I figured that I'd share Neuro's story.
I came home yesterday and he was eating on the bottom of the cage. So, I just peeked in on him. That's when I noticed that his right hind leg was completely twisted around backwards. It was resting on his back with his foot facing me. I just knew that it was broken.
He was eating, and was getting around somewhat - and didn't appear to be in extreme distress. So, I figured it had just happened. I got him to the emergency
vet clinic as soon as I could.
They gave him anesthesia to do x-rays and rotated the leg back. Incredibly, he did not have any visible fractures in the leg. He was kinda groggy and a little hard for them to wake up, but he did come around.
I set him up in his travel cage with lots of bedding to stay warm. He seemed pretty comfortable. I checked on him a couple times before I went to bed. He had wet himself and gotten a bit chilled so I cleaned him up and got him warm before returning him to his cage.
He was a very groggy and breathing more slowly this morning. I kept him warm and got everything together to bring him to work with me. He died in my hands as I was putting a warm pack in his cage.
Poor thing. I just feel terrible although I know that I did all that I could for him. We believe that his foot may have gotten hung on his cage pouch so he twisted himself to get free.
I feel bad, like the worst glider mommie ever. And now, because he's here at work with me, his little body has to wait all day before I can bury him properly.
I just wanted to share Neuro's story and remind people about keeping nails trim to hopefully avoid a tragedy such as this in your own colonies. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />