Free Range Scaley

Scaley and I got to enjoy some much needed deck time yesterday.

She wandered around the back yard and ate some ants. She managed to get out of her harness so I'm going to have to figure out a new harness system if I want her to be able to roam a bit.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Here is where we went camping while Scaley had a sitter. Love this place, last year we had a rattlesnake in our woodpile. So cool to see them in the wild.

Here's her being mad at me for not taking her with us. The temps are perfect for her at Dinosaur Provincial Park but I didn't want to take a chance as it was a 10 day trip.

Here she is today in her brumating state. She alternates between eyes open and closed.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Since she's brumating, and basically staring out the window all day I miss my little girl quite a lot. I started doing some drawing in preparation for a painting of her I'm going to do.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

After reading AHBDs advice on the Lizzie thread I decided to see if I could get Scaley out of her funk. Maybe it wasn't brumation and is just some downtime that she needed. She has been like this for 2 weeks so it seemed reasonable to me.

I took her out, gave her a 30 minute bath to ensure she wasn't dehydrated. Then I wrapped her in a towel until she dried out. We then sat together on the couch while i held her and she slept/rested. Eventually she got active and started running around. I even got her to eat! Then she sat on her hammock for several hours and basked. I am taking this as a good sign as she hasn't been active like this for about 3 weeks.

I decided to take her outside as it was a beautiful day (now it's raining)

Here she is enjoying some afternoon sun.

I always make sure she has water close so she can drink if she wants, or take a dip

"I'm ready for my closeup Mr Deville"

 

[Tigresssnow]

Did I just read someone else lives in canada?! I thought I was the only one!! Lol! Use a CHE if you're worried about our terrible burn then frostbite weather xD I hate it I'm either hot or cold!

 

[SpacialCoogs]

I have a CHE for use at night too. There's actually a few of us that live in Canada in this forum. I'm in Alberta and ive seen Victoria and New Brunswick represented.

 

[Tigresssnow]

I'm in ontario! It's so hard to find Canadians on here! Beautiful scaley BTW OP!

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Camping!

We decided to head up to one of the lakes in the area as we are camping fiends. This is Scaleys second camping trip and I'm quite happy with how it went.

It's a 2 hour drive to get to the campsite, Scaley was in my lap but I have a duffel bag with her hide and a towel that she can sit in if she likes. She seems to want to watch out the window the whole trip. She tried to run into the back but I grabbed her and kept her on the truck window which she was happy with.

Setting up I tied her to a tree so she could explore.

She was really well behaved and seemed to really enjoy this trip. She had great bright colors the entire time, she'd sit on me in the mornings and bask in the sun and jump off and explore when she wanted to. When she got tired she'd burrow into the leaf bed and take a nap. She was incredibly hard to spot when she was in the underbrush. I'm quite happy with my day glo orange leash, as I could always find her.

"Get your own chair Hoooman"

The way home today she slept the entire time. She was pooped out with all her exploring and adventures.

She didn't eat too much, I saw her sampling some foliage. We were surrounded by clover and dandelions so I expected she could forage quite well. I didn't bring worms as I felt she should be able to keep herself fed with the delicious dandelion greens available.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Well, she's back to the same behaviour from before the camping trip. Hiding in her basket with her head on the handle and staring out the window, interspersed with napping.

I pulled her out on Monday and gave her a bath and let her sleep on me for most of the night. She's back in her hide/basket. She isn't even interested in eating any worms. I guess she's brumating for reals and it's not just a funk.

I start volunteering at the Humane society next week helping out with their reptile socialisation so I'm hoping that will help with the lack of Scaley hugs. I miss seeing her sitting on her hammock with her little mouth gaping open and giving me the stink eye. I would even take her pooping on the floor.

 

[CooperDragon]

You know you're sucked in when you'd even be happy with a stink eye and a poop on the floor (I know how it goes). :lol:

 

[SpacialCoogs]

It's sad. I'm hooked I know. This is why my husband refuses to let me get another. It's a slippery slope when they're just so loveable.

 

[CooperDragon]

That's the rub. I'd have stacks of them if I had the room. I can only care for one at a time in person. That's why I have so many of my virtual little guys on here! =)

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Someone is back up and being active. She's running around her tank, splashing through her water dish and licking the water off the sides of the habitat. She keeps watching me, I'm thinking she wants to run around the house.

[GALLERY=media, 41907][/GALLERY]

I let her out, now she's just sitting by my computer chair staring at me. lol. I put a little water dish by her in case she wants to drink. I've seen her drink from her dish before so I know she knows how.

I've set up a little temporary basking spot in the living room for her. I just put her on it, we'll see how she likes it there. She hasn't moved from it in the last 10 minutes.

I'm really expecting her to let out a giant poop somewhere in the house. Karma for my previous comments

 

[Damensha]

she looks like a very happy dragon ^_^ i love the hip harness idea, i will have to do that with my beautiful 3 legged girl. i would like my beardies to be free range, but i worry they will get lost or trapped in my house, as i have a lot of small dark tight spaces. maybe a harness with a long leash?

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad she has her energy back. I think you'll find that they go through cycles of laziness sometimes and it's normal. I like the basking spot you set up. It's similar to what I have set up. Try to dragon proof your house as much as possible by sealing dropoffs and blocking areas you can't get into because it's common for them to bunker down in dark cozy places for a nap. They usually come out eventually to bask again but it's best if they do it in an accessible area. My signature photo is Dundee in his favorite nap spot on top of the Atari under the TV cabinet. Small space but it was easy to scoop him out if needed. Some folks tie some brightly colored yarn to their tails to make them easier to spot, but I worry about that getting tangled on something. In my experience they tend to have favorite spots after a while so if you check their usual 3-4 places around the house you'll probably find them camped out. They're good at returning to the basking spot when they need to if it's kept in the same spot.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Her favourite spots are behind the tv in among the cords or behind the fish tank. When she was gravid she picked the corner by her tank.

She's only allowed out if I"m home and I close off all the doors to other rooms upstairs and the door to the kitchen so she doesn't have access to the basement. She doesn't like to roam too far down the hallway as it's laminate and she can't get good purchase on the floor. It's also an audible clue to me to know how far she's gotten and I can hear her nails clicking on the floor.

I noticed the Atari in your pic Cooper, as a fellow gamer I thought it was awesome. Scaley seems to like our PS4 as she often runs over to it. She also will watch it for hours quite happily. I think it's the colours and movement. I expect her to sit on the basking spot and watch this winter quite happily if she's not brumating. My husband doesn't like to play games in the summer as there's too much to do, we have a bit of a stockpile for after September when camping season ends. I think Mirrors Edge is lined up so that it can be finished before Star Ocean is released.

Can I play too?