Gem (and MoMo): I'm gonna be a big sister (again) and news

Hello, everyone! Some of you know my Gem from her ER thread, but if you don't, you will soon.

Gematria was a rescue (I definitely consider her one) that I found on Craigslist. After e-mailing the owner, I got an (obviously out-of-date) photograph of a healthy-looking but obviously annoyed dragon.

So, we went to meet the owner. After examining the dragon, I couldn't see anything that couldn't be fixed immediately. But, after interrogating the owner (who, mind you, thought she was in perfect health) we learned that she'd been put on sand and eating bugs from OUTSIDE. I knew that I had to take her home, so I paid the guy the $100 for her and all her stuff.

Upon arriving home, I did a quick inventory.

- 1 55 gallon tank, complete with poo and sand. Nice.
- 1 heat rock (threw that away....)
- 1 water dish, complete with algae! and a water pump to make it bubble. (That thing was caked with algae)
- 1 food dish, complete with dried poo and carrots (yummy)
- 1 hide, which was way too small
- 1 light fixture with a blown bulb (useful)
- 2 UVB fixtures, with the glass still over the bulb, and a bulb that put out 2% UVB (also useful)
- 2 thermometers, one a stick-on that doesn't work, the other so caked with sand and dirt that I had to throw it away because the buttons wouldn't push and it was trying to tell me my room was 34*F

Then there's the dragon herself. Obviously female, but she'd never been handled or bathed, and had obvious MBD. After removing some yellow scab substance from her mouth, I found two sores on the inside of her lip. I knew that she had to have parasites, considering her conditions. She definitely wasn't underweight, at least. I also found a large lump on her right ankle which we haven't identified yet.

We made her a vet appointment (for 3:00 today) and tried to treat what we could. I put Hibiclens (which is like Betadine) on her mouth sores, got some babyfood into her, and wrapped her in a towel.

She was vicious, gaping at everything and anything, hissing, trying to bite, bearding, the whole 9 yards. However, as I type, two days after buying her, she sits in my lap in her 'security towel' (she freaks if she's completely exposed to the air). She has learned to tolerate me after I talked and read to her (yes, read to her).

Since she had no name before, I decided to call her Gematria, or Gem. Her head is simply beautiful, yellow with orange and red in the beard, with golden eyes. The rest of her is grey, but that will change in time, I'm sure.

Soon, we'll be headed out for the vet.
I will definitely post updates on that.

Jacqui

 

[Neromom39]

Of course, of course!

 

[jacqui778]

What do you suppose is the best beer to accompany beardie snacks? :wink:

HeHeHe.... I believe that would be beerded dragon beer, Robin! :lol:

:laughhard:

Anyway.... here is the thread for the colorful tree pictures!

[ Invalid URL Removed / p= t=115502 f=33 ]

Just thought I'd add a few others I took. Gem went with me when I went out to take pics, so I snapped a couple of her.

Unimpressed by the weather.

Sigh. Can we go home now, Mum?

Hehe, I went up to the local playground to take pictures of the leaves, and there happened to be soccer practice. On top of running into one of my friends at the park, some of the girls from my grade happened to be on the soccer team! Two of them are actually becoming my friends, Shannon and Carrie (finally! Friends!), so they came down to see me.... then they went back up and must've told about Gem, because the whole soccer team came down to see us! I knew most of the girls there, as they were in my grade (although I'm not BFFs with them) but some I didn't know (7th graders, probably). They were poking Gem's spikes to see if they hurt, petting her, playing with her tail, etc. Carrie even held her, which was a big surprise. Then they started going, "Can you make her puff up her beard?!" :roll:
Now I'll forever be known as Lizard Girl. :lol: But that's O.K.! At least it's accurate!

Jacqui

 

[jacqui778]

Seems Gem is dead-set on brumating this year, even though she still has MBD and needs to recover. SHE WILL NOT QUIT SLEEPING. I'm TRYING to keep her awake, but she won't have it. You let her roam on the floor, and instead of romping and conquering like she used to, she curls up next to the air vent and falls asleep. She's also quit eating. HOW ON EARTH can I stop her? Should I just let her brumate, but keep all her lights on and keep giving her calcium via syringe? I'd begun trying to give her dusted crix....

Then I asked Gem's vet's daughter (who is in my class at school) if her brother's beardie was brumating. She said no, then proceeded to tell me "maybe my temperatures and lights weren't right." I tried to tell her, no, I think it's just her instincts, and she goes "Well they have no idea when it gets cold outside. I think its your setup."
Whatever.

MoMo has been eating like crazy! PWs and salad and crix galore. I dropped a whole 2 handfuls of salad in there today, put PWs throughout, and left for school. I came back and there was no evidence that I'd ever fed her. She was taking an afternoon nap on her hammock. :love5:

I have to go clean vivs and see if Gematria is up yet. Probably not. But a girl can hope.

Jacqui

 

[haleygirl272]

Oh, I WILL not let Zinger brumate either Jacqui. I feel your pain. Zinger slept for 15 hours! :x I am panicking and I'm putting an extra light in his enclosure. He has reached the big two-oh in his length, and so I'm giving him a 120 gal. for my birthday and my Christmas. :roll: Lord knows what he will get for Christmas besides that! :lol: Anyway, hopefully the new tank will make his curiosity override his wish to sleep,(His curiosity overrides everything!) and then he won't brumate. Best of luck to you!

-Haley

 

[jacqui778]

GAH!
Something happened! I don't know what!
MoMo's light will not turn on. I don't know if the PowerSun blew, the fixture committed suicide, or if it's an issue with the power strip/stupid outlet. It was working yesterday!

I also have to get rid of Gem's old UVB fixtures. I'm contemplating whether or not I should keep one in case MoMo's PowerSun really did die. Perhaps I'll post something on the ForSale forums.

Anyway, just thought I'd pop in and update before the thread got locked. I'm such a slaaaackerrrrr.

Gem is turning into a snugglebug, randomly. For some reason she suddenly needs a TON of attention. I've noticed this with MoMo, too-- she's very fiesty when it comes to fighting to get her back in the viv. Geez, I need to take new pics of the girls.... they both got nice pics in the Calendar.... except Gem's has Winnie the Pooh in the background. :lol:

Hoping the computer will be revived.... this way I can post pictures.

MoMo has gone through YET ANOTHER shed. Not that that is new....
Gem is also determined to make me look like a self-harmer! I took her with me to walk the dog today, and she scratched up my entire wrist! She seemed awfully pleased with herself, too. I also think she's getting sick of being the underdog to 9-inch-long MoMo. She's starting to give the death glare when MoMo beards & bobs.

Siiiiiigh.

May I also add that MoMo is becoming a BEAUTIFUL young lady? She's got blue sidebars and tan stripes and a red head and arms.... she's a pretty girl. :love5:
So is Gem, of course .... my pretty citrus princess....

Jacqui

 

[dna14]

oh Jacqui, you tease, now you HAVE to post pictures!!

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

LOL ...I totally agree with Aimee :wink: :lol:

 

[jacqui778]

I'm afraid I can't get any pics ATM.... the camera is now hidden in a super-secret spot that only my stepfather knows about.... but no worries.... I'll sniff it out.... eventually....

So, I have an odd story to tell. You're all going to tell me I'm nuts (perhaps I am....), but it just won't quit tugging at my mind. Today, whilst at the pet store (step managed to buy the wrong dog food, we had to go exchange) I made my traditional visit to the reptile area, to see the dragons, of course. There, I observed the -tiny- baby dragon with a tail nip that was there, basking happily. What's odd is that they haven't had juvies there since the day I bought Reggie.... anyway.... so, I look at the little shedding baby, but he doesn't seem interested in me (why am I always expecting some sort of Reggie Reincarnated to show up? ) So, I'm looking at the Tegu, and the variety of Geckos, and the Emerald Tree Boa that has been there FOREVER, and the scorpions, and the ball pythons, and the frogs, and the spiders.... and then I see the water dragons and the monitors.

That's when the Savannah Monitors caught my eye. They were sleeping, the larger one's head on top of the smaller one's (seemed cute, but being a beardie slave I thought immediately of dominance :roll: ). They seemed so cute and peaceful, and I feel some sort of pull to the larger one.... a pull I haven't felt towards any lizard, not even Gem or MoMo, since I first laid eyes on Reggie. And, y'know, Reggie was the largest dragon in that tank. I can't even remember looking at the other dragons, and I know I spent at least 5 minutes looking. I just remember watching Reggie eating his salad, and telling the lady, "I want that one."

So, yeah, tell me I'm nuts. I'm looking at care sheets online, and Savannah Monitors look like a lot of work, let alone the fact that I don't have any tanks or supplies for another reptile. Just can't stop thinking about the lizard though....

*Sigh.* Only me....

Jacqui

 

[dna14]

Jacqui, you're nuts. OK you asked for that. But ya know what? You're alot less nuts than alot of us!!! :wink: Look at you, get a new dog and now you need a new lizard. That's my girl!!! *HUGS*
Aimee

 

[jacqui778]

Jacqui, you're nuts. OK you asked for that. But ya know what? You're alot less nuts than alot of us!!! :wink: Look at you, get a new dog and now you need a new lizard. That's my girl!!! *HUGS*
Aimee

Yesh ma'am, that's how I roll. :mrgreen:

Furry buddies may keep me occupied for awhile but nothing beats a new scaley baby. :wink:

My mom actually asked me, "And how much was that lizard you wanted?" Heh. She's always complaining I don't tell her what I want for Christmas.... so she's leaping at this.... :roll: Something tells me that money won't come together, though.

Jacqui

 

[Goonie]

[Moved from Beardie Rescue to Beardie Tales, by request of OP]

 

[jacqui778]

GRRR! So, I tried to take pics, and got some good ones.... and then the camera decided to be all mean and go on low-battery mode!

We need a new camera. One that will hold a charge for more than 15 minutes!!!

Jacqui

 

[dna14]

darn! My camera batt's dead too. I keep hijacking T's but she's about to put her foot down I'm afraid...

 

[jacqui778]

Where do I start? Bad news first?

Well, as I mentioned before, Gem is very underweight. I hadn't realized how underweight until recently, when I looked at some growth charts. Just for a second opinion, I asked an aquaintance's mother, who happens to be Gem's vet, what Gem should weigh at her age.
Well, Gem is at a surprisingly low 291g. (Bad mommy, should've known this was low! )
I was told by the vet that she should gain about 210-250g in order to be 'average' according to other beardies. This sounds about right when I compare to the growth charts. But really? 210 grams at the minimum?! :?

There's a long road ahead, and I cannot seem to see the end. With much struggling, I'm sure we can do it, Gem and I.... but who's to say when we'll finish? Who is to say when we will emerge victorious? Sigh.... well, the long road ahead seems slurry-coated, at least. :|

Now, for the good news....

MoMo is in full body shed. She measures at 10.5'', and I still need to pick up a scale at WalMart to weigh her (and keep up with Gem's progress). Maybe while I'm there I'll pick up some babyfood and see if there's any type of canned fruits or veggies that I can add to a slurry. I don't like WalMart's fresh stuff. Although their grapes are yummy. :mrgreen:

MoMo has also discovered her cave! Instead of going behind it, now she goes IN it to escape the light/heat/cat! It was hilarious, because the first time she went in, it was about 5:00pm, and she was scratching at the walls. I though, okay, she's scratching 'cause she's gonna go take a nap.

However, the scratching persisted for another half hour. I was wondering if perhaps I should go and see if she was having issues. Then, after another ten minutes, I went to intervene. I lift up the hide to find MoMo scratching at the walls with a full beard! Apparently, she'd gotten in, but couldn't get out! :roll:

I also found a full crown of the brocolli I'd given her on Thanksgiving, some collard green leaves, and some poo. MoMo's a packrat! :lol: So now I have to check her hide daily for "hidden treasures", quite literally.

That's my tidbit. I know the camera is fully charged, with my good pics on it, but my step has decided to hide it once again. I need my own camera!!! For some reason, Bill always thinks I'm going to break it or-- Goodness forbid-- get a fingerprint on the lens. Sigh. Step-parents drive me INSANE!!! I don't know who's worse, my stepdad or stepmom.

Jacqui

 

[Jasper's Mom]

It's not as much as it seems, Jacqui! Phin has gained 150g since coming home with me about six weeks ago.