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 great news about Imp, I wasn't going to weigh him until the weekend but just had to check and he's gained 3g, so he's back up to 60g! I was so happy to see that. On top of that good news, he didn't have even a tremor today. He was full of energy, which was great to see and stayed under his lights all day. So as a reward, when his lights went out, I snuggled him for 4 hours, he's so light compared to my big boys. I also snuggled Gabriel and Castiel first for a couple of hours while Nathaniel had fun under the new 100W light that I just got in the mail. So all in all, a great day off!

So pics of Imp:
After his bath he decided it was jump on everything time:

His colours were very bright this am:

And his beard was white, too:

He even stayed still while I was getting his mix ready & ate just over 5 ml:

(the flash didn't go off in this pic, so he looks darker).

He was alot of fun while being bathed, too, he kept jumping out. Then when I had a little talk with him (explained why the bath was a good idea), he'd puff himself up so he'd float the little devil. So I'd have to hold his butt in the water :lol: He is feeling much better!

I have to work tomorrow, but then I'm off until Tuesday afternoon as Monday is a national holiday in BC, family day. It'll be nice to have a long weekend after these last 4 weeks of working (even if only part-time). I'll be full time by Feb 29, though, so have to get my morning schedule organized and have to get to bed earlier.

 

[PogoLover]

Is that stripe down his back orangey-colored? You know that might get a lot brighter as he gets older. Pogo's colors got brighter and brighter - she was brownish when I got her, but she was pretty orange later on. OK, I have a terrible memory - do you know how old Imp is? I know you got him from the pet store, but I can't remember if they knew how old he was.

I am glad he is gaining. I know that feeling when they start eating enough to gain and you start worrying less. If you want to get him to eat dubia or worms, I have one tip - if you hold the dubia so that you can get the ridge (either the head or the butt) angled so that it fits right into Imp's lips, he might start to open and chew. With Pogo, I did this - I didn't pry her lips open, I just waited to see if she was interested - if she was, she would open and start to chew, and if she wasn't nothing happened and I put the roach down. It also works with the butt end of phoenix worms if you hold the worm fairly tightly.

When he gets big enough and you are still having issues, I would get blood work on him. I was never able to do that with Pogo because she was never more than 52 grams. I have a feeling that that might have told us exactly what was wrong.

Also - on the bee pollen - I have a BIG container in my freezer that I purchased about two months ago. I will never be able to use the whole thing. If you want me to package some of that up and send it to you for free, I will. I could put it in an empty plastic container with a screw-on lid, so that it stayed air tight.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well, yes, I just noticed that in the pictures, he can get pretty bright. The pet shop said he was born the end of last summer, but there is no way he is 7 months old. So I figure at this point he's probably 4 mo old but a very small 4 months. I'm hoping he'll catch up eventually but I'll see how it goes. He'll stay on the mix until he's bigger before he can get some bugs. That's a great idea to feeding him, too, if he won't eat on his own when the time comes.

I'm always looking for bee pollen but I just bought two small bags of it, so I'll let you know when I run out and I'd love if you could send me some. Just putting it in a freezer bag and a bubble package from the post office is enough to get it here safely. That's how I've been mailing the carnivore care to a friend. It won't be frozen once it gets here, so that would be great!

I have to get up & take care of the crew, I have to leave for work in two hours. So I'll let you know over the weekend how he is.

 

[PogoLover]

"End of last summer" could mean as late as Oct. 1, since summer doesn't really end until late September (depending on what they meant by END). That would make him only a little over four months old.

I think Lucky is about three+ months old. He is small, but has gained 3g since I brought him home on Tuesday night, so I am not too worried about that . . . yet . . . he is definitely not too skinny - he seems just right. So they are close to the same age probably, and Imp is kicking Lucky's butt on size despite his issues.

Keep me posted on Imp's progress.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Hey Deb, sorry bout the worm eggs! Glad he's looking better and feel it too. He's a triple cutie! The crew look great as well. Castiel beat Broly by two numbers. Broly is almost reaching 19" not quite there and Castiel got 20 1/2" long thats great. I still never had to deal with parasites/worms yet...but it seems everyone has at least 1x in their time of owning a dragon. Im just curious how I don't and everyone else has. Im still glad for Imp and he's feeling better.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So Imp continues to do well. He had a bit of a tremor in his head and back leg this am when I picked him up, but I think that was my fault, picked him up too fast. So just put my other hand over him and talked to him softly and the tremors stopped. Bath, then supplements and he ate his 5 ml. He's feeling more comfortable in his tank as he's moving around to different spots and he's now sleeping mid log, instead of closer to his normal basking spot. So more pics!

And Kami, I don't know if Castiel will grow anymore, but he still has a few months to go before he's 2 years old and so does Broly, so we'll see who gets longer then, k? It's great that Broly's reached 19" at just over a year, he has lots of time left to grow more!

As for parasites, I have no idea why some get them & some don't. Even though Leo had other issues wrong with him, he never had parasites, even when the others did. I don't know what causes them as they all get the same care year in and year out, same lights, same temps. Nothing changes for them...it's a mystery to me. But I still get fecals done every year anyway, this year it will be end March as I missed last fall due to the ankle surgery.

So Imp is getting to know his little suffie, Ella the elephant a bit, she's on her side because she's a bit wobbly when sitting. And this way he can get closer to her:

And he really loves to get up on my shoulder. I'll be feeding him and he'll take off, run up my chest and reach my shoulder and stay there. He never tries to jump off, at least not yet:

It's day by day with him, he loves his bath now in his cake pan, just sits there like a good boy. Once in awhile he'll blow his belly up and float but I take him out and show him that he doesn't have to do that, the water isn't that deep and his butt needs to stay IN the water, not floating on top of the water, silly boy :lol:

Gabriel still hasn't decided if he's going to brumate, he never wants to miss any action going on. Castiel was in his hide for a day but came back out yesterday...he's not decided if he wants to sleep either. Cierra gets up tomorrow for her back, but will probably go back in her hide to sleep again. It's been almost 6 mo now, I'll be glad when she decides to stay up. I miss my girl. Nathaniel is his usual runaround self, but up even later in the day now on the ramp.

So all in all, everyone's fine, Imp is improving daily and I'm working more hours. Full time by the end of Feb and I can't wait, as I want my regular paychq again!

 

[diamc]

Wow Deb, Imp looks great. What a BIG difference from less than a wk ago. His colors are bright, his eyes are sparkley and he has a pure white belly. He sure is eating well too. Good that he only had a small tremor & that you figured out how to stop it quickly, good thinking. He sure likes cuddling up to Ella. :love5: Looks adorable on your shoulder, so proud.

That's funny how he floats in his bath. Laura is the only beardie that we have had that does that too. Don't know how she fills up her body with so much air. If I pick her up & kiss her belly, she expels most of it.

Hope all of them wake up completely very soon. You must really miss your girl.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Diane, I'm trying my best to get my little guy really healthy. No bugs yet, not until he's gained more weight & doesn't get so stressed out from anything new.

So about your comment about Laura filling herself full of air in the bath; Nathaniel and Gabriel like to do it, too but not Cierra or Castiel. Funny how that works in a dragon that's so little but big Castiel hasn't figured it out. When Gabriel fills his belly with air it only works on one side and he's crooked in the water. I lift him out, kiss his beard, rub his belly and he lets all the air out, then I explain that the water isn't near deep enough to make a difference and he stops. Nathaniel did it every time he was in his bath but now he swims, then sits quietly, swims some more, then sits quiety until his soak is done, guess he figured out it wasn't deep enough to bother with either :lol: And he doesn't jump out anymore as much either. I used to have to stand over his bathwater, pushing on his snout to get him back into the water, the whole 20 minutes. Guess he's decided that's not any fun anymore. They are just so funny :mrgreen:

 

[sweetiepie9]

So Imp had a very interesting day today. He ate his breakfast (2 1/2 mls of the mix), had his bath, all went well. So I weighed him and he showed 68g! Well an hour later, after I got home from a bit of shopping, I found a whopper of a poop on the newspaper. I guess it scared him so much, he ran to the cool side of his tank and was sitting on top of the hide :lol: So I cleaned it up and put him back on his basking spot, then took him out an hour later (1p) to feed him his lunch. Before he ate I weighed him again and he was actually 62g, still a weight gain of 2 g, so 5g total this week. I still can't get over that he pooped 6g of mix out of himself!

After lunch I put him on my bed and he ran around and climbed up everything. Then he started eyeing the floor...no way was I letting him get under the bed! So I grabbed him up again and he ran around for another 10 min, then was time for more basking. But I did get some cute pics of him:

He really liked climbing the book on my bed:

Then my sweater (I always have alot of stuff on my bed, especially since the surgery; the computer, a beardie bed, books, etc. :mrgreen: )

The onto climbing my old stuffie Lamby. I've had him since I was 2 years old, my mom had him for years for my young nephews and nieces to play with, then she gave him back to me when they moved out of the big house.

And then the blankets on the beardie bed:

He then ran along the tray I keep the computer on & eyed the floor again, that's when he was put back into his tank.

So later in the afternoon I brought him out for a bit to sit on my shoulder. Nathaniel was on the ramp and last time he waved but it wasn't a big deal for him. This time he waved but his head started to tremor, so I held him on my hands to stop the tremoring and put him back in his tank. Now he's sleeping on my chest covered in a warm blanket. Big day for my little boy! I love being home with them all, glad I have tomorrow off, holiday in BC, then not back to work until Tues at 3, full day Wed, then day off Thursday and full day Friday. Nice relaxed work week this week!

 

[PogoLover]

It all sounds great! I have my trip to AZ (rescheduled due to the snow) - I leave tomorrow and don't get back until the middle of the night on Wednesday! My husband and son will be taking care of Lucky, but I am still nervous.

 

[sweetiepie9]

He's a healthy boy and eats on his own, so I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your hubby and son will just need to make sure his bug dishes are filled 3x a day (or twice if they're out for the day) and salads, too, then clean up the poop when they get home. Have a good trip, glad the snow is gone enough so you can go.

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Love the pictures of Imp!! So glad he's doing better, he is such a handsome little guy! And I'm a little late but I love the pictures of the rest of the crew! Cierra's position reminds me if how Norberta has been sleeping, so cute. But I hope she wakes up soon!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I hope so, too, it wil be 6 months at the end of February, but I don't want to stop her if this is what she wants to do. I'm hoping when the weather warms up in March she'll decide to stay up.

 

[PogoLover]

Hi! How is Imp doing? His eyes look green in those pics? Are they?

Has Cierra started to wake up more? It is snowing here again, but I don't know what your weather is like - I have never made it that far northwest.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Our weather is like Seattle, mostly warmer than anywhere else and rain, rain, rain. So right now it's about 40F and raining, again, but not as hard as 2 days ago. And during the day it's getting to almost 50F. I'm from back east and even though I've been here 28 years and love the winters, every once in awhile we'll get a couple of inches of snow. The city actually shuts down, can you imagine, makes me laugh. I just don't drive when show shows up as I know it'll be gone in a day or two. People out here have no idea how to drive in snow at all.

I'll have to check his eyes in better light tomorrow. He's doing much better. I just realized that he's getting his 3rd dose of Panacur this weekend, too, so I'm wondering if all the issues about digestion were because he had parasite eggs in his fecal from 2 weeks ago. Today his poop was still a bit runny but was regular coloured and hardly anything compared to even 3 days ago! And he ate 2 dubia this am, plus he ate 5 ml of his mix. He seems to be staying more under his UVB light, ever since I raised it to the proper height and put a 40W bulb in the extra dome instead of the 60W light, that was too hot. This seems to be a good mix.

I never had a chance to update, but yesterday Mr Imp got in a lot of trouble :lol: He kept running up my body as usual and sitting on my shoulder, so I decided to get Castiel into his bath while I was finishing up with Imp. So I kept Imp on my chest when I got Castiel and took a picture, just to show the difference in their size. Now I'd never do that with Nathaniel as he'd try to eat him, but Castiel gave him a look & that was all (he's such a good boy, probably has no idea that Imp is actually a dragon :mrgreen: ).

So I get Castiel in his bath & finish up Imp's breakfast (note I had the day off yesterday). I was just finishing when Imp took off, sailed into Castiel's bath, swam for a couple of seconds and then climbed up onto Castiel's back :shock: All faster than I could grab him out. I had my camera still with me & seeing as Castiel wasn't having any reaction to Imp, I took a picture, then grabbed him out, dried him off & put him in his tank. Castiel still soaked away as if nothing had happened. Now Castiel gets all excited in his tank when either Gabriel or Nathaniel are out, but he had absolutely not reaction to Imp, strange!

So then I decided to put Ella the elephant on her feet and within a minute Imp had climbed up on her back: he sure was full of energy yesterday, before he did the run into Castiel's bath, he jumped onto everything I have on that counter :roll:

The pink is Ella's tail, looks like Imp is into hair colouring doesn't it :lol:

After his lights went out (he stayed on her the rest of the afternoon, so I moved his UVB over him). He pulled himself up and slept on her back for the night. He's just too cute :love5:

This morning was a bit more rushed as I had to work, but still, getting up at 7:30a give me lots of time with them all. Nathaniel comes out in the living room at 10:30 before I leave, so Gabriel and Castiel get 1 1/2 hrs out at least. Nathaniel is the only one that hides later in the day, the other two are asleep by 1p, so no point them being on the ramp until I get home at 9:30. But I know Nathaniel stays out until almost 5p. He also hides in a different place every night, so that's fun finding him :lol: