Yesterday I noticed what looked like a really tiny pinhole in Blendie's shell. There were also some other translucent/whitish bits on her shell that looked like flaking and around the perimeter of her shell it looked like the scutes had little bubbles forming under them. From looking it up it sounded like normal shedding; she was behaving complete normal too. But I'm the type of person who has personal phone numbers for the vet [I call if something seems even remotely wrong with the dog or cat], so I started looking for reptiles vets. Although I was pretty sure nothing was wrong with Blendie I'm not a vet- I don't think she has ever been to the vet either- so it was a good time for a checkup.
Somehow, there are no reptile vets in my city- well aside from a University with students who would look at her for $120. I wouldn't mind paying that, I have for my dog, however at that price point... I want a real vet. So I decided to give up convenience of location. I called a place about 45 minutes away by car, they were very friendly, answered all of my questions, and asked a lot of their own questions too, and they were willing to see Blendie the next day [today].
So this morning we were off, I put her in a clear plastic container that I bought for her and she didn't try and climb out. The vet wound up checking her thoroughly and said she was perfectly healthy and confirmed that she is growing. We also talked for twenty minutes about her diet too.
And when I got home and got her re-situated in her tank I went off shopping. Tomorrow I'll be getting her a 55 gallon tank and stand from someone I found in my neighborhood via craigslist. I picked up materials to make an ATBA, and playsand however the store I went to only has sakrete- it says its natural so I'm kind of- eh, because I believe quikrete is manmade. I also called the nearest Lowes and they said they didn't carry quikrete either. It was only 6 dollars, so if it doesn't work out I'll probably wind up dumping it outside where my dog is attempting to make a pond so she can play in mud and then go on the hunt for quikrete.
