Nathaniel, Cierra, Castiel, Freya, Grrl; RIP GABRIEL

We never expected to get another dragon, but our neighbours next door wanted to give away Cleo, as he was called. We'd babysat him before, he's such a sweetheart. We nicknamed him Velcro because when he snuggles he never wants to go back to his viv, he hangs on as if he's made out of velcro.

So here he is. Today was his first day with us. He ate 13 supers and ate some squash, not bad for the first day he was here. He's only in a 30 gallon tank, which will be ok for now. He's 18" long but weighs only 200g. We figure he's probably 2 yrs old. Our neighbours rescued him last fall, they found him and a female (which they named Puff) on Craig's list. They were in a 30 gallon dirty tank, with sand and a huge log that took up 1/2 the space in the tank. Leo was at the bottom, he was sooooo skinny. He's gained weight, but never got the attention he deserved. I took some pics today, but will take more tomorrow. I think he remembers our place as didn't get stressed as I expected. No stress marks at all. When we let him run around the living room, he noticed our girls and immediate black beard, so his hormones are working!

He had a bath this morning, had a big poop, no smell, so not worried about parasites.

So here are a few pics, he's a yellow & dark gray, light gray colour.

Under the communal power sun in the living room:

Discovering there are girls in those tanks up above, he has a great black beard for such a skinny boy:

On the couch, he's got a pretty diamond pattern on his back:

Hope you enjoy
Deb and my six dragons :shock: :shock: :shock: :love5:

 

[sweetiepie9]

I do, just still a bit tired, but back to work on Monday! Yeah! Means better pay chq!

My s-I-l Annika sent me a better pic of Leo and I, so here it is


I also got the scale I ordered, so got weights on everyone. So now I can keep track from now on. Gabriel has lost a lot, but then he was overweight, so that's good. He's 489g now.

Didi's keeping his weight steady, he lost some, but they all do over the winter. He's now 441g

Rubio lost some from not eating for 2 weeks, but he's still over 800g, 809g to be exact, so I'm not worried, we'll see what he weights when he finally wakes up.

Leo hasn't lost any weight at all, even with the up & down eating, so that's really good. He's staying steady at 560g

Puff is a good weght, 57g8, so if she loses I'm not very bothered by it.

Lonzo is still 589g, even with the not eating much. Amazing that he's keeping his weight steady!

So I'm very pleased with them all, today is feeding day, so only Rubio and Leo won't get any food, but they get water on the weekend. They both had baths on Monday.

So that's the update. I have to clean out Rocco and Bunny's tank and I have the energy today, it's been a rough week! Then I have lunch and get to watch a show I taped. Then I'll get to the gecko tanks before I feed them again tonight. Unlike the dragons, they're both voracious eaters, waiting for their crickets by 8p :lol: Guess I'll have to get a picture of each of them tonight, if I can.

 

[BrendaKay]

Glad to read the weights on all your guys! I guess Zillas not doing so bad after all. He's down to 585g now and still won't sleep. He pooped in his sleep last night for the first time too. Odd. But at least he's pooping. He's the most active/alert in his bath now. Even started to drink the bath water. Silly dragon.

 

[Tonja]

I will be so glad when this bromating stuff is over with. Glad they aren't losing enough weight to worry you. I calibrated my scales today and Emily is not 600 grams, shes 589 grams so I need to keep her at that weight. Wonderful picture of you and Leo.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Good to see you Brenda, just was at your thread & that is a good weight for Zilla. Emily, too, Tonja, so that's not as bad as you initially though. Thanks for checking out the pics, wish I had more access to little guy, but keep checking Facebook for more!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I completely forgot that I had some pics in my camera.

Here is my niece on the night of her opening photo show at a local café. There were over 20 framed photos altogether, so here are a few:

Tehya, looking radiant & happy at her opening, there were over 50 people that showed up, the place was packed the whole evening:


And here are a few of her photos:












Here are the latest from my crew:
Puff, checking out her greens, still has that black beard, her real beard colours are peachy


Gabriel on his owl, he rests on it in between trashing his tank :lol:

And one of his favourite poses to sleep (woke him up though :mrgreen: )


Didi sleeping on his "beehive" (even though I found out recently it's a sort of cricket keeper)


Leo is still sound asleep, Rubio woke up today & is sporting a black beard, not sure why. His side is still a bit sore, so will put some polysporin on it tomorrow, I think he's back to the vet next week. It's as if it wakes him up.

 

[zandi202]

Your niece has some beautiful artwork. I especially like the third one down.

Puff looks like such a sweet little thing. She's such a pretty pale color. She also looks so happy in her new home.

Gabriel sleeps like Sorin does. It looks so uncomfortable and you would think their necks would be sore in the morning.

So the beehive is a cricket keeper. :lol: I'm sure Didi loves it all the same - such a strange cricket keeper.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Liz,

I'm glad you like her artwork, it's unique, never seen anything like it. I have more pictures, I'll post the rest later.

I've never seen anything like it, but it's Didi's favourite to go thing, when he's mad at me he can bob really well hanging onto it. First time I've seen him actually sleep on it, though.

Puff is a sweetie, even though she tries to be a tough lady, likes her beard rubbed. She keeps having this small black beard but when I rub it and tell her "Awww what a pretty beard" the peach colours come out

Gabriel sleeps like this often, or else he's sprawled across this basking spot. He's such a funny beardie.

Didi was sound asleep this am, so is Leo and Rubio, so I'll find out later if they'll stay asleep. Didi has to get up tomorrow, as he ate a huge meal of roaches a couple of days ago.

I might take Rubio to the vet if he keeps waking up from brumation, he's always got a black beard for no reason, which usually means something hurts. I'll see how the week goes.

 

[hoopyscoop]

Puff is a sweetie, even though she tries to be a tough lady, likes her beard rubbed. She keeps having this small black beard but when I rub it and tell her "Awww what a pretty beard" the peach colours come out

Aww! That’s so cute! Bet she is super sweet. ANyway...I’m SERIOUSLY starting to believe that beardies understand each and every word we say... Fred will stare at me until I tell her that she’ll get a special salad, and that she’s so pretty even while she sheds. (She is currently having a full body shed, however, she isn’t very fond of them... I once saw her slither like a snake, when I put her in the bath, her shed MELTED off onto my fingers... It was...gross. :shock: )

I’m still trying to decide my favorite of your crew... But their all so adorable! :lol: How old is Puff? Sorry if you posted something on that, I might’ve missed it.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hey Hoopy, I also believe they know what we're saying, it's strange but I've heard the same from others.

Puff is about 6 yrs old, I think, it's hard to know for real. She was rescued with Leo, who we kept and Puff went to our neighbour, not sure how old they were back in 2010 but could have been 2 or 3 yrs old then. I don't even know if Puff and Leo are the same age. Gabriel has fallen way in love with her, he tries to get to her every chance he gets & Puff has been low bobbing him, which means "come get me big guy, I'm all yours" :lol: He seems to be taking that seriously!

My favourite, even though I hate to have one, is Rubio, mainly because I've had him since he was 3 months old. He's 5 yrs old now, but I still think of him as my baby. I love all my dragons but I have a real soft spot for Rubio. I got a picture of him with his bright yellow colours:


The white on his side is polysporin, still working on this weird white patch he had. Put silver sulphadine on it and it turned pink, seems the silver cream can cause sunburn if he's under his basking lights. So I washed it off with a soap the vet gave me and am now covering it with Polysporin every 2nd day or so. It's not as sensitive as it was, but he still doesn't like it and I think that's why he won't brumate. He's also not eating so he got carnivore care with baby food squash and then chicken & he ate over 20 ml of it all. So I'm happy that he's got a full tummy.

 

[Tonja]

Your cousins photography art is amazing, ,love her pictures. I love that picture of puff, the angle makes it look like shes wearing the rock on her head lol. I hope you can get the spot cleared up and that its getting better. All the pictures of your boys are wonderful. I got a video of Emmett zipping around but for some reason photobucket wont upload it so will try again later. Have a great night!

 

[Goonie]

Did I miss a post somewhere? What happened to Rubio's side??

So, you have a little romance going on there with Puff and Gabriel? How cute!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Rubio had a small round circle of white scales, so took him to the doc, because I panic now when I see something wrong. I had some silverdene cream so the doc said it would be ok to put that on, but I didn't know that you can't have them under hot lights with that cream, causes sunburn, of all things. Needless to say, the cream went in the garbage and I used polysporin after that. He went back to the doc on Jan 3 & she said it was reducing and to continue with trying to get the silver cream off with Hibitaine soap, then polysporin, as the spot was sensitive to him. So now he's had a black beard for over a week now, constantly, even though the spot isn't hardly sensitive again. He won't eat regular food, I gave him carnivore care & babyfood on Sunday and it went right through him on Monday, which never happens. Even last night after work, he was asleep & still had a black beard. Rubio is a very laid back dragon and hardly EVER black beards for any reason, so that made me panic again. Dropped him off the vet at 11:30 but don't have to work this eve as I'm feeling really tired from the flu last week, so they booked me an apt today at 3:30, which I can keep.

So that's the Rubio story and I'll have more info this afternoon. I think I'll do a blood panel just to be on the safe side, too.

And yes, Puff is in love with Gabriel, he insists on being out so he can black beard and bob him and she follows him with small bobs, keeps an eye on him from her tank. It's so cute, but I'm really hoping it doesn't make her have eggs, as she's never laid one to date.

For work, having the flu last week really mucked up returning, I'm supposed to be full time by Feb 3, which is in 2 weeks. I talked to Health Services today and they might cut off my benefits, so I'll be forced to work whether I'm ready or not. Darned flu, so back to my doc tomorrow morning, I want further blood tests if necessary.

I also got a call from the surgeon's office, for my ankle. It still might take a year before I can get the surgery I need on my ankle, but that's ok, as I have to build up short term time again as I have no idea how long I'll be off for that. It's really been a mess ever since I fell last Jan & mucked up my ankle so badly. My shoulder is now worse from being in bed with the flu last week, too, so hopefully everything starts working better!

I'm off to my apt with Rubio, will let you know what happens as soon as I get back.

 

[Goonie]

What did the vet think that spot was?? An infection??

 

[BrendaKay]

::tapping foot::

Waiting anxiously for an update.........

 

[diamc]

Oh wow Deb, you sure have had a lot going on. The flu is terrible and really takes its toll no doubt. Can understand why your shoulder got painful again from being so sick that you didn't really keep it mobilized. Are you still having some flu symptoms or just still really tired out from it?

Waiting to hear how Rubio made out. Certainly is worrisome that he has a black beard continuously now, poor guy, something must be bothering him. Hope everything is ok or it's something that an easy fix will take care of.

Bet you have a lot of fun watching Gabriel & Puff, sounds so entertaining. Gabriel may not brumate much knowing she is there now.

Loved all the pics. Your niece is gorgeous and the photos are so impressive.

That picture of you & little Leo is so precious. One proud grandma right there. :wink: