Alucard's Journey

I'll try not to make this introduction too upsetting.

After the sudden and tragic passing of my two year old, Simon, I had an empty enclosure and a beardie sized hole in my heart.

Simon was buried in my front yard, and a red maple tree was planted on her grave site as a memorial. Richter came to show his respects. As time passes, this whole area will be converted into a beautiful garden in her honor. Rest in peace, Simon. You were truly loved.

I'm on day two now and am still grieving horribly, but if I could turn her empty enclosure into a great home for another dragon and give them a good life, why not start now.

Alucard has been introduced to the house. She will never replace Simon and she knows she has big shoes to fill. She was also taken out to pay her respects to Simon's memorial site. She is a normal morph little girl beardie, just like Simon, and has a lot of spunk and a big appetite.

She's about two months old, 8.5", and 32g.
She will inevitably lose the very tip of her tail, but it looks like this is healing well and will not cause her any concern.

I look forward to the love and laughter she brings to me and appreciate her presence turning Simon's home into something positive again.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

No real preference, I initially went with female because they're the underdogs. There's beauty in them, as well. The second was because where I got her from they only had her. I saw petsmart had two males but they were very young.

And yup I'm active on the chameleon forums as well. She's four months or so right now but I'll be getting ready with a lay bin for in and out of the enclosure. I still have all the lay bin stuff from Simon. I was told 12*12*12 dimensions for inside the enclosure

 

[AHBD]

I wondered if maybe you were a tender heart and picked the females exactly for the reason that they get passed over. So that's really nice of you. And they are darling creatures. I've had several, my last male was spectacular. I picked him from a bunch because he was SUPER mean and kind of flipped out as people got near him, hissing + trying to run.....I figured no one would pick him so I did.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I would have done the same. Poor moody little guy

Before getting a chameleon I had so many people telling me to get a male because they're so showy, but I felt so bad that no one ever suggested a girl, so I went with a girl. Whether they have more specific needs means little to me, it just comes with the territory of the critter.

I had considered when Simon passed to just get a boy due to the egg bound scare before finding out it was cancer, but I again had no real preference, and it wasn't that I couldn't handle a gravid female, she just wasn't gravid.
I picked Alucard and she just happened to be female as well. Wasn't going for or against it, just luck of the draw

 

[AHBD]

Alucard....that raspberry loving cutie pie.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Alucard is the biggest glutton dragon I've ever seen. I can see obesity being an issue when she's older, so I'll have to always be mindful of how much I'm feeding her once she slows on growth.

I go up to say hi to her in her enclosure and she just tilts her head to look at the critter keeper of snacks. Like "are you feeding me or not". She's full of sass, quite the opposite of ragdoll Richter

 

[AHBD]

That's good to be aware of....some owners like the perpetual fat belly on a dragon but if it goes too far it is very , very hard for them to lose weight and that can make them unhealthy + sedentary. A good stocky dragon is fine though.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Yeah it would be hard to work off that fat, but I think a cricket on a pole and string attached to her back would work it off fast. I'd prefer not to get to that point

I think Richter is pretty perfectly sized, so I'll use him as a role model

He also gets a lot of floor time and loves to run around so he's keeping himself in shape

 

[NBGwen]

They are so sweet! I never thought of people preferring females or males. The reptile clerk and I were both convinced Charlie was female...yeah...we were wrong LOL He has no femoral pores! That's weird, isn't it?

Had him outside yesterday on the grass for the first time (we usually just go on the deck). He didn't know what to do - just sat there...taking it in.

 

[KozmoRox]

Summer is fun! I love seeing all the beardies sunbathing and enjoying the outdoors! I have been taking Kozmo out every day(when its not raining). She's virtually potty trained! I put her down in the garden and she goes...eventually. :roll: She hasn't gone in her viv for about a month, I'm worried for cold weather, that she'll be confused on where to go. Anyways, It's good to see you, Richter & Alucard out & about. 8) & Charlie too!

Kozmo sitting in the pot while I tend to the garden.

And she finally brok the 400g mark!! She's always been slim, but eats like crazy! She's like Richter, gets lots of floor time. She's not much of a snuggler, she'd rather be exploring and wandering around the house. Lately she's been wanting to climb; the walls, the dining room chairs and the bar stools. I think she may think she's a people?! :lol:

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Look how cute Charlie is!
That face of "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."

Richter usually just sits in the grass, but starts to run around if I let him sit long enough.
I'm considering getting them a little sand box for outside, in the tent, so they can play in it and dig if they want. I don't think I'll let Alucard play in it too much, she's extremely licky and still pretty little.

Kozmo is adorable in that pot!
Still looks like the female version of Richter

Richter just zoning out

 

[KozmoRox]

They're all so cute! Good morning sexy leg from Kozmo! (I just snapped this)

Richter is more spikey than Kozmo is. Is that more of a male feature? And speaking of girls, I had a girl some 10 years ago and we had to re-home her because of a move. I don't remember dealing with the egg issue with Sam, she was 2 years old. Do all beardy girls lay infertile eggs at some point?

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I had my girl Simon for 2 years w/o any eggies. It seems pretty random to the dragon and also depends if a male dragon is nearby to "encourage" it.

I've heard of dragons having eggs as early as a year old, some even just under a year, or as late as 6 years later.
Once they've been bred they tend to make infertile eggs more often afterward, so I hear.

I have no personal experience with eggs, but based on how flirty Alucard gets with Richter I have to imagine she'll provide some experience...

And as far as head spikes I think it's not too gender specific, though males do get wider heads which may by default create larger appearing spikes. Richter's all fluff outward, and when I had Simon hers were streamlined back

Richter

Simon

 

[NBGwen]

Charlie is in the middle of shedding...that look is also a bit of grump as it was windy and he's just cranky LOL! He's been in his hide a LOT. I think the shedding is getting old for him...his entire tail, hind legs are still waiting to slough off, and his face just started. Poor dude. He's growing so fast...

Kozmo is adorable! Love the leg shot LOL!

Richter is so sweet. A sandbox would be great for play time - I should try that for Charlie too...

On females - Evee never had eggs (she was 5 when she succumbed to her health issues), and I had a female about 10 years ago that also never had eggs. I agree with traildrifterphalanx - it must be for those around males or maybe it's more genetically derived.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I feel like Alucard is going to be egg crazy. She is obsessed with Richter compared to how Simon was. Simon and Richter would generally ignore each other when one was out, but as soon as Richter or Alucard are out, they communicate almost the entire time from afar.

I swear Alucard will be in her little lay box a year from now just waving like crazy

 

[KozmoRox]

Kozmo's my one and only. So I don't have to worry about any males coming around. I hope we don't have to worry about eggs either. My college age son wants a skink, if he's a male will that cause difficulties too? How do different species of lizards do around(not in the same viv) as each other?

She's definitely less spikey than yours, I kind of like it! I think she looks feminine and her colors are beautiful!