Blog

Today the sweet and amazing Rana Bug put her foot in the foot soak bucket for the first time. ?

Before we move on, a touch of housekeeping since there is almost always one person who will ask or wonder…Rana is not in a ‘cage,’ she is in the exit chute of the barn. This chute is specifically outfitted for performing necessary medical care. Neither elephant spends really any time in the barn except to do training or medical care. They prefer to wander. And lastly, yes, some sort of treatment is necessary for every elephant that comes to sanctuary due to the negative impact of spending their lives in inadequate habitats. We wish it weren’t so, but that’s part of the reality of captive elephants and our responsibility to provide them with the proper care.

Ok, back to cutie. We had started working on filing Rana’s feet quite some time ago, then she developed the papilloma on her eyelid and focus shifted. Her papilloma is doing really well since her cryosurgery and is now about half the size. Which means we were able to circle back around to feet again. Rana is staying for more extended periods for filing, and a couple of days ago, we introduced her to the foot soak bucket.

Before her arrival, we noticed that there were some problem areas on her feet, which would need work. As we file her nails and do some work on her pads, we will most likely uncover issues that could benefit from soaking. Since it’s best to be prepared, Karissa started with introducing the bucket.

A couple of days in and a few tries later, Rana put her foot in the bucket. The second time Rana decided she would leave it there, so Karissa gave her some hay while she hung out in her bucket. Foot soaks are usually 15 minutes apiece, sometimes with two different solutions, so it’s good Rana seemed utterly at ease with staying in them. She’s a rockstar. 

August 11, 2019

Read More About Rana Here →