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
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
She looks great! Beautiful colors. No darkness anywhere. And she has her own private beach! I'd be happy too!
You have a toddler, got Pedialyte in the cabinet? I'd get a few drops on Tombo's greens. ? I think that would work.
-Dee
 

Claudiusx

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Wow, you know my fridge better than me. :lol: I actually just remembered I do have pedialyte because she was sick last week.. *checks around the corner to make sure Dee isn't in my house..* :laughing6:
She decided out of no where that she doesn't like it anymore. She used to chug it LOL.

Truth be told i'm not too concerned about Tombo's hydration levels. I know his urates look bad, but like i said, when they sit that long they tend to yellow up a bit anyways with age. If he had just poo'd a few days prior and this came out, I would definitely be more concerned about it.
Either way, definitely gonna put a bit of extra effort into getting him some hydration over the next week or two and see how things change.


-Brandon
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
claudiusx":2aueou39 said:
Wow, you know my fridge better than me. :lol: I actually just remembered I do have pedialyte because she was sick last week.. *checks around the corner to make sure Dee isn't in my house..* :laughing6:
She decided out of no where that she doesn't like it anymore. She used to chug it LOL.

Truth be told i'm not too concerned about Tombo's hydration levels. I know his urates look bad, but like i said, when they sit that long they tend to yellow up a bit anyways with age. If he had just poo'd a few days prior and this came out, I would definitely be more concerned about it.
Either way, definitely gonna put a bit of extra effort into getting him some hydration over the next week or two and see how things change.


-Brandon

When you have a toddler some things are a given. Pedialyte and baby wipes. ?
I understand it wasn't 'fresh', makes sense. It doesn't take long in the heat to look pretty bad. ? I'm amazed he held that volume! ?
-Dee
 

Claudiusx

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Well, Moro looked very alert today when I got home. Was excited that she was up and alert. Gave her a few worms which she ate readily, and then have her some salad which she wasnt thrilled with.

A few minutes later she had moved to the middle of her tank. Another good sign :)
Since I was already working on getting Tombo to drink (spoiler.. didnt work) I decided to spray Moro and have her drink. After a few seconds she started drinking from the sprayer quite a bit. However I noticed as time went on her beard was getting bigger and bigger. Yup, she was holding the water in her beard instead of swallowing it. But I saw her a few minutes later and she was taking small gulps so she was drinking and getting it down. Here is a pic of her with her massive water beard.
31715-4484565938.jpg
31715-9559116489.jpg

Unfortunately, 5 minutes later I came back and noticed her on her tile with a bit of water near her. Weird as I didnt spray her over there. Then I saw the 2 superworms I fed her earlier. She threw up. Hoping we didnt just regress some more when we had just started to make progress. Gosh it kills me that she feels the need to stuff her beard instead of just swallowing.
31715-1359030456.jpg
I mean look at those 2 supers. They aren't chewed up at all. Just like I said. She gum hugs them down her throat.

The good thing is only what she was fed today came up. So the worms she ate yesterday had to have gone down, and since no dubia roach came up I've got to imagine that is over and done with too, which is good.

Hopefully we have a good day tomorrow. Maybe I just gave her too much water.

-Brandon
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
claudiusx":1nw7wyy5 said:
Well, Moro looked very alert today when I got home. Was excited that she was up and alert. Gave her a few worms which she ate readily, and then have her some salad which she wasnt thrilled with.

A few minutes later she had moved to the middle of her tank. Another good sign :)
Since I was already working on getting Tombo to drink (spoiler.. didnt work) I decided to spray Moro and have her drink. After a few seconds she started drinking from the sprayer quite a bit. However I noticed as time went on her beard was getting bigger and bigger. Yup, she was holding the water in her beard instead of swallowing it. But I saw her a few minutes later and she was taking small gulps so she was drinking and getting it down. Here is a pic of her with her massive water beard.
31715-4484565938.jpg
31715-9559116489.jpg

Unfortunately, 5 minutes later I came back and noticed her on her tile with a bit of water near her. Weird as I didnt spray her over there. Then I saw the 2 superworms I fed her earlier. She threw up. Hoping we didnt just regress some more when we had just started to make progress. Gosh it kills me that she feels the need to stuff her beard instead of just swallowing.
31715-1359030456.jpg
I mean look at those 2 supers. They aren't chewed up at all. Just like I said. She gum hugs them down her throat.

The good thing is only what she was fed today came up. So the worms she ate yesterday had to have gone down, and since no dubia roach came up I've got to imagine that is over and done with too, which is good.

Hopefully we have a good day tomorrow. Maybe I just gave her too much water.

-Brandon

Poor girl! Dang. Guessing she just took in too much water? Wonder why she hoards her food instead of just eating? Could there have been an environment where she didn't get enough to eat before you got her? It's like she wants to stock pile it. Like she's afraid she won't get any more. I had a feral cat that would eat until she vomited. Had to limit her food access. Vet said it was because of being feral that she never knew when she'd eat again but she'd get over it. Took her 2 yrs before I could leave food out. Makes me wonder if it's a similar issue. Isn't that the problem you had a couple months ago with her hiding bugs in her beard? Poor baby.?
-Dee
 

Claudiusx

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I've had her since she was 6 weeks old, and I doubt the breeder starved her.

I noticed her doing this after her bath time scare when she was really young. And shes done it ever since :(

-Brandon
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
claudiusx":1a7qv4in said:
I've had her since she was 6 weeks old, and I doubt the breeder starved her.

I noticed her doing this after her bath time scare when she was really young. And shes done it ever since :(

-Brandon
That's crazy but I'm sure if anyone can get her over it, it would be you. ?
-Dee
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
Chew and swallow dear Moro. This may be a radical idea, since dragons have been known to learn through watching others maybe pull up a youtube video with a dragon chewing and swallowing and drinking water the same way you have offered water.

I'll pull up videos of dragons eating vegetables for Devlyn, I have no idea if it works for her but I don't see the harm in it
 

Claudiusx

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Dorg, you'd think she would have learned just from hearing Tombo crunch underneath her. At this point it might be worth a shot ha.

Well last night she slept in a different spot than usual. This was huge! She has slept in the same spot for the past 4 or 5 months now it seems. So seeing her fall asleep somewhere knew was very exciting! And when I got home today, she wasn't in her brumation cave either. She was lying out in the middle of her tank :D

I gave her 2 worms today, no water. So far so good. Happy with her today.

Kiki got some quality time with me and my daughter today. My daughter absolutely loves kiki. She calls her by name, says hello about 100 times to her (I think she is expecting to hear something back, so she keeps trying) and she is always waving at her and she waves and says goodbye to her when we leave the room. She was even playing peek-a-boo with Kiki by putting her face up to her tank. My daughter is only 18 months old lol.

Anyways, here is Kiki in Tombos old favorite spot. The windowsil overlooking our backyard.
31715-777869877.jpg
Later in the day so lighting isn't the best. She looks very very bright today! I was shocked actually.

And while me and my daughter were sitting outside, I noticed something I hadn't ever before. Kiki, is going through a goth phase.
That's right. She has been putting eyeliner on.
Don't believe me?

31715-5918432213.jpg
31715-8094085166.jpg
She must not be very good, as I noticed a back speck near her nose ontop of her head. But hey, she's trying I guess!

In seriousness, I've never seen something like this before. It's quite interesting IMO.

-Brandon
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Kiki looks like she's wearing a scarf on her head. ? so cute.
Love hearing about your baby girls interaction with your dragons. I just get all the feels! ?
Glad Moro is better today. ? What's Tombo up to? Is he down for the count?
-Dee
 

Claudiusx

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Thanks Dee :)

No Tombo is up and active but he's weird... hes been acting odd. I think it might be... frustrations... of you know what I mean lol.

He is quite active, but he acts like he is purposely trying to ignore me and pay me no mind. Like when someone walks in the room and then all of a sudden you start doing something different so that you look occupied and they wont bother you? I swear that's what Tombo does. When he sees me all of a sudden he looks off, and then goes and starts walking around acting like hes too busy to notice me. Idk really how to explain it.
Maybe this is his plan, to drive me insane and make me sound insane lol.

-Brandon
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
claudiusx":1skibam2 said:
Thanks Dee :)

No Tombo is up and active but he's weird... hes been acting odd. I think it might be... frustrations... of you know what I mean lol.

He is quite active, but he acts like he is purposely trying to ignore me and pay me no mind. Like when someone walks in the room and then all of a sudden you start doing something different so that you look occupied and they wont bother you? I swear that's what Tombo does. When he sees me all of a sudden he looks off, and then goes and starts walking around acting like hes too busy to notice me. Idk really how to explain it.
Maybe this is his plan, to drive me insane and make me sound insane lol.

-Brandon
I absolutely know what you mean! Lol! Too funny!
Here comes the boss! Look busy!
I'm busy doing Dragon things don't have time to deal with you! Hahaha!
-Dee
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
Those dragons definitely have more up their non-existent sleeves than they let on. I have also experienced many a time the look away and I’m too busy dragon attitude. Because that corner is really so interesting. After all it was corner o’clock which means I, a fierce independent dragon who don’t need no hooman, was late to my corner watching tradition. Do not disturb! Lol

-April
 

vrenee1018

Juvie Member
Kiki looks so gorgeous! I'm sorry to hear about the troubles with Moro, but I'm sure she's gonna pull through whatever it is she's going through. She's got the best dad EVER to watch her. Haha Overall the crew looks to be doing good and that makes me happy :D

I'm so glad your little girl has taken such an interest in the beardies. It makes me excited when little kids, especially girls, are into reptiles. Like we can be into "boy" things too! Love love love it! I just had a co-workers little 5 year old daughter ask where my iguana is (talking about my beardie, Tampico), because she remembers one time she came in and I had her at work. Kids are adorable. Lol

Take care, crew!!

Vanessa
 

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