Jean, is the plant Deamia testudo (or whatever the name was changed to)? In that case, junk it. Just kidding. Aerial roots don't matter unless you are going to give them some dirt. Not recommended, you will have 10 acres of this nuisance soon. It doesn't hurt to trim them, and it won't hurt to leave them on. These roots are also used for climbing, so you can give it some bark, it will climb. Were you taken in by a photo of this plant in bloom? Lovely aren't they. Good luck with that. I have yet to see a pic of one in bloom in a colder zone than zone 9. (Watch a bunch of pics show up.)

Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina

Okay I am just now getting to post back.First I am not sure if I can answer all the questions.Let me say I am sorry if we did something wrong.As some of you know there is no way we would do anything on purpose.Noone said that but I just wanted to add this because we did not make right decissions and we thought we could take our vet's word.We have always used him. The reason Otis was out he ran out when Ashley went to work,I was not up and Ashley did not notice this.He has a litter box.So you can see this could happen.Than once Ashley asked me was Otis under my bed,I said no I thought he was on your bed.He loves laying on the back of the couch.So we started searching and Greg said he heard some noise out side and he said the neighbor's cat was out there.I asked who was he fighting with.Not even thinking the worst.We all screamed and took off.We are still sick over this. Anyways now yesterday the Emerency Vet looked at him said the reason it was swallon was due to the infection and said yes he was on the right antibodic.He said like Kathy & Jennmonkey said.They did not recommend pain meds.Also that our vet did right.We are still taking him back today tommorrow if he has not improved.Greg even asked if we could wrap the leg so all that stuff draining would not get ever where.We walked around cleaning it so it would not get on things.Thanks so much for ALL your help.Please do not think we are bad mommies to Otis. Oh yes I asked why did he think our vet did not have a emerency # and that vet said if he did I would not have a job.We just shook our head.I said I still think my vet should have a # to call after hrs and weekends.But when we did call our vet the answer machine picked up and said if you have a emerency call so and so.I will keep you posted. Also thank you so much Shelley for letting me know there is a pet forum and who to ask.I am coping this questions and posting over there.Thank you all again.

Hi, I'm the first to admit that I know nothing about dogs but something you said about the base of the tail reminded me of a condition in both dogs and cats called "Stud Tail" - you can google it or "Supracaudal Gland Infection" for more info: "Stud Tail is also called Tail Gland Hyperplasia, It gets the name "Stud" Tail because it's more commonly seen in un-neutered male dogs. There's a gland called a sebaceous gland at the top of the tail where it meets the body. The gland becomes over active and infected, causing it to produce an over abundance of oils, fur loss and darkening of the skin. It can be brought on by flea bite dermatitis and certain medical conditions such as hypothyroidism where a dogs thyroid isn't producing enough thyroid hormones. Your vets needs to do blood work CBC, blood chemistry and thyroid panel to rule out any underlying medical condition. Threatment for stud tail in general is, frequent bathing of the area with a perscribed shampoo such as Sebalyt which removes the oils, and a short term use of steroids which takes down the inflammation of the gland and antibiotics for infection. In some cases, neutering will help, or it may be necessary to have the gland removed.. " Also, even though you may think fleas or mites aren't involved, both are possible suspects and the dogs should be checked. Mites can be confirmed by a skin scraping.