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.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

I think I found a pic of her (I got my beardie at Rep-Con from Carolina Designer Dragons, who was holding some dragons for FairyTail Dragons.) I'm not sure, but she has similar markings and that pink spot on the base of her tail.



Also, I am sorry to hear about how rough you've had it recently. I didn't mean to sound incontrite, I just posted this immedietly after reading the 1st page. Glad you got rid of the pinworms, and I hope everything else goes away soon.

 

[NeosMom]

Awww... you are fine. I'm not here to whine about life. Just want my friends to know why I have been neglecting my dragon world here. Went to the vet and picked up Fluffy's meds this morning. He is trying to kill her, I swear. Gave me albon that she is supposed to get .3cc TWICE PER DAY for 10 days. When Tracie, Barb or Deb hear that, they will all realize how over the top it is. I mean seriously... Perspective. When Figment went on Albon he was overdosed. Tracie said it wasn't crazy like his panacur, but it was about the highest albon dose he could get away with. He was given .6cc on day number one and then .3cc for five days after that. Now, Figment weighed 365 grams when the vet gave him that dosage and, like I said, it was an incredibly high dose. According to the vets records, Fluffy weighs 285 grams. That is 80 grams LESS than Figment, but he is giving her twice as much medicine and for almost twice as long? Really? But anyway... he is good at reading fecals and caught the flagellates I couldn't see. He will do fecals for $19 and so long as my dragons are his patients he will care for them without a visit each time. I just have to remember that his dosage will eventually kill my little friends if I'm not careful. So, I am now recalculating a proper albon dosage. :study:

As for Toothless, he is precious. But I highly doubt you had Crystal in the photo. I purchased straight from Heather and Crystal was marked as sold before she was large enough to be released to us. Heather held her for me until the Repticon show in Ft. Lauderdale on May 13. So, basically she went from Heather's home across the state to a show where we picked her up. Unless you were at that specific Repticon show before we arrived to get her, I doubt if you ever saw her.
Her birthday is the week of March 23. We actually decided to call March 23 her birthday because it was a 5 day window of all that clutch hatching. I can't decide what coloring she is going to finish with. She is pale with hints of yellow and then two peach "racing stripes" coming down her back. But she barely finishes a shed before she starts to get really pale and start again. She is growing so FAST!

Anyway, gotta run. Need to get the weekly grocery shopping done and all that fun stuff. Talk later.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

My bad. Our little ones are still siblings though- Toothless' b-day is March 20th- March 25th.

Wow. Good thing you have some medicine smarts of your own, because your vet doesn't seem to do well with dosing.

 

[NeosMom]

It is neat to find her sibling. Where about do you live? We are in SW Florida. And do you have a thread for toothless? It will be interesting to keep up between them. She just weighed in and is up to 77 grams! She is still a good veggie eater. Loves hornworms. But we are still unsure about her personality. :? It's kinda frustrating. My hubby says she has no personality and my son gets all upset and says "Hey! Crystal is very sweet! What are you talking about?" But that's not what we mean.

Ok... in my house, Fluffy is the diva. She lives to get attention. She loves to go for car rides and walks through the neighborhood. A walk to the dairy queen where kids oooh and aaah over her and tell her how pretty she is puts her in a good mood for days.

Figment is our snuggle bug. He is just plain out adorable. He's curious, but shy. Outside is not a place that makes him happy. He has never had a walk to the local dairy queen because by the time we got there, he would be one giant stress mark. In the car just today he took off like a bolt and hid under the pedals trying to dig his way out. Argh. But at home he is happy as a lark. He loves everyone. Cuddling is his favorite activity in the world. In his viv he likes to run back and forth hiding and exploring and then popping his head out to see if you are watching him. Sort of reminds me of a very happy six year old saying "Mom & Dad, look at me! Look at me!"

But Crystal... we just haven't pegged her personality yet. In her viv she basks. It's not like the way Figment is all playful. And she doesn't lounge on her sofa like she thinks she is Cleopatra (i.e. Fluffy). She just sort of moves from place to place, gets comfortable and then stays put until she determines she would rather lie somewhere else. Outside her viv, she just likes to hang out. She sits on shoulders. Watches the computer. Occasionally she wants to wander off and explore a little. Pretty much a typical baby. But I just don't see her special personality yet. Ya know?

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

Maybe she is just a "normal girl"; or maybe it just hasn't developed yet. I bet it will become apparent when she hits her teenage "years". Toothless is a very laid back boy. I haven't seen a stress mark on him yet! He hates baths, loves veggies, and loves to explore. He gets moody when we have to put him back in his viv (he likes to poop outside his viv -___-) He also loves to cuddle.

And yep! This is his thread. -> viewtopic.php?f=49&t=173042

It's so cool to find a sibling, all the way in florida! We live near Raleigh NC, so we got him at the repticon up here.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm sorry to hear about your vet, but glad you figured out that the dose for Fluffy was just way too high. You're a smart beardie owner, they sure are lucky they have you. I think that's great what you're doing for Figment, he's probably still having tummy issues from being so overdosed. The probiotics will probably help him. There's something else you can get him, Benebac, I've been using it on Gabriel, as he also has tummy issues & he's eating much better, not eating as much babyfood as he was & gaining weight. He's back to the vet on Aug 3 for a fecal & I'm so hoping he'll be clear. He was on panacur for almost 3 mo!

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmom, it's really hard to give up your independance, but she's lucky to have you. I know it puts pressure on you, does she live close by? I also understand about the knitting, it's very soothing & so is giving your work away to charities to needy people & babies. Good for you! I so admire you giving of your time like that. I'm hoping you can help your younger sister, that is such a difficult thing to deal with for her. I'm glad you have a stepdad that you can rely on & enjoy. And good for your mom in finding a good husband. It's understandable that you wouldn't have as much time to update, not to worry, I know you would if you could.

Hope all goes smoother now & give Fluffy, the diva, a big hug from us all. Tell her that she's not the only diva around, even though Didi is a male, he really is my diva. He even pouts, too!
Deb

 

[NeosMom]

I decided to post some pictures, but I am having a hard time getting everything on photobucket. I use my phone for pictures and the email is giving me a hard time right now. I will post what I could get through. But first... Today was weigh in. Crystal is 93 grams & 13 inches!!!! Woo-Hoo! Three more inches to superworms. And 7 more grams until she gets sand in her sand box instead of just the blankie. Plus, Figment and Fluffy are gaining weight beautifully. Figment is at 408 grams and Fluffy is at 360. After all of the meds and everything else, I am absolutely relieved.

I should have more to post, but my brain is just mushified right now. I'm sorry about that. My grandmother is doing well, although going nuts from not being able to drive. Also she is adjusting to new blood pressure meds and it is making eating a problem for her. Poor lady. As it is, she doesn't eat as well as I would like. So, hubby and I took some smoothie things to her yesterday to see if she might like them. I sure hope it helps her get feeling more "normal". My aunt will be coming to town Friday and will be staying with her. That should help. As for my father... he has passed away. There's really not a lot I can say on that. Just feeling a bit distracted right now. I'm okay, just not myself. It's hard to describe. Like I'm drawing a blank on any cute beardie stories right this minute, although I know they did adorable things this week an I spent a lot of time with them. Actually, I think they have done a ton to help me keep myself together.

Now for pictures...

Fluffy basking. She looks so happy doing that now. So great to have her healthy.

Figment hanging out on his ramp. He has gotten so spunky since his fecals came clear.

Fluffy lounging on her little dragon sofa. I swear she thinks she's Cleopatra on that sofa.

Figment didn't want to eat his greens so I decided he could wear them as a hat instead. :mrgreen:

After Figment had his tantrum because I took his brick away, I bought a fresh new cinder block and some patio stones that had never been out. I painted them with faux stone colors and sealed them. This is him on his new rocks. He loves them and gives death stares to anyone he thinks might even be thinking of taking his bricks.

And, of course, I took a bunch of adorable pictures of Crystal that didn't come through to photobucket. Ugh. I promise more pictures of Crystal very soon. Everyone take care.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Sorry to hear about your father, but glad you had your beardies to distract you. It's too bad your grandmother can't drive, takes away her independance, unless she has a bus route in her area, that might help get her around, would that help? At least your aunt is coming to stay with her awhile. Those blood pressure meds can take some getting used to. I had to take some for the first time ever a few years ago, new manager got me so stressed out. But when I almost passed out one day & called the doc, they said my blood pressure was back to normal & to stop taking them. I so feel for your grandmother.

I can tell you're distracted but life will get back to "normal" soon enough. You have alot on your plate, too, so that doesn't help.

Thanks for the update on Fluffy & Figment and Cyrstal, they're both looking great & their weights are wonderful and Crystal sure is growing fast! And yes, Fluffy looks like a cleopatra on her sofa, so cute, they're not spoiled at all. You did a great job on Figments bricks, at least now they'll be easy to clean. You get such great ideas & he looks so proud on top of his pile 'o bricks!

Hopefully you'll get photobucket to work soon. I used it late last night & it worked really well but I'm not staying up until midnight to load pics on my thread. Anyway, when you have a minute check out the lastest pic of Gabriel, he's up to 340g!

Take care
Deb

 

[NeosMom]

Very quick update. We are all fine. All 3 dragons have clear fecals & are growing. Grandma is back in the hospital and hubby had PRP procedure on his ankle Wednesday. Everyone and everything will be fine. But we are under hurricane warning right now. I'm posting because I don't want anyone later noticing my absence and worrying. I get out of work in 15 minutes and go to prep my house and grandma's too. I promise an update to let u all know we are safe next week. I'm hoping for Tuesday. Everyone take care and take care of all my little dragon friends out there.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

Be safe!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Yes, be safe, will keep an eye out!

 

[NeosMom]

We are all doing well. "Hunkered down" and ready to go. Ya know... we have been saying that about hurricane prep since I was a tiny little girl and now it sounds stupid because the news media heard it, liked it, and ran it into the ground about ten years ago. :roll: Anyway... The house is all prepped and we are quietly waiting for things to get ugly here. I plan to get in the kitchen in just a little while and prep some hornworm chow to be sure that isn't a problem in the middle of next week. And if I get that done before things get too ugly, maybe I'll bake a batch of cookies. Hey... it qualifies as keeping food in the house that you don't need to refrigerate or cook when the power goes out. Right? :mrgreen:

The babies all seem to be happy, but a little subdued. I wonder if they know about the storm... Dogs definitely know these things. Looking at the dragons, I think they might. Who knows? Everyone has fresh salad and ate a few worms. Got their baths and are all nice and warm from basking. I feel confident that if the power dropped right now I can keep them safe and healthy for a few days.

Jeff is seriously frustrated. After 8 months of dealing with this ankle injury and waiting for workers comp to approve procedures and such, they FINALLY did a PRP on him Wednesday. It's experimental, but hopefully will work. They took blood, put it in a centrifuge with a bunch of other stuff, and then injected it back into him at the point of injury. I totally don't get how the whole thing works, but he's off his feet for two weeks (Labor Day) and then on light duty. After six weeks he goes back to have it done again - assuming he shows any improvement from the first treatment. He will do it a total of 3 times, which will put him on his butt for two weeks each time - or that's how I understand it. If this doesn't work, then he has to have surgery on his Achilles. Ugh. I'm told that is like a four month recovery? Poor guy. He just wants to be healthy again and put this all behind him.

As for Grandma... After all that stuff last month, she has been getting regular CAT scans to see if the blood on her brain is decreasing, increasing, clotting... whatever. This week she started feeling badly and Friday night ended up staying at my aunt & uncle's house so they could watch over her. She was trembling sometimes, which any of the rest of us would have considered something small, but being a nurse and a cop, my aunt and uncle knew that they were seizures. I NEVER would have caught that. They got her to the hospital and ran another CAT scan where they found the blood on her brain increasing. The pressure was causing the seizures and would have continued to build. Likely, in a few more days, this would have been really severe. Imagine if it had hit her full on in the middle of the hurricane? It would have been either my brother, or my family and I at her house with her and nothing we could have done. EMS doesn't run with winds above 35 MPH. I hate to even think of dealing with that with no 911 help and my 12 year old son there... Anyway, after they found this problem, they rushed her in for surgery. Drilled a hole in her skull to drain the blood and relieve the pressure. She was in ICU last night and moved to a regular room around noon today. She's sort of alone at the hospital because everyone is dealing with hurricane prep and no one will be out to visit much right now. I feel bad for her with that, but there's not really anything we can do about it. At least she is safe and we know that she is the best place she could possibly be until this is all over.

Looking out the window now. Gloomy and breezy, but that's about it. Last time I checked the forecast closely, we were looking at the worst of it overnight. :? Always annoying. I definitely prefer my hurricanes during the daylight hours so I know what's happening. Scratch that. I prefer my hurricanes out in the Atlantic where they don't make landfall. :wink:

I will try to post here and there as long as we have power. Maybe I can get caught up on everyone else's threads that I haven't been able to check lately. Everyone take care.

 

[sweetiepie9]

It's been awhile since your updated, is everyone, including your grandmother, alright? Please let me know, I've been thinking of you all.
Take care
Deb

 

[NeosMom]

Hi Deb. Thank you for checking in on me. That is so very sweet. Everything is ok. At the beginning of September I got a new phone. It has the latest version of Android and when I get emails from this site, I can't click through the link to the post. Since I do most of my internet stuff from my phone, it put one enormous crimp in my being on this site. Hate it.

First, the dragons. They are all wonderful. Crystal is up to 306 grams!!! It's amazing. Last time I measured her she was about 17 inches. So, not overweight. But she looks like a blimp. Ha! Ha! I have to post pictures of her and Fluffy because they are similar in size, but Crystal looks so fat compared to her. I can't figure it out. Figment is good, but his tummy has never quite recovered from that medicine overdose. I wish I could just breed white superworms for the little guy. Now that would be a worthwhile endeavor. But instead I just endlessly pick through the bins to find the white ones. No chitin so he can digest them well.

I'm pretty sure Fluffy and Figment are both going to fully brumate this year. Waaaahhhh!!!! They have turned super duper lazy and aren't wanting to eat so much. Oh well. What can you do? Keep them healthy and be lonely til they wake up.

Grandma is okay. She's very frustrated because she can't drive until March, and she is getting these awful feelings like itching and coldness on her head. There's nothing she can do about it until they just disappear on their own. But overall, she is hanging in there really well.

Neo is terrific. Super busy with school. Straight A's. He's on news crew, year book and NJHS. He's doing wonderful with his bowling. We changed alleys and leagues and he has shown huge improvement. His average is up to 130 and he threw a 173 a week ago. We also found a nice church that we are attending and he joined the youth group. He loves that and attends every Wednesday after school. I think it's his favorite activity. He also was invited to this Duke University talent search and will be taking his SAT exams in January. (Yes, he is 12.) He can earn a chance to go to some summer gifted programs at the colleges and stuff.

Jeff is still dealing with his foot injury from Christmas, but it is coming along. He started a new job last week and it's going to be great for the family. It's a supermarket he used to work with and he goes back with all of his seniority in tact, plus should get to fast track management. It also brings benefits, which we could really use. Because of that, I am finally able to quit my job. Yay! My last day is November 16 and then I go to work for myself. I am going to be working at home, so I will actually have access to my computer and no longer not be on this site because of my annoying HTC phone. It will be nice to be back. In the meantime I am working really hard around the house to get it setup for my work (laundry service). And we are just trying to get through this election here. I sure will be glad when that is over. You wouldn't believe the stress level - especially living in a high stakes state like Florida.

Anyway, I will make my way over to your thread and check on all your babies. Off to have dinner now. Thanks again for checking on me.

Mindi

 

[sweetiepie9]

Any time Mindi, I thought it had been awhile since I'd heard anything. I'm glad your grandmother is ok & that she'll be 100% soon. And your hubby's new job sounds wonderful. Neo's doing so well, you'll have to let me know how it goes for the Duke University talent search, hopefully that helps with his university plans. That's wonderful that he's getting straight A's. My son Eric was a very reluctant student, we didn't realize at the time that he had a heart defect that was affecting everything. It was finally taken care of with heart surgery when he was 20, but by then it was difficult to go back & fix his years in high school. He was 100% a week after the surgery was done (he had 2 sinus nodes, that's the cluster of cells that control the electrical part of the heart, the fake one had to be zapped, so it was seriuos surgery & he had it done right away because he was so young. It caused his heartbeat to go from over 100 down to 28, up & down, so to have it fixed that quickly was great!) Anyway, it's great to hear that Neo is doing so well. And you're starting your own business, how great is that!!! To be home & working on your own schedule, it's a dream come true. I'm so glad you were able to quit your other job, I know it was really long hours for you.

I'm glad to hear that Crystal is growing so well, looking forward to pics. And Fluffy & Figment are starting the brumation cycle, well welcome to that for the first time. Rubio has been sound alseep for the last 2 weeks or so, he'll sleep for 3-4 months like last year. Leo & Didi were asleep for a week, now they're up again. They'll do that all winter, just like last year. Lonzo is a bit put out that he's not allowed to brumate, his right lung never did get back full function, so he's up. The last few years he went down for 3 mo total, but I still get him up every morning. He was annoyed (lots of stink eyes) at first but he's gotten used to it, just goes to bed early. This way I make sure he eats something every day, he's already lost some weight, but is still 550, so not too bad yet. He loses weight really easily, I have to keep my eye on him. He's 9 1/2 yrs old now, so he's my "senior".

Gabriel has also slowed down & won't eat supers anymore, so he gets babyfood when I have a chance to give it to him. He'll eat his greens/veggies. He's down a bit in weight, his fat pads are reducing, so I'll have to be better about giving him chicken babyfood, as he needs protein. He hasn't figured out about brumation, but still stay son his cool side alot & wants to cuddle all the time. I swear he'd live on my shoulder if I let him!

I'm glad things are going well for you and your family, and please do check out my thread, I have lots of good pics on there.

And final news, the 2013 calendar came out (you'll have to check it out) and Gabriel got a full picture on page 8 of Calendar B! I was stunned, never having had that priviledge before. So Jake, my dragonsitter, is getting one for Xmas. And I normally buy both, but at least Calendar B. The rest of them are in smaller pics in Calendar B, I even put a pic of Sweetie when she was really healthy & wearing a red ribbon with a bell, it's a great picture of her.

So take care & talk to you soon,
Deb