Mufasa and Norberta

I already introduced me and Fasa, but I thought you all might like to see his cuteness, lol. I also have a question for you professionals: do you have any idea what morph he is?

Here he is sleeping in his new tree, slept in it all of last night.
Mufasa will just sit on my chest and nap or watch whats going on.
One last question: Half the time he doesn't eat his crickets, is there anything I can do to help him eat?
Well, I think that's all for now!
Makayla.

 

[NinaAmbroshia]

Have you tried prickly pear, cactus pads, or sometbing as equally waterloaded? Mavis eats her prickly pears peices like its candy. I actually took a video today of it, may post it here in a little bit, but prickly pears are mostly water. So very good for hydration levels. I use it... well because she loves it amd its high in calcium, but it also makes me feel better about her getting enough water... though i may need tobstart hiding the peices under her leafy greens.

D: i couldn't imagine waking up amd finding your scaley baby dead in its' water dish

 

[SHBailey]

Cactus pads and such are hard to find around here -- I rarely see them in the grocery stores. But squash works too -- if you soak little cubes of squash in water, it sucks it up like a sponge. Unfortunately, our beardie doesn't seem to like squash anymore either. But he usually puts out a little puddle of clear liquid along with his poop, so I have to assume that he's staying hydrated well enough.

 

[NinaAmbroshia]

Clear liquid? Mine has never had puddles of clear liquid?

 

[SHBailey]

As long as your beardie is pooping regularly and seems healthy otherwise, I don't think a lack of liquid means they're dehydrated, nor does the presence of liquid mean there's anything wrong. I think you just have to get used to what's normal for your own beardie. Ours is ADV positive, so what's normal for him is not necessarily representative of what's normal in general.

 

[NinaAmbroshia]

ADV?

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

ADV (if I am remembering right) stands for Atadenovirus.

Well, Mufasa is up for a little while at least. I got her up Wednesday and she hasn't gone back to sleep so I fed her today and she basked and looks very happy. I got both of the girls new basking lights (hoods and bulbs) today so that's good.
Will try to take some new pics of both of them in the next couple of days, been busy. :roll:

 

[SHBailey]

Sounds like Mufasa enjoyed her nice long nap.

Yes -- our beardie was diagnosed with adenovirus in late 2014, and was pretty sick for a while through early 2015. There's no cure, but our vet said it's not a death sentence and he's not suffering, and all you can do is "supportive care" -- treat whatever other conditions arise, which in his case seems to be some sort of secondary infection in the bones and joints of his fingers, wrists, and elbows. He's 5 years old now and holding his own, although his appetite never came back up to what it was before the illness. We can barely get him to eat any greens at all nowadays. He still goes after live bugs but has trouble catching them, and we're not sure if something's wrong with his vision or if there's some other neurological issue going on that's affecting his coordination. So we're just trying to keep him as healthy and comfortable as possible under the circumstances for as long as we can get away with it.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I can't believe it's been this long since I posted! I went through all the pictures, your two are just beautiful. Glad Norberta got that shed off! And Mufasa fast asleep like my 3, Castiel, Cierra and Nathaniel, just like last summer, all were sleeping by end July this year. And Cierra didn't have any eggs at all this year, I was so surprised. She needs a vet visit at some point, but for now I'm letting her sleep. I had to switch the hides around, so Cierra got Castiel's hide, as he's sleeping beside his log this year.

I've been out with a bad back, went out about a month ago and isn't quite 100% yet (bulging discs). I did work on Monday but it went out again Monday night, so I'm home again. Hopefully back to work soon.

So Imp and Gabriel are my only dragons right now. Imp has gained quite alot of weight with feeding him daily. This was him a couple of months ago and then today. I'm not allowing him to sleep like he did last year (just a couple of weeks) as he lost way too much weight. He must have the fastest metabolism of any beardie I've ever owned in 11 years of rescuing.

And this was Gabriel and Imp this am waiting for baths and supplements. They don't fight, even though Gabriel will try to sit on top of Imp and then the reverse. They're both too funny
Bella likes to sit out on the balcony with them.

Gabriel's aneurysm is still growing bit by bit, it's huge now, but he still manages to walk across the living room, out to the balcony, I'm so proud of him. I know he won't be with me much longer, but I'm enjoying and snuggling him every day.

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

I'm so glad to hear from you Deb!! Thank you!!
I'm sorry your back has been bothering you. That's nice Cierra had a break from laying eggs. And I'm so glad to hear about Gabriel and Imp! Imp looks so much better! Those pictures are great, so cute that Bella likes to hang out with the boys. I'm very proud of Gabriel too, such a sweetheart. <3

I think Norberta at least is starting to switch over to adult eating habits, which I really don't like just because she is so so tiny. But she just refuses to eat some days and then eats all day others. Sigh. Any suggestions? She seems to be doing pretty good otherwise, gets her allopurinol daily and that helps a ton. I talked with one of the vets I shadow last Tuesday about possibly doing bloodwork on her, and though they don't really do reptiles they said they probably would be able to do it and are finding out the price.
Mufasa is still up but doesn't move around her tank much, I need to give her a bath tomorrow and then maybe she will go back to sleep.
Neither of then move around their tanks much, I'm wondering if its just the cooler weather or something else. Norberta especially, but I think she just prefers to run around outside her tank but then she doesn't get UVB and gets cold quickly.
I still haven't gotten any new pics, will hopefully grab some this weekend.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hasn't Norberta always been tiny? Some dragons just are. Nothing to do with the way you raised her.

I'm proud of Gabriel, too. The Serrepeptase gives him a bit extra energy and he likes to climb around the balcony. Lots of things to sit on & hide behind, plus lost of sunshine. Imp would stay outside all the time if he could.

As for the slowing down, I have 3 sound asleep. One thing I do when it's time for them to sleep, is turn off their lights and cover them with a warm fleece. But I don't do that until they are asleep for 2 days and don't wake up in the morning. If they're in their hide with eyes open and heads up, they're out of their hides and I turn the hide upside down until night time. They can be sleepy and lazy under their lights until they make up their minds.

My back is on and off, it's such a pain LOL but I'll get through it and get back to work and retire in 3 years. Can't wait.

I posted pics on my thread of Leo's 4th birthday (my grandson). We went to a beach close to my parents where they have a huge playground right on the beach. So the kids played for 3 hours, then had lunch and cake and back to the playground. Eric's g/f Traci had to work, such a drag.

I'm glad the medication is working on Norberta, she looks great in all the pictures I missed over the last 2 months. She's so cute

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Yeah she has been tiny, but I always feel like its my fault. Thank you for saying that, that makes me feel so better. Her size isn't getting in the way of her living her life as far as I've noticed.
That's great Gabriel climbs around on things too! Mufasa does a mix for sleeping, it's so confusing this year :lol: she climbs in her hide and lays there awake for a few days and then actually goes to sleep after a while but a lot of the time she is awake just laying there. :roll: I'll have to go check out the pics!
I'm really glad they work for her too.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Turn her hide upside down and leave her lights on. I found it worked great to help them determine if they were really sleepy, as they'll sleep in their hide regardless. I just won't allow those not asleep to stay in their hide. If you're awake, you're under your lights. But then I'm a mean mom :roll:

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Haha I will try that! I flipped it over yesterday and a little before bed she climbed into it and snuggled down for the night.
I tried to measure them (nose to tail) but neither of them cooperated, :lol: so I think Mufasa was about 13 1/2" or 14", and Norberta was like 12 1/2" or 13".
How often should I try bugs with them? Mufasa has started leaving some in her bowl too so I think they both need to try a new feeding schedule.
I also remembered to take some pictures yesterday!
Mufasa:

Norberta:

 

[sweetiepie9]

I don't know about bugs, I have 2 kinds, superworms and dubia. Unless I'm willing to get online bugs, which I can't because I'm never home to have them delivered and they don't mail to Canada.

There are two great places where you can buy variety packs to what you want, too.
Gillian Spence owns Rainbow Mealworms, this is her site www.rainbowmealworms.net to order.
Linda's Gone Buggy, can't remember her site address, but I'll find it.

Are you on Facebook?You'll find both of them there.

There are a goodly amount of bug sellers in the USA. Not so in Canada. So I've made sure my dubia are well fed and just buy superworms.

I have to count the male/female ratio of my dubia because I have 2 10 gallon tanks. they are easier to heat and put in cabinets or bookcases, so they're not so apparent. Imp might get a few adults. Gabriel likes them, too. A friend walked me home from his place last night, with 5 bags of the massive amound of DVDs he's accumulated from garage sales. So I have tons for my son and grandkids and some for me, too. Anyway, Foster said as he say my living room "you'd have alot more space without the tanks" and I looked at him and said "that's not going to happen". He first said, yes, the dragon lady :lol: when he first saw all the tanks in my living room. He knew about them but it's another thing to live with 7 tanks in your living room :mrgreen: He's a funny guy, nice to have an intelligent friend who's done well in his life, he has a grandson same age as mine. Nothing more, though, I'm not readyLOL

Your girls look beautiful as always, and who cares if they're smaller, easier to snuggle

There is a particular breed of small dragons, they're called Rankins, but your girls don't have the Rankins face, which is almost a baby face; they're different. Your girls are petite dragons and just perfect the way they are. Nathaniel and Cierra were small like them at a year old but they both grew another 3" with me in their 2nd year, so strange. Nathaniel is still my smallest dragon and he'll always be my cowboy, he's the only one that tries to get Gabriel to fight, so he's not out with Gabriel.

Imp and Gabriel have been having a good time, seeing as I've been home and the bigger 3 are all asleep. I have a couple of pictures that show they're not fighting, even though I won't leave Imp out for a long time with Gabriel. Bella watches out for Gabriel, too.

So last day off from work, start back 1/2 days tomorrow, then 6 hours next week and full time the week after. My back keeps giving me grief, plus I have a strong grass allergy, handy when you have to walk a dog LOL. So I've been on and off work for the last year. It's been awful. I can't get anything to calm down. The allergy is under control, finally, took 10 weeks of coughing to finally find a puffer that worked and hopefully grass will go away soon.

My back MRI showed bulging discs, not as back mid back as in my neck. But I have 3 1/2 yrs to go to retirement, I'll just take it a bit at a time. I think my back is stable now, bones seem to move around more than before, so see the chiro all the time. I'm working through it to get it easier to handle, pain wise. All from the motorcycle accident when I was 18, 2 blocks from our very quiet neighbourhood. Getting older just means more to handle.

I'll get there.

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Thanks for those links! I use dubia and supers usually and occasionally buy other worms (Norberta especially loves hornworms), but they don't really like phoenix worms and Norberta has decided she doesn't like superworms right now :roll: but Mufasa eats almost any bug.

How often should adults be fed bugs? Is it every other day or like every two days? I think I want to try feeding them less often to see if that works since they aren't eating as much.

Haha, he sounds like a funny guy! And wow, that must be a big living room for seven tanks! xD
I didn't think they looked like rankins either, I looked at a few at the last reptile show I went to to get feeders. How long is Nathaniel? Lol that's kinda funny he wants to fight with Gabriel.
I love that Imp and Gabriel get along too, very sweet pics. Oh wow, hope you keep feeling better so you can get back to work soon!