviously neither could Simon.
Baron Greenback was our Yemen Chameleon that we collected from Northampton on the previous Saturday (24/01) and brought so happily into our home.
He was a cheeky character and he would hand feed from Simon and he was lovely, he never let you out of his sight when he was awake, he was a lazy lizard who didn't wake to bask until nearly lunchtime even though the light would go on at 10am. We were so happy with him and he really made a difference to us.
He was a joint venture of Simon and myself, Simon wanted a lizard and I've always wanted a chameleon so that's how we ended up looking for our perfect pet.
On Monday (02/02) Baron kept acting strangely, he kept hissing and falling about, into plants. In the morning he fell and got himself tangled up and by the time I realised he was stuck and not hiding he was so cold he had no energy to fight me anymore, so I carefully placed him in his basking area so he could warm up again, I feared that if I'd not have rescued him he would have gone then. As the day progressed he continued moving around and hissing a lot. By the evening when the children had gone to bed he fell from the top of his housing to the floor (chameleons, according to Simon, NEVER fall) he looked in a bad way, I got him out and tried to get him to hang on to his basking area but try as I might he would NOT let me go, so I ended up in agony holding him up to his light. I realised this was having no affect and he seemed to actually start shying away from it, so I gently hobbled over to the bed and sat him on my hand whilst I did other things, he was fading rapidly so I gave him my full attention, he could no longer hiss, he just opened his mouth and motioned towards the sound but nothing came out, I was in tears, our baby was dying after only a week of knowing him.
I tried to syringe feed him water as Simon was worried that it was because he was so dehydrated, but this wasn't working, the stubborn bugger shut his mouth tight so I couldn't get in, I didn't want to hurt him by forcing it open.
He closed his eyes, I knew he had gone, his heart was still going and his lungs still working but his little precious soul had said goodbye to me and was gone, he fell onto his side and sighed. We placed him gently into the flexarium for him to go quietly without any disturbance (he had gone already he was just breathing but we wouldn't and couldn't help him go)
I'm heartbroken and so is Simon, we cannot believe that he has gone, after showing NO signs of illness apart from a dizzy day on Monday.
We would have taken him to the vet in the morning after his first entanglement with the plant had we known that was the start of it all (he didn't really fall that time, he just slid into the leaves).
Now it leaves me to say goodbye and farewell to Baron Greenback.
Rest in Peace little man.
Baron Greenback was our Yemen Chameleon that we collected from Northampton on the previous Saturday (24/01) and brought so happily into our home.
He was a cheeky character and he would hand feed from Simon and he was lovely, he never let you out of his sight when he was awake, he was a lazy lizard who didn't wake to bask until nearly lunchtime even though the light would go on at 10am. We were so happy with him and he really made a difference to us.
He was a joint venture of Simon and myself, Simon wanted a lizard and I've always wanted a chameleon so that's how we ended up looking for our perfect pet.
On Monday (02/02) Baron kept acting strangely, he kept hissing and falling about, into plants. In the morning he fell and got himself tangled up and by the time I realised he was stuck and not hiding he was so cold he had no energy to fight me anymore, so I carefully placed him in his basking area so he could warm up again, I feared that if I'd not have rescued him he would have gone then. As the day progressed he continued moving around and hissing a lot. By the evening when the children had gone to bed he fell from the top of his housing to the floor (chameleons, according to Simon, NEVER fall) he looked in a bad way, I got him out and tried to get him to hang on to his basking area but try as I might he would NOT let me go, so I ended up in agony holding him up to his light. I realised this was having no affect and he seemed to actually start shying away from it, so I gently hobbled over to the bed and sat him on my hand whilst I did other things, he was fading rapidly so I gave him my full attention, he could no longer hiss, he just opened his mouth and motioned towards the sound but nothing came out, I was in tears, our baby was dying after only a week of knowing him.
I tried to syringe feed him water as Simon was worried that it was because he was so dehydrated, but this wasn't working, the stubborn bugger shut his mouth tight so I couldn't get in, I didn't want to hurt him by forcing it open.
He closed his eyes, I knew he had gone, his heart was still going and his lungs still working but his little precious soul had said goodbye to me and was gone, he fell onto his side and sighed. We placed him gently into the flexarium for him to go quietly without any disturbance (he had gone already he was just breathing but we wouldn't and couldn't help him go)
I'm heartbroken and so is Simon, we cannot believe that he has gone, after showing NO signs of illness apart from a dizzy day on Monday.
We would have taken him to the vet in the morning after his first entanglement with the plant had we known that was the start of it all (he didn't really fall that time, he just slid into the leaves).
Now it leaves me to say goodbye and farewell to Baron Greenback.
Rest in Peace little man.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment