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:

 

[Goonie]

(wow, I missed so much since I last checked in on Monday morning [how did 2 days fly by me?])

Castiel is such a little darling. He looked so cute standing on the beehive and hugging his piggy. I'm sure he'll start to grow in no time, given his big appetite.

I thought Gabriel thought that he was King Bee even when Lonzo was around :laughing6:

Sorry to hear about your fall; thank goodness you only had a minor bruise on your thumb.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Gina, thanks for dropping in; Gabriel has always thought he was King Bee, but now he knows he's the BOSS. It's so funny watching him strut his stuff :lol:

Castiel is fitting right in. He likes to watch what's going on in the living room. I'm glad Leo's the only beardie he can see in a tank, Leo is so laid back, he's not even paid attention to the newcomer.

So Castiel and Nathaniel both had baths this morning, I call them the "stink eye twins" :lol: Neither are impressed with baths :mrgreen: But both pooped in the baths. Castiel has stinky poops, even through the water and very hard urate, so he got electrlytes on top of his bath. He licked up his calcium and some B vit, too. So he's used to a syringe. I got Castiel a vet appt on Sat for a fecal test, too, hopefully he'll give me a sample.

Castiel on the left and Nathaniel on the right, you can see the difference in size.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Wow, Castiel is small compared to Nathaniel!

Aw, stinky poop with him too huh. Darn parasites.
Oh well you got a handle on it. I had never dealt with parasites/worms I only read about em. I know the signs
it's good to know the signs.

Glad my baby, Leo is so laid back.

Your godbaby Broly is shedding his front two legs/feet at the same time. Nose is starting to grey out.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Sounds like he's growing! Glad to hear that. Castiel didn't eat today, guess he was still full of crickets and worms from yesterday, I'll see how he is in the morning. They both need to be fed. I'm not hand feeding Nathaniel anymore, so he'll have to get an appetite. When I got home from my folks tonight, Nathaniel is on his log with his head against the glass. Have to take a pic!

Puff didn't lay any eggs again today, so I'm hoping she doesn't have alot to lay. Guess I'll know by the end of next week. She was out all day today, haven't checked behind the furniture, or under the ramp, will have to do that later.

 

[Lindz0518]

I really liked the picture of them side by side in the sink. so cute! Maybe Puff doesn't have very many eggs this time, that would be good. It's great that you can leave them out while you're at work.

 

[sweetiepie9]

That's the ramp that Roger built, that allows them out to run around.

There are toys all around it from one end to the other. And I've also blocked off the stereo stand so they can't get behind it, even though Nathaniel has managed a few times, so he's only out when I can keep an eye on him. Even Castiel has had his turn. The only one that doesn't like being out of his tank is Leo. I bring him out and within 5 min he's asking to be back in his own tank. He's so funny that way.
Gabriel thinks he owns it. :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well, Puff laid another egg just now, so she's up to 6. Wonder how many she will have in total? Guess we'll see by the end of next week.

Well I spoke too soon, found another 2 eggs at the top of the ramp, so she's now up to 8 eggs.

And now she's digging up the newspaper in her tank, not sure if that means all the eggs are laid, we'll have to see how that goes.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So Puff laid another 2 eggs this am, that's 10 so far. I weighed her & she's down to 400g from 470 2 weeks ago Going to make the Carnivore Care mix and give it to her Castiel & Nathaniel.

Castiel gained he's 196 from 185

Nathaniel lost a bit, I haven't been hand feeding him, put roaches in his dish and he is eating them slowly. He was 299, now he's 290.

Leo is still losing, he's down to 545 now and his best weight is 535, so he's almost there!

Gabriel is 516 from 502, but he goes up and down all the time. He's just so active!

And some pics!

Nathaniel is sleeping in funnier positions and now he drags his pillow with him, too. :love5:

Castiel sort of blends in with his hide, had trouble finding him last night :lol:

Castiel this morning, was trying to catch him stretching his little beard but missed that. Such cuteness :love5:

 

[BlueDragon09]

Absolutely adorable! I couldn't see Castiel either, then I saw a head.

Nathaniel sleeps like Broly on some nights LOL.

 

[Lindz0518]

Look how cute Castiel and Nathaniel are!! Sorry Puff is loosing weight . I think it's so funny that Gabriel has taken Didi's place as king of the ramp

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Kami, I love my two brother dragons, they are so cute! They're doing very well, now to get them to eat more!

Hi Lindz, Puff always loses tons of weight when laying eggs, but she's only up to 10 & she's lost that much weight. Now she's digging. I did get her and Castiel to eat the Carnivore Care mix I made this am and Puff is eating a super or two a day, plus she'll eat the whole bowl of greens, too, but she won't gain weight until she's done with the eggs and the digging, so another week, I guess. I'll make sure to try to get more food into her over the next week. She should be under 450g to be a good weight. She's a long dragon but small boned.

Castiel has discovered the dragon in the glass and he's digging in the corner of his tank, trying to get out. I snuggled him alot today but I don't think it's ever enough. He'll have lots of outside time tomorrow, he's so light, I don't trust him to not fly across barriers. So when I'm up in the am, before the vet, he'll have his time out. Nathaniel got time out & Puff, too today, now Gabriel is out until I get home. He has to share, even though he doesn't like to. And hes, he considers himself THE BOSS of everything and everyone now. He so funny. When he's in his tank, he stretches himself as tall as he's able, with a bit black beard and tries to fly out. Jumps as much as he can, too. But he's too short to get out, so I just let him be. :lol:

 

[BlueDragon09]

Gabriel can stay out till you get home? Wow lucky, I never had a dragon to not worry about being left out.

Vash and Alucard couldnt stay out unless I was home.
Definitely not Broly he flies any chance he gets when he's out on the bed, can't leave for a second!

You're lucky to have a dragon who will just stay out without having to worry about wandering off.

 

[Goonie]

Nathaniel is sleeping in funnier positions and now he drags his pillow with him, too. :love5:

How else is a boy supposed to stretch his neck to prop up his head on the log if there wasn't a soft and comfy pillow under his belly :laughing6:

Poor Puff. Way too many eggs. She needs to stop already.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Kami, I live alone and have partitions separating the living room from the rest of the apartment, plus there's a UVB light at the top of the ramp, never mind the TV is on all day :lol: That's how he's allowed to be out all day. This way he gets to bug Nathaniel all day, they can black beard each other constantly, like they like to do. I don't trust Nathaniel on his own, he's only allowed out when I'm home. Puff can be out all day, too, so she gets out twice a week, Gabriel the rest of the days. Castiel isn't allowed out unless I'm right there and Leo hates to be out of his tank. He has so much in his tank to climb on, under and around, that it keeps him busy all day :lol:

And I agree, Gina, enough already with the eggs. I'm hoping this will be her last clutch, like last year, until I can afford to get her spayed in the summertime. I have to put some $ away for the fall, I'm having my ankle operated on then and I want a good amount of $ put away in case I need to go past the 8 weeks time I'm expected to be off. After 8 weeks on short term, my salary goes down 25%. Plus I owe my brother $200 for the car repair, they changed something else in there at the same time, fuel pressure something or other. I have to get the details from him sometime. And there are always other vet bills to pay, too. Castiel goes tomorrow for a fecal (he pooped in the bath this am ) and checkup. Then Nathaniel is supposed to go in March for blood work and then Leo goes in April for blood work. Then it's $ putting away for May/June/July for the spaying and savings. There's always something in my crazy world! My vet sees alot of me :mrgreen:

So I'm still part-time next week. I work 5 hours M-W and 6 hrs T-F, if that all goes well, I"m back to full-time on Mar 2. So we'll see how it all goes next week. I want to be full-time on Mar 2, that's long enough, been off since Jan 10!

Castiel got lost of cuddles this am, he seemed to need them. I found him sleeping tonight with his head underneath the edge of the small blanket I put on his basking brick. So I can only see him from the waist down. He's all snuggled up and I guess he's figured it's better to have his head hidden since I put the light on at night when I get him above his tank. He's a smart cookie :mrgreen:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Four more eggs so we're up to 14, hope this ends soon. So Puff is out wandering the living room and she'll stay out for the day. Well deserved! When I get home, I'll check for stray eggs in the places she likes to check out.

I discovered that Castiel likes me to put worms down so he can chase them, so he got a bunch this am. We're off to the vet in an hour.