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Sassy the Lemur
March 7, 2023
Say hello to ring-tailed lemur Sarsaparilla, or Sassy. She and her family live in one of our multi-acre free-ranging forest habitats.
On March 25, Sassy suffered an injury presumably from falling from a tree. X-rays revealed Sassy’s left knee had soft tissue damage and her left hip was dislocated. Despite the best efforts of our veterinarian, Dr. David Holifield, the hip would not stay in joint.
We then began discussions with Dr. Scott Rose and the team at Veterinary Surgery Center of Sarasota for a surgical fix. On April 2, Sassy was brought to Veterinary Surgery Center of Sarasota where she underwent a hip toggle stabilization to fix her dislocated hip. The procedure was quick and efficient and Sassy was home recovering by the end of the day.
Over time Sassy was given access outside, where she was able to move around more, followed by slow introductions with the rest of her family group—twin sister Sobe followed by Sobe’s twin daughters Indy and Elysian. The group of five is now eagerly awaiting the day Sassy is cleared to start climbing again and staff can begin to add branching to their enclosure.
Following surgery, it was critical that Sassy not agitate the hip for four weeks to maximize the healing process. After four days of recovering inside her travel crate, Sassy was released into one of the conservatory’s indoor enclosures which was outfitted solely with two low-lying dog beds to encourage Sassy to take it easy. During this time, the caretakers also brought in Sassy’s partner, Molson, as moral support.