Fluffy & Figment

I have posted random tidbits about Fluffy all over this forum. And I tried a blog, but somehow just not my thing. I don't know why I think giving them their own thread here will work any better, but let's give it a shot. Ok? I'm going to try for lots of pictures.

Let's start with the Fluffy-Monster...

No matter how fabulously I plan her viv, she finds the oddest place possible to sit. She seems to think the corner of her sandbox is a good perch.

And I went in this weekend and put a stuffed animal under the lowest platform of her viv so she could have a friend. She decided to snuggle with it tonight.

This was her day sitting in the sun at work with me. Wow! She was one seriously energetic little thing for about a week after that!

I'm sure most people saw this when I posted Fluffy's time around town, but I still love, love, love it and wanted to post it again anyway. Fluffy bowling!

And Mr. Figment! He is my little pudge-opotomus. Not quite there yet, but he is gaining weight nicely since we added hornworms to the diet two weeks ago.

I adore this picture. Walked in and found him sitting in his hammock like this. I have never seen a beardie sit up like a dog before, but that's just what it looks like to me.

This one was taken tonight. I finally spruced up his viv a bit this weekend and he is still adjusting. But he figured out that the vent next to his basking spot gives him a perfect view of anyone sitting on the sofa. That seems to make him feel better.

From a couple months ago. His first black beard. He thought we was so macho and we just kept taking pictures and giggling. Poor little fellow.

This is Fluffy and Figment's viv. He lives on top and she lives on bottom.

The entire living room. It's a nice large viv, but not overly intrusive.

My bug room. Under the cover is my superworms. They like the dark. And Fluffy's original viv is in the corner.

Neo is 12 years old now and for his birthday he got a beardie. We will be picking her up at Repticon in Ft. Lauderdale on May 13. I will see if I can get the photo into photobucket and I will add that onto this thread.

 

[NeosMom]

Fluffy is scared of supers!!! :shock: Seriously. I am not exaggerating. When I say she is picky on a record setting level, I mean it. I have to bring out the bin and put it where she can't see it. Then I hand feed her one at a time. If one gets too active and falls off my hand onto the floor in front of her, she turns and runs. I need a video camera. It is the most sad, but hysterical thing I have ever seen in my life. On a really terrific day I might get 8 or 9 supers in her. I am just giddy when that happens. Lots of days it's a miracle if I can get 4 and far too often it's only one or two. I don't understand because she used to be the BEST eater.

The good news is she loves her hornworms. To date she has never turned one down and that is fantastic when they are full grown. Since I started with my first hornworm less than a month ago, I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of consistently maintaining a supply of full grown here. That is a learning process in itself.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I see what you mean about the fussy eating. Does she eat veggies/greens? As for the supers, my gang don't run if a super gets away, but they usually won't eat anymore either. I wish we had more of a variety & I could order different bugs over the internet, but they don't eat more than a few bugs each, so there would be no point. So I stick to supers & Didi will eat a roach once a week or so. I will go see what the hornworms locally are about, but they're very expensive, almost $2 per worm, but I don't mind getting a few to see if they'll eat them.

I don't know what else to suggest for Fluffy, do you have crickets? You can take off their legs (yes, I know) if she doesn't want to chase them, if she'll eat them. I know silkworms are expensive, even though they're very good for beardies. I can't get silkworms that will live overnight & only Didi will eat them & he doesn't need them. I bought a bunch for Lonzo once, went to the next town to pick them up (they're 75 cents each), Lonzo ate 3, Rubio ate 2, 5 died and Didi ate the rest. So that was a trip wasted.

I wish I had more suggestions for you for Fluffy, but I'll ask a few friends who have had difficult beardies & ask what they did to get them eating again. Don't forget Fluffy is at the "teenager" age, that might have something to do with it. I'll get back to you if I can come up with any other options. Meanwhile, have fun with the babyfood!

 

[NeosMom]

Thanks a ton, Deb. It's good to have someone here who understands what I am going through and has some good suggestions. Thankfully, yes, she does eat her greens. Not as much as I would like, but enough that I can't complain about it. As for the insects, I have been looking at this from the perspective of "she's just picky and I want her to put on a little weight so I can stop stressing when she has a couple days in a row that she won't eat". I remind myself that she is basically a teenager. And I also compare this to when Neo was 3 yrs old and basically thought goldfish crackers were a sufficient dietary staple. I don't want to view this as a "problem". If she completely stops eating, she's not pooping, or anything else is wrong, then it becomes an issue and I will be in the ER section in the blink of an eye. But for right now I am just determined to keep moving forward and making sure she is eating some protein - whatever it may be.

The hornworms are growing fast. (Your babies will love them, by the way. I buy habitat cups with 15 worms for $10. That isn't bad, but to make it worth the shipping... well, that's the trick. Good luck.) And I can handle the baby food thing for a few days. It will all come together one way or another. I'm sure in a year I will look back and laugh while I help someone else with their picky eater. :mrgreen:

 

[sweetiepie9]

You're welcome & I know hornworms grow fast, they're like silkworms, full growth in a month. When Sweetie was about a year old I bought her some silkworms & she didn't eat 6, so I just left them & they cocooned. It was amazing to see & a female & male emerged awhile later. So I put them on a piece of paper. The male did a jig (seriuosly) around the female a few times, then they attached themselves & stayed that way for 24 hours. The male then died & the female laid like 300 eggs, all purple (fertile), it was amazing to watch. Then she died, that's their full cycle. Unfortunatley we had no idea how to take care of all those eggs, they need alot of heat to be born & we didn't have an incubator, well who knew we'd have so many eggs? If I'd know in advance I would have checked into it more carefully & we might have had a silkworm farm! But it was just fascinating to watch, especially the male jig. I wish I'd had a camera that did video at the time, but I didn't and it happened very fast after they got out of their cocoons.

My guys don't eat many supers in a day, 7 max, then I start pushing squash & greens into them, so they are healthy & have good weights, but they're also adults. It's Lonzo that's driving me nuts, he's like super-active & for a 9 year old he's quite amazing. He went to bed tonight after 7p, he's normally sound asleep by 3p, so that's also amazing.

So I wouldn't worry too much about Fluffy, if she gets under 200g, then I'd worry. It's good that she eats her greens, alot of 8-9 mo old beardies don't. So that's a good thing!

Gabriel gained 5 grams this week, he ate 8 supers today & then tried to eat the palm of my hand. Don't know that that was about!

 

[NeosMom]

Wow! So much going on here that I didn't get to post Friday or yesterday. After work on Friday, my son and I picked out the trim & support legs for Crystal's viv. While we were out, we also bought invitations for the "School's Out Luau" we are hosting at my house in June. There were 50 invitations in the box. :shock: Ummmmmm... I see writers cramp in my future. After we got home from those errands, Neo wanted to go for ice cream. :? So I told him that we could go to Kilwin's on 5th Avenue if he was willing to walk. 8) Smart Mommy. What 12 year old wants to walk a mile each direction for ice cream when there are 4 flavors in the freezer? Ummmmm... Mine does. :shock: So, Neo, Fluffy and I headed out for an evening walk. For the record, I live in Naples, FL. Fifth Avenue in Naples is the ritzy area of shops downtown. As in, this is an $8 ice cream excursion. People dress up in outfits that cost more than I earn in a month to go eat dinner that costs more than I earn in a week. :roll: Don't misunderstand, there is plenty of casual going on down there, too. But this is where people go to be seen. Except for me. I go there because it's a pretty night and my son wants ice cream - and Fluffy hasn't had out time in a few days. So, we get down there and I'm not going to take Fluffy into the ice cream shop, so we stood outside and waited. Quietly. Against a wall. For the most part, Fluffy was invisible. She was sleeping on my shoulder. A couple people noticed her and made faces, but that was all. Then I heard what sounded like a dog collar jingling and Fluffy's head popped up. :roll: Here we go... So now she is in full "notice me" mode. She is preening on my shoulder and just having a blast checking out EVERYTHING. At this point I was wondering exactly how long it takes to make an ice cream cone. By the time we got out of there, Fluffy's ego was the size of the Empire State Building again and she had received every question other than a marriage proposal. Very, very cool for Fluffy and I love to show her off, but next time I am going to plan ahead so we can enjoy it better.

On Saturday we spent about 4 hours of the afternoon on Crystal's new viv. Cut all the trim and support legs down. This is going to be a really neat multi-level viv. Neo took the design of Fluffy's viv, but has moved the basking spot to the center and the levels all offset from each other. Visually, it is REALLY interesting. I sure hope I can get the lighting / temperatures balanced out in this viv quickly. Anyway, we also painted all those parts and sealed everything we could (which is probably about 90% of the viv stuff). Crystal comes home a week from today, so we are going to get some serious work finished up today.

As for the small human in the house, he is sidetracking me a bit, too. He is 12 and in middle school. We are suddenly doing a little bit of an image change :?: I guess that is what you would call it. Before the big luau. The big luau where he hopes a certain girl will be... :mrgreen: You get the picture. Shopping with grandma last night for a new outfit and new shirt for school. (Yes, school does let out in one month.) Searching the internet for a new hairstyle for when he has his appointment in 2 weeks. Work towards the "new look" before next school year. We even went shopping for new hair supplies and Axe products. It's amazing. I've been suggesting some "improvements" for two years and he ignores me. A rumor starts Friday that a certain girl and a certain boy (not my son) like each other, and suddenly it is a mega priority. I don't know who is more fascinating... Fluffy or Neo...

 

[sweetiepie9]

Boys get interesting when they discover girls, more showers, better hair, better clothes. Went throught the same thing with Eric, b4 that I'd hunt him down by his smell to get him in the shower, now he's taking one morning & after school. Mind you it was nice to see! So enjoy it while it lasts, as soon enough he'll be a full fledged teenager & attitudes will change. Interesting, just make sure he's REALLY busy all the time, best way to keep out of trouble! That what I did with Eric and it worked for the most part and now he's 28!

Great job with Neo's baby's viv, it'll be great to see it all put together & ready for his baby. He's very lucky that he has a mom who knows about basking temps & the best UVB for her, so she'll be in good hands. And, of course, pics please.

Glad Fluffy got her diva time, she's so funny in that she'll stay on your shoulder & not try to jump away. I wouldn't trust any of my gang to go outside, their outside time is going to the vet & getting into the sunshine on the balcony. Any time I've taken them outside, they've been scared, constantly scanning the skys (we have lots of crows & hawks around here, plus seagulls) so they feel better on the balcony.

So keep me updated on the new viv & when Chrystal gets home, lots & lots of pics!
Deb
By the way, discovered that Gabriel likes watching movies with me. We watched Burlesque and he just loved the singing and dancing, I have a few pics, he was so cute. He's the only dragon I have that when put on the bed didn't dash to the edge & jump off!

 

[NeosMom]

I am in Hornworm Hell! I got my second order of hornworms from Linda's Gone Buggie last week. The first time I ordered 2 regular sized habitats and they lasted almost precisely two weeks. So, this time I ordered 2 regular, plus another habitat of babies that holds 24 and then extra food for them so I can make the hornworms last longer and not have to order so often. Well, last time I had a little food left over in two cups. This time I am nearly out of food and it's not a full week until tomorrow. Welcome to summer in Florida. The worms are terrific, but talk about OPTIMAL growing conditions. Oh My! :shock:

Fine. I have been seriously investigating all of my options for keeping hornworms in constant supply for my babies, so I had a food recipe right on hand. I'm just going to have to make up some food for these little buggers and keep them happy. :roll: Yeah... riiiiiggghhhttt... Uh-huh... :study: Have you seen this recipe? Only one vitamin shop in town had the nutritional yeast. Hubby had to go to the Chinese market for the Agar. And now to hunt down the untoasted wheat germ, I am going to have to make a trip to whole foods - opposite end of town. I am so not going to make it there before they close.

I think I've mentioned this before, but it's a good thing these beardies are so stinking cute! :?

 

[sweetiepie9]

Yep, it's the stinking cute that keeps us slaves going. I haven't gotten into hornworms yet, so have no idea what they eat & if I ever do get to the shop that sells them, I'll only be getting a few. Good luck, but at least when you have the ingredients you can keep them going for longer. Are they easy to breed? Maybe you can get your own colony going? That would be great, but you're right, Florida is optimum for growing things, not like up here. We're just getting out of the 65F & it's cool again tonight, but then again, I wouldn't be able to funciton in Florida! I'd be one great big hot flash!

So does Crystal come home this weekend? And how's the viv going?

Take care, have fun with making up the hornwood food, and thanks for looking in on my gang!
Deb

 

[NeedCricketsNow]

I forgot all about the picture of figs bearding on the main post. It was so fun . Crystal is a sweetheart and her viv is nearly done
I am sitting on the sofa with her on my lap. Heather (the breeder) was awesome and helpful. I would definitely recommend her when your getting a beardie.
-Neo

 

[NeosMom]

So, today was the big trip to Repticon! Yay! We had lots of fun. First thing we had to do was find Fairytail Dragons so that Neo could see his beautiful little baby girl that he has been waiting for since his birthday a month ago. After he got to see her, we toured the show and looked everything over. Fluffy and Figment both came along for the trip and they loved it. After the tour, we returned to Fairytail to pick up Neo's baby girl. He plans to upload lots of pictures of her himself, so I don't want to steal his thunder and post much here. I will definitely post a link to the thread where he puts them.

So, while we are getting Crystal, I picked up a cup of hornworms and a pretty little necklace for Fluffy. It is so pretty. Next time we go walking on 5th Avenue where the snooty dogs go with their jeweled collars, she will have her own. Here is a picture of her on the ride home wearing it.

We did a bit more shopping before leaving. I got a pretty good deal on feeders, so picked up 2000 crickets, 100 supers, and 100 phoenix worms in addition to my hornworms. Should be good. I put 70 supers in isolation so I can keep my bloodlines varied in my supers colony. And 1000 of the crickets are adults I'm using to breed.

On the way home I got some good pictures of everybody. Fluffy was having a blast riding on the dashboard. It took a little bit for her to realize she was safe behind glass (just like her viv), but once she did she had too much fun watching everything.

Figment was quite a handful. This morning he decided that Fluffy's Mother's Day present was to make her a Mommy! :shock: Fortunately I stay close and watch them very, very carefully when they are out together, so I was able to catch him as he went running for her. :silent: But it certainly had him in a feisty mood all day. I got him to calm down by letting him snuggle on my chest for part of the ride home. Of course, he took an ENORMOUS poop on me. As it happens, I am anemic & hypoglycemic, so I get cold really easy. That means I had my long sleeve button down shirt with me in case I got cold and so I was able to change. Only a mile down the road from a rest stop, but wowzers did it stink on the way. He got his blankie, my shirt, the seat belt, and his leash. Quite the cleanup.

After that little setback, I let him ride on hubby's shoulder for a while. I mean, he was cleaned up and all, just not my favorite snuggle buddy right then. So, here he is riding with hubby.

We got home at a reasonable hour, which was good because Crystals viv still needed a bit of tweaking. We had a lighting crisis this morning and are really scrambling on her basking spot. We ended up putting up a Zenon 20 watt. Her basking platform is too close to the top of the viv. I didn't allow room for error and the 100 watt bulb had to be nearly touching the top of the viv - wood viv. So, we ended up with paint on the top bubbling and would have had a lovely little fire if that bulb was left tilted up so high. However, adjusting it lower put it too close to the basking spot. Ugh. Hence, the Zenon. At full force, the basking temp is only hitting 97. I need 105. So, hubby is supposed to be watching that very carefully tomorrow. I sure hope I don't have to swap that out again. It's getting really frustrating.

Anyway, I can't post all this and not add some Crystal pictures, so here is my son and Crystal in the truck on the way home...

She is a really beautiful and sweet little girl. I am dying to post more pictures, but promised him that I wouldn't. He really wants more people to read his posts and he thinks no one will if they can see them on my thread. His user name is NeedCricketsNow.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day and all of your beardie children were extra good for you today.

 

[NeosMom]

Oh... BTW... You can probably see that Fluffy is looking nice and plump in these pictures. She is up to 270 grams! We are making progress now! (Plus, she was doing the whole puffer thing trying to look big and scary. Can't really blame her. She was riding through the Everglades. Had to be kinda intimidating.)

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well isn't Fluffy looking comfy on the dashboard, that's where Lonzo likes to sit when in the car. Sorry to hear about Figment pooping on you, if it's stinky you might want to get a fecal done. When any of my dragons poop stinks like that it usually means parasites, but then again, Lonzo's stinks all the time & he's clear. So you never know.

So you put the two of them out together? You might want to let them out separately, beardie sez takes really 1 second & you might miss Figment, that's all it takes. Rubio almost got to Sweetie one day, I took him out for a cuddle & forgot she was on a pillow on the other side of the living room, he was over there like a shot, but luckily he was young enough to stop before he got to her with a puzzled look on his face (I think he was all of 7 mo old at the time), like "what am I supposed to do now?" That gave me the time to grap Sweetie up & put her back in her tank. Just wanted to let you know.

Crystal is one cute beardie & your boy is very handsome! (He's too old to be called cute, right?) I saw his post, is he going to start a post in Introductions? She's very pretty. As for the lighting issue, you can use a regular houseold bulb, a 60W would probably be more than enough to get the temps up to 105, that's what I've always used in my tanks before I got the power suns. So try that, it may help. They're alot cheaper than any light you can get at a petshop & work just as well, plus easier to replace.

Can't wait to see more pics of Crystal.

Fluffy looks great, she's got a nice belly going, even though she's small she's well built, so I wouldn't worry too much. Some dragons are just petite!
I went to weight Gabriel today, but realized none of the batteries I have were working, so will have to wait until next weekend when I can get some good ones. I want to make sure his weight is accurate, as I think he has gained a few more grams. I also started him & Lonzo on probiotics & bee pollen, so I'm hoping that will help both of them get healthier. Lonzo has neurological problems with his back end and tail, but the good news is he hasn't flipped himself over for over a week!

So hugs to all three & tell Neo that I'm really looking forward to his new thread.
Deb

 

[NeosMom]

Fluffy & Figment are only ever out together when we are juggling a lot - like trying to get everyone leashed up for Repticon or hubby and I are each snuggling a dragon (away from each other). It was just one of those things where Neo was on one side of the room and hubby was on the other, both putting shoes on. I had Figment's leash on and set him in the floor where he wandered part way to the dining room. So, I got Fluffy out and she was actually in my hands getting her leash on (which takes forever since she hates it). Figment did a sudden run to my left side between where hubby and I were and I figured he was just being goofy. He likes to run like that in funny little short spurts. Kinda like he gets a few feet and has to stop to think "Now why was I running again?" Then I got her leash locked in and set her down between my legs and about 3 seconds later he just ran. Fortunately, right over my leg so I just snatched him up in mid air and got this look like "What?!?!" Funny boy. He spent a chunk of the morning doing a bit of black bearding and head bobbing, but got over himself before we were on 1-75. I will definitely remember for the future though.

As for his stinky poop. I'm not sure it was especially stinky or just that poop 6 inches under your nose and wet enough to be soaking through my shirt was particularly disgusting. I have noticed it's been wetter and a little odd since hornworms have become a regular thing. But fecals are a good idea once school is out anyway.

Thanks Deb. I have to get off to work now. Talk more later.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hornworms are really full of liquid, so having a very wet poop from them is not unusual. It's the smell, but as I said, Lonzo is stinky, yet he's had 2 fecals and he's clean. Guess some dragons just smell more than others!

I can just imagine the scene, with Figment stopping along the way, trying to remember where he's going! That is just so funny. When they're young they do get funny ideas of what they should be doing, so not to worry. I'm just sorry he decided that you'd make a good toilet! Gabriel did that to me twice & he was stinky because he did have parasites. The first time was on the way home, he kept trying to crawl out of the carrier I use, so I put him in my coat, at least he gave me a sample for the vet later that day! The 2nd time he was on my chest while I was watching a movie, so that taught me, if there was no poop in his tank or bath, he didn't come out of his tank. He's just finished his 3rd weekly panacur treatment & already his poops are more normal, so I'll be so glad to get the 4th one done & a fecal done. Once he's back to normal, he'll be able to share the ramp in the living room & get an eyeful of the competition! That should be very fun!

How did the first night go with Crystal? Did you get the lighting issue sorted out? Tell Neo I'm waiting to get an introduction, she's just the cutest little thing!
Deb

 

[NeosMom]

Well... last night was a little stressful. You see, my hubby is a wee bit of a procrastinator. He's going to live to 150 because he will just put off dying cuz he can always do it later. :roll: Soooooo... Saturday night he was at home depot at 9:45 buying a hole saw because he was having trouble installing the vents we bought a month ago. He was installing the doors at 8:30 Sunday morning while Neo & I were getting dressed. That is how we found out the light bulb was a problem.

Anyway... keeping that in mind, Crystal didn't exactly have the smooth as silk move in experience I hoped for. She did very well though. Her basking spot at last report was 99. If its not up when I het out of work in 4 hours, I will fix it. And I am awful with those stupid dial timers. So, her lights came on at 6:30 this morning. Something else to fix tonight. I would have turned them back off this morning, but she was all bright eyed and exploring so I let her be.

Last night she basked a bit then found the farthest dark corner in the bottom of the viand went digging. I gently scooped her up and set her on the soft little sofa. I came back to check on her a little later and she was snuggled into a soft corner on the sofa where she stayed all night. Hubby says she had a healthy poop this morning and has been exploring today. I can't wait to get home and check on her. I love Neo & hubby, but they aren't quite as on top of beardie & bug stuff as I would like.