falkor's story

so, i thought i'd go ahead and start up an ongoing thread for falkor. if you're interested in reading about his beginnings and the mini adventure i've gone through trying to right the wrongs of the pet store, check out my introduction thread here - viewtopic.php?f=44&t=131036&start=0. either way, i'm going to go ahead and repost the pictures from that thread and continue to add to them


the day i brought him home along with his original setup:

his current setup (the middle is a little dirty from calcium dust - time to clean the carpet)

almost looks like it could have been take outside - well, except for that black cord ;-)

"i'm sure i could reach that plateau...doesn't look that far..."

i LOVE how this shot turned out:

here's a funny shot i took the other night of him sleeping. he normally sleeps up on his branch, but on this particular night, he didn't quite make it before falling asleep :-D

hunting crickets:

hanging out on my hand while shedding his legs:

another cool close-up:

trying to surf the internet - sorry buddy, you just don't weigh enough to press down the keys:

i just bought some slate tile tonight and i have it all ready to go in. that'll happen as soon as i get out of work tomorrow. count on some more pictures then. i'm so excited - i think it'll look really cool :-D

 

[nair88]

well, i'm a little later on this weekly update. thank the long weekend for that ;-) anyway, falkor had a fairly eventful week. but before i get to that, i have an announcement to make. i am now about 99.99% sure that falkor is actually a girl. i never bothered to check that close prior to now - mainly because we had been calling her a him for so long i was kind of afraid to check. well, i finally gave in and checked and she only has the one lump directly above her vent. no double bumps to be found anywhere. here's a picture - though it is a bit difficult to see. in real life, it's pretty much clear as day.

it's been a little difficult adjusting to calling her a she, but i'm getting more used to it. it'll be your guy's job to keep me on track in that regard. make sure to call me out if you see me saying, "he" anywhere in reference to her ;-)

well, that aside, falkor is continuing to grow like crazy. as of sunday, she was up to 113 grams and 13.5" long. she went through a significant head shed as well. the nice thing is that while she does seem to get annoyed with the shed, she's never let that change her appetite or her love of being held i also introduced a little stuffed frog for her this week. she's taken to it slightly, but doesn't really spend a whole lot of time with it. though she does sleep with it occasionally

finally, i started a dubia colony this past friday. so far as i can tell, it's doing well. i started with 20 adult females, 10 adult males and about 600 mixed nymphs. my plan is to hopefully get her switched off of crickets before the end of this year.

here is this weeks picture update:


sunday weigh-in. she seems to be distracted by something...

ah, here it is - she sees her weird reflection in the mixer bowl

partway through the head shed. she doesn't seem to be bothered much at all

introducing her to the frog. i had her on my arm and then put the frog on my arm. she saw it and crawled right up to it and set her head down and started going to sleep.

the previous picture was taken about 20 minutes before bedtime. when her lights went out, i gently set her in her viv on top of the frog. she zonked out right then and there.

a couple nights later, i came into the room after lights out to see her sleeping like this. crazy little girl. i was a little concerned with the ladder falling during the night since it had obviously already moved quite a bit, so i took her down and removed the ladders. it seems that she's too heavy for them now :-( at least she still has her hammock

after taking her down form the ladder, i set her on her frog once again.

i thought this was really cute. it looks like she's trying to imitate the frog. they are laying in almost the exact same position

finally, here are a couple of pictures of my dubia bin in case you are interested. believe me, they are all in there - most of them are in the egg crates where you would expect them to be.

 

[puppytoes72]

Yes Falkor looks like a girl in that picture!

I absolutely LOVE the picture of her resting her head on the frog on your arm :love5: and the picture of her sleeping standing up on the ladder is hilarious :lol:
Great pics,keep them coming! :wink:

 

[puppytoes72]

Toyguy,
Here is the link (I have the same one in blue)
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-leashes/11442-508821/four-paws-safety-iguana-lead-harness-.html

Here is a different design (which I also have) but it's kinda hard to get their arms in the holes.
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-leashes/11442-503581/t-rex-reptile-comfort-leash.html

Thanks! The second link is the one I have and it is indeed a pain to get on. Not only do I have to try and finagle his arms through the holes, but once it's on it really takes 2 hands to close up the leather strap and pull the cord through, then slide the keeper down. That other one looks much easier to deploy

Your welcome. Yeah you kinda need FOUR hands to get that one on,especially if you have a squirmy baby.With Gem I get the left arm in and then while I'm trying to get the right arm in he is taking the left arm OUT :roll: :lol:

 

[nair88]

Yes Falkor looks like a girl in that picture!

thanks for confirming it

I absolutely LOVE the picture of her resting her head on the frog on your arm :love5: and the picture of her sleeping standing up on the ladder is hilarious :lol:
Great pics,keep them coming! :wink:

haha, thanks! and you don't have to worry - the pictures will keep rolling in

 

[Toyguy]

What? You mean now I have to get used to comparing her to my guy? Hmmm, I wonder if Dash really is a guy? Now I'm worried....

It is fun watching Falkor and Dash grow up together, since they are so close in age. It's reassuring to see that each is doing so well!

 

[nair88]

haha, it's not so bad. i've pretty much gotten used to it now. and dash isn't a bad name for a girl, so you'd be fine there. no reason to be scared

and yeah, it has been very reassuring along the way

 

[nair88]

well, falkor continues to grow like a weed. on sunday, she weighed in at 133 grams and about 14.25". that's 20 grams and .75" growth in a week. she and i couldn't be happier not a whole lot happened this past week. she went through a body shed and now her tail is the only part left. this is her second major shed since i've had her and it seems that both times now, her tail likes to wait a couple extra weeks to shed. anyway, here are this weeks pictures:


weekly weigh-in:

a picture of her sleeping in her hammock. this is the first time she has slept in her hammock properly. the only other time she slept in the hammock was the pledge of allegiance/opera singer incident ;-)

she was sitting like this one morning. i had never seen her do it before, but she seems to be very proud. then again, maybe she was trying to devise a way to escape ;-)

here's a picture where you can see the start of the full body shed. i really like how it looks like she's wearing a shirt of some kind

another picture of her sleeping on her frog - (can you tell i like sleeping pictures?) it seems that the frog has a way of calming her down. the other night, i had her out about 30 minutes before bedtime and she got really riled up for some reason and wouldn't sit still. i went and got the frog and set it on my lap. she saw it and went and laid down on it and calmed right down. so weird. i let her stay there until bedtime and then i put her in her viv. the really cute part is that when i set her down, she didn't want to let go of me. as i'd pull my hand away, she kept reaching out and grabbing my fingers as if to say, "can't i just stay with you, daddy? pleeeeease???"

one more thing. i think i should name the frog since she seems to like it so much. any ideas?

 

[Toyguy]

That picture of her sleeping on the frog is adorable

The frog reminds me of those old Budweiser frog commercials, so I vote for Bud!

 

[nair88]

That picture of her sleeping on the frog is adorable

The frog reminds me of those old Budweiser frog commercials, so I vote for Bud!

thanks! i just read this to my wife and she was like, "what about buddy?" i kind of like that - buddy the frog. has a nice ring to it

 

[puppytoes72]

SHE looks so cute sleeping on "Buddy" and also her hammock She is growing so fast,enjoy every baby moment while you can :wink:

 

[nair88]

so, i think i've settled on a name for the frog. i'm going to go with crunchy. i got it from a monty python sketch called "crunchy frogs". i've always been a big fan of anything that comes from those guys

SHE looks so cute sleeping on "Buddy" and also her hammock She is growing so fast, enjoy every baby moment while you can :wink:

thanks michele! i'm definitely enjoying the baby time. but there's also a big part of me that can't wait for her to be full grown. i know very well though that when she is full-grown that i'm going to wish that she was a baby again. you just can't win ;-)

 

[Toyguy]

i know very well though that when she is full-grown that i'm going to wish that she was a baby again. you just can't win ;-)

There's an easy answer for that one

 

[nair88]

haha! we'll have to see what happens ;-)

 

[BeardyDragon]

theres another thread that has comics on it, and theres a stufti called Timmy the Turtle, if you search bligg you should find it, i think the name should be alliterative, how about francine the frog?

 

[nair88]

haha, yeah - i love bliggy and timmy - such funny adventures thanks for the suggestion, but i think i'm pretty stuck on going with crunchy at this point ;-)