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.

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

They grow entirely too fast.

I bet Richter's got some nice beardie boobs comin' in, little fatty-pants! Thomas was sitting on his rocks in a funny position today, and looked like a fat American dude on Safari. Almost gave him a little camera and Aloha shirt. :lol:

Simon's garden looks gorgeous. Stargazer lilies?

And that picture with the raspberry is one for the records. Couldn't be a more perfect image of a 'Hmm... What is this thing...' in beardie-speak. :lol:

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

They were listed as "assorted lilies" so I'm really unsure what they're technically called, but they look like nectarines. The lilies and tree are growing very fast, the phlox looks a bit crispy in spots and most of the flowering is gone, but it's a full sun plant so I'm sure it's just an early spring bloomer, and I'm not accidently baking it.

Alucard is the absolute lickiest dragon I've ever seen. She is really predictable on what and when she'll lick something, and is always licking when falling asleep or waking up. I'm not sure if it's like a nervous habit but it's not doing any harm, at least not currently. Don't think she can chap her lips.

Richter has like straight up pecs. I'll have to try and get a picture of his underside, but he looks like he's been hitting the gym. I haven't noticed too much fat but now I'll have to look for side boobage...

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

Hehe. Side boobage.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

She a'sploded!
Wasted no time on this shed, she's flaking like a Pillsbury biscuit

 

[NBGwen]

She a'sploded!
Wasted no time on this shed, she's flaking like a Pillsbury biscuit

LOL Pillsbury biscuit - that will now be etched in my mind as I watch Charlie shed (which he is in the middle of now, poor dude).

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

:lol: I sent the photo to my sister as well, calling her a flakey, buttery, delicious little pillsbury biscuit. Mmmmm... biscuit...

She flaked completely apart by bedtime. What a little go-getter!
She shed everything but her tail in just that one day. Her enclosure looks like the aftermath of Christmas/birthday party.

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

Dragon-fetti!! :lol:

I miss when sheds went that quick, they grow so dang fast their skin has to catch up!

Still waiting on Thomas' superhero mask to loosen itself. However, it is super entertaining to watch the doggy back leg scratch thing happening. I hope he doesn't poke his own eye out, nobody ever accused him of being the sharpest knife in the block...

Aaaand, now I want biscuits...

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Yeah she burst out of that shed like a surprise party. She was so round and plump before bursting, too, so holy crap was that restrictive. No wonder she popped.

Richter is still slowly working on his tail shed because he insisted on doing it in waves. He just finished his arms, and his back hasn't shed in a loonnnnggg time so I think that should be next but who knows!
I love Thomas's mask though, he looks like Cubone from Pokemon

and the dog/cat face kicking is adorable from a reptile.

I may need to make a homemade dinner that includes flakey, buttery, pillsbury biscuits..

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Ran home on lunch like I often do, only to find Richter sitting nonchalantly on the living room floor, totally unsupervised and unphased. His enclosure is the 40g breeder exoterra with swinging front doors, but both were closed and everything looked to be in place except him. Apparently this little guy figured out how to push his door open and crawl out. Someone will be using the lock from now on...

 

[CooperDragon]

Sneaky! Dundee did that once too. I heard a thud from the other room and he'd climbed out and plopped onto the living room floor. I double check the latch every time since.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Luckily his enclosure is basically floor level, he's the bottom tank

I just came around the corner and it was like.... hello... Richter... as he just had this look on his face like "meh :| "

He soon after headbobbed like a mad man as he had a glimpse of Alucard before being tucked back into his enclosure.

I'd be so interested to see how he managed to get out. That upper body strength!

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

Maybe that's how he got those pecs! Workin' out all day, pushing on the doors, looking for a weak point, waiting for the day you leave them just that tiny bit looser... :lol:

Or maybe he actually does this every day, has to get his run in at the gym, i.e. living room. He just lost track of time today, and forgot to get himself back home before Mom came home for lunch! Just sitting on the floor like, "What? This is where I sit."

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I made a post about it on facebook after work and my cousin said the same thing "he's been doing it the whole time, this is just the first time you caught him" :lol:
Not super important because it's hard to tell on this site unless otherwise stated, but it was "dad" that caught him :wink:

Yesterday was weigh in and measurements and I feel super badly. This last week they were both treated for coccidia for 7 days and it shows on their weight. Luckily neither are underweight and some probiotics are in the mail and they should plump up a bit more in no time

A very sleepy Alucard has gained over 2" in her first month and about 40 grams. She lost the last 1/4" off her tail about a week ago, and would likely measure 10.75" with it, compared to her starting measurement of 8.5", so all things said I'm very impressed with her growth.
(Richter is up to 19.5", growing just about .25" a week, and he lost about 16g this past week during treatment due to a very impacted appetite, but still weighing in at 481g)

Yesterday we were very warm and sunny, 83°, so dragons were out sunbathing

We were only out there about 35 minutes, fully supervised, so I apologize as Richter did not have a shaded spot, but he was basking the entire half hour with no indication he needed out of the sun. I'm planning to add more to the rabbit cage to make it a little more beardie friendly, including a slope to a higher platform, creating a shaded area underneath. Alucard is much too little for the rabbit cage, but I'll be investing in a more portable option in the near future. Couldn't turn down $5 for a good, secure outdoor beardie basking area

 

[smackey2]

Oh my goodness, Alucard is adorable; absolutely love the raspberry picture!

Haha. The whole pecs thing had me rolling! Love it! :lol: A little escape artist!

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Dragon pecs!

Also caught Alucard bringing sexy back

While writing this, I had let Richter out (see above sad dragon photo) and he ran around wildly trying to find the best spot to head bob at Alucard. After a while he ran to the top of the couch and started WAVING. Holy crap! He hadn't waved since he was just a baby! Was weird seeing his giant, ripped arms wave!

I got some of it on film, will upload!