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#2092111
Critter_lover
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 A Real Shocker....
Well let me start off by introducing myself. Hi, I’m Jacky. :). And I’m the proud owner of a female Saharan Uromastyx, whom I’ve named Jerry, as she was supposed to be a male when i bought her. Lol. I have had her for about 2 years now. And she has been quite the critter. Well let me tell you a rather shocking to me, but funny, story. Well Jerry has always been very healthy, adventurous, and quite the piglet. :). 7 months ago i was in the process of setting up a new tank for her, and I left for a few hours to go to the pet store and get her all the works for her new home. Well......... I came home, stumbled into my bedroom where I keep her, and found that she was missing!!!!!! I panicked, and realized that my butt head cat had somehow managed to break into her tank! I have no idea how he possibly did it, but he did it. From the look of the scene of the crime, he had kidnapped my precious! I turned my apartment upside down looking for her. I seriously went loony looking for Jerry. I cried and cried, I looked outside as well, and nothing. Days and days passed by, then weeks, and months. Each day I got more and more depressed. I missed Jerry so much, like a lost child. It was almost a year, when one morning my half awake husband got up to go to the bathroom. I heard him talking to something, and didn’t think much of it. Then slowly he comes into the room and tells me to get up. So here I go, super groggy, falling over still asleep to go see what was the big emergency. I thought it was something like "Look what your dumb cat did now." And much to my utter shock there was Jerry all sprawled out on the bathroom linoleum, looking up at us like "Hey guys, what’s happenin’!". We both just stood there with huge WTF looks on our faces! I couldn’t believe it! I bent down to make sure she was really there. I was so tripped out! I didn’t even pick her up right away. I ran straight to my storage room and started pulling out her old tank and supplies. I was so in shock I didn’t even think to pick her up and put her in something while I set everything up. And of course my husband was still half asleep so he just went and plopped on the bed again. Well, I make my way back to the bathroom to go get her, and she disappeared! I searched for her again, and nothing. Newly crestfallen, I start to think I’m really losing it. :). I finished setting up the tank anyways, just in case she appeared again, then I’d be ready to grab her. Well hours pass and she doesn’t show. I even left yummy escarole lettuce in a plate as Uro "bait". And set up a heat lamp to get her attracted, as I figured she must be freezing! Then I start to thinking, what if there’s a crack under the bathroom sink she has discovered, and is hiding there. And there was! A small crack, about 4 inches long and a quarter inch wide! So I make my husband tear out the ENTIRE vanity, sink, and drawers. After an hour, he manages to pull it all of the wall carefully, and sure enough, there’s Jerry! All huddled in a corner, looking at me like I’m crazy. This time I scoop her up, and take her straight to her tank. She was cooooooold, and much to my surprise, she was not too skinny. I am so in shock still, I just sit in front of her tank to watch her. She was thirsty as can be, but didn’t want anything to eat. She just wanted to bask and drink all the water in the world. After the 2nd day she took a few bites here and there of her fave lettuce blend. And she has been doing good so far. She has gotten her gorgeous yellow coloring back, and is as active as before. She has been bumming around under the heat lamp like its going to run away if she leaves it. :D. Well I was just thrilled to have my girl back, and have put maximum security on her tank, and close the door to keep my cats out. I am just baffled by how a young Uro can go 7 months without food, water, and heat and still live!!!!!! Can someone please tell me how that’s possible?!?!?! I thought she was dead! I’m thinking she maybe went into like some sort of emergency brumation? I don’t exactly know how to explain how she is still living, and now back to normal! As if this never even happened! She is slowly putting on her weight, as she used to be a real chub. Her appetite had been very small as opposed to before her little adventure. Her feces is normal. No odd colors, no bad odor, nothing. Super normal. Just slightly runny as she has been begging for a lot of water. I cut her back from so much water, and it has gone back to normal. My vet said she’d be fine, just keep on feeding. Even he was shocked she was still alive! He did an overall exam, and a fecal, and everything was dandy. She was still as feisty as ever. She gave him a good whack with her tail when he first went to pick her up. Ha Ha Ha. :). I thought I’d share this funny and shocking story with you guys. I guess Uros are real ultimate survivors! I’m proud of Jerry for hanging in there for so long. Uros will never seize to amaze me. :). They are just marvelous. :).
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11/04/09 09:48pm
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#2092143
Patches107
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Message To: Critter_lover In reference to Message Id: 2092111
A Real Shocker....
I’ve never heard of anything like this. Can you post pictures? Because it’s very hard to believe a story like this. It’s just so miraculous and confusing. I don’t get how Jerry was able to get out of the tank in the first place (unless it’s a sliding door tank?), without some sort of assistance, and if the cat did drag her out, then I don’t see how she would have escaped woundless... which would mean if that indeed did happen, Jerry would have been wounded, without heat and light and food for several months and living in the crack of a sink in the mean time.
I guess it is possible... but if this is true, I’d say it’s one of the most bizarre stories I’ve ever heard.
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11/04/09 11:21pm
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#2092149
Mbwrink
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Message To: Patches107 In reference to Message Id: 2092143
A Real Shocker....
I have learned the hard way over the years with reptiles to arrange the cage with some type of clamp/locking system to keep animals in and others out. A cage with lid held only say by weight just doesn’t do the trick for either scenario. It doesn’t surprise me now about it wedging itself into a small space, another owner has post of a picture where their Uro wedged itself into a hollow log you wouldn’t have thought it could get into. Glad the animal turned out all right but find a way to lock down the cage.
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11/04/09 11:34pm
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#2092161
Critter_lover
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Message To: Patches107 In reference to Message Id: 2092143
 A Real Shocker....
I’m not exactly sure how to post pictures. The tank is held down by a screen with clips. I’m thinking i forgot to lock the clips after feeding her. The cat must have been thinking it over, because how else would he know to paw the lid up? I surely don’t know. Them cats are very clever! When i got back the lid was on the floor, along with the heat lamps. I knew it was him, he was the only one home at the time. She had no wounds or scars when i looked her over, and the vet didn’t see anything either. I think he maybe grabbed her by the tail? I wish i had a video camera set up at the time! Oh yeah this is a very very true story! I’m still in dis-belief when i glance at her tank. I didn’t think Uros could take so much! I wish i could have found her sooner. But she truly is very healthy. Can’t even tell she went so long with out anything. Truly remarkable.
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11/05/09 12:32am
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#2092226
Benedita
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Message To: Critter_lover In reference to Message Id: 2092111
A Real Shocker....
Believe it.
Other people have posted similar stories over the years, but I think this is the longest time period I have heard.
My favorite was the person whose uro got out in the car and showed up two months later basking on the dashboard.
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11/05/09 08:18am
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#2092272
Sugar Snap Pea
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Message To: Critter_lover In reference to Message Id: 2092161
A Real Shocker....
It’s possible your uro got away from the cat without a scratch... some cats are more playful than real hunters. Cat grabs uro, uro bites cat, cat lets go, uro runs and hides!
7 months is amazing. I guess being chubby to start with helped a lot. Hiding in the bathroom instead of the closet could have been a lifesaver, she probably snuck out of hiding to lap up water on the floor when nobody was looking. Might have snacked on a spider or roach now and then too.
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11/05/09 11:01am
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#2092307
Obi Carl Kenobi
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Message To: Sugar Snap Pea In reference to Message Id: 2092272
A Real Shocker....
My guess is that the pipes for the hot water would give off heat aswell, explaining the under the sink hiding place. It would have been humid in there though!!!
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11/05/09 01:57pm
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#2092380
Critter_lover
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Message To: Sugar Snap Pea In reference to Message Id: 2092272
A Real Shocker....
Yeah my cat is a gentle boy. He’d tried playing with her before. All he would do is just gently paw at her tail. I’m thinking he wanted her to come out and play. :). And she was smart enough to make a run for it. Lol. I’m just in shock how she found such a small place to squeeze into. Of all places a sink! When we removed the sink and everything all we found in her little "cave" was 2 poops. So she seriously must have went into survival mode. Yeah 7 months was a long time. I have no idea how she did it. But she did, and now when i come up to her cage she just looks at me half asleep, legs spread out as far as they can go, yawns, and shoves her face into her substrate. Must be Uro talk for "I’m glad to be back in my home, now go away minion." :D. I’d love to post pix, but I have no idea how to do so. Help? :).
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11/05/09 06:14pm
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#2092424
Sugar Snap Pea
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Message To: Critter_lover In reference to Message Id: 2092380
A Real Shocker....
Oh, you could start an album in a place like Flickr and they’ll have links for you to use here and anywhere else. There’s Photobucket etc too. I’d love to see the before and after pics!
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11/05/09 07:39pm
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