@yukimori 28 January 2022 more from that month

Meet Vrtra, one of our two newest additions! This poor sweetheart was absolutely miserable when I first met him this afternoon, and with good reason--there's no fun in having one's enclosure manhandled into the cold back of a truck and then driven off to who knows where like that. He wasn't sure what to think of me pulling him out of the enclosure after we got it upstairs, either. I put him into the bathtub temporarily so I could pull out the substrate he came with (a pillowcase of all things!) and get the caked-on feces scrubbed off the bottom of his enclosure. He was very defensive and unsure about that whole process, so it seems like he's been handled rarely if at all. He REALLY needs a bath, but getting the newcomers settled in and fed was more of a priority tonight. It's not uncommon for lizards to suffer from "relocation stress" and refuse food for several days after being moved, but both Vrtra and the leopard gecko had great feeding responses tonight and were actively hunting as many bugs as we'd give them. They even went for the dubia roaches I offered, so it looks like I won't have to keep buying crickets just for them. That's a fantastic win!