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

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
Mwcrf450r":2hr3gn1o said:
Tombo's a beast ? crazy to think he could gain more than any two of your other 3 combined! Does he eat his veggies readily or do you have to work for it?
He's a bottomless pit.

He will eat all of his salad. And all of his feeders, and do it all over again if I let him.

He actually gets excited enough for salad that he will eat it by hand feeding too. All but Mei will eat salad out of my hand. However Mei will eat her whole bowl better than everyone but Tombo.
Tombo can and will eat anything. Except BSFL. I left them in his bowl for a whole day once. Didn't give him any food, just to entice him to eat them. Nope. He doesn't like them lol.

-Brandon
 

Mwcrf450r

Member
claudiusx":twod17j9 said:
Tombo can and will eat anything. Except BSFL. I left them in his bowl for a whole day once. Didn't give him any food, just to entice him to eat them. Nope. He doesn't like them lol.

-Brandon
That's interesting! I feel like I've read bsfl are a great feeder to entice feeding in dragons with weight/eating issues? I'm actually ordering pogo some bsfl and Dubias tonight or tomorrow depending on if my wife remembers an email password ?
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
Moro doesn't care for them too much either, but Suki loves them, and it seems Mei will put up with them.

I kind of feel they are an acquired taste. Once they start eating them they seem to love them. Tombo has never really ate them from day 1.

But they all love dubia! They go absolutely nuts when I drop a few in their tanks. The hunt is instantly on!

-Brandon
 

Mwcrf450r

Member
claudiusx":sms1qjuh said:
Moro doesn't care for them too much either, but Suki loves them, and it seems Mei will put up with them.

I kind of feel they are an acquired taste. Once they start eating them they seem to love them. Tombo has never really ate them from day 1.

But they all love dubia! They go absolutely nuts when I drop a few in their tanks. The hunt is instantly on!

-Brandon
So I wont order 500 bsfl right out of the gate not knowing if he likes then then lol
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
I started with a cup of 100 with Tombo. But hopefully yours like them! They really are a great feeder insect. Decently cheap depending where you get them from, and once you get a system for getting the soil/mix off of them, they are a breeze to use.

-Brandon
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
Here is Tombo back then... Eating his salad but NOT eating his BSFL LOL
31715-6092417971.jpg
Oh and this is that same plate....
31715-8352463799.jpg

-Brandon
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
AHBD":fjotqv3d said:
Those are some good looking dragons. :) Suki is making my screen catch fire !
Thanks! :)
And I still cant get my camera to show her real colors. Although that last pic is the closest I've got so far.

Mwcrf450r":fjotqv3d said:
And he still thinks he's small enough to crawl all over it ?
Some things never change :lol:

-Brandon
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
Moro has been seeming a bit more active lately. It's a big relief. She still seems to mope around, but at least now when I bring food out, she eagerly goes to it. She let out quite a big poo in the bath a few days ago. She had a pretty large urate which was causing her to strain a bit. I'm wondering if that was making her feel a bit icky.
She poo'd again yesterday though so I think that last big poo could have been causing her weirdness. Going to be watching her a bit more closely for a few weeks and see how things go.

In other news, Tombo is trying to get into the halloween spirit...
full


-Brandon
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
Tombo could go as Leather face from Texas Chainsaw massacre, he only needs a bitty baby chainsaw and some of that shed over his face
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
DorgEndo":1l4sz3zy said:
Tombo could go as Leather face from Texas Chainsaw massacre, he only needs a bitty baby chainsaw and some of that shed over his face
Haha! :D
Well he's about finished his shed now, just a few little flakes left. He is such an annoying shedder, makes a huge mess of his tank every time.

Speaking of Tombo..

I came home today to a massive poo in his tank. And no Tombo..
I have been leaving the glass doors slightly ajar for air circulation as it's been a bit hotter in the tanks than I would like. I still need to install the new vents to help with that..
But apparently, he is part octopus because the opening had to be only half the size of his body, but he made it through and dropped the 2 feet to the floor.

It only took me 2 minutes to find him. I would have taken a picture of how I found him if it wasn't for him deciding to nestle up against the junk pile in the room! LOL
He curled himself up around a pile of odds and ends and fell asleep. He was fully in my hands before he even woke up, I gave him quite the startle... must have been a good nap lol.

Anyways, I checked him over. The 2 foot drop seemed to have done nothing to him. I can only imagine how long he's been out and how long he's been tormenting Suki for..
Anyways, will be trying to get time to put the new vents in the tanks tomorrow, but for now, glass is shut!

-Brandon
 

Mwcrf450r

Member
claudiusx":1jcnqkhd said:
I have been leaving the glass doors slightly ajar for air circulation as it's been a bit hotter in the tanks than I would like. I still need to install the new vents to help with that..
But apparently, he is part octopus because the opening had to be only half the size of his body, but he made it through and dropped the 2 feet to the floor.


-Brandon
How many/how big are the the vents you put in? I still have to decide upon ventilation for mine!
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
Mwcrf450r":31fom1pw said:
How many/how big are the the vents you put in? I still have to decide upon ventilation for mine!
2 on each tank - 1 per side near the top. They are just 3x12 vent covers. My house stays pretty cool typically, so I didn't want too much ventilation. But I obviously underestimated the insulating power of my tanks lol.
31715-882724864.jpg
In this pic you can see the basic size and placement of the vents. Of course the cover hadn't been put on it yet, but you get the basic idea.

-Brandon
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Original Poster
Pictures of the crew from last night!

Mei wants to go to sleep
31715-8020020150.jpg

Suki finished her dinner and is tall and proud. She's starting another shed already.
31715-8548418856.jpg

Moro doing her thing.. just lying around lol
31715-3355411291.jpg

And Tombo working on being a pumpkin
31715-30550100.jpg
31715-5240839333.jpg

-Brandon
 

Members online

Still Needs Help

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
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.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,897
Messages
1,255,656
Members
75,965
Latest member
williamyoung
Top Bottom