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:

 

[Esther19]

Thinking about you, Deb. I hope you have a good day back at work tomorrow. I just love Lonzo.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Esther, I"ll be talking to my manager today to sort out what I want to do. I'll be talking to the eye surgeon, so will see what he has to say. Always something over here.

Lonzo is full of vim & vigour this am, he's shedding part of his beard & mouth so feels better. There is sun making it's way into the living room, so he'll be in it soon. He should get a good hour before I have to leave.
He's my sun dragon!

 

[Tonja]

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day.

 

[sweetiepie9]

We don't have Memorial Day in Canada, Tonja, we have Victoria Day, which was last weekend & then we have Veteran's Day on Nov 11. We have family day in Feb, too, plus a bank holiday in August. Our Canada Day is July 1, while your holiday is July 4. When Roger was alive, we'd celebrate both!

I see the eye surgeon tomorrow to get this stupid tube out of my tear duct, he put it in crooked and it's resting on my eye. He's already tried to move it, but he can't, so out it comes, I can't stand it anymore, my eye is constantly watering and red. So that will be a relief. If I have to have the surgery again, too bad, I just won't. I'll put up with a runny eye instead...but I do have to find out about this benign tumour he took out and how often I need a scan to make sure it doesn't grow back again. That's what's worrying me the most.

My crew are all fine, but Didi's beard, even after his shed, still has those strange black dots all over it. So I'm back to the vet with him on June 4. Then I pay the whole bill on June 7. Plus the lights, but if I have to not get the ramp light just yet, so be it, they so need new lights, all of them. I'm so glad I'm back with full-time pay for now, it's come in very handy.

I'm going to re-apply for long term after the insurance company head office declines me, as my manager thinks I need to add that my diabetes is completely out of whack but only since I hurt my ankle. Plus it's so painful after being at work just one day...time to take my pain pills. I'll be so glad when this is all over with.

Lonzo finished all his shedding (well I have to take some of it off, as it was stuck on his beard) and feels much better. It's such a drag that there's still not been much sun, I'm hoping for some tomorrow morning so Lonzo gets a good dose. I had him out on the ramp for awhile, but he won't stay at the top and he sort of tumbles down to get off; there's a fine concrete path to get down but does he use that? Of course not :lol: Why make your life easier, after all :roll:

So I'm going to take Leo in to have a blood panel in early July, just to make sure his liver is doing well on dubia and bok choy (no he won't eat anything else, veggie wise, none of them will.) I'm thinking I might get some baby arugula to try on them, see if they'll eat it. Puff will only eat collard greens, but I'm going to get a little squash to see if any of them will eat it. I guess I"m going to have to cut it up in little pieces, as I tried to feed it to them all grated and they wouldn't even look at it :roll: Oh well, gotta try something different.

Gabriel is doing really well, he loves to run around the living room, bobbing at Puff...and I think that Puff is carrying eggs again, so far she's still eating, even her greens (she'll eat a few, then wait until the next day when they're sort of crispy, silly goose) but she's getting really big again. So we'll see how that goes.

So that's the update. Hope everyone in the USA had a good day today. Even though it's not a Canadian holiday, I still say a prayer for all of our military men/women, too.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So got the tube out of my tear duct today, what a relief. It's a bit swollen but it works, I see the specialist again in 2 mo to check on it and again 4 mo after that for an MRI on my eye to make sure the tumour hasn't grown back in the tear duct gland. He said we have to keep an eye on it every 6 mo going forward.

My diabetes is out of whack, have to work on that & figure out an exercise I can do that won't hurt...will be working on that. At least he gave me the codeine prescription for a few months. Said there's no reason I can't take it, it's not excessive to take it just at not & for me, not addictive because of the pain. If I wasn't in pain, then there would be a concern.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So finally got pictures on photobucket & a video of Gabriel chasing his worms, he'll only eat them from the living room floor :lol: He's such a funny dragon.

So Leo & Lonzo were having baths and before I knew it, Leo jumped into Lonzo's bath. At first I thought they were going to fight, but they were just sharing. Needless to say Leo was put back into his bath right away, but after I got this picture:


And here's a picture of Puff in her bath, looking pretty:


I now have proof that she eats her green, too, on camera :lol: "Who me? No I don't eat greens"


I still think that Puff is carrying eggs, but so far she's eating every day, so now I'm not sure, guess I'll see as time goes on. She's still eating out of her bowls, for which I'm very grateful:


Gabriel was happy to be on the ramp the other day, check out that tail


And here, for your enjoyment, is Gabriel chasing worms :mrgreen:


He's been hiding underneath his newspaper lately, pouting I think when he's not allowed out on the ramp. I think he feels that the ramp belongs to him now :roll:


Here's Didi in one of his favourite spot, on the "beehive", it's really an old cricket keeper. You can see the spot on his left side that I'm taking him back to the vet for, it doesn't seem to want to heal.


Here's Leo giving me the glare because I'm taking his picture, again:


Lonzo's still trucking away, he got snuggles today, too, after a bath. Sometimes he's got his regular colours on:


And sometimes he goes so very light:


I'm just glad that he's doing so well, he's still eating 30 worms a week and keeping his weight up, which is very good to see.

So that's all for now, I'm getting up the courage to do Rubio's memorial, I'll post the link here when I get it done. It's been the hardest one to do for me. I still miss him so much. I have Tues and Wed off this week, so that should give me time to get it together, I have 6 years of pictures to sift through, so it might be this weekend. Can't post them all!

 

[babyheartthrob]

Deb,
Love the photos. Leo wants to make sure Lonzo doesn't get a better bath than him :lol: It's good that they didn't start fighting.
Puff is such a pretty girl. Don't ya just love the innocent "I'm not eating them greenz, what I've got some on my face" look
The video of Gabriel is too funny. I just loving watching them eat (or in some cases attempt to eat, and miss the bug a few times). And the pout is too cute.
Poor Diva Didi, his face looks painful. But he loves his beehive.
Leo's like "really mom, the camera again" :lol:
Lonzo's looking good for the "old man" of the house. He's what 11 now?
I love the change in his colors. It always amazes me that they change their colors depending on their mood/environment

Take your time with Rubio's memorial. Your stronger than me. I've been trying to do one for Miney and Albus and I just can't bring myself to do it. One day I will get them done, I just can't seem to find the words

Glad you eye is getting better. Having that tube in crooked, just thinking about that makes my eyes hurt.
Hopefully the long term insurance will approve you, so you can focus on getting better and not have to worry about work.

Sabrina

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Sabrina, glad you enjoyed the pictures, never a dull moment in either of our households!

I left a message today with the long term lady asking if there was any news from their head office, that's where my claim went after she declined me. I can't do anything more until head office declines me as need more forms. I am keeping track of how long I can stand without pain, walk without pain and sit without pain, which isn't for long, so will get that into the next one. Also that I'm having to take more diabetic meds to keep my blood sugar down, the stress and pain of this ankle is causing it to spiral, so now I'm taking 7 pills a day, hopefully that works. But now I can include that in my next claim.

I'm very glad Lonzo is still doing well, I get him into the sunshine every morning. Leo usually gets a bit before Lonzo, or Puff. I'm off tomorrow and Wednesday, so they'll all get more sunshine, as we're supposed to have sun all week. I'm working Thurs/Fri, then off for the weekend & have no plans, so they all get more sun. Lonzo is my real sun dragon, but Leo found the sun this am & was pancaking away, it was fun to watch.

Gabriel is so funny when he goes after those worms, he tends to miss, but he keeps trying. I'm starting to wonder how good is eye sight is :lol:

 

[Esther19]

Your pictures are always day brighteners for me. Thanks for making the effort. You need to come the the U.S. illegally and poor. Then you'd have all the medical care and disability you could ask for. Absolutely true, but please delete if improper for the forum. :wink: Hugs!

 

[Brezzy99]

Love all the pictures and video of your babies! It's easy to see that they all have big personalities.

I hate hearing that you are in so much pain trying to do everyday normal things. Disability is a joke, even here in the US. Still trying to wrap my head around how people can get approved for faking things, but people who need it get denied year after year.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks for checking in Esther, it's the same up here...nothing changes, but this isn't gov't insurance, it's private ins through work, so I'll just appeal until I get approved. I have a plan that my manager and I are putting together, that's why I'm timing everything. That tip is from a friend who fills in ins forms for the doc she works for so knows what the ins co is looking for. So I'll keep trying. Meanwhile I have vacation time that I can use at work, which is a great help.

I'm glad you stopped in Sabrina, how are your two? I think Gabriel is the biggest personality, beside Diva Didi :lol: But Puff sure gets her way, too, have to let her out more often, but can't when I'm not home, as she's a sneaky little think & tends to get underneath the barriers I set up...so she's only out when I'm home :mrgreen:

 

[diamc]

Hi Deb, so sorry to hear that your glucose is so out of whack. That ankle injury has certainly affected your whole body. Sure hope your long term disability gets approved, it must be awful trying to work when you are in so much pain all the time no matter what you're doing.

Wow, that must have been a surprise seeing Leo in the bath with Lonzo. Maybe Leo thought Lonzo's bath water was better than his. :mrgreen:

Lonzo can sure change his colors, isn't it amazing? He sure looks great for his age.

Cute the way Digi wraps around his beehive. Sure hope the area on his face can get cleared up soon. Always something to worry about, isn't there?

Puff was so funny with the greens hanging out of her mouth, guess she didn't think she'd get caught. Her coloring is amazing, love the bright colors on her.

Gabriel can sure pout when he's not on HIS ramp. Loved the video of him chasing the supers. Loki sometimes misses too but then he gets mad & just gives up after 3 misses. :roll:

Don't worry about Rubio's memorial, those are just so hard to do, so very draining. Going through 6 yrs of pictures takes a long time. Do it when you feel you are ready. :wink:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Diane, thanks for dropping in. I think the extra pill I"m taking at supper time is doing the trick, but it was a bit scary. I can't wait to get this ankle done so I can get back to being as active as I"m used to. I feel like a rusty bucket lately.

Isn't Gabriel a hoot with his trying to catch those worms? I had to get it on video. You'd think he was new to catching worms, but we do this every time he's fed. And he does the same thing every time :lol:

Lonzo is doing really well and he can get even lighter than that. I've seen him such a pale yellow that he looks white in pictures. It's amazing how quickly he changes colours, too.

Puff is eating less than normal, so I do think she's getting ready for eggs again. But we'll see, she tends to take her sweet time laying them. Can't find any in her tank lately and none in her bath today...

Didi is off to the vet in the am, going to have that spot on his mouth checked as it seems to be getting bigger. He's had 2 rounds of antibiotic shots already, the abcess in his mouth cleared right up, but this nastiness on his mouth has never cleared up and now it seems to be moving underneath his eye. I'm also having the black dots in his beard checked. There is one that seems worse than the others, the others seem to fade when he's got his bright beard on, not sure what that's all about, but being paranoid about fungus, he's being checked again.

Gabriel was a happy boy yesterday, he was on the ramp all day. Today Puff got her chance and he sure pouted alot, but he can't be out there every day, the others get their time, too. But tell him that :lol:

I'm going to be taking Leo back to the vet, too, when I have some $ for a blood panel and a check on his eyes. They've always been big but want them checked anyway, so probably at the end of the month. I have to order new UVB bulbs for them and then figure out prices for converters for the bulbs. So that's priority on this pay, plus paying the vet what I owe, couple of bills, etc. I sure am glad I"m getting a full paychq for awhile...

 

[Goonie]

Lonzo is doing really well and he can get even lighter than that. I've seen him such a pale yellow that he looks white in pictures. It's amazing how quickly he changes colours, too.

Pookie can change colors to a near pale white. The first time he did that, he scared me to death. I thought he was dying!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Same with Lonzo, Gina, I thought he was really sick. Still don't know has he does that.