Jace, Zy, Sorin, Ava, Nissa, Koth, & Phoenix -->Vet Update

Hello,
My name is Liz and I have been a member of this website for a year now. I have had another blog about my reptilian babies (http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=185026), but am starting a new one. I want to start the new year with a clean slate - especially since it will also start with a new moon. I want to move on from the problems of the past and look forward to the new adventures that lie ahead.
A little about me: I'm twenty-two years old and am an author - (A Shadow's Lullaby by: E. Rexer). I go to Western New England as a Creative Writing major with a minor in Philosophy. I own six reptiles, three bearded dragons and three leopard geckos. I have been with my boyfriend, Paul, for four years. I currently work two jobs - Heritage Woods (assistant living) and Table and Vine (liquor store) though I did try to quit Heritage Woods and was guilt tripped into working there per diem (once a month). I will be putting in my two weeks notice with them in February. Unfortunately it is a sad job and emotionally I cannot handle it anymore. Table and Vine doesn't give me the hours I would like, but I worked out a deal with my grandfather that will help me out financially. Now enough about me.

 

[Esther19]

She is such a pretty girl! Happy Birthday, Nissa!

 

[zandi202]

Thanks, Esther!

 

[chastityx]

happy birthday to the little girl!

 

[zandi202]

Thanks, Chastity!


So I won't be posting too much for a while as Paul and I are back in school. Spring break felt so long and yet not long enough. And realization just dawned as me - Phoenix is leaving in seven days. I can't believe it's coming up so quickly. It makes me so sad.

Well, on every sad note there is a good one. My grandpa has agreed to take care of the reptiles while I'm on vacation. So the week of I'll probably show him what to do and I'm also going to print out instructions. It looks like we'll most likely be leaving Thursday night and be home Sunday night. The leos are two tricky to feed, but because they can store fat reserves in their tails, I'm not worried about them missing a few days. I feel like live feeders in general will be too much for my grandpa so I'm going to make baggies of greens for the beardies and have him feed only that - a few days without bugs won't kill them and I'll give them extra when I get back.

Also, some more good news - if I continue to save up money and follow my spending log, I should have my new laptop early June. Yay! And I'll still get my education discount. So life is good.

Still going to miss Phoenix terribly.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Guess you can't keep Phoenix? I know it was Kristine who bought him, but still, you'll just have to put some gas $ aside so you can visit Kristine more often!

And yeah for your grandpa that he'll take care of your babies, you have a great plan in place for the few days you'll be gone. Will do you both good to get away.

We all understand how overwhelming it gets with school work and work, so if we don't hear from you as often, I'll know why.

 

[zandi202]

Deb:
No, as much I wish I could keep him, it's for the best that I can't. I can't give him the time that he deserves as I can barely give my other babies the time that they deserve. This is my final tough semester so after this everything should be smooth sailing for the babies I have. Of course this winter Jace and Zy, maybe even Sorin, will be down for the count the leos will get way more time then they'll know what to do with.

I'm so excited for the trip to the Cape. Each week I'm setting aside $10 until I have $200 set aside for the the trip - I figure that will be plenty of money to be spending there and hopefully won't spent it all. I'll be the one making the 5-6 hour drive as my car is the best choice, but that's all right as I like to drive. Chris (Paul's younger brother) has a diesel truck and there's five of us going so double no there. Sam and Paul both have 2 doors with no ac and 2 doors are tiny and no ac on the highway is yuck. Then there's my car - ac, huge trunk, and I'll have had oil change, tire alignment and rotation, and tires filled before then. They're all going to chip in for gas so that's not a problem.

It's so hard to stay away from this site, especially when I have homework I should be doing.

DIY Viv Update:
So I thought about it and realized that Zy still has an inch or two more to grow so putting her in the armoire which is a little smaller than what she has now would be a bad idea and unfair to her. But I didn't have the money to totally build vivs so here is the armoire solution. All three leos will be going in there. It works out that leaving three and a half inches for electrical stuff at the bottom, that gives the leos 11.5" high vivs which works well since leos aren't climbers really. Koth's current viv is 13" so to make up for that, the vivs will be 27" long and 17" wide which will be plenty of room for them. Now by making their viv's 27" long, that will give us room left over for shelves on the other side for the superworms, supplements, etc so this will save on even more room. Not only that but we can take Ava's and Nissa's 40g viv apart and put Sorin in there so he'll finally have a real viv to call home. I'm so dry excited and then I can get rid of Koth's 20g before I find the urge to house something in it. :lol: I might also look into temporarily building a table to stack two of the beardie viv's on to save even more room, but that probably won't be necessary. Anyways, I'm just brimming with excitement in case you haven't noticed. :lol: Also, by switching it the the leos, it will cut down on costs then if it were with Zy.

Phoenix:
I called the vet, explained to her the trouble we were having giving Phoenix the shots, but also told her how much he has improved (appetite, energy levels, etc) and she said that we could stop with the shots since he's doing better. That means he's free to go to Kristine's anytime. I texted Kristine about this and it will either be Friday morning/afternoon or Sunday morning/afternoon. That's also when she'll be picking up the two DIY viv's Paul and I attempted to make last summer. She and Jeremy are working out all sorts of plans for them. I can't wait to see what they'll do with them. I'm so very excited. But the $200 they give me for that will go into the leo's stackable. Anyways, back to Phoenix: he's eaten three worms yesterday and today and has been doing great. I'm going to miss the little stinker.

As for the rest of my crew, they're doing all right. The beardies are all eating, leos not so much. The leos are such poo heads sometimes, but I guess that's part of their charm. Maybe once the weather warms up more they'll eat more because like beardies, they still recognize the weather and I'm told they do slow down in the winter though they never brumate or hibernate.

MY wisdom teeth are coming in and hurt so bad. There isn't enough numbing gel in the world for my pain.

Well, that's all for now. I've got a play to read after. See you guys later.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Sounds like you've got your hands full & I know you're going to miss Phoenix, but as you said, it's for the best and he'll have 2 playmates there. Plus they're taking the vivs, that will give you the $ to fix the Leo's new viv & rearrange the other tanks. Sorin will get his own, yeah!

You're so well organized, it'll be great when you get away in May for awhile, do you all good.

Glad everyone is feeling well, too. That's always a blessing.

 

[zandi202]

I am so excited to get Sorin into a real viv. Plus I'll be able to get both Jace and Sorin off the floor as Koth's table and Nissa/Ava's table will be free. Though I might leave Jace and Sorin on the floor so then that way they can't see Zy. Though I do very much like the idea of storage underneath so I might just tape some paper up to the walls so they can't see her.

Having the leopard geckos in a stackable might make it possible for me to move back into my old room if I have enough space. I can put the beardies back in the closet and I don't know - too many things to think about right now. I'm all over the place.

My trip won't be until July unfortunately. But I guess that wait is worth the reward, right? I'm hoping that Paul's family trip to New Jersey will be before then, though I doubt it. He goes to New Jersey once a week every year to hang out with with his dad and half siblings/step brother. I went with Paul twice. His father isn't bad, a kid at heart really, but the step mom - she fits that stereotypical step mother role. I can't stand her - she's so overbearing and controlling. The last time I went which was in 2011 she tried treating me like her child and I was having none of that. I snapped. The last time I saw her face to face was at Sam's graduation in 2012 I think. I'll probably see her next year when Paul and I graduate.

I like Paul's mom a lot and plan on getting her a mother's day gift this year. What? I'm not sure. I thinking of getting her these new single charm charm bracelets. I'm thinking of getting her the one either with the turtle or the shamrock since she loves turtles and is Irish. Paul plans to get her the opposite one of whichever I choose. That's assuming I get her jewelry. Honestly, I'm at such a lost.

 

[zandi202]

So my schedule for next fall will be a class 9:30-10:50 and 11:00-12:20 on Tuesday and Thursday so that will make life super easy. I'll still be able to work nights as well so more free time and more work hours.

 

[Esther19]

Yay! Sounds great!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Your schedule for next fall sounds awesome! And getting the leos together will save you a lot of room. Can't Zy, Jace and Sorin stay in the reptile room? They didn't like being in the closet, remember? Don't you still have the reptile room?

 

[zandi202]

The reptile room would be inconvenient due to it's location. Zy and Jace didn't have a problem in the closet once I covered up their tanks so they couldn't see each other. But I've decided against it anyways and will be moving all the reptiles into my bedroom as there is more room that way.

 

[sweetiepie9]

As long as the new bedroom set (eventually ) fits in with everyone!

 

[zandi202]

Deb:
It will


So, my wisdom teeth are killing me. I want to take pliers to them and just rip them out. I'm going to see about getting them pulled this summer but because I only have school health insurance and no dental, I'm screwed. It's $125 (roughly) to go to a consultation where they don't even talk to you - just sit you down to watch a video. How ridiculous is that?

So I have two friends telling me to stay where I am - that they like my rooms how they are, but I just can't. Honestly, for me to e happy in any of the room up here would require major renovations that I just can't afford. Hopefully I won't be here for more than another two years - that seems like such a long time - before Paul and I can finally set off on our own. Once I get a real job will start saving up for a house of our own. There's a house that's across the street from where I live now that I love and adore (the outside of) the inside requires a bit of work, but not nearly as much as the house I'm living in. It's been on the market for a long time now, so I'm hoping it will still be there for another two years. If not, oh well. Then it wasn't meant to be.

I think the scariest event is that I'm going to have to find a real job soon. I have no idea what to do. :roll:

 

[Sadona]

I really enjoy reading your stories on here! It sounds like your scale babies are doing very well.
I hope you can get those wisdom teeth taken care of soon, pain like that isn't fun to bear!
My boyfriend and I are in the same boat with houses - wanting to move out of a shared home, but not financially ready. Have you considered renting a house?