Gizmo "The Burninator" - Pics added 4/27 (Day at the park)

I've decided to use this thread to chronicle the (mis)adventures of Gizmo... enjoy.


Post 1: 3/12
Tonight was the first time I gave him a bath... I've had him about a week (he had a bath a week ago tomorrow)... I've been giving him a chance to get used to me before I dragged him out to a big bathtub (his old mom just washed him in a little bowl).

After a few initial minutes of panicking, he ended up happily scooting around. He even came over to my hand to get picked up at the end! :love10:

Gave him some Calciworms and a few Superworms as a treat for being so good.

Glamor shot!

 

[abtrfli]

I love your rocks, where'd you get them? I have something similar (got them at Home Depot) but yours look much nicer.

Thanks! Actually everything that I have in his viv, I lucked out and was given by a previous beardie owner... the big flat corner rock on the right (as you're looking at the picture) I think used to be a heat rock... it has a hollow space underneath, where I assume a heater used to go. The big hide/cave is my favorite! I did some hunting online for you, and found these sites, maybe they'll help you. Big (evil) pet stores might have things like that, but I didn't see as much variety in their online catalogs as the other websites:

http://www.petco.com/product/111174/PETCO-Desert-Cave-Reptile-Hideaway.aspx?CoreCat=BeardedDragonHPDecor

http://www.reptilesupply.com/index.php?cPath=31_35&sort=3a&page=3

Reptilesupply.com
LLLReptile.com

Check those out, see if anything looks good... I was so thrilled when I got all those rocks, Gizmo loves them. And the corner rock has a scratchy texture, which in combination with the tiles keeps his nails from being impossible to deal with :wink:

 

[abtrfli]

Last night I gave Gizmo another bath... He swam around happily for a while (15-20 mins), and then he started scrabbling on the sides of the tub to get out. I want to teach him to come to me when he wants out so I don't have to chase him, so I put my hand in the tub for a while, palm up, and just waited. Eventually he came right over to me, and climbed up on my hand and waited, looking at me as if to say "Ok mom, I'm done now." I picked him up, dried him off, and he promptly fell asleep in my lap all wrapped up warm and snuggly in his towel.

:love5:

 

[abtrfli]

Took Gizmo out and let him run around the kitchen today for some dragon exercise... for some reason he kept trying to scale my oven. Why? I have no idea... but he was determined :laughhard:

I accidentally scared him when I stood up too fast, and he instantly turned black and puffed at me... Oh well. Still cute!

 

[Bellalee]

Omg.. so adorable!

 

[abtrfli]

So this week was the first time I had to leave Gizmo for a few days. I left late Tuesday night, was gone all day Wednesday, and didn't get back until Thursday night around 10 pm.

I had my boyfriend Gizmo-sit for me - he went to my house on Wednesday evening to give him fresh veggies and to make sure everything was ok. (I have my lights on timers, so no worries with that!)

The bf turned off the basking lamp so he could remove the screen to take out the food dish, and apparently the lamp "wouldn't turn back on". I was on the phone with him at the time, and of course, I freaked out... I had him set up a makeshift lighting fixture, a 60 watt desk lamp (definitely not enough!!!). The whole day Wednesday I was so worried about him! He still had his UVB, but just not the heating he needed... :shock:

I came home Thursday night, and he was already asleep... This morning I went to say hello, and saw his little tummy ALL covered in stress marks!!! When I opened the viv to pet him, he immediately black bearded and puffed up, and opened his little mouth at me. (In his defense, I've noticed he's ALWAYS grumpy in the mornings, and sits there black for a while after waking up... but still!...)

I was so crushed!

I rushed out to the store and got a new basking/heat lamp, plus a big bag of crickets and a tub of Calciworms for him. After the cricket massacre, I put him back in his viv right on his now warm basking spot. His stress marks seemed much less, and his beard wasn't as black.

I feel like a bad mommy for leaving him (even though it was for a very short time, and for work). Hopefully when I get home tonight he'll be less mad at me, and will be more relaxed and will let me cuddle him to make up for leaving him.

 

[abtrfli]

This was a good weekend for Gizmo bonding time... another user, gogga, posted in a thread that she sometimes uses a hot water bottle on cold mornings. I decided I'd try the same thing, and Gizmo LOVED it. Snuggled down into it and went right to sleep. I was able to cuddle him for much longer, since I wasn't worried about him getting cold!

Water bottle + blankie = happy Gizmo

Such a sweet little face! :mrgreen:

 

[gogga]

Toooooooooo Cute

Glad it worked out

 

[abtrfli]

I was at the store the other day, and I saw this temple and I couldn't resist buying it! My boyfriend and I took a trip to Mexico last summer, and while we were there we went to see Chichen Itza, the Mayan temple. This mini replica seemed like it was meant for me to get for Gizmo! He obviously loves it.

He looks like a little Mayan godzilla! haha.

I decided to dragon-proof my house and let Gizmo run around for a while. He made a happy discovery of his new favorite basking spot!

Just look at that smile! :mrgreen:

After a long day of exploring, he fell asleep in the oddest position... just looking at it makes my neck hurt lol.

 

[TASTIGER]

omg he is soooo cute look at those beautiful bars

 

[abtrfli]

Beardies and their weird sleeping positions.. :roll:

You can't really tell, but he's half on the rock and half hanging off. One false move and he's gonna have a rude awakening! lol

Do yours sleep with their arms back like that? Gizmo seems to more often than not.

 

[abtrfli]

So today was an adventure and a half... I decided to take him to the vet to get a general check up, make sure he's healthy. Also go a fecal on the nasty one he laid this morning... alarmingly large, smelly, and other nasty things! Hopefully when they call tomorrow it will be a false alarm.

Before going to the vet, I had to figure out how I was going to get him there... last time in the car I had my boyfriend drive, and he scratched frantically trying to escape the whole time. I got him a little pet carrier, which actually worked out wonderfully. At first he sat there frozen, then I heard some scrabbling to get out for a minute or two, and then he just settled down.

Everyone at the vet was properly impressed at how beautiful he is. He weighs a healthy 285 grams, and is a full 17 inches long. He was doing well during the exam, until the doc went to open his mouth to check out his teeth... between the two of us, we couldn't keep him still, so she took him "to the back" to get a vet tech to help. I waited worriedly for about 2 minutes, and then she emerged with him - his beard was COMPLETELY black, and he looked extremely disgruntled and indignant. I couldn't help but laugh... poor little guy.

After we left, I took him to the store to get him some worms as a treat for putting up with everything, and also picked him up a new leash so I can take him outside without worrying about him running off under a bush or something. He fell fast asleep on the way home in the carrier (such a big day for a little guy!) and was happy to be back in his warm viv this afternoon.

In his carrier, (unknowingly) on the way to the vet... curious and alert.

(Pics taken with my camera phone, sorry the quality kinda sucks!)

Back the carrier on the way home, all tuckered out from the epic battle with the vet.

 

[DeweysMom]

He's a cutie! Isn't vet time the worst! I hate putting them through it, but it is necessary so..... I just feel bad. I'll keep my fingers crossed that his fecal comes back negative.

 

[Bellalee]

Yay! So glad the carrier worked out for you.. Love the dots.. how did the checkup go? I hope it went well.

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

Vet visit = no fun. I do love it when they sleep with their arms back like that. Sometimes Scorch will do a little two arm back slithering wiggle like a snake trying to get herself in the perfect snuggle position when she is cuddling and then she will pancake for maximum heat absorption. LOL

 

[abtrfli]

Hey everyone, just got the update from the vet - the fecal came negative, he's all clear! No parasites or anything. *phew!* False alarm. I'm so thrilled for him to have a clean bill of health. The vet commented about how alert and healthy he is, and after the test results, I can rest easy that my little guy is healthy. I've been kinda worried since I got him that something bad was lurking under the surface since the care he had up til when I got him was questionable, but good thing beardies are so resilient!

Vegaslizard - Gizmo does the SAME THING! It tickles SO much when he does that, when his head is up on my shoulder or my neck... it's all I can do not to squeal and wake him up more! :mrgreen: