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]

Finally got pictures from the party set up. So here we are, celebrating my dad's 90th. Pics of my babies at the end.
Eric and Traci, very happy together

My nephew Cole, he'll be 17 Aug 22 and is now 6'2" tall

His brother Ryder, who just turned 11 yrs old last week

My niece Carly, who's now 13 yrs old.

My Mom, Dad and Leo

Ryder, his mom Annika and Safara and Leo, chalking on the patio tiles.

Ryder and Safara stayed there, even after dinner, which was nice.

Leo, Safara and Gail (my sister), playing around the shed, you can run all around it, so that was great for Leo.

Gail and Ian, my sis and b-i-l, put patio tiles in their tiny backyard, with a beautiful garden surrounding it. They also made an outdoor living room n their deck, it's covered. It's a great place to have visitors.

Downstairs the kids and adults were all chalking on the patio tiles, the whole time we were there. Eric and Traci stayed there most of the time, too, checking out the kids. So here is the art:

And now for my babies:
Bella in the sun

Nathaniel's view on taking baths I WANT OUT

and in his tank I WANT OUT

I caught Cierra sleeping on her piggy (this is her basking log LOL)

Gabriel on the ramp

Imp, you can see how skinny he is, now he's eating 3-8 worms a day. Today he's a bit bigger and heavier but not much. I have to get the JumpStart, going to order it on Monday. The mix works, but he gets really loose stools from it, so see if the JumpStart helps. There's an herb I want to find, but so far haven't found it for dragons, just for human adults.

 

[jenn4turtles]

Looks like everyone had fun at the party!

Nathaniel and Smauggie have similar views! :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks, it was a great party, we all had a ball.
Gabriel would sit on that ramp all day, if he could

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Looks like a fun time with your family! Happy belated birthday to your dad! The dragons look great too. For Imp is that more or less bugs than he had been eating? And is the JumpStart like carnivore care? Hope you can get some more weight on him.

 

[SHBailey]

I probably said it before when you posted your last batch of family pics, but I'll say it again: you have a lovely family. And your dad looks pretty good, especially for 90. That's also a beautiful "outdoor living room" that your sister's family has set up. Nice place for a party. And quite a chalk art project, too. Good thing you got pictures of it so they'll have something to remember all their artwork once the chalk disappears.

Looks like Nathaniel did some major splashing all over the sink in his unwanted bath. :lol:

Did you ever find out if Cierra is doing eggs? :?

Gabriel still looks healthy, but Imp does look pretty skinny in that particular photo. I hope the "JumpStart" stuff helps. Maybe you could ask your vet if the herbal supplement for humans would be ok for beardies. Some drugs and supplements are essentially the same whether they're made for humans or animals, depending on the ingredients -- sometimes it's just a matter of dosage. One of my vets once advised me to put vitamin C on my cat's food because he was having problems with urinary tract blockage and we needed to acidify his urine. He said he could prescribe something, but the vitamin C was the cheapest way to do it, so I just got some plain old vitamin C tablets (made for humans) and crushed one up and put it on his food every day for the next few months, and between that and switching the cheap generic cat food I had been feeding him to a more expensive one with low ash, the problem cleared up fairly quickly. So I hope you can figure something out that will work for Imp.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So far he's been eating his bugs on the living room rug, worms and roaches, but he never seems to eat enough, plus he digests really quickly. Jumpstart is another type of appetite stimulant, I'm hoping worms better than the mix I make, as he gets loose stool with the mix now. I did give him a few syringes of the mix yesterday. He only ate 1 worm and 2 roaches today, even with the mix, so I'm hoping the Jump Start works as I've heard positive results from others.

We had a blast and the deck is my sis and b-i-l back deck. They made it into an outside living room and I love it, so comfy and you don't get rained on.

I'm glad I took pics of the chalking, too, so will always have it.

We had another party yesterday for my s-i-l's mom, she's 91 and so with it. I always enjoy seeing her. My youngest bother's birthday is this week, so he was included and his youngest son, Ryder, was 11 last week, so he was part of the party, too. Had a great time, as always.

 

[SHBailey]

Sounds like Imp has an unusually fast metabolism, especially for a reptile, which could be part of the reason why he has so much trouble gaining weight. Hopefully the extra supplements will help.

Glad to hear that you're getting to party and have some fun with your family in the meantime.

 

[sweetiepie9]

That's what I think about Imp, too. Everything he eats, he poops out the next day. I fed him 5 ml of the mix today and I'm giving him a bath daily, too, see if that helps him. I gave him a pedialyte bath today, too, to see if that would help. I'll keep doing that daily as he seems dehydrated. Must be part of his fast metabolism.

 

[SHBailey]

Not too different from people. My husband complains that food "goes right through him", and I tell him he's lucky because everything I eat turns to fat. Remember that old nursery rhyme about Jack Sprat and his wife? :roll:

 

[sweetiepie9]

I do and I"m the same, everything goes right through me, so the 30 lbs I lost last summer not keeping food down is still the weight I've kept off since then. Means I have a whole new wardrobe, all the clothes that didn't fit me b4, now fit be again (from 6 years ago!)

 

[sweetiepie9]

So Imp is getting daily baths, it's helping and he got 6 ml of mix today. I'll feed him bugs on the weekend, just want to fatten him up. Have more to give him tomorrow again.

 

[SHBailey]

Being sick is a heck of a way to lose weight. Hopefully things will go better for Imp than they did for his human. :wink:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Feeding Imp every day with the mix is sort of helping but giving him baths every is definitely helping. He's pooping every day after he eats, but must be keeping some as he's heavier. So will continue to do that & also feed him worms. He doesn't digest dubia that well...sigh...have to still keep him healthy.

And I'm glad I'm not being sick anymore, seeing the chiro weekly helps alot & get the MRI on Wednesday. Seems the dizziness from Wed might have been low blood pressure. It was normal at the docs today, though. Also got a nose spray to help with the runny nose and I'm fine to take two anihistamines a day. So that's good. Once the grass starts dying, I'll feel better

 

[SHBailey]

I'm glad to hear that both you and Imp seem to be doing better, but that's unusual that he has a problem with dubia. What kind of worms seem to work for him?

 

[sweetiepie9]

Yes, I'm doing well enough to be f/t in 2 weeks. Helps that I got alot of vacation time this year so get almost a day off every week until the end of the year.

Imp is eating super worms and he likes them, plus he digests them much better than dubia. He can't seem to digest the dubia heads, which are their hardest part, even with the little ones. He's gained weight, though, with the mix and a few super worms every day.

My vet told me that the fat pads in the abdomen are the most important for beardies, as that fat helps regulate their inner organs, without it, they can get very sick. When I had Leo, he got really fat one summer, so I put him on a diet, with less protein & fat. As a result, his blood vessels in his abdomen started leaking and he almost died. Luckily I took him in to my vet and we got him sorted and he lived to 9 years old. So that's why I'm so concerned for Imp. I took some pictures and he's actually got a small belly starting, which is great news.

So this is what Imp looks like after just a week of eating every day

And Castiel is looking back to normal after the beard shed he just finished

Gabriel had his bright yellow colours on this am, plus he drank from the bath and didn't choke!

Cierra has gained weight but no sign of eggs yet. She looks good, though. And Nathaniel is doing almost a whole body shed. His back legs are bothering him just a bit, but not enough to put coconut oil on. The foot that was so swollen reduced when that shed came off, but he's shedding both legs now :shock: I was so surprised to see that the same leg was shedding again, he'll be so glad when that all comes off.