Thank you all for your well wishes. When i posted earlier, i was on my way to the vet to visit him before having him PTS. He is no longer suffering now. I honestly thought id be crushed even worse than i was this morning when he passed, but honestly after seeing him struggle i breath and getting a chance to say goodbye, it was like a weight off my shoulders when he crossed over and i knew it was over and he wasnt suffering anymore. I stayed in the room with him and he was loved until the end.
Sorry i couldnt keep myself together long enough to respond to you guys earlier! Itll be a bit before im 100% but im in a much better state of mind now, thank you all for your kindness!
Treatment continueing on well, all that nasty red inflamation continues to die away and she is getting ready to go into shed. Hopefully as the stress dies down, she will finally take food.
She definitely looks like she’s feeling better, maybe a good shed is just what she needs to get over that hurdle and take a meal. Fingers crossed that she keeps on improving from here!
Sorry for going off-topic. But I’m curious on what types of predatory mites you use. I’ve never heard of them being used in bioactive enclosures. Are they Trombidiidae?
To OP, I really hope your gal continues improving! She looks a lot better in the most recent photo! Definitely needs to get some food in her, but the sores look tons better.
I use Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles). They work great, the color difference also makes it obvious what is a bad mite and what is a good one. Black-grey being bad, clear-orange being good.
Just keep in mind like @saleengrinch stated, if you dont have sustainable food for the predator mites, they will canibalize themselves and die off. They are best introduced into an already established bio active enclosure so that your springtail population can support them.
Yeah! They are predatory after all!
Do those Mesostigs need specific conditions, or is there a general, widely known set of conditions for basic bioactive setups that works just fine for them?
I kept a Trombidiidae mite in an old pill bottle for a few days once so I could sent it to an acarologist, and that mite needed just the right amount of humidity to avoid dessication (drying out and dying), but also to avoid fungal growth (this translated to just a couple drops of water into the pill bottle, which was stuffed with shreds of paper towels). I’ve heard some mites need much higher humidity, and others are the same as that Trombidiidae: just enough to keep them from drying out and no more.
As long as the soil doesnt fully dry out you are fine. The humidity is more of an effect of the moist soil, not so much a requirement itself. But it should stay between 40-50%.
An update for everyone, about a week and a half after treatment start, she is in a good spot in terms of the infection. Id still like to get some food in her, but the reduced stress should help alot on that side of the house.
Still a couple raised and swollen areas, but for the most part its almost all clear. I will keep her isolated and on medicine for another week or so, then see if she can make the switch to bioactive without symptoms starting again.
Update, she just had a pretty messy poop with a good chunk of something thats come out. Im hoping the defecation mixed with her condition being under control will allow her to finally take food. I will be attempting to feed her tomorrow, wish me luck.
Yes, i got her to take 2 large F/T ASFs last night
Just to clarify, when i say “got her to” she took it herself, i did not assist feed. I just left the thawed rats in with her and gave her some privacy.
That’s great news! Happy to hear that she’s not only on the road to recovery, but weight gain and good health overall. Looking forward to updates and you’ve definitely got to post more photos as she fills out!
Will do! So far there has been no relapse, so im hoping she continues to feed and i can fill her out in the coming months. I dont want to rush it though. She likely lost some muscle mass, so i dont want to overfeed and just fill her with fat without her actually recovering. 2 large ASFs a week should be a good pace.
