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:

 

[BlueDragon09]

I have picture of your godbaby!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well, Brat#2, Gabriel pulled a disappearing act tonight, couldn't figure out where he was, finally realized the credenza door where the roaches are kept was open wider than it was supposed to be & checked. Gabriel had squeezed himself inside, along the back of the 20 gallon tank and was sound asleep. I even got a picture before I pulled him out of there. I keep the door open a bit for extra ventilation, wouldn't it be Gabriel who would figure out how to get in there? :lol: Heart attack # who knows by now?

I also got pictures of Cierra moving around the living room this am with ease today. Was so pleased to see how much she was enjoying being in the living room :love5: Not so much when she got out, though, by climbing the partition :mrgreen:

First she let me know she wanted OUT :lol:

On the living room floor, looking around, checking out the airplane

On her way up the ramp

And finally on top of the ramp

So she'll be out more often, but always when I'm there to supervise. Besides getting outside, I've caught her getting past that partition beside the TV, naughty girl. She's not quite the brat her brother is, but she's getting there as she feels more comfortable :love5: I just love my brats, all 5 of them :lol:

And thanks Kami, I'll check that out!

 

[diamc]

So, Gabriel got in trouble again. :roll: At least you found him and he looks like an angel laying there.

Cierra is getting so colorful, what a pretty girl. You could sure tell she was having a good time exploring. She sounds like a real climber too.

Has it warmed up that much there that they can go out on the balcony? It's only 20 degrees here right now and snowed on & off all day yesterday.

 

[beardie parents]

I'm sorry you still have winter temps, Diane. Here, spring is here. I don't think we will have any more cold temps until next winter because the mesquite trees are starting to get leaves. That's when you know the cold is over for the season, when they get leaves. I was getting tired of cold in January and February, I can only imagine how tired of your weather you guys are.

 

[diamc]

Thanks Lori. Yes, it has been a VERY long winter, the worst we remember. My sister in AZ is swimming in their pool already. Of course, she likes to rub it in. :lol: Usually our forsythia tree has buds on it by now but it's still brown with no sign of growth at all.

The beardies are affected by it too, all only up until noon, then they want to sleep for hours in their beds. Laura & Angie can't wait to go to bed between 5:30 and 6:30 for the night. We're anxious to be able to take Dozer (our Russian tortoise) out in the yard to eat some weeds but guess it's gonna be a while before we can do that.

Sorry Deb, didn't mean to hijack your thread. I'm gonna put some pics up on my thread later.

 

[sweetiepie9]

You and Lori can hijack my thread anytime!

It's 45F outside right now but just because it's raining. When the sun is out it's between 60-70F. Everything has been budding for over a month over here. Daffodils and Tulips are already blooming and the trees are all in bud. Cherry blossoms have been out for a month, so yes, it's already spring. Not quite warm enough for the dragons to be out on the balcony, especially since I haven't cleaned it up at all :mrgreen: I only wear my quilted winter coat to work because it's still chilly at night when I get home. It's almost too warm to wear it going to work, though.

Yes, Gabriel made me wonder where the heck he could be, especially when I took down the partitions across the stereo (where the TV is) and got behind there, tight fit for me. That's when I knew he didn't get behind there, anyway.

Cierra is still eating male dubia and a few medium sized ones. I still can't figure why she likes the males but she does. I'm just glad she's eating. And I got my worms in, 130 large to replace the ones who died in the last order and 500 smalls. So no more crickets for my geckos, they'll get small supers now instead. I'm so glad to be giving those up!

I saw my brother Richard yesterday, he filled my tires with air (he has his own compressor), had me check the oil, so I know what to do now, it was fine. Then we took my car to pick up my niece Emily at the barn (her #1 favourite place), so got to see her for a bit, too, which was nice. She's a beautiful girl and she feels so much better now that she's living with Richard. Her mom doesn't treat her at all well, so she's now with Richard permanently. He's taking the issue to court asap to make it permanent in the court. Emily is just blooming, living with her dad :love5:

No more eggs from Puff, thank goodness! We'll see how that goes.

Bath time for the young ones, means I'm standing for 20 min with my hands at the ready to pop them back in the water. They're like little pop ups when it comes to bath time :lol: And I also get lots of death glares, too, especially from Nathaniel :mrgreen:

Leo gets out to run around today, he prefers to stay in his tank but I like to see him get around so he doesn't forget there's more space here than his tank. Also time to feed him roaches for a change! His weight is so good now!

 

[diamc]

You're so lucky to have temps like that already. Our extended forecast shows 55 during the day on Thursday but that could change. We are SO ready for a little warmth & sunshine! We bought quite a few potted bulbs, daffodils, tulip, hyacinth, to try to help get us through the winter but they are all done blooming now.

Is Gabriel back to his energetic self now? Bet all the males love watching Puff & Cierra. Guess she likes the crunchiness of those male dubia wings lol. Lucky you being able to get away from crickets. Laura will eat a super worm once in a while but Angie hates them so I have to keep crickets on hand.

You sure have a great brother. Good idea knowing how to ck the oil in your car. So happy to hear that Emily is with her dad, bet they are both enjoying that.

Can just picture you giving "the young ones" their baths. They sure keep you on your toes, huh? They sure can move fast. Laura moves with fast jerky movements and you have to be ready to grab her at all times.

Did Leo enjoy the run around time? Happy to hear his wt is better.

How are you feeling?

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm doing fine, just achy from the rainy weather, but that's normal when you have arthritis. I'm back to work full-time, just working on getting rid of the asthma that the chest infection left behind. Have puffers to take twice a day, but don't do that unless I'm coughing. Then they help, but they make my heart beat faster so I don't take them unless I have to.

Leo did love being out, he wandered all over the living room, even posed in front of Nathaniel & Gabriel, was so funny watching him. Then I fed him roaches but he wanted a bath, so put Puff and him in the bath. Unfortunately, Leo drank water and chocked, little brat, turn my back for a minute & he does it again. So CPR to his rescue again. But he's fine now, breathing back to normal.

Then I made a terrible mistake. Cierra was out but she hid and I forgot, as was giving the older ones their vit/min and calcium. So I put Nathaniel out. Checked back a minute later and they were mating :shock: Grabbed Nathaniel & hoping I got them apart before he "shot his load" so to speak. I'm also hoping that she's not got follicles that are mature and won't be making any eggs. I felt so bad. In future I'll be checking tanks before I put anyone out. I'm still feeling terrible about this. I'm so hopeful that Cierra will be ok. As for Nathaniel, well he's definitely a male...

 

[diamc]

I imagine the rainy weather does make you very achy. My inhaler does the same thing, can feel my heart beating fast. Hope you feel better soon.

Bet Leo was funny, even posing for them. Wow, so he choked twice when he drank? You have become quite the CPR beardie master. I would have no idea how to do it but guess I would just do what needed to be done.

Oh dear. Sorry to hear about the possible mating of those 2, hopefully you stopped it in time. You must have felt terrible. Mistakes happen though & it sure must be hard trying to remember who/if one of them is already out. Bet Nathaniel was mad at you, phew.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Wow hope Cierra has no eggs! I also hope you stopped Nathaniel in time. Nathaniel that is your sister! No breeding with her. I know animals don't care.

I agree with Diane about the whole inhaler and making your heart go so fast. My allergies are coming to play so I nees my inhaler. Feel better, Deb.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Other than the cough once in awhile, maybe couple times a week, I'm feeling much better and have more energy. Taking B12 plus B complex every day is helping alot. I'm also starting to see my chiro every 2 weeks now instead of every week as I was. Hopefully that means my back is getting better

Nathaniel was not very pleased to be interrupted, as it was very abrupt. But it had to be done. If Cierra does have eggs, they will be frozen, but I'm hoping she's immature enough that she hasn't even started devloping follicles and that this was a total bust. Fingers are crossed.

Won't ever do that again, I'll be checking the tanks first to make sure everyone is home before taking anyone out. It's not as if I was in a rush, either, just forgetfulness. Geez, gave myself a good smack for that one, too.

Also got the timers to the proper time again, I'd not readjusted them from the time change. So now they're up at 6:30a as they were used to, then lights out at 5p, in the summer when it gets hot, I'll adjust the light to go off at 4p, so they can cool off before sleeping.

 

[Goonie]

Gabriel sure knows how to keep you guessing, huh? I wonder how he knew that he could go inside the cabinet, and how to even slide open the glass door. Brat #2 indeed.

I know exactly how you're feeling over Nathaniel and Cierra, because I'd been there, too.
I sure hope that you caught them before the act was done.

How wonderful that Leo got to run around the living room and even showing off to the kids!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Gabriel just had to open the door of the credenza a bit more and then sneak along the side and back of the tank. I still don't know how he figured it out, then to feel comfy in that position? Maybe because it was dark and quiet? Either way, I know where to look for him now, if he's not on the ramp.

And I'm so hoping I did grab him away before he finished the deed. Never seen a male in action so close. Now I understand how you felt with Digi and Pookie, but at least they're not brother and sister! Either way, I'm just hoping she doesn't develop eggs and if she does, they'll be frozen. No babies in my house. And you have beautiful Gianna from their pairing. :love5:

 

[Goonie]

And you have beautiful Gianna from their pairing. :love5:

True, but I would've been fine without having a new baby. Don't get me wrong, I love Gianna with all my heart and soul, but the stress and worry over whether the eggs were viable then why all of the babies were dying without reason was too much for me. Also, if I'd known that she'd turn out to be just like Pookie, well, . . . :roll: ( :wink: )

 

[sweetiepie9]

I know Gina, but she was meant to be & look at her now, just like her dad, who could ask for more? I'll keep you posted on what's going on with Cierra.