Alucard's Journey

I know I'm going to be paranoid and keep checking now. They weren't super prominent bumps, but enough to make me go uhhh....
Richter easily read as male even as a baby, but Alucard hasn't really shown one or the other, so after many peeks as a baby I said she was a girl. Still think she is! But now I'm not 100%.

She's also taking a style trend from Richter and doing the bright orange around the eye thing. That's the thing people always comment about on Richter. Get your own style, Alucard!

The plot thickens.
Alucard black bearded and started head bobbing back at Richter. I think I might have two boys...

Ok waited till night, did the flashlight test again, still female.
I've just got a little, brave tomboy

Haha.
Sounds like you might have a feisty little one on your hands.

Yeah, she has a lot of spunk, that's for sure

Been out for a while, had to catch up! I'm so sorry about your chameleon baby! It's devastating when that kind of thing happens and there's nothing you can do about it...

Richter and little Alucard seem to be doing great, though! I gotta get one of those pop-up things. Thomas has his guinea pig cage that has helped immensely for babysitters or sleepovers, but that seems like it would be much easier and more convenient for chillin in the back yard!

Anyway, glad the little Muppet babies are well, even if we're not entirely certain if they're actually brothers or brother and sister. Hahaha. ?

Long time no see!
The muppet twins are doing pretty well. Alucard is on her final dose of coccidia meds, round 2, today. She's starting to show the side effects now and has lost a lot of her appetite, but luckily she loves her repti-whatever from Drache's shop, that restores gut flora, so her appetite should be back in no time.

Speaking of appetite and pop-up tents.
Adding a beardie in the tent (mainly Alucard) and putting some crickets in and zipping it shut is the best. She has a blast running and "hunting" them, they can't hide, nor can they get out. Richter doesn't seem to enjoy this as much. He isn't as food motivated and if they're out of neck reach, he doesn't want 'em.
The crickets basically match my carpetting, so having them calci-dusted white helps them see them better.

And the chameleon is very sad news. What's unfortunately is I just lost my second one yesterday morning before work. I'll admit all my dragons are from petsmart, but I will NEVER buy a chameleon from a chain store again. They are way too fragile to have incorrect husbandry and suffer greatly for it. Going forward, I believe all my critters will be coming from breeders now. This was enough to convince me. No more heartbreak. I can't bury any more of my pets this year.

So sorry to hear about the second chameleon. I've heard that they're notoriously fragile, but with your good reptile husbandry, I was hoping they would do well for you. I guess no such luck.

I hope your beardies will continue to do well. That was one impressive tail shed. Our beardie has never shed the skin on his tail all in one piece like that. It comes off in bits and pieces.

Maybe the makers of those pop-up tents should pay you commission. :wink: You've got several of the rest of us seriously considering getting one for our beardies.

Chameleons are so fragile, but to receive them sick and try and get them through it as a baby is near impossible. I've been very active on the chameleon forums. My thread is over 40 pages long now going through everything possible with my chameleons, so I know it's not husbandry related. I was informed by a chameleon rescuer that a baby with a URI has a 75% mortality rate, and the stuff I was doing to help those babies was as much as a veteran rescuer would be doing as well. In case anyone wants to peek in.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/preparing-for-my-first-chameleon-tips-appreciated.158458/page-45#post-1367248

And those pop up tents, heck yeah they should pay me. I've got two of those things! I haven't had to travel too much with them just yet, but they're supposed to be super easy to pop back into the carrying bag. My 5yr old niece has a birthday in by hometown next weekend. If it's really nice I may consider asking if Richter can come and bring a tent and his carrier

At least you know you did everything you could to save your chameleons, and it wasn't your fault -- they were well cared for and loved for the time that you had them.

Can you take those tents off the frame and wash them? I was thinking that might be a good thing to be able to do, just in case your beardie has a little accident inside there.

I actually haven't checked if that's an option... Something tells me you cannot, but you could always take it outside and hit it with the stream setting on the hose

https://youtu.be/3YwA-KH_2BM

Caught Richter waving at Alucard, and Alucard black bearding and head bobbing at Richter.. by the time I got my phone out Alucard wasn't head bobbing anymore, but roles were reversed really quickly..

Such funny critters! I've never seen the arm waving in person but have seen plenty of head bobs and beard puffs =). Why is there no head bob smilie available? This is sort of close :headbang:

So let me see if I have this straight -- we decided that Richter is male and Alucard is female, right? :? Sounds like you may have a couple of transgender beardies on your hands. :lol:

Isn't it frustrating when they stop doing the cute thing just before you manage to get them on camera?

That is correct, lol
Richter is 100% male, but I catch him waving from time to time, but as you see in the video he quickly corrected this :lol: I love halfway through you can see him in the reflection of Alucard's glass doors figure out it's Alucard, remembers her, and he starts throwing his fit. "HEY! HEY! HEY!" *plops onto floor, scuttlescuttle* "HEY!" *angry*

Alucard I think I'm going to have to keep checking her gender on paranoia. I never saw Simon black beard ever until the day she was passing away, but Alucard is really trying to fight for dominance. She usually gives up and starts doing the slow bows not long after though. Richter is a bully