Gabriel's Thread!

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Alright, I'm claiming a thread for my Gabriel! I did so for Charmander, and I enjoyed having a place to share my experiences with my beardie, so I wanted to do it again!

He's doing really great so far! If he was indeed about 9 months when I got him, then he's close to ten now. He's definitely grown a significant amount, his tail is longer. I never measured, although I think I'm going to start, but he's growing! He is finishing up a shed right now, I think he just has the tip of his tail and his head to go. He keeps rubbing his head on his rock, and he's also very irritable starting today (actually he hissed at me this morning!), but he did allow me to give him a bath after a few hours alone, and now he's eating a meal.

Hopefully it will finish up soon and he'll be a bit more friendly again! I bought him a new feature for his tank which I really love, honestly, it has a large bowl on one side and curves off into a little tiny hut. Since he can climb on top of the hut, and right down to the bowl, it encourages him to eat more greens, so it was well worth it. It's better than just the bowl, which he doesn't always notice.

He always seems to have some stress lines, but from what I can see, since they're usually light when I'm around (sometimes they're pretty dark but when I come home from school they lighten up, so maybe he's just lonely), I think it's just one of those 'babies have those lines a lot' thing. He defecates at least once a day, usually in his bath, and it looks very normal and healthy, and his basking temps seem to be normal (I have a CHE on all the time right now, it seems to be doing the trick. He'll bask with his mouth open sometimes to regulate, so that means I'm getting up high enough, right? His cool side is still cool enough. At night, the temp tends to drop to 60 without the CHE, so I've started using it at night too), and since I have one screen lid off, and he can climb the one tree branch, he gets close enough to the flourescent strip.

That is all a long way to say that to me, he seems pretty great so far!
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
I know I just posted yesterday, but I snapped this pic today, and I think it's adorable.

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I'm starting to get used to his style of brumating, and I'm really happy because he doesn't seem to sleep for days on end, which would worry me even though I know what it is. He is young, just over a year, so maybe it will change when he gets older, but mostly he just seems to take naps throughout the day. He'll bask for a bit in the morning when I put him back in his tank (he sleeps on my bed at night - since he's not sleeping for days on end, I didn't see the need to stop handling him entirely), and then he might eat a bit (I've been giving him salads, which he's eating less of since he's sleeping a lot, but he still gets crickets about every other day), and then he'll sleep on and off for the rest of the day. Sometimes he doesn't even sleep, he just avoids doing anything, curl up in this fixture or another cave he has and just watches.

I'm really glad I knew what brumation was before I got him, or him being so lazy might have really alarmed me. But nah, he's a healthy boy, even if a lazybones right now!
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
It's finally getting nice and warm here after a very long winter! Today, Gabriel went outside for the first time!

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It's definitely a big scary world! I held him most of the time, and when I set him down on my lap for just a moment (he does indeed wear a harness), he crawled right underneath my leg. Poor little guy! We went back inside after just a few minutes, but hopefully the more I take him out, the more he will get used to it! I might try the backyard next time, instead of right by the road, to reduce some of the noise.

In other news, he's pretty much stopped brumating now! He still rests sometimes, but I'm finding him asleep in his hideout less and less often when I come home from classes. His growing has also started again, so while I think he'll always be a bit little for his age (he's about 15", at about 14 months), hopefully he will get a little bigger.

Trust me, I know he's a bit smaller, I actually made a whole thread a month ago because I was worried, but I was informed by CooperDragon and AHBD that there's nothing wrong with that. And I pretty much always go with what they say!

That's all for now!
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
I'm glad to see he got some time outside! I've been brining Darwin out for little bits recently too. Not quite warm enough for extended outside time but nice enough for a little taste. Gabriel looks nice and alert and happy.
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
I was glad too! It's been warm enough finally that I can take him out for a few minutes, which is fine because that's all he can handle right now!

Today's story is a bit fun, made me curious about what happens when beardies sleep! Gabriel was fast asleep on his pillow on the bed, and all of a sudden he started head bobbing! He woke himself up, too, and his beard was black for a while until he fell back asleep. Definitely a little bit moody, I tried to calm him down a bit, but he just eyeballed me pretty hardcore. Even my favorite sleep tactics didn't work! (Usually all I have to do is touch noses with him and he's out). I'm wondering if maybe it's him being hormonal since he's coming out of brumation, but whatever it is, it certainly was interesting, he's not one to bob his head very often!
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Been a few months since I've posted! There's not too much to report, but now that it's finally (and consistently!) nice outside, Gabriel is beginning to have more frequent trips to acclimatize him to it. He's still a little skittish, but he is beginning to explore a little bit instead of just curling up on my leg. Tried to burrow into some ferns XD thank goodness for harnesses.

I also found a fruit that he's really taking a shining to! Too bad it's one that I can rarely feed him :lol: He tried banana for the first time today and he absolutely loved it. Just my luck, he loves the fruit that he can't really have. I'm trying to get him to eat some others: I try out some berries in his salad sometimes. He seems to have better luck if I put things in his salad instead of trying to handfeed him to see what he likes. I don't think he's a big fan of all the moisture that gets on his snout when I hold something to his mouth, he also runs off to go wipe it off, which is kinda cute.

Other than that, there's not much to report! He's still growing, especially in girth. I think he'll always be on the small side, but as long as he's a healthy boy, I'm fine with that!
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Alright, here's some pictures! Some of them are from today, some of them are his best sleeping positions :lol: The lucky guy gets to sleep in his own corner on my bed (don't worry, I'm a very, very still sleeper, and I position myself so that even if I were to roll over, my head would still be below his corner), and the best is watching him do the little wriggle thing they tend to do when they're trying to get into a corner or burrow.

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I know he's a little tiny bit skinny around the hips, but we're working on it! He still gets his steady diet of crickets and a fresh salad every day. Sometimes it's plain, just the staple, but he eats it. Next month I'm heading to a convention, so I'll hopefully be able to buy some different bug treats for him for a little bit cheaper and without paying shipping tax! But speaking of food, the spoiled little guy got all sorts of new things today when I went to the store, since I had a bit of extra money. He's got his favorite staple, the collard greens, with some fresh basil, garbanzo beans, and cherries. Little guy eats better than I do! Let's just hope he likes it!
 

MufasasMomMakayla

Juvie Member
Aww, love all the pics, and he sleeps so cute on his stuffie!! Both my girls have their own stuffed animals, Norberta got one when she got sick and she's pretty attached to it, but Mufasa just got one and I put it in her favorite sleeping corner... she won't go near it and sleeps in her blankie, XD. Mufasa also loves to sleep with mommy.
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Makayla.
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
I thought it was such a cute moment! Aw, poor Mufasa, it's just a fluffy friend! I had a beardie that also just would not approach his stuffed animal for any reason as well :lol: She's so cute! I love pictures of them when they're sleeping, they're just so relaxed. Well, not that they're not relaxed when they're awake too, I swear, they have the life, just basking in the sun all day lol
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
This weekend, I went to a reptile convention in Hampton, VA, and honestly, I had a blast! I was able to get a new hammock and harness for Gabriel (so he can finally walk around outside - he outgrew his old one), and also a new 'friend', although at first, he thought she was prey. :lol: She is a fire skink named Ruby! And she's very adorable. She has no toes, just little nubbins for feet, but that doesn't stop her from being a fast little wriggler. Here they are together, she was trying to wiggle under his beard for some shelter.

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LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
It has been quite a while since I"ve posted! Gabriel and Ruby are both doing really well. Gabe is 18" long now, and he's such a good eater. He loves collard greens, I've found, but he absolutely hates mustard greens. I even got him a treat of waxworms, which he loves, of course, but don't worry, he doesn't get very many! Only as a treat. But as a bonus, that means Ruby can have them as treats too! Ruby is definitely all settled in, she crawls around her tank a lot more instead of burrowing all the time. She is also less skittish when she's out of the tank! Here's a few recent pictures.

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What a handsome boy!

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And she's just too cute

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Sometimes they'll "cuddle" together before bed, she really likes to snuggle underneath him :lol:

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Apparently I did not turn the lights out fast enough for his liking because to hide himself and try to get some sleep, he crawled into my laptop case.
 
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