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:

 

[beardie parents]

I'm sorry to hear about Leo. I'm not sure I remember, how old is he? I know he's been with you for awhile, along with all those other adorable ones you lost, that we all still miss.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Lori, I have no idea how old he really is, at least 8 but probably close to 9 years old. I tried to order the milk thistle but they don't ship to Canada, so Gina is sending me some, hopefully it comes in soon. I take him to the vet again on Friday am for the blood test results. I'm also making him swim every morning which is working, he swam a good minute this am and is getting around much better than even 2 days ago. So I do that every morning now. He gets Serrepeptase twice a day, plus acidophilus and electrolytes, once a day. He's eating roaches every day, too, but I noticed that it's hurting the owie he has in his mouth, so he's getting Nolvadent on that twice a day (antibiotic liquid for the mouth) and it's already working. He still has a black beard alot of the time but I'm not sure if it's because of his mouth or because of his liver. I'm hoping all this, plus the milk thistle, will help him a great deal. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for thinking of my lost babies. Titan was only 1 1/2 yrs old or so, Rubio was 6, Did was also 6 or 7, Lonzo was the oldest at 11 1/2 and Puff was probably the same age as Leo, so 8, I would guess. We never did know how old they were when my neighbour rescued Leo and Puff, but that's been almost 6 years now.

 

[PogoLover]

I have been working 60-100 hours a week and haven't been on, but I am sorry to hear about Leo. I hope he feels as good as he can.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi, wow, that's alot of hours! Thanks for the good wishes to Leo, he seems to be improving. He really doesn't like the meds that the doc has him taking, as it's a crushed pill and I feed it to him on a collard green piece. He keeps spitting it out but meanwhile, the med keeps being licked off, takes about 5 tries to get it all in his mouth. Must not taste very good! He's getting tired of being given all this stuff, wait until the milk thistle gets here, then there will be even more stuff for him to take. He gives me lots of stink eyes, too, poor sweet guy.

When I got home yesterday from some errands, Nathaniel had found a different place to hide. When I'd picked him up, I realized that Bunny was on the door of her tank, which was awfully early for her to even be up, then I noticed that her waterfall of leaves had fallen down and woken her up. So I took her out and had a sleeping Nathaniel and awake Bunny session:

Nathaniel's new hiding place, in the worm cupboard:

Bunny jumped onto the rocking chair, she was very pleased with herself.

And sleepy Nathaniel on one shoulder and a disappearing Bunny on the others. As soon as I put the camera down I grabbed her, she was on her way down my back, silly girl :mrgreen:
(and don't mind me, it's hard to smile and take a selfie at the same time a gecko is trying to climb over your shoulder :lol: )

Caught her!

 

[PogoLover]

LOL. She is funny looking - I don't mean her personally, but I don't see a lot of gecko pictures, so they look really unusual to me.

 

[sweetiepie9]

That's because crested geckos are strange looking but they're soft like velvet and easier to handle than my golden gecko, Rocco, he's just wild. He'll let me pet his back sometimes, that's about it! Bunny lets me hold her every evening, mind you then she wants to jump off me and wander, which she's not allowed to do, she's easily lost.

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Awe, Bunny is adorable! Love her pointy nose, so cute. Of course Nathaniel is a cutie too, funny hiding spot, lol!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Makayla. I actually got them all Christmasy and took pictures:

Cierra, she got to wear the bling :

the boys all wore a Santa hat I have, but all in various ways, :lol: next year I'll put some elastic underneath to hold it in place

Gabriel

Nathaniel

Castiel, yes he looks ready to fly off the sleigh, took me so long to get him to stay :mrgreen:

Leo lost his hat the first time, so took a couple more to make sure it stayed on his head.

So all in all I think they turned out well. Next year will be a bit better, I hope. I'm getting into the hang of Christmas again this year. Because Eric didn't take any of my Xmas stuff after all, I decided to decorate a bit. Why not? Got the lights up outside, along the balcony and around my cedar tree (which is over 2' high now!) And tomorrow I'll decorate all their tanks with a few things. It's finally starting to feel like Christmas, which is normal for me, the week before and not a day sooner!

 

[Goonie]

All of the photos turned out great!

Cierra looked so pretty with her red bling. So stylish.
I still can't get over how the decorations were all over the place in Castiel's photo. It's so his style :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

It definitely is, it took me so long to get him to sit, I had the camera in my hand when he did and took the picture, once that was done, he was gone like a shot. If dragons could mutter under their breath, he was the whole time. And then a huge stink eye. I'm not sure he'll ever recover, either.

I'm glad you think the pictures turned out so well, Gina, first time I ever tried this.

 

[Goonie]

I'm not sure he'll ever recover, either.

:laughhard:


This is not a critique but more of an advice: When you're using props on a rug or any small floor covering, be sure to place the props and your subject on the front of the floor covering, as opposed to the center. The only exception would be if you're shooting directly from above.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Gina, I'll remember that for next year.

So update on Leo. He's breathing fine, my vet has given him 3 xrays, one normal one yesterday, then I took him in early this am where he was given barium, but by 5:45 when she took the 2nd xray, it hadn't gone into his lower intestines, so we still don't know what that lump is. He did a small poop & there were small pieces of roach (legs and bits of shell), so he's not digesting as well as he used to, that would be the issue with the liver. It seems to be a bit reduced, but he's still on his meds and supplements and we got back on Jan 2. Hopefully by then I have the milk thistle as well to give him. I've so far been giving him Serrepeptase (which he loves), acidophilus and electrolytes. But I'm going to stop the electrolytes because he's fine with a daily soak.

He looks good and it was funny because when my vet put him down on the table, he kept walking to me and trying to climb up to my chest, so that's also a good sign.

He's sleeping in his tank until I have my supper and once that's done, he'll get some snuggling and stay with me for the evening, then back to bed. I'm to call the vet's office on Thursday to give her an update (she doesn't work on Wednesdays) and hopefully it's a good one. Luckily I'm home tomorrow but out in the afternoon on New Years Eve, to the chiro, then visiting my parents for a bit. Xmas day I'll be out in the morning, then evening and day after I'll be out afternoon and evening, but then I'll be home.

So I went to the physio and my foot is a bit better but the back of my lower calf is very stiff. So treatments weekly until end January and a different exercise to do with the ones I'm doing for my foot. I'll be going to work with a crutch for added support, because it's a long trip and no, I can't drive to work, old car, too expensive to park ($180/m or more) and I can't afford that. The public transport is over $100 as it is monthly. I'll be so glad to retire in 5 years and never have to take that trip again!

I'll keep you updated on Leo. The rest are all doing well. I've decided that Cierra has to stay up until she poops. I can feel how full she is and she's a very reluctant pooper. Might have to pull out the pumpkin tomorrow if she doesn't do her duty :mrgreen: Also means I'll be getting up early for the next couple of days to work on her before I have to go out.

Luckily the boys are fine, but once I get the baths done tomorrow, they'll get another back next day, then Saturday again, because all their urates are too hard. Guess it's the heating in the living room. But every 2 days for sure going forward.

 

[Goonie]

That's not good that the barium hadn't moved all day I would've thought that liquid would move faster than solids; guess I was wrong.
Hope the milk thistle will get to you by Saturday.

Aww, Leo didn't want to be examined and wanted his mommy

 

[sweetiepie9]

He did, the barium did move down to almost the large intestine and he was given it in the early morning. We'll probably have to do that again, but it pooped out of him late last night, on me! So I think the only way is to get it into him at the end of their day, then take xrays the day after. I'll mention it to my vet, see if the thinks that will work.

As for the milk thistle, not sure at all when it will get here. I got a calendar today that I ordered on Dec 5, so that's why I'm having it sent to Joanne's. We'll see how long it takes.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Oh I am so, so happy. Eric and family stayed at my sister's until the end of the night. I had my grand kids to hold and play with from 3p until 10p! It was a joyous day, such a great time! My son's birthday is tomorrow, so was glad to see him, as he's trying to get rid of a cold and was so tired. He's going to be resting tomorrow and Monday (holiday for most companies in Canada).