Eddie
Oedipus T Rex (the T. stands for Tiberius) died at approximately 6 p.m. on 3/15/10. He who was commonly known as "Eddie" shall be missed by his human family, the Cocheos.
His sudden illness, hospitalization and death was a shock to us all. His decline in eating was thought to be due to his regularly scheduled shedding, though it was unknown that he needed more sunlight, which he could not get due to it being winter. The lamp did not provide enough UV-B rays, and this was found out way too late. There were a couple of other misconceptions and misunderstanding that we were told were accurate and true information about him and his species, which means that this weekend was a great learning experience about green iguanas. Totally a happy lizard up until his decline on Friday, he would only display his dewlap when Raegan was around (smart lizard) as she's a smoker and likes to wear red. And really, he hadn't shown his dewlap for at least a year, pointing out that he's been a happy and content lizard, comfortable with his surroundings.
After the death of Simba, the persian cat, Shannon was looking to find a replacement kitty for me. She happened across the listing at CLT's Animal Control that they had exotics, saw the picture of Eddie (as displayed as my icon) and sent the link to me showing how cute he is, just to point out the cuteness, not to suggest we get him. I replied with a "can we get him?" - much to her surprise (or so she says). The worker at Animal Control put on welder's gloves to pull him from his enclosure and held him out.. I pet him on top of his head and underneath his chin, and he fell asleep - she looked at me and said, "when do you want to take him?" The next day we got him as the front office had closed by that point.
Initially we had him in a 10 gallon tank, then a larger 40 gallon, then the combination of the two, then when I moved my office down from the apartment above the garage he became a free-roaming lizard. Finally designed and built a habitat for him and even included doors, though they stayed open. He would meander out, find his way to sit on top of the old monitor for my digitizing computer and he was my "monitor lizard" - heated from beneath and happy. He would give me digitizing tips and support. Friendly to all, eventually even including Raegan, practically everyone that would stop in would stop over and look at him, say "hi" and more often than not ask for a petting of him. He liked us - or so I believe. His favorite activity seemed to be to take a swim in the tub or be my "monitor lizard".
Now I have a habitat that I may take down and burn the wood parts. Not much else I can do with it now and I think that unless there's another lizard that says to us that we need to get him, we won't get a replacement for awhile. Since 485 is coming through, I went with a cremation.
So... Friday, I go into the office and see him limp and laying on his side over one of the climbing structures in his home. Weird position and I panic. I can't type at anyone or do anything but dial Shannon's cell phone. I put him in water, I offer food... nothing, he's just lethargic. I note at that point that he has atrophied a bit. What's weird about lizards is that they do that, a sudden decline after presenting so well for so long. Seems that the pellets he had become so much of a fan of were actually bad for him as they had too much protein in them and that caused kidney problems. I thought it was a good thing that he was eating that stuff, which is what the books all told me, since he needed alfalfa and, hey, at least he was eating. The other issue that affected him adversely was the sunlight one. Well, we've had an extremely cold winter and I know that part did not help, he also would climb onto the windowsill and bask, which I thought was a good thing. Again, the glass stopped the majority of the UV-B rays, which he needs, so it was him expressing that he needed more sunlight. The additional issue of the lightbulb only being good for 4 to 6 months wasn't something we knew either as nowhere does it say anything about that. That lightbulb was in there for well over a year. The rapid decline that revealed itself on Friday the 12th had me in a panic as I said. Shannon got home and we went to a place she found up in Kannapolis - Griffin Exotics. They only deal in exotic animals, birds, lizards, ferrets, turtles, things like that - and only small ones so no alpacas (not that I have any alpacas around anymore either and not that the ones that were around were mine). They recommended hospitalization for the weekend and intensive care after that. Monday, I went and got him, was instructed on the continuing care to administer to him, hand feeding and medication and all that. On the way home he clenched up, stretched out, tensed up, closed his third eyelid and really scared both Anthony and I. Had to pull over to the side of the offramp to see if he was still alive. Finally got him home and set him up in his habitat, gave him some water and was about to give him food after I ate, and I came back to a dead lizard. Still not convinced as it's kind of difficult to tell exactly, I kept him warm and under the sun-lamp all night long in hopes he wasn't dead. Yep, he was. Like I probably said at the top, I took him to Griffin Exotics and he was pronounced very dead. They were awesome I have to say. If/when (more than likely it's a when and not an if) that we get another exotic pet, we're going to return to them for pet care. Still, hospitalization was expensive, though I feel worthwhile and that we did all we could for him.
Remember Eddie! He was a great lizard. The additional part of his name was given to him by Jaysin - the "T. stands for Tiberius" part.
And no, I couldn't have him turned into a belt either - and no I didn't ask.
We all miss him.
His sudden illness, hospitalization and death was a shock to us all. His decline in eating was thought to be due to his regularly scheduled shedding, though it was unknown that he needed more sunlight, which he could not get due to it being winter. The lamp did not provide enough UV-B rays, and this was found out way too late. There were a couple of other misconceptions and misunderstanding that we were told were accurate and true information about him and his species, which means that this weekend was a great learning experience about green iguanas. Totally a happy lizard up until his decline on Friday, he would only display his dewlap when Raegan was around (smart lizard) as she's a smoker and likes to wear red. And really, he hadn't shown his dewlap for at least a year, pointing out that he's been a happy and content lizard, comfortable with his surroundings.
After the death of Simba, the persian cat, Shannon was looking to find a replacement kitty for me. She happened across the listing at CLT's Animal Control that they had exotics, saw the picture of Eddie (as displayed as my icon) and sent the link to me showing how cute he is, just to point out the cuteness, not to suggest we get him. I replied with a "can we get him?" - much to her surprise (or so she says). The worker at Animal Control put on welder's gloves to pull him from his enclosure and held him out.. I pet him on top of his head and underneath his chin, and he fell asleep - she looked at me and said, "when do you want to take him?" The next day we got him as the front office had closed by that point.
Initially we had him in a 10 gallon tank, then a larger 40 gallon, then the combination of the two, then when I moved my office down from the apartment above the garage he became a free-roaming lizard. Finally designed and built a habitat for him and even included doors, though they stayed open. He would meander out, find his way to sit on top of the old monitor for my digitizing computer and he was my "monitor lizard" - heated from beneath and happy. He would give me digitizing tips and support. Friendly to all, eventually even including Raegan, practically everyone that would stop in would stop over and look at him, say "hi" and more often than not ask for a petting of him. He liked us - or so I believe. His favorite activity seemed to be to take a swim in the tub or be my "monitor lizard".
Now I have a habitat that I may take down and burn the wood parts. Not much else I can do with it now and I think that unless there's another lizard that says to us that we need to get him, we won't get a replacement for awhile. Since 485 is coming through, I went with a cremation.
So... Friday, I go into the office and see him limp and laying on his side over one of the climbing structures in his home. Weird position and I panic. I can't type at anyone or do anything but dial Shannon's cell phone. I put him in water, I offer food... nothing, he's just lethargic. I note at that point that he has atrophied a bit. What's weird about lizards is that they do that, a sudden decline after presenting so well for so long. Seems that the pellets he had become so much of a fan of were actually bad for him as they had too much protein in them and that caused kidney problems. I thought it was a good thing that he was eating that stuff, which is what the books all told me, since he needed alfalfa and, hey, at least he was eating. The other issue that affected him adversely was the sunlight one. Well, we've had an extremely cold winter and I know that part did not help, he also would climb onto the windowsill and bask, which I thought was a good thing. Again, the glass stopped the majority of the UV-B rays, which he needs, so it was him expressing that he needed more sunlight. The additional issue of the lightbulb only being good for 4 to 6 months wasn't something we knew either as nowhere does it say anything about that. That lightbulb was in there for well over a year. The rapid decline that revealed itself on Friday the 12th had me in a panic as I said. Shannon got home and we went to a place she found up in Kannapolis - Griffin Exotics. They only deal in exotic animals, birds, lizards, ferrets, turtles, things like that - and only small ones so no alpacas (not that I have any alpacas around anymore either and not that the ones that were around were mine). They recommended hospitalization for the weekend and intensive care after that. Monday, I went and got him, was instructed on the continuing care to administer to him, hand feeding and medication and all that. On the way home he clenched up, stretched out, tensed up, closed his third eyelid and really scared both Anthony and I. Had to pull over to the side of the offramp to see if he was still alive. Finally got him home and set him up in his habitat, gave him some water and was about to give him food after I ate, and I came back to a dead lizard. Still not convinced as it's kind of difficult to tell exactly, I kept him warm and under the sun-lamp all night long in hopes he wasn't dead. Yep, he was. Like I probably said at the top, I took him to Griffin Exotics and he was pronounced very dead. They were awesome I have to say. If/when (more than likely it's a when and not an if) that we get another exotic pet, we're going to return to them for pet care. Still, hospitalization was expensive, though I feel worthwhile and that we did all we could for him.
Remember Eddie! He was a great lizard. The additional part of his name was given to him by Jaysin - the "T. stands for Tiberius" part.
And no, I couldn't have him turned into a belt either - and no I didn't ask.
We all miss him.