Tribute Video To Lucinda... RIP

Listen, the fact is that we love every single animal that calls Crazy Critters a home. We are not out to collect animals. But while they are here, if they are happy and healthy then they will produce offspring. THAT is why they were created. You can believe in God or any other maker of the universe. You can be a witch (HAY!!! I love my witches!!). You can be an atheist. No matter what you believe, you must believe these animals are here for a reason. If Lucinda had produced eggs, it would have been less wild-caught tortoises shipped to America. The captive-born animals a far healthier than imports. Plus, Lucinda and Leo are endangered species. We are taught to look for runny noses and eyes. Swollen, smelly, sunken areas. We know if a tortoise is wheezing, is not eating or drinking that it needs to go directly to a vet. None of this was being displayed by Lucinda. And we found out it was not being egg bound as my imagination allowed me to think was possible! Desert tortoises have evolved to live in some of the harshest environments in the world. Dry and arid are the natural elements this species habitat in. In this post, you can see one of the enclosures as Leo and Lucinda teach us what tortoise breeding looks like. We made this enclosure special for this species because it is a drier part of our facility. They had cactus and hide spots of many. Giving many areas to thermoregulate. https://www.facebook.com/CrazyCritter... Just because Lucinda has passed away does not mean that she is not of great importance to us and you guys who support and follow us. We created a new webpage that talks about common turtle diseases. But Lucinda did not have any of them. Instead, she had something not common but is found in desert tortoises such as Leopard Tortoises. In this post, I talk about how grouchy she is being. I remember by grouchy I meant just sitting more in her shell, hold her breath, huff, and puff, added she was not exploring. https://www.facebook.com/CrazyCritter... But still, other than just a little off things were normal. In this post, both Leopard tortoises are hanging out together...https://www.facebook.com/CrazyCritter.... There were no signs of runny nose or breathing issues during this time. You might be wondering if Tank has to worry about being sick. As we talked about in the new webpage, these diseases are contagious to these reptiles. https://crazycrittersinc.com/turtle-a... Fortunately, no. Lucinda's respiratory issue was not contagious. A few paragraphs ago I mentioned the fact that she was seeming grouchy. Because she would hold her breath while sucking her self into her shell, huffing, and puffing. Lucinda had an unstructured ‘interstitial lung pattern’ with thickened pulmonary septae and emphysematous lung parenchyma. In basic words... she had COPD or Emphysema. Now we could have administered steroids and antibiotics to extend her life. But remember how I said she was huffing because she was grouchy. Not so. It was because she was struggling to breathe. It was for her best to be given an injection that helped her fall asleep for the last time. Tortoises breathe differently than mammals. They do not have a diaphragm. Instead, they are incased by their shell that is surrounded by their ribcage. So they do not take deep breaths the same as you and I and therefore do not release carbon dioxide the same. Lucinda may have been able to live like this for some time. We will never know and it was not worth the knowledge of her suffering. We are so distraught that we have not been able to create this post for days. Typing about a loved one is so hard. Added, we have to fight to have people who do not know us truly know how much we care and are not out to only breed with these animals. It made me want to hold her story. Not share what we have learned. Furthermore, all eyes are on us at all times. Many people have such strong words to give us even on those best days. It is scary putting yourself out on social media. As I was told on this very day that we should leave social media if we can not handle all of the criticism. But let me tell you that Lucinda represents more than that to us. We are here on social media so we can educate people on animal care. Lucinda can save a life. So what does this situation have to teach us? No running nose, no swollen eyes, yes to eating, yes to drinking. Lethargic. That is what. That whole time she was lethargic. That means when the energy is less. It can be difficult to notice. But if your tortoise shows signs of being tired or taking deeper breaths as in huffing then go have them checked out at a vet. We have to remember it takes years for these reptiles to die. They can hang on for almost ever. Sick or not, they live a long time.