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.

 

[KozmoRox]

I have never seen such a black beard!!! Wow! She must had been super scared. Kozmo poofs out her beard and body, but I've never seen that black beard.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

What the crap??
Another week of no growth in length but still gaining a lot of weight. If she doesn't grow she's going to be a ball.

14.25" 274g

 

[smackey2]

I know what you mean.
A few weeks ago, Spike was VERY much all belly. Literally ALL belly. She didn't gain any length for about 2 and a half weeks, but her weight kept going up and up and up. Finally, and to my relief, she is back to gaining length again, slowly, and her 'Buddha belly' (as was described to me) has gone back to normal. (a shedding session caused a decrease in appetite which might have contributed some too.)
It is odd to watch them stop growing, except their belly.

 

[SHBailey]

I've never raised a baby beardie, but from what I've read on this forum, the norm is for the width and the length to play hop-scotch and catchup with each other. If you had one that increased in weight and length evenly and in proportion, that would probably be pretty unusual? :?

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Both her and Richter were growing .5" a week and gaining weight at a good pace.

Alucard specifically was growing a little more than .5" each week and at least 20g a week. Now she's just gaining the weight the past 3 weeks, with about .25" growth the week before this last.

I know each dragon's growth is different, just she stopped so abruptly after having a really consistent growth rate, so I'm a bit concerned. I don't want her getting fat, but she's still so young she needs to eat

 

[SHBailey]

If you've got yourself a good reptile vet, you could always take her in for a checkup, just to be sure she's not "stuck" lengthwise for some reason, or hasn't developed some sort of metabolic imbalance -- if you need to for peace of mind. But I still think she's probably just growing in her own unique way, although I admit that I could be wrong... :?

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I hate to play the "she's fine" card, but she was just parasite tested about a month ago and was just treated for coccidia. I take it no other parasites were found, and those are the only things I think would be impacting her growth besides UVB and temps, and both are fine (105F basking, arcadia 12% T5)

I fed her on lunch and her appetite seems to be back to normal, though she was always eating, just not with the same gusto.
She usually eats til her beard is full, lately has been "snacking", but on lunch she stocked her beard up again and was a lot more interested in eating in general.
Perhaps the meds had messed with her ability to absorb nutrients properly and slowed her down.

Here's hoping she was dealing with a snag and will start growing in length again.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

She's clearly feeling a lot better.
I offer her crickets out of a solo cup, and before meds she would literally dive right in to the cup to eat. At the end and not long after meds she lost her gusto, as mentioned, but today she was back in that cup excitedly eating her crickets.

So chubby

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Beautiful Richter

 

[SHBailey]

It sounds like maybe it was just the meds that slowed Alucard down for a little while.

I totally agree with your "beautiful" assessment of Richter.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I took him with to run some evening errands, and his scales were a beautiful blue/lavender out in the night.
Unfortunately the camera did not capture the color well, but he's still beautiful nonetheless

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

If it's any consolation, Thomas was super consistent for months and months, then went into a funk and stopped growing, wasn't very interested in eating, and didn't shed anything for a few weeks. Still remained active and appeared healthy, though, and never LOST any weight. I thought he was done, but he suddenly came back with a ravenous appetite, sheds everywhere, and we're now up to 709 grams and 22" (plus whatever's missing with his tail nip...)

Probably just meds messin' with her. I know we all like to worry ourselves, but if she's not losing any weight and doesn't seem too off, she's probably just doing her own thang. Little Miss Sassy-Pants.

Richter is definitely a pretty boy, and I think he knows it. Judge-y face game on that guy is on point! :lol:

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Even if she never got longer, I was mainly concerned she was gaining so much weight weekly with no length that she would become morbidly obese lol. Little Fatty McButterpants.

Her ball of a stomach seems to be flattening, so perhaps tomorrow for weigh ins we'll see some growth in length.

I ran out of crickets suddenly, so she had some supers for breakfast which isn't great, but I'll harvest some roaches once home today.

He's sexy and he knows it 8)

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Another week of little to no length. Sigh.
Maybe a smidge, but not really anything.

288g and maybe about 14.4"

Her hands and feet started a shed, so let's hope that's progress. I'm really unsure what to do to get her growing in length. I guess I'll just have to be patient.

Meanwhile, Richter shed the bottom of his feet and gained a few grams himself

I didn't check his length tonight. I figure he's likely still at 20"

And the chameleon is at 11g

You go, buddy!

 

[SHBailey]

They both look nice and healthy, even if they're not growing exactly the way you would expect or hope. That's probably just beardies' way of messing with their human slaves' minds. :roll:

It's good to see that the little chameleon is doing well too.