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]

He was falling asleep, but he made it off the ramp and 1/2 way down. I was very proud of him. He's having trouble walking, so it was good to see him slightly active.

The ramp was easy to built. Pieces of wood hold up the concrete, at the top is concrete again with a towel and the lamp stand is between two pieces of concrete to hold it in place. If I ever take it apart, I'll take pictures of each stage, but I rarely do. Along the bottom there are towels stuffed in to prevent the dragons from hiding in it, but Cierra loves to hide under the dump truck :lol:

 

[diamc]

Well, it sounds like you have everything planned out to make it as easy as possible when you're laid up, that's great. Yes, the 2 wks should go fast. Good that you plan on keeping your foot elevated because if it swells, it will be very painful. I had foot surgery a few yrs ago and got around too much and boy, did I pay for it! We will all be thinking of you and hope for a speedy recovery.:love5:

Loved the pictures. So happy that Leo is doing better. He looked tired on the ramp but it is so great to see him up & around. The timing worked out perfectly with almost all of them tired.

Boy, are you gonna have your hands full in the spring. :roll: :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

I know, right? I'm going to have very hormonal dragons, that's for sure :lol:

I'm feeling better about getting around. I got everyone up this am, need to pull Castiel out of his hide, they'll all have baths & we'll see show goes back to sleep. Either way I'm just going to leave lights off the few days I'm gone so they will sleep. Castiel has been eating, so will make sure he poops on Wednesday so he can sleep for the 3 days I'm gone. I have to get the timers working today, clean out the worms and clean out the roaches on Wednesday, so they're all done for a few days.

And I'm hoping the 2 weeks goes well. My PVR (storage box for taping stuff from the TV) died on Thursday and all the movies/shows that I'd been taping for a few months are lost. Luckily I have tons of books from the library and new shows are starting next week. But I'm very ticked off, that box was only 2 1/2 yrs old I'm just going to be so bored!

Two weeks after the operation, I'm back to get the splint off and I think I get a boot. So that means easier to get around. That's for 4 weeks, I think physio starts during that time, too. I've asked that the physio request be sent to the hospital that's close to me, if they're busy, my physio therapist said she'd do my physio, so we'll see how that goes.

It's getting closer, only 2 more days at work. Wed I wait for the call to tell me when to be at the hospital, wait for the new PVR to be replaced, then off to my sister's for supper and 2 days there.

I'll have my computer on my bed, plugged in, as I'll need it to prevent me going absolutely crazy! So getting organized, for sure. Have to do a last shopping on Wed to have fresh stuff in the house for when I get home. Some more frozen food, too.

Hopefully I'll be able to drive in a few weeks. Until then, Eric will be my go to person to get me stuff when I need it. Cami said she'd help, too.

I saw my folks yesterday, was going to ask for a loan (my pay is day after my operation) but my Mom & Dad gave me a chunk as they can't visit & was going to send me flowers, so that helped a great deal. When I ordered the 4 lights, I forgot how low the Canadian $ was, so the exchange was $85 and the exchange for the worms I bought was $20, so that was $ just lost. I wish our dollar would get back to normal again, but it just keeps going down. Good for Americans, but not so good for Canadians buying in the States! So the funds from my folks made up for that loss, which was a wonderful gift.

 

[Goonie]

In case I space out and forget to come back here before Wednesday, good luck with your surgery. I'm glad that you'll be staying with your sister for the first few days.

Would your landlady's son (his name is escaping me [Jake?]) be able to come and help you with your babies while you're recuperating?

Cierra's growing into quite the beauty. No wonder all of the boys (except Leo) wants her

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Gina, and no, Jake moved 7 hours away in the spring. There's a young woman up the street who promised to help, I met her at the pet shop and I have her # so can call on her if I want. But because they're all so sleepy, I think they'll be ok. I can still get around enough to get one out and let them get around but Castiel was the only one up yesterday and he's now in his hide. Have to get him out. I have a feeling I'm going to have very sleeping dragons for the next 2 weeks. Plus I can just let them sleep next week & do baths the week after when I'm more secure in getting around. Getting the ankle scooter will make a huge difference, too, so I'm getting on that today.

Yes, Cierra is going to be a handful when they all wake up LOL, It's going to be interesting in this house when spring Fever hits :lol:

I haven't been able to get pictures of them either, so I won't be in the calendar this year. But I'll start taking good pictures next year!

 

[sweetiepie9]

So I did get pictures after all! I'd appreciate your help in choosing the best 2:

Cierra
1:

2:

3:

Leo:
1:

2:

3:

Gabriel
1:

2:

3:

Nathaniel:
1:

2:

3:

Castiel:
1:

2:

3:

I'll be waiting for your opinions!

 

[PogoLover]

That's hard. I like being able to see their eyes, so I have that bias. I think I like Leo #1 and Castiel #1 best.

 

[sweetiepie9]

What about the others? I don't know if I'll have a chance to get more pics done, but I agree with you, I like them looking at the camera, too. Nathaniel is back sleeping, so I'll just have to choose from what I have. Maybe I can get a better pic of Gabriel a bit later when I get back. As for Cierra, I'll try again later, too.

Thanks for choosing my favourites of Leo and Castiel, so those two are decided

 

[Goonie]

Here are my picks:

Cierra: #1
Leo: #1
Gabriel: #2
Nathaniel: #2
Castiel: #3

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Gina for choosing, I have until Wednesday to make the final decision, as have to send them in by then. Hard decisions! But at least they'll be in the calendar

 

[sweetiepie9]

So yesterday Leo and Cierra sat in the sunshine together on the Lazyboy, they were so cute:

and enjoyed their sunshine time, too.

So I get home last night & see this lump under the blanket that was over the front of Nathaniel's tank. He'd moved out of his hide, taking the blanket with him and was asleep under the blanket :lol: So he's up now and running around, driving Castiel crazy :lol: Hopefully he'll start eating again.

Cierra is now back in her hide, not sure for how long...

And Bunny has decided that I'm her best friend now :love5: I tried my best to get her to eat small supers but no go. I can't continue with crickets for now because I won't be able to get around or get them out of their cricket keeper. So I've been feeding her Repashy by syringe for the last 2 weeks and now she eating Repashy out of a small bottle top. She woke up this morning to drink, so I changed out her water, then she attached herself to my hand & decided to stay there. So I warmed her up then put her back in her tank. She's such a sweetie!

 

[Goonie]

Major "aww" moments for you, huh?
Cierra and Leo sitting in the sunshine together was precious. Does she still see him as a "grandpa" figure?
Was your heart gushing big time when Bunny latched on to your hand? Mine would've been.

 

[PogoLover]

I love the sunshine pics!!! They look so adorable.

I tried to starve Pogo out for 24 hours to get her to eat bugs, but no . . . prima donna will only eat out of the eye dropper. I tricked her into four tiny phoenix worms so far, but that is the only way to get her to eat bugs.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Bunny has been weaned off crickets and I fed her Repashy almost every night until I decided to see if she'll eat Repashy out of a lid & she is! I'm so glad, as she absolutely refuses to eat little worms. So she's decided I am her best friend now and I have no problem getting her to sit on my hand every night That's going to change when I have surgery, I'm hoping I'll get the hang of the crutches as she's still going to need to get her food every 2nd day.

I'm glad you enjoyed the sunshine pics. I don't know, Gina, how Cierra views Leo, I just know that she trusts him totally and will sit with him for ages without even moving. Sometimes she'll crawl on top of him or sit right beside him, but never has any fear of him or even flirts. She's back in her hide sleeping. I've got to get the timers working for the 3 boys, as I've just been leaving the lights on until I get home. But I sure can't do that for 2 days! So I'll change the lights tonight and start fiddling to get the timers working. Not even sure why they stopped working!

Oh that little brat Pogo, she's gotten so used to eating from a dropper that she just won't eat any other way and you can't be not feeding her, she'll start losing weight. Withholding food from a beardie just never works, believe me, I've been there. They'll eat what they want, when they want, period. So hopefully she'll start wanting to eat bugs on her own soon!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well, found out what was wrong with Bunny, she laid another 2 eggs, that's 5 eggs in the last 2 month! And they're big. So I put a small worm in her tank, plus the Repashy and snuggled her this am. This explains why she's been in her hide for the last 3 days. Now to plump her up!

Got the time for surgery tomorrow, have to be at the hospital by 10:30a, surgery is at 12:30p. I'm off to my sister's tonight. Have a list of what to take with me. Have the crutches ready with dragon blankets to soften where they go under my armpits. So will have a piece of the dragons with me while I'm away :lol: Got chores already going, wash, then dishwasher, garbage, all the necessary things but I want it all out before I come home. Clean out the roach bins, feed them all lots of food so they'll be ok until I can figure out how to feed them when I get home. Stuff the dragons full as they'll be on their own until Friday. Baths, etc, etc....And lots of snuggling before I leave!