Claud's Crew! - New Girl In The House! - New Pics

Welcome to my journal for my crew! This will be the thread I post all my pictures and updates in regards to my crew! This is going to be like a journal of sorts. A tool I can use to look back on and see how I was doing things, and important events that have occurred for my crew! I really like being able to go back and look at things like that.

To start off with, since all my dragons had a thread previously, they will all get their own post under this to kind of catch up to where things are right now.

A bit about me (EDIT: Ok it's a lot about me now..)

I've had dragons for almost 20 years now. My first dragon was named Shredder. Information was so scarce back then, and I was so inexperienced, Shredder didn't last long under my care. He was housed on walnut shell, typical petstore setup (you think they are bad nowadays, think back 20 years ago) and I honestly don't remember much else about how i cared for him besides the fact that I had grown attached to him. After shredder died, I dedicated a good portion of my free time to learning about dragons. I knew I wanted another, but I didn't want him to suffer the same fate. I read, I learned, I talked to other owners that I would meet at petstores. I read every caresheet I could find online. I even talked breeders ears off when they'd let me. I got another dragon eventually, Hawk. And then another, Buttercup. Then I rescued Scorpio. And shortly after that, I saw a runt in a petstore that I bought, Rusty. For awhile, this was my crew. They all lived for 5 or 6 years. Their care wasn't perfect, but it was better and I was learning and growing as a dragon keeper.

One day the petstore owner and I were talking, and he wanted to give me his dragon. He didn't want to take care of her anymore. I had never taken in an adult dragon. I had always only had babies that I raised myself. I wouldn't have said yes if it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to stay in good with the petstore owner (this came into play massively a few years later)
So, now I have a 3 year old dragon, who I named Naughtica. Her name is based on Naussica, a character from a movie (she was the start to how I name all of the rest of my future dragons, after hayo Miyazaki film characters). Around the same time I got an adult Male, Spyro. I don't remember exactly how I got him, but I believe also from a friend I had met at the petstore. He was trying to produce white dragons (back then they were basically unheard of, and light grey hypos were the closest most people had gotten to that) and spyro was a light-grey hypo.

Naughtica and spyro were the only two dragons I had for a few years now. Around this time is when I also found this website, and my knowledge, care, and love for this hobby grew immensely. I loved being surrounded by people who understood. I loved being able to talk dragons all day long if I wanted. And I loved being able to help people. Obviously in the beginning, it was me being helped. But I soaked it all up like a sponge. I loved it.

Eventually I decided I wanted to breed. So, Naughtica and Spyro were put together for a week. And, it was successful. It was honestly a lot of fun, it was scary, but it was rewarding. Coming home that one day and seeing that a few hatched was one of the happiest moments of my life. I was so filled with joy and excitement.
But now a new learning curve. Caring for around 20 baby hatchlings. And it was a learning curve for sure. I was not at all prepared for how much they eat. I wasn't prepared to separate ones that started to get picked on. For that reason some lost parts of tails, some lost toes. One even completely lost a foot. But, i grew and I learned with later clutches.

Remember wanting to stay in good with the petshop owner? It came into play now. His shop was how I was able to sell my babies. It was either just my town, or the time, but he basically couldn't keep dragons in stock. Worked out great for me, and great for him. I had a solid consistent place to sell my babies to, and he had a reliable person to buy from.

I only did that for about two seasons before life changed and breeding as a hobby was no longer a viable thing to do. Spyro had died a year or two later. I really don't know how old he was.

But Naughtica was going strong. And a few more years passed and I had bought Kiki. I had always had a thing for red trans, and Kiki was the perfect girl to fit that bill. I had gotten over breeding and just wanted a dragon or two of the "higher end" morphs to enjoy. By this time I was very active on this site, and Naughtica and Kiki both had their own threads here (I will link to later). So did Calcifer, a uromastyx that I had bought from that same petshop I used to sell to. Naughtica was getting pretty old at this point. But, my care and knowledge had grown so much that I knew she was gonna be with me for the long haul, and that's what I was hoping out of kiki and calcifer. These three were my new crew. I was happy with everything I had.

Long story short, life got in the way again, and my crew had to be put under someone elses care. They were entrusted to my family. Unfortunately, that didn't work out well at all. And I feel awful. They were not taken care of properly. They eventually all passed. Naughtica was around 12 I believe. And I have no doubts she would have lived even longer if she were to have been under my care, I just wasn't able to.

It took me a long time to feel like I could get back into this hobby. One thing never left me, and that was my love for this hobby, and my love for these creatures, and my love for talking anyones ear off about them that will let me.

And here we are today.

-Brandon
 

Claudiusx

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We've been having a pretty decent heat wave over here this week. Unfortunately for me, no houses really have AC around here since the climate is usually very mild. Not that I'm complaining, the weather usually is pretty good, but when we get hot days, it's pretty miserable. The room I'm typing this in right now is reading 89 degrees...

So the past three days i've been turning off the heat lamps completely. And they have been getting some outside time with me. Not surprisingly, but it gets a lot cooler outside around 4pm, still takes the house another 3 or 4 hours to cool off though.

The heat has been making them not have too good of an appetite either. All except Tombo. Tombo would probably eat while physically on fire... :laughing6:

Anyways, here is big boy hanging outside with me and the wife.
31715-9724098430.jpg
31715-5195546932.jpg

It's so weird how his body sheds. You can see that it creeps up from his sides and works its way up toward his spine.

Moro came out too.
31715-4686256521.jpg
She definitely has a different body shape than any of the other dragons. But if you click on the pic to enlarge it, you can see one of my favorite things about her, the two rows of scales going down her spine.

-Brandon
 

ComicBookMama

Sub-Adult Member
Sorry to hear about the heat wave... I know how uncomfortable a lack of AC is during hot weather, even if it is only temporary! Tombo is a striking fellow... and I love that double row of scales going down Moro’s back!
 

Claudiusx

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JumpinJellyfish":3kpfeurj said:
I like Moro's racing stripe scales, too
I never thought of it like that. Yeah, I think I will refer to them as her racing stripes :D

ComicBookMama":3kpfeurj said:
Sorry to hear about the heat wave... I know how uncomfortable a lack of AC is during hot weather, even if it is only temporary!
Thanks! I cant complain too much. There is only really 2 or 3 weeks a year where we would really need it, and they are always in September and October of all times lol.

Thanks both for the compliments and for stopping by :)

-Brandon
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
All the growing up pics are great to see. Even though so much physical change happens, you can see those baby personalities just growing up with their bodies
 

Claudiusx

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Well it was my birthday today. So earlier last week I had ordered a bunch of different feeders in preparation for my dragons to celebrate my birthday :)

So today they all had a feast! Everyone got 2 hornworms, and few butterworms, a few waxworms, lots of dubia and lots of supers!

They truly seemed very happy and excited. It was a proper feast. Really made me feel good and happy. I'm glad they were able to celebrate it in a way with me :D
Honestly, it was one of the happier moments of my day :)

-Brandon
 

ComicBookMama

Sub-Adult Member
claudiusx":3l6c8fvg said:
Well it was my birthday today. So earlier last week I had ordered a bunch of different feeders in preparation for my dragons to celebrate my birthday :)

So today they all had a feast! Everyone got 2 hornworms, and few butterworms, a few waxworms, lots of dubia and lots of supers!

Sounds like a stand-up party for the dragon members of the family! Happy belated birthday! :)
 

Claudiusx

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Thanks all for the happy birthdays.

We had some family over last night so I brought the dragons out 1 at a time. Apparently I forgot to close tombos tank because this morning when I woke up, he was literally lying in front of Suki's tank just staring at her. I should have taken a picture but honestly my first thought was "what the heck!" and I grabbed him and put him under his light. He looked a little dark and cold. Must have been a rough night... :mrgreen:

-Brandon
 

vrenee1018

Juvie Member
Oh man! A nanny cam would've totally come in handy then. Could've seen little Tombo nightly adventures! Haha I wonder what else he's up to when you and the Mrs. are sleeping. Hahahaha
 

Claudiusx

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I agree I wish I had one setup in the room to see exactly what type of antics Tombo was doing!

Well, the crew didn't get any food for 3 days now. Gonna let them warm up a bit this morning and then we are gonna have a good day of eating. We were in the hospital with our daughter for a few days but we are home now and she's doing good so far.

So, everyone's gonna get some butters and waxworms again, along with some dubias and supers today. I think there are even a couple big hornworms left that Tombo will have to eat.. :roll: :mrgreen:

-Brandon
 

vrenee1018

Juvie Member
Oh no! I hope your little girl recovers fast from whatever was wrong with her! Sending good vibes your way.

I'm sure the little ones will be stoked for some "junk" food since they didn't get to eat for 3 days. Haha

Vanessa
 

ComicBookMama

Sub-Adult Member
So glad to hear your daughter is doing better, whatever the issue was... being a parent is not for the faint of heart!

Figment is jealous of the feast Tombo and company have coming their way! :)
 

Claudiusx

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Thank you both. She had two ferebal seizures. Shes only 14 months old. It was scary I had no idea what they were until it happened. They are realitvely common apparently, but they get concerning if they happen multiple times. The first time it happened on saturday, she went limp and lips turned blue. Ambulance took us to the hospital where she finally started becoming responsive again. They discharged us that same day and told us to just try to keep the fever down so that another seizure doesn't happen; if it does, come back to the ER.
So of course, it happens again the next day but this time in front of Mama. We rushed her back to the hospital and from there they decided to transfer us to a more advanced childrens hospital, almost an hour and a half away. She got taken Via ambulance with mom. I drove behind.

Luckily we only had to stay for 2 days. They did an EEG and a brain MRI on her the last day, everything came back normal thank God. And we were able to be released late that night. Her first night there in the hospital she did spike a fever up to 104.9... luckily no seizure from that. And today she's been home with us both and she hasn't had her fever since last night. So hopefully we are done with this! :D

Anyways, that's why the dragons didn't eat for 3 days.. :silent:
I try to be as open as I feel appropriate. You never know when someone might need to see something you're going through in order to help themselves out. Or how your trials can help another.

-Brandon
 

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I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
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i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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