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:

 

[diamc]

Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well Deb. Hope you're starting to feel better now.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I went back to the clinic as I coughed all last night. Well I have an upper respiratory infection and it goes to the back of my throat so 10 days of antibiotics (2x per day) so no wonder I've been so tired. But now I'm on the mend so still taking next week off.

So Imp has graduated to the sink for his baths. No more filling the big white utility bowl so he can splash the whole kitchen! He's not thrilled but he's getting used to it.

Poor Imp, he's got a competely white head and isn't eating much, hoping it comes off soon and not having any dubia his size is driving him nuts, too. His tail has started shedding, so hopefully his head starts soon, if not, tomorrow night, after lights out, I'll rub his head with coconut oil. I've been letting him out about 4p to run around the living room, wave at the boys and then get up on the ramp and stare at the TV, he sure loves his cartoons. So while I'm home, I'm going to make sure he gets out for an hour or two after the rest have had their turns.

Nathaniel, again, found his way under the stereo cabinet to sleep while I was out. I found a new way to move him out from underneath so I can grab him: my yardstick, works like a charm & no more sprained arm. It's completely healed, by the way, in less than a week and he takes off like a rocket now that it is healed. He makes me laugh on a daily basis :lol:

Castiel is again not eating, so I'll have to be around to throw worms at him so he gets a few a day, don't want him losing weight again, he gets too skinny for his length.

I'm trying to get Gabriel to run around, but it's in vain. I put him out on the living room floor across the room from the ramp, he high tails it across right to the ramp, climbs up and pancakes out. So he hasn't lost any weight at all, even though he's only getting 12 worms or roaches a week, sigh...oh well, guess he's decided he likes to be chubby. He does swim alot in his bath, but that's only twice/three times a week. It's find when I'm home to give him more baths but when I'm working there's only so much time in the am before I go to work. Guess some of us are just meant to be chubby :lol: (me included)

Cierra has gained all the weight she lost laying her eggs, plus she gained over and above that amount. I can't feel any eggs in her but she's getting bigger by the day and eating well, so I think there's more eggs in the future. Hopefully she'll be done after the next clutch, only 2 like last year. I've got her laybox all ready but not sure if she'll want to lay them in the bath again. Hopefully she chooses a day when I'm home.

So that's the update, everyone gets weighed tomorrow am, but I have a feeling Imp hasn't gained. I think he's grown in length, though, looking forward to finding out.

The only other good/sad news is my cleaning lady is moving a few hours away tomorrow, so on the look out for another or I have to start cleaning myself, which is hard. Time to get a lighter weight vacuum cleaner. At least I got approved for a VISA card today, yeah, so can get one & pay the card off...decisions, decisions!

New Imp pictures:
So I had Imp on my bed and he took off to the end, as usual. So I yelled out, "Imp stop" and this is what he did. I was so proud of him

He loves that I've put Ella beside his basking spot, so he puts his butt on his platform and the rest of him is on Ella:

When I had him out the first time last week, I kept him up for longer than he's used to. I think he lost his way to inside his hide and landed on top of it :lol:

I didn't realize that Cierra had pooped on her blanket, guess this should have been a clue:

I have since removed the offending blankets and replaced them with her own (finally did the wash).

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Good boy Imp for listening to you! Mufasa will look back at me to make sure I'm not stopping her then keeps doing whatever told her not to. :roll:
Poor Cierra, not being able to sleep on her blankets, XD
Hope you start feeling better soon! No fun being sick.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I hate being sick, hopefully the antibiotics start working soon

Took Imp to the pet shop today as had to pick up crickets. Decided not to go near Joanne's this weekend to get crickets from her source, didn't want to make anyone sick. So get him in my coat, into the car, let his head out of the opening at the top of my coat and off we went. Well, he had such stress marks and his red tail and normal burnt orange colour were dull brown. He didn't like being out of his safe home at all, poor baby. So got what I needed and brought him home and now he's happy watching cartoons on the ramp.

Cierra is full of eggs again, I'm hoping she'll lay while I'm home this week. She's not eating much, so that usually means she's getting close to laying.

There was a post on one of the Facebook sites I belong to for Selfie Sundays, pictures of us and our pets, so I took some pictures:

Imp:

Nathaniel:

Gabriel:

Castiel:

and Cierra, you can see how wide she's getting:

I also weighed and measured Imp, he's 266g and almost 17" long! So he might not have been eating lots this week because of his shed, which is coming off finally, but he did grow in length.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Wow the pics are great Deb!

Aw poor Cierra again with eggs I see how wide she is.
Imp didn't like it huh? I haven't done anything fun like that just vet visit so far earlier this year. I wonder if I can do that soon I wonder if he'd like it. He goes outside but not in the car to go to any pet store yet just to show him off.

Glad he felt better though.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Once he was out of the car and back inside his home, the white belly was back and his colours were bright again. He's so funny :love5:

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Love all the selfies!!!! Hopefully you'll be home when Cierra lays these eggs again, poor girl.

 

[PogoLover]

I love the selfies too! IMP is getting so big! He looks so much better than when your first brought him home. Lucky is becoming a fat pig. He is up to 278 and 17". His girth is definitely outpacing his length. He gained 50g in one week. I would be worried if he wasn't still acting really healthy - runs and jumps around, humongous poop with plenty of white urate and moisture once a day, rarely beards. SO CURIOUS. HATES the dog. :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Makayla, I enjoyed taking those selfies. I'm hoping Cierra lays while I"m home, too, she dug for an hour yesterday so it should be soon.

And Lucky needs the fat to grow, you'll see, they get fat in their belly, then they get length again, it's all the growing process. When he's over 2 years old, then you can be concerned about his weight, but not until then and then only if he belly sags enough that it touches the floor when he walks :lol:
I'm glad he's doing so well and he's definitely going to be bigger than Imp, but again we'll see when they're 2 and fully grown. And he hates the dog? How does the dog feel? What kind of dog do you have. Lucky might just change his mind as he gets older. Imp has become very curious, too, he likes to be on the ramp in the living room because he LOVES the cartoons. So he gets time out when the bigger ones are in their tanks. He still spends alot of time waving, but then he settles down to watch TV. It's good being home, even though I'm still sick, but when I get back to work, probably next week, I'll miss playing with them all, Imp especially.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So I got a couple of pictures of Imp on Ella, she's become his new basing spot, right beside his platform:

And Cierra after an hour of digging:

And after her bath:

She's getting so big, I'm hoping she'll lay soon. Maybe it'll be in the tub again, we'll have to see. I need to wet down the soil in her dig box, maybe then it won't fly all over the place and get her so dirty.

 

[Goonie]

Silly mommy! Don't you know that Ella is more soft and comfy to bask on than a rock? :lol:

I hope Cierra will decide to lay those eggs soon, and that this will be her last clutch for the year.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Of course I knew that :lol: I'm the one that put her there to begin with, he's really taken to her being there, that's for sure, love it! Anything to spoil my Imp

And yes, I hope she'll lay soon.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So Cierra got her eggs laid, 29 altogether. She is soooo skinny. I make up water and bee pollen and she drank tons. Then I make up the mix because she wasn't interested in bugs and she ate 5 ml of that, then managed a couple of crickets. So she's warming up, I put supers in her bug bowl, just in case and greens. Also gave her extra calcium, which I'll do for about a week or so to help make up for the calcium she lost making all those eggs.

Otherwise, quiet day, waiting for the plumber to fix the faucet in the kitchen. Tomorrow back to the clinic, I'm going to ask for xrays. There's still gunk coming up, even though didn't cough as much today, but that's not always a good thing. Will ask for an expectorant tomorrow, too. Not sure if I need more antibiotics. I see my doc next Thursday.

Imp got out while Cierra was digging in her dig box, boy he sure loves his cartoons! But before that I let a few crickets out and he chased them down, then gave him a bunch of worms and 3 large roaches, then put 3 in his tank for later if he wants them. So he's had quite a bit to eat today, for which I'm glad. And his poop this am was formed for the first time ever!

So just found egg# 30 on top of Cierra's basking spot. So she's out running around the living room again, she was like that last time, too.

 

[diamc]

That's good that she laid those eggs, hopefully she is all done now. Poor girl, must be glad they are out. Great that she ate so much of that mixture and also had a few crickets & lots of drinks with calcium & bee pollen, that will surely help her out. Did she lay any eggs in the laybox this time?

Those pictures of Imp are adorable. Can sure tell he loves his Ella, just look at those bright colors.

I'm glad you decided to go back to the clinic tomorrow & to get an x-ray. An expectorant is also a good idea, Mucinex works very well and you can save $ by getting the generic. Hope you can feel better real soon.

 

[sweetiepie9]

She laid all but two in her lay box, took her forever, too. It was easier when she laid them in the bath last time. So another one in the bath and another one on her basking spot. So hopefully that's it.

And Imp really does love his Ella. I decided to put her beside his platform awhile ago and he sits on her more than the platform LOL