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":hvs5tclj said:
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.

I enjoyed reading about your early days or dragon raising. I found myself loving my dragon more than I ever thought I would. But I am always reading and trying to check out every link to learn as much as I can. Thank you for Sharing. And I love the colors on Tombo.
 

vrenee1018

Juvie Member
So glad to hear the news about Moro. That is an adorable picture of her sleeping next to your wife's leg. However, I'm so sorry about your little girl and everyone getting sick. I can't imagine how scary that is for you and your wife. Sending good thoughts and vibes of everyone in the fam pulling through!

Vanessa
 

Claudiusx

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MelissaDufreche":3nx6e70o said:
enjoyed reading about your early days or dragon raising. I found myself loving my dragon more than I ever thought I would. But I am always reading and trying to check out every link to learn as much as I can. Thank you for Sharing. And I love the colors on Tombo.
Glad you enjoyed reading it. Hoped it would be enjoyable for a few at least :)

Thanks Vanessa, well we are all stick pretty sick. RSV. And my wife got tested and was confirmed to have it too. So I'm not even gonna bother testing, I have it lol. We've been getting tested this year real well. It's all good though.
Smooth seas don't make for good sailors.

Huge crew (pictures) update coming!

-Brandon
 

Claudiusx

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Tombo


Sorry, I don't actually have any new pics of Tombo or good stories. He's just been chugging along acting fine and eating well. I think he's lost a bit of weight since his semi brumation but I will probably weigh everyone tomorrow or sometime this week.

Moro


Past few days Moro has been back in her hide. If she ate any BSFL it was only a couple. One thing I've been watching for since she's been back up and active is a bowel movement. She hadn't had one yet. I had planned on giving her a bath to encourage it earlier this week but i've been sick, and working late.. and early.. But I buckled down and gave everyone (except Tombo) a bath today. She kinda flared up at me as I was trying to coax her out of her hide, but she came.

In the bath, I like to encourage them to move, to swim, to try to run. If they don't, I usually will hold their tails and push them back and fourth by it. Eventually they try to run/swim. And I just hold them in place. Beardie slave treadmil. In my mind, it helps get things moving along, and helps use muscles that might not be getting used as actively. Anyways, after a bit of forced exercise, I remembered a trick from my old'n days here. About rubbing the belly in a circular motion and palpitating it gently every once in awhile to encourage a BM. Well I did this and 30 seconds later, that infamous arching of the tail and spine, and she let out her poo :D
Quite the urate plug that came out first, after that the poo looked relatively healthy. I bet the urate plug was causing her to not want to go. I'm hoping now that she is empty that she feels better and more active.
Oh, and she did drink a bit in the bath. Without dunking her whole head under. The girl has learned lol.
IDK why I didn't take pictures of her. I was more focused on her and getting the result I want, than pictures for here, sorry lol.

Kiki



Ok I remembered pictures this time lol. Kiki hasn't had too many baths, but she doesn't seem to mind them too much. However she always keeps one eye closed in the bath. And I don't just mean shut, I mean, squished shut. Like shes trying hard to keep her 1 eye closed as tight as possible.

Anyways, she is about to pop out of a full body shed, she already shed her tail and limbs.
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The camera doesn't do her neon bright citrus color any justice. I've never seen a dragon more of a saturated yellow than she is.
A few pics, flash on and off.
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Can't wait to see what she's hiding under there.
She is in love with BSFL by the way. She almost jumped clear out of her tank this afternoon when she saw me coming with the worms. She's been eating them really well. I'm glad. They really have become my favorite staple (and I hate that word) feeder.

Mei



Mei was next in the bath. She's been a bit blah lately too like Moro. But unlike Moro, Mei was still eating ok and pooing and has no issue eating large items.
Figured I'd try to get her to poo too.

Mei isn't a big fan of baths. I could barely do the belly rubbing trick cuz she'd keep wraping around my hand to try to climb out. I let her be for a bit, but unfortunately no poo. Here are some pictures though. As she's gotten older, she's really developed a type of color stripe down her spine just Kiki has. It's interesting.
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And then this is her back in her tank trying to warm up. Notice how the "blue/black" bars on her really come out when she's trying to warm back up.
31715-6191777754.jpg

Suki


Suki really enjoys the bath I think. Or she at least acts cool calm and collected in them. I don't make it very deep. All of the other dragons try to run in the bath. They don't actually swim. Suki will lay flat in the bath, inflate her belly so she "floats" and use her legs like she's swimming, not waking or running. And she does it very calmly. It's interesting to me how she's the only one who tries to "swim" as opposed to run around.
I don't have any issues with Suki pooing, her tank is a constant poo battle. And one i'm losing unfortunately. But I still would prefer her to poo in the bath. So she got the same treatment. After awhile I had given up, and decided the water was cold enough it was time for her to get out. I go to pick her up, look over towards her tank, look back at her as i'm lifting her out of the bath water to see a log slide out of my hand into the bath... Back down she went to finish the rest of her duty... LOL.
Anyways, mission successful. My wife didn't like that part of the story.. she was eating :laughing6:
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All in all, mission successful today.

-Brandon
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
Yay dragon pics. It is completely understandable to not have Moro bath pics with her history in the bath. I think anyone would make the same call.
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Such gorgeous colors! ?
Glad to hear Moro was able to take care of biz. ?
Beatiful bunch you have there. Maybe pic of Tombo next time.
-Dee
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
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Small but big update today.

Came home and Moro was supporting her chest off the ground. Standing like a normal healthy proud dragon. I haven't seen her do this for MONTHS. I'm talking like 6 plus months. It was huge for me to see that. I yelled at my wife and made her come look.

Moro was also super alert. Following your hand movements and everything. I could tell she was hungry. Dropped her a few supers, even though I said I'd stop with them. BSFL wont be here until Friday.
She gobbled them right up just fine!

Things are looking up.

-Brandon
 

ComicBookMama

Sub-Adult Member
Sorry to hear about the bout with RSV - that's no fun for anyone, and hope you're all on the mend soon. Loved seeing the pics and hearing updates on Tombo, Moro, and the girls. Glad Moro is acting more like her old self again! And sheesh, the colors on your ladies are fabulous! They make our poor ol' normal dragons look positively drab! :lol:
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
Good job Moro. She can grow up to be a big strong confident dragon. Her territory is feeling good for her by all signs!
 

Claudiusx

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Moro is a completely different dragon. I went in to check on her today, I was going to give anyone feeders today, as I was going to be making everyone a big salad in the morning. on occasion I omit feeder insect meals for the day, always have. I feel it helps to keep them eating their salads well. Plus, I feel it's a bit more natural, and gives their system a rest... thats all for another topic. Anyways, I went to look at her before settling down for the night, and noticed she was once again, very intent on me. I decided I'd cave and give her 1 worm. As she saw me going over towards the worm closet, she started "glass" surfing. A clear indicator that she wanted those worms!

Now hear me out. Moro has never once glass surfed. She has never exhibited excitement.. or energy like that. I gave in. She got a full meal of bugs. I couldn't help myself. She is ravenous. And, while I haven't been measuring her lately, she looks like she has grown. I've been noticing it since the beginning of the week, but now that Its very obvious. She has definitely grown. She is getting near looking like an adult dragon now. Not quite full grown, but close. I will have to weigh and measure her tomorrow. I'd guess she's only around 17 or 18 inches, but she has definitely grown!

Here's to Moro! :blob8: :blob5:

-Brandon
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Claudiusx":3btbb36g said:
Moro is a completely different dragon. I went in to check on her today, I was going to give anyone feeders today, as I was going to be making everyone a big salad in the morning. on occasion I omit feeder insect meals for the day, always have. I feel it helps to keep them eating their salads well. Plus, I feel it's a bit more natural, and gives their system a rest... thats all for another topic. Anyways, I went to look at her before settling down for the night, and noticed she was once again, very intent on me. I decided I'd cave and give her 1 worm. As she saw me going over towards the worm closet, she started "glass" surfing. A clear indicator that she wanted those worms!

Now hear me out. Moro has never once glass surfed. She has never exhibited excitement.. or energy like that. I gave in. She got a full meal of bugs. I couldn't help myself. She is ravenous. And, while I haven't been measuring her lately, she looks like she has grown. I've been noticing it since the beginning of the week, but now that Its very obvious. She has definitely grown. She is getting near looking like an adult dragon now. Not quite full grown, but close. I will have to weigh and measure her tomorrow. I'd guess she's only around 17 or 18 inches, but she has definitely grown!

Here's to Moro! :blob8: :blob5:

-Brandon
That just made my night! ? So happy to hear that! ❤
Go Moro Go! ???????
-Dee
 

Claudiusx

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Thanks for the support Dee!

Few pictures this morning. (couple days old actually)

Had to get a picture of Tombo, it's been too long
31715-7116875662.jpg

And we have 2 of Moro, both a few days apart. She had shed 2 of her hands, and now she's starting to peel around her lips. Her back is looking a bit ghostly too, so full body shed is coming :)
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Kiki finished her shed, I'll have to get some pics later today.

-Brandon
 

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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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