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]

So found 2 more eggs in Puff's tank this am. Weighed her & she's down to 425 from 507, will be so glad when she's done. She's still eating a bit and I'm giving her calcium every day & will continue to do that. She's also getting a bath every day & drinking lots.

I also weighed Lonzo and even though I'm feeding him 12 baby supers every 2 days, he's down from 538 on Nov 19 to 526 today. So even though I'm feeding lots of worms, he's still losing weight. I think I'm going to see if he'll take down some Carnivore Care on top of the worms. Have to get some chicken & veg to mix with it, so will start that tomorrow. He's so skinny

 

[diamc]

That's great that your dad is back home again. IV antibiotics work very quickly. Hope the therapy is helping him out too.

So, 21 eggs this time so far? Hope she doesn't lay anymore so she can build her wt back up. Good idea feeding Lonzo some CC, maybe Puff would eat some too?

Boy, they sure know how to worry us, don't they? :roll:

 

[Goonie]

Puff sneaked in all of those eggs? That little devil!
Hope she won't lose much more weight and continue with eating protein.

I'm sure your parents are very glad to be home. Hope there won't be any more visits/stays (other than the IV treatments) soon.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I have a feeling that Puff is done with eggs, as she's already busy digging up the newspaper in her hide and she only does that when she's done. So I'll check again in the am to see...at least she's not laid near as much as last month.

 

[sweetiepie9]

It is with a very heavy heart that I have to tell you that I lost Lonzo this am. When I went to give him his bath, he was bleeding heavily from his mouth. I tried to stop it but it took 3 pieces of paper towel & even then it was still trickling. I called the vet & went in right away & my vet saw me within a few minutes. I had been having trouble feeding Lonzo and he was down to 500g today, he'd lost all his fat pads on his head and in his belly, he'd lost muscle mass in his legs and he was just failing right before our eyes. She checked his belly and found a mass above his kidney. She wasn't sure if it was a tumour or an abcess, either way I wasn't leaving him in pain and dying bit by bit, so we decided it was his time to go and he was euthanized. He'll be buried tonight with Rubio and Titan. I talked to my manager and requested a leave day without pay, as I have no vacation time left and have no weekends to make up the time either. Being so close to Xmas I have too much going on. I'm already making up time Dec 6 from seeing my doc next Wed & the other 3 Saturdays are filled up & I'm not wanting to cancel them. I can afford to lose a day's pay, so that would be the best thing to do.

I will miss my Lonzo, I still can't believe he's gone. I really didn't think it would be this fast. I didn't want him to die of starvation either. RIP my sweet Lonzo, I'm going to miss you so much

 

[BlueDragon09]

Omg Im so so sorry Deb!
Vash lost his fat pads too
when he was dying of old
age, Lonzo died of starvation.
He was old I guess it was his time
right? Though it was sudden, he
couldnt fight anymore, he tried
though. Goodbye old man, Lonzo and Rubio
I never got to say bye to Rubio so Im saying it
now. He's happier to be at the Rainbow Bridge
being a young beardie again with Vash.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Blue, Lonzo was a bit older than Vash, he was 11 1/2 yrs old & my vet found a lump above his kidney, he was so skinny so suddenly, that it wouldn't have been fair to him to keep him like that. I miss my old boy, he was always my Security Chief :mrgreen: He'll be forever missed.

 

[Esther19]

Deb, I have no words, only tears. I love you, Lonzo. Tell Rubio and the girls we said hi, and enjoy a nice big dinner of all your favorites. I'm so sorry, Deb.

 

[BlueDragon09]

That's true, he was almost 12.
You gave him the best care there
was to give. Gonna get another
baby? You can stick to your other
ones of course. I have to be honest
here... Vash went without uvb
for 6 years, I lurked on dragon
sites all over and I was like holy crap
went out and brought a uvb and mvb
bulbs, he was my first, he came from
a breeder but I listened to pet stores
when I got his cage and basking light
and crix and keeper. He went this way
amazingly well without uvb for 6 years!!!
I'm lucky for him to have lived longer when I got him fixed with better care. He was never sick, mbd once but
yeah, I learned my mistake...I hope everyone does research
and pretend to listen to the pet store people but don't take
their advice.

 

[zandi202]

I'm so sorry, Deb.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks everyone, he'll be buried tonight at my friend Joanne's home. We have a beardie cemetary area where Rubio and Titan and Joanne's Tauntus and Cleo, so he'll be safe there. I was lucky, my manager did get me a day without pay today so I could take care of Lonzo. She was so understanding, I'm so lucky to have her. So back to work tomorrow, but at least I have today to grieve and say goodbye.

 

[babyheartthrob]

Oh Deb. I just saw the Facebook post. I'm so sorry. I'm sitting here crying for you. I know Lonzo is at the Rainbow Bridge keeping all the others dragons in line. RIP sweet Lonzo until we meet again.

Sabrina

 

[BrendaKay]

I'm sure you saw my Facebook condolences but I'll say it here as well. I'm so sorry to see this about Lonzo. RIP Lonzo. He's all better now and eating like a champ.

 

[diamc]

Oh Deb, I'm so very sorry about Lonzo. Thank goodness you were right there and found him in distress like that. You did the right thing taking him to the vet and ending his suffering as hard as it was. Poor guy. He had a wonderful life with you and you should be very proud that he was 11 1/2 yrs old. I'm having a hard time saying anymore right now.

We will miss you Lonzo, you have been a big part of many of our lives here.

HUGS to you Deb.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks so much, Sabrina, Brenda and Diane. I was just looking at some old pics of him, I sure miss my buddy. I can't stand to see his tank empty, so I'm going to move Leo there. It won't be so bad having Leo's tank empty (for now) as I'm sure there will be a new family member at some point. This way Leo is in the living room, even though he's sleeping.

Here are a few pictures from when I first adopted him. I'll be doing his & Rubio's memorial later or on the weekend.



A close up of his blood red eye


And his famous black beard, the black went all the way down his stomach to his knees :mrgreen:


Unlike when Rubio died, it's nice to look back at pictures of Lonzo. Guess this will give me the impetus to look at Rubio's pictures, too.