Nathaniel, Cierra, Castiel, Freya, Grrl; RIP GABRIEL

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We never expected to get another dragon, but our neighbours next door wanted to give away Cleo, as he was called. We'd babysat him before, he's such a sweetheart. We nicknamed him Velcro because when he snuggles he never wants to go back to his viv, he hangs on as if he's made out of velcro.

So here he is. Today was his first day with us. He ate 13 supers and ate some squash, not bad for the first day he was here. He's only in a 30 gallon tank, which will be ok for now. He's 18" long but weighs only 200g. We figure he's probably 2 yrs old. Our neighbours rescued him last fall, they found him and a female (which they named Puff) on Craig's list. They were in a 30 gallon dirty tank, with sand and a huge log that took up 1/2 the space in the tank. Leo was at the bottom, he was sooooo skinny. He's gained weight, but never got the attention he deserved. I took some pics today, but will take more tomorrow. I think he remembers our place as didn't get stressed as I expected. No stress marks at all. When we let him run around the living room, he noticed our girls and immediate black beard, so his hormones are working!

He had a bath this morning, had a big poop, no smell, so not worried about parasites.

So here are a few pics, he's a yellow & dark gray, light gray colour.

Under the communal power sun in the living room:
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Discovering there are girls in those tanks up above, he has a great black beard for such a skinny boy:
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On the couch, he's got a pretty diamond pattern on his back:
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Hope you enjoy
Deb and my six dragons :D :shock: :shock: :shock: :cry: :cry: :( :love5:
 

spikerocks

Juvie Member
Deb,
Just got here to check out Leo's thread. He sure is a handsome guy n what an expressive face he has! He looks better n better w/every pic. He seems to have quite the personality. Keep the pics coming.
Hugs n kisses,
Jane n Boodah
 

sweetiepie9

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Thanks Jane & Boodah,

Leo's fitting right in, he's been in a 30 gallon tank his whole life & can really stretch out & jump around in Angel's tank. He inherited her logs, too and really likes them. He loves to jump around from think to thing, then blackbob everything and jump around some more. He goes nuts if he sees either of our girls, Issy or Sweetie, when they have roam around time. We're letting him get glimpses, it won't do him any harm to act like a male for a change. And he appreciates all the attention that he gets, Roger has a nickname for him "Leonardo da Velcro", as he's very sticky when he cuddles! I've got more pics, they're still in the camera, I'll post on the weekend.

I'm really glad little Boodah is growing so much, it's nice to see a baby beardie eat and eat and grow and grow and he sure looks happy in his outside enclosure. Good idea for him, babies need alot of exercise to grow strong. Ours stayed on crickets until they were large enough to switch to supers. We've never had alot of feeders avail at pet shops. We can get silkworms, too, but they're very expensive. Roaches are about the only other thing I can think of for babies. He'll have to wait until he's a bit bigger, keep trying the phoenix worms, he may just decide he likes them one day. Worms are just different from crickets, and beardies don't like change a whole lot.
Hugs back to you,
Deb and Leo
 

sweetiepie9

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So I finally got the pictures onto photobucket. He's changed alot in the last week, alot more confidence, to the point he & Rubio (who''s twice Leo's size) armwave at each other with light beards. It's been funny to watch. I guess Rubio knows Leo is a bit older than him. They both react to Lonzo the same way; Lonzo's the General in our crew. You don't mess with Lonzo and the two boys know it...it's very interesting to watch all the reactions when they see each other.

So here are a few of Leo in the last week or so:

Here he's playing his spider man act & did get out, then arm-waved at Rubio.
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We have a plant called the "mother of thousands" and the beardies like to walk through the bunch we have planted:
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He really likes making black bearded and bobbing, regardless what his snout is pounding, so funny:
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on his garbage truck
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in his tank
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I't time to give Leo his bath, so I'll put on more in a bit.

Deb and Leo
 

sweetiepie9

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He blackbeards all the time, it starts with Roger and I in the morning, as he wakes up with a black beard. Guess it's that spring fever that hits them after brmation is over. Leo is very seriuos about his blackbearding duties. Issy sends out her own when she's firlting with him, now I think she's starting a big shed. She's gained lots of weight since she woke up. Maybe eggs, we're not sure. Sweeite isn't showing any interest towards Leo right now, so she's probably inclubating eggs, to grow later. I also got a great video of Leo swimming, I'd put him in a contest. He's a natural swimmer & swan for over 2 min in this video. I'll load it onto youtube later, it's time to bath Lonzo, then the baths/poops are done for the day.

Leo's gaining weight steadily, he took off lots of old shed with the new shed on his legs, arms, face; now he's starting his belly and back. and I think his head. Whe he's been in swimming long enough, he turns bright yellow. I tried to take good pics this am, not sure if they show the bright yellow well. His head is streaked with yellow, its quite amazing to his usual less yellow than grey and black.

He's a pretty dragon that takes his maleness seriuosly, as we think he's fully matured at over 2 yrs old. Not sure how old he is, but he's starting to get that orange around his eyes. Lonzo's orange is very pronounced, we think he's 6 yrs old, maybe 7.

Leo is turning out to be a ladies man in the best way; I'm just afraid he'll get some headaches; he bobs close to the front of the glass & bangs his snout while doing it, today not so much. He seems to learn when to stop doing something that could hard him. He's building up his muscles with the swimming in just the two weeks he's been here.

Issy and Sweetie like to flirt with him, but Issy seems to be more seriuos about it. She's old enough to make eggs, we'll see if she has. Luckily Leo can't get to her, so that if there are eggs, they won't be fertile.

She sure has widened out:
sweetie2008547.jpg
 

fresnowitte

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Hi Deb!

Great pic's of Leo and his black beard. I so understand what you mean Blaze has a black beard for nearly the entire day an it starts in the morning when he sees us and last till he's ready to go to bed. :lol:

Issy is looking quite wide there, but maybe it's not eggs keep your fingers crossed, maybe she just gained during brumation like most of my crew did.
 

sweetiepie9

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She gained over 20 grams in the last two weeks and hasn't eaten that much or wanted to hop around as usual, that's what's making me wonder. Leo gets her to show a full black beard, but her head is so light, the beard looks even blacker. Her shoulder flaps turn black & so do the small amount of side bars on the sides of her back. She's turning lighter and lighter as she gets older.

Leo continues to jump around his tank; he did a bunch for Sweetie, who wasn't impressed; then I put Issy out and watched them flirt for awhile. Leo gets so antsy in his tank, I'm afraid he'll jump out one day, so we make sure we're there so he doesn't go really crazy. The black on his beard sometimes goes right to his vent, but not near as black as Pvt Blaze gets.

We're glad we got Leo, even if he has to do his male thing, spring fever has definitely hit now, hopefully only a few weeks all eggs will be laid. Then they can all relax for awhile and each spend time out in the sun on the balcony stones.

I have to figure out how to load the video I took, I think photobucket takes too long, so I'll try You Tube and get back with the link. He swam for more than 2 min! He's quite the swimmer, better than Sweetie, who's also good.

He turned all yellow when he finished his swim and deflated the air he'd pumped into his belly. It's so funny when they release the air. :lol:

More black beards, all in the same day:
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Enjoying the sunshine one day on Dad's National Geographic:
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One more black beard:
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Rubio had a black beard most of the day, too:
sweetie2008567.jpg
 

sweetiepie9

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Yep, we have 3 male black beards & bobs going most of the time, whether they can see anyone else or not. And the 2 ladies are giving off their own signal, even if there is no male to be seen. Sweetie is at the "chocolate" brown beard, so not interested at this time. Issy, on the other hand, gets a lovely black beard and slow bobs all she can. She'd welcome Leo in a shot, but it is not to be. Hopefully she won't be like Queen Sweetie and lay eggs once a month until brumation comes along. So far, she's laid 2 bunches of infertile eggs; we're waiting for the 3rd.

Leo fits right in, he's got himself on Rubio's level, so they usually get along if they see each other, white beardes and waving to each other. Lonzo's away from everyone, so he'll not see the girls, but I'm sure he can smell them.

Guess this huge hormone stage will settle down for the summer, right? Barbara? How long does this phase last with the boys? I can't seem to remember, all I do remember was having to move Lonzo into the office by himself so he wouldn't make himself sick seeing our females. So now he doesn't see any other beardie.

We'll see about Issy, whether she has eggs or not. She's just gained alot of weight and has that pear shape to the lower belly when eggs are being formed. We'll see...

Deb and Leo and the rest!
 

gulfbrzdawn

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Leo is really filling out. I'm so glad to see him all settled in and showing off his manliness, LOL. I so understand the blackbeard thing now that I have Bligg. Geez, when does it stop, BARB?! :lol:
Looking forward to the swimming video :mrgreen:
 

spikerocks

Juvie Member
Deb, Leo looks awesome! And what a bunch of black beards u have going on there! Leo has certainly made himself at home n I can't wait to see his colors in another months or two. U certainly have ur hands full!
 

sweetiepie9

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We like to tease Leo, he's so intense with his black beard & bobbing. Issy is madly in love with him, loves to be able to see him so she can do her low female bobs. So funny. I guess Leo can have some flirting time. Sweetie could be less interested, she's hopefully not making eggs right now, so is not looking for a male. She keeps her back to Leo if he happens to be on the living room floor doing his "time out". Roger calls him Mr. Studly. I figure it's good exercise for now and he'll calm down somewhat when we figure out where to put his tank so he can't see the girls, as they only have the living room to use. Rubio is in the dining room, which is small and Lonzo's in the computer room, which is also small. I think Leo wants to stay in the living room, as it makes him feel manly :mrgreen:
 

fresnowitte

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Deb if I remember correctly the black bearding last until mid to end of Summer. :lol: Of course each beardie is different an it seems as the older the beardies get the less time it lasts. But don't feel bad I too have 5 constant black beards goin' on right now. Even Flame is black bearding and he's not but 7 months old. Crazy little dude! :lol:

BTW...Leo looks great! :mrgreen:
 

sweetiepie9

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Thanks everyone, he's quite the male beardie. I'm just glad he's eating most days, 'cause he runs around alot, swims alot, so uses up a great deal of energy. He sure loves the ladies.

barbara, Rubio was black bearding at 5 mo old & Issy was arm waving back at him. Little flirts, they started early. When Rubio realized he could puff his beard and turn it black, he stayed that way. He can sometimes go the whole day black bearding, too. You'd think Lonzo would get over it, but he security checks the computer room several times a day. That's the only time he beards & bobs is to let the furniture know who's boss. After all it's a big job!

Issy is the flirting one now, Sweetie isn't growing eggs at the moment as no male is catching her eye, if she's out she deliberately looks away from Issy and Leo. She's become the regal golden queen again. So now we're checking Issy out daily to see if she starts running around, glass dancing, worse than she's doing now. She's gained alot of weight, from 430 to 455 in only a few weeks. So we'll see, Issy's off to the vet next Friday with Rubio, who has something growing over his left ear hole, looks like a fat pad. We'll see next week. Leo's not going to the vet 'cause he's acting like a normal beardie & his poops are good and don't smell. Hard urates, but that's just a matter of getting more water into him, he's starting to improve there, too. We're thinking we might have to move Leo so he can't see the girls, he just goes nuts when he sees them during their "out" time. Not sure what we'll do, he can flirt all he wants for now. He's very funny to watch, he's so small, yet he's so "in your face". I'll get more pics up soon.

Deb and Leo
 

sweetiepie9

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I finally uploaded the video to YouTube, so here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfKE8KJYuU8

It's kind of long, he swam for over 2 minutes before he settled down to rest. He's a very dedicated swimmer! :D

I've got more pics, he's mainly black bearding & trashing his tank, the newspaper is all ripped up and the carpeting has been flung around. The small polished river rocks we had on top of his hide are now inside his hide...he goes on all day, even when he doesn't see another dragon. I think we're going to have to get him out of the living room; he has boundless energy to run back and forth in his tank :shock: :roll:

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Leo really likes sitting at the top of Roger's chair in the morning, the light doesn't warm him up alot, but he's not there for long
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Back in his tank, in his favourite place, even though he's blocked off to the side of him, he still hopes to catch a glimpse of Issy
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Under the communal 100W Power Sun, there are lots of things they can climb through & on.
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Enjoy, he's quite a charactor, is our Leo :wink:

Deb & Leo
 
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