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]

Cis is moving her arms forward more, and her head also. Talking with the pet whisperer Saturday morning. It's either $55 or$65 for 1/2 hour. I couldn't make my phone replay her voice mail. Sometimes I feel like a real dork, but I'm starting to get used to it. I hope you are resting well.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I had a bonus visit with my b-i-l today. I was at the eye surgeon, got finished with the appt, got to the skytrain station close to my sis & b-i-l's home and the train broke down, so got to spend a few hours at their place & my sis drove me home at 8p, it was a great visit with Ian and was great to spend time with my sis, too!

That is awesome news Hope that continues, oh what a breakthrough. Let me know how the phone time goes.

I put Leo under Gabriel's Arcadia light today, as Gabriel was out all day & Leo stayed under that light for a long time, so I think I'm going to switch Leo & Gabriel's lights. Gabriel is the healthier one & I'll be getting the two lights in a month or less, Gabriel's under the Power Sun on the ramp alot of the time anyway. Leo's having trouble with his eyes, see the vet on Saturday, but he would do better under that light. So I'll do that tomorrow night.

 

[Esther19]

That's a good idea to switch the lights. Leo's eyes have been a concern for a while now. Those lights sound amazing. Maybe I can switch over next Feb. when the tax refund comes, if it's very much. Glad you got them all sorted. I'm very proud of you!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Esther, I'm going to put Leo in Gabriel's tank again today & Gabriel can live on the ramp today (after his bath!). I'll switch them tonight. I think that will help alot. So keep me posted about Cis, k?

 

[Drache613]

Hello Deb,

How are things?
Did Gabriel have fun on his ramp while Leo was in his tank? That sounds like a great arrangement for them.
That is great you got to see your sister & brother in law also, that is always nice to see family.


Tracie

 

[sweetiepie9]

I tried to connect Leo's light to Didi's but my extension cord is too short, so will get a longer one tomorrow or Sunday. So that means Gabriel will be on the ramp until I get the proper length cord & Leo will be in his tank under that light. Best I can do for now.

Hi Tracie, putting together the paperwork for the appeal to long term, doubt it will work but I have to at least try. My ankle is alot stronger lately & I can walk upstairs now & down, too. I've been walking up 80 steps on my way to work through the skystrain system, so that's been helpful, have to start losing weight.

Otherwise I'm hoping to see Leo this weekend but not holding my breath. Will see what happens when I call my son tomorrow night. I have a few words for him, gentle but to the point. So we'll see what happens.

My dad got his heart tests back and he's doing fine, so he's going to have the knee replacement he needs, hopefully this fall. And that will mean he'll be able to get around alot better, but they still have to consider moving, the house they live in has too much land that needs tending, never mind the pool. So we'll see how that goes, as my folks really don't want to move, but with my dad having Parkinson's, it's becoming necessary.

 

[protiemama]

Sorry about your folks situation. Have they considered hired help to keep the place up? Our church youth help out older couples so they can keep their homes longer. I hope he can get his new knee. That will help so much.
Great that your ankle is getting better. Just take it slow, faster is not better. I speak from experience. :lol:

Sandy

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hey Sandy, how are you managing?

It's been 1 1/2 yrs since I sprained my ankle and I've been working hard to strengthen the muscles around the damage and the ligament that was affected. So now that I can walk for long distances and up and down stairs, I fell so much better. I don't run or walk very fast, it's just great that I can do that much. I was felling very rusty there for awhile. I went to start early yoga to help me stretch, a good friend of mine gave me a set to start me off and I'm ready now to start on. I want to slowly, over the next 1 1/2 yrs, lose 20 lbs & fit in my regular clothes again. That's my goal.

How are the kids, are you getting anywhere yet with the lawyers? I hope all works out for you, I know it's been a very difficult time.

As for my folks, they have someone taking care of the lawn, my mom has a lady who comes in every 2 weeks to vacuum and clean & she also does the weeding in the garden. The main concern is the stairway to go to the top floor for my dad. That's how he fell, he missed the railing. He has Parkinson's and even though he's on medication, it means he doesn't have good balance. So they need to be in a space with no stairs to help my dad. He is 87 after all and wants to stay as healthy as possible. So they're going to have to look at condos a bit more after my dad has his surgery, but it may take awhile before my mom decides it's time. She doesn't want to move, but those steps are getting harder and harder for my dad to navigate. So we'll see what happens, we can't decide for them, but we're all there to help as much as possible. They'll stay where they are. My brother Richard lives close by and goes over alot to help out. I get out there as often as possible and so do my sis and b-i-l. Even my youngest brother comes out with his family once in awhile. So we're all there to help them as much as possible. I'm hopeful they'll find a place that has enough footage without too much cost (its' very expensive over here) that they can take most of their furniture & not have to store alot. But we'll see when the time comes!

 

[protiemama]

Glad your folks have lots of help. They are getting up there. Perhaps they could re-arrange the house so your dad doesn't have to go up the stairs? I so understand the desire to stay in your own home.
As for my situation, no change. We don't have a court date and the kids want to come home. We just want our lives back.
I found some picts of the dragons in missing files. I hope I can get to the library next week and get them posted. some are so cute. :mrgreen:
Sandy

 

[Esther19]

Deb, what about one of those electric chairs that goes up and down the stairs? I moved my washer/dryer into the garage and had a stall shower installed in the laundry room for my dad thinking it would save money. Turns out the chair thing would have been cheaper.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I found a thing called an Acorn that I'm going to tell my mom about & see if this will work for my dad. I'll let you know.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Again no Leo today so went to watch my niece Emily complete with 28 other riders in 3 jumping competitions, she won 4th place in the 1st one, then didn't place in the 2nd one & then CAME FIRST in the last one!!!!! It was very exciting and I enjoyed watching it. Ian, my b-i-l was there, too, and Emily was pleased to see both of us. My folks couldn't come because my my dad can't handle the uneven surfaces, even my mom would have had trouble, plus it was more than an hour drive from their place. It was a stable that Emily had never competed in before, so her pony Sugar was nervous but her coach was there to help her through it!

Gabriel has become so used to being out because I still haven't figured out how to link Didi and Leo to the same converter, even though I think I finally did figure it out, so will try what I'm thinking out on Wed when I'm home in the am. Meanwhile, Leo is in Gabriel's tank all day for the new light & Gabriel is hogging the ramp. Once I switch the lights around, Gabriel will be sharing the ramp again, he is going to be in a snit, that's for sure! I should have the test results by Wednesday to know what to do for Leo, I'll keep you posted.

 

[sweetiepie9]

My crested gecko, Bunny, isn't feeling very well, she's off her feed and keeps falling off the glass side of her tank. She laid the strangest looking egg a couple of days ago, small & desicated, nothing like what her previous eggs have looked like. So I've been giving her a couple of drops of calcium (she's not been eating any crickets & is also very clingy, which is VERY unusual) and tonight she drank down .8 ml of very watered down carnivore care. I've never seen her eat that before but she just drank it down. So I'm going to alternate a drop of calcium every other night with carnivore care every other night and see how she does. I'm also going to check with Jake about her, he's the most knowledgeable person I know who knows leos, crested geckos and other geckos. So I'll check with him to see if he can figure anything out (he breeds cresteds) and I'll also check in with my vet to see if she has any knowledge about cresties. I sure can't afford alot of tests on her right now, what with paying $182 for Leo and Didi on Saturday and now Lonzo and Puff are going in on Aug 2...but hopefully, between the calcium and carnivore care, she'll feel better soon. She looks healthy, but it's the falling I'm most concerned about. I'm going to clean out her tank really well in the am & see if that helps.

I got Leo's results back from the vet today, his chemistry (kidneys and liver, etc) are all normal, but his blood differentials are very high, which normally indicated an infection internally. So I'm going to call tomorrow to make a follow up appt with the vet Monday am, to go over the results with her and see what she recommends. I also had Didi & Leo's mouths checked & no mouth rot!!! That was such a good thing to hear.

I'll keep you posted on how Bunny's doing.

I also made up a chow for the roaches, 1/3 ferret food (very similar to dog food), 1/3 cheerios and 1/3 my Nature's Path cereal until I can get some bran cereal in (my cereal is way too expensive to make ongoing roach chow). Well they love it, I put some in, it's now covered with chowing down roaches. So I'm well pleased as now I can make my own. My friend Joanne gave me two bags full of ferret food, so have that for a long time and I bought a huge box of cheerios, now to get a box of generic bran cereal and I'm all set!

I'm looking forward to getting Lonzo and Puff into the vet, they were supposed to go this Saturday but my vet ended up not working this Saturday but the next instead. I'm hoping they both are well and get a good checkup.

 

[Goonie]

Poor Puff. Hope it's just because she hasn't eaten well and she's lethargic.
Thank goodness no more mouth rot for Leo and Didi.

 

[sweetiepie9]

You mean Bunny, right? Puff is fine, in fact she's eating too much, I've had to reduce her supers!
Bunny is on the glass, in back of her leaves, sleeping, so that was good to see. I'll check her out when I get home and see if she's better. I did notice a cricket leg in her tank, so looks like she did eat 1 cricket. That's making me hopeful. I'll give her more carnivore care this eve, too.