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]

You're so lucky that you can travel with your girls. Mine are so used to being on a balcony to be in the sun, that when I tried to let them outside on a leash, they freaked, they were so out of their element. So they came home and get on the balcony when it's sunny. Mind you, I have taken them all to the pet shop, so they've been that far at least and were fine with it. I do envy you, though!

When we first got Lil Squirt from Barb (California) she seemed afraid of outside. We would still take her outside every day, unless it was raining which it usually doesn't after September is over (our Monsoon season is from July to September, usually). We have 4.8 acres here, including our home. When Rosie first woke up after brumation she watched Rosie outside, noticing that Rosie was not in the least afraid of outside, now Lil Squirt likes to go outside and either wanders or sits in the same position. You can watch them like a hawk for 20 or 30 minutes than look away briefly and back again to wonder where they went to. lol We enjoy them soo much and they get a lot of attention, even when we take them (not very often anymore) to church.

 

[SHBailey]

Arizona has got to be a much nicer place for taking beardies outside than Alaska, and for more of the year, too -- our summers are pretty short around here. And that's interesting that Lil Squirt seems to have learned not to be afraid to go outside from watching Rosie not being afraid to be outside.

Puff doesn't have a role model for not being afraid to go outside, but we have so few days that are warm enough that he's probably never going to get much of a chance to get used to it anyway.

Nice sunny day today so far (for example), but already getting way too cold to take him outside. Oh well.

 

[beardie parents]

yes, that's why we prefer to live in Arizona. Usually it's warmer here year round. My father used to work with the civil service and one job he had he traveled a lot to various places to teach soldiers. One time he was sent to Alaska in the spring. He mentioned it was warmer where he was in Alaska then in Arizona. Sometimes in the spring we have part of the time it's really cold (in our opinion).

 

[sweetiepie9]

So we have Canadian Thanksgiving on the 1st Monday of October, which was the 9th this year. My granddaughter's birthday is Oct 10, so we had our Thanksgiving dinner on the 10th along with her 3rd birthday after turkey. So here are pictures:

Safara and Leo, playing before supper:

Then it was ballet time!

My son's girlfriend Traci's daughter Cami and Leo

Leo was feeling a bit put out that his sister was getting all the attention, so he found Daddy (my son Eric):

Turkey preparation, Traci and Eric in the kitchen

After dinner (which was delicious) it was cake time:

Safara fooling around before the cake came out

The dress we gave her, she wouldn't take it off, so slept in it. It's lilac with pink crinolines and flowers on the chest part. She just loved it

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

Looks like a fun time Deb! Safara looks so cute in her new dress.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks so much, Makayla. We had a really good time. I see the kids often, went to the playground with Safara and my dog Bella today, Eric and Leo came out to play, too. Then Eric drove me home with kids and dog so he could have the car for the week.

Traci (Eric's girlfriend) that they'll be together a year on Oct 24. Amazing how time goes so fast!

 

[SHBailey]

I've probably said it before but I'll say it again anyway -- you have a lot of cute kids in your family.

Canadian Thanksgiving in early October sounds like a better idea than our late November, at least at this latitude (although it probably works fine in the "Lower 48"), since it's supposed to be about the harvest. Most of the harvest is over and everything is covered with snow around here by then. Maybe Alaskan Thanksgiving should be in October too, but everyone is getting ready for Halloween this month. (Is Halloween a thing in Canada?) Our temperatures are dropping and we're expecting our first measurable snowfall any day now. Some nice sunny days lately, after lots of rain, but this time of year it cools off a lot at night when it clears up and we lose our cloud blanket. We're trying to keep the thermostat and the heat lamps adjusted so the the reptiles (as well as their human slaves) will stay warm enough.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Halloween is a BIG thing in Canada. My grandkids will be going out and I took the day off so I could be with them, too. First Halloween with them, too. I used to go every year with my nephews, that was alot of fun. The area they went to, where their mom grew up, gives a fireworks show afterwords, which was alot of fun.

Thanks, I think our kids are very cute, too. We have alot of fun together, but there is going to be a ruccus going forward, as we just heard that his ex is now taking him to court for child visitation. We went out of our way for her to see the kids, she's show up and stay an hour, 2 tops, then back she'd go to wherever she lives. Afterwards the kids would again feel abandoned and would be terrible to live with, as they'd regress in age. My son found it too difficult to deal with the aftermath, so he stopped the visits. His ex is a germaphobe, OCD and mentally ill with a personality disorder. She only talks to her brother, who then gives the info to her dad. She won't take public transport to go to Eric's, if she'd do that she could see the kids every weekend! So he is going also to Family Justice and is going to request psychological testing as he doesn't trust her with the kids. She'll buy inappropriate gifts for the kids instead of giving Eric the $ so he can buy food. She doesn't trust him to not spend the $ on the kids. So it's a bad situation that is now going to get worse. Eric's going to petition the court for permanent legal custody of the children. He has every text she ever sent him since they broke up Aug/16. She's not a nice person at all but we thought she was taking care of the kids ok when she had the house they used to live in. But find out that she never socialized the kids at all. She's very antisocial and doesn't believe in kids playing together or family get togethers. So I was out of the picture for 6 of the 8 years they were together. I hardly ever saw the children, so when my son moved in August with me, I saw them all the time and still do. Eric lost everything material when he was given the kids (out of the blue, no warning) and no child support, either. So I'm still paying his rent, had to get a loan to get him through as he's applied for gov't aid, but it takes almost 90 days to process and we finally got everything together 3 weeks ago. He called to confirm they got all into. His ex, even though she abandoned the kids to Eric, wouldn't write a letter stating this so he could apply. He had to wait for his doctor to write a letter and we're hoping it's good enough. Just a waiting game.

As for Thanksgiving, I've always liked it being early October, before Halloween. It's a family get together. I usually end up having at least 2 turkey dinners, sometimes 3. I live in a 1 bedroom, so not enough space for my family, we're up to 20 now that my nieces is pregnant. I'm very blessed that I have such a great family, all supportive and easy to talk to. My dad is 90 and my mom is 82 and I see them for a bit every weekend, as they live down the street from my chiro. We're a very close concerned family.

Eric is starting to realize that having a big family is fun. He complains that he never hears from anyone, I told him it's up to him to contact his uncles, aunt and grandparents. My mom rarely picks up the phone, she likes that we call her.

Gabriel is to the vet today, he's been choking on liquids, not sure if it's part of the aneurysm, but best to find out. I don't want him suffering, but I don't want to lose him anyway. The conundrum of having an ill dragon. I'll keep you posted.

 

[SHBailey]

Halloween celebrations have changed in this country since I was a little kid. We used to dress up in costumes and go trick or treating in our neighborhoods, and when I got older we'd get a bunch of candy and carve a pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern and put it on the front porch and pass out treats -- it was fun to see all the costumes. It's kind of sad that nowadays it's not considered safe to do that in most neighborhoods anymore, and on Halloween night we usually lock up early, keep the porch lights off, and don't answer the door. But no one has ever come trick or treating here in the 19 years I've lived here. There are still costume parties and various activities for the kids -- some of the local schools do spook alleys and such, and some of the churches do "trunk or treat", where they decorate their cars, get together in the church parking lot, and pass out treats from their trunks. So we still celebrate, but it's just different. We have to take more care to make sure the kids are safe these days.

Sorry to hear that Eric is having so much trouble with his ex. Hopefully the courts and the other agencies involved will be able to stay focused on doing what's best for the kids, but the wheels of bureaucracy always seem to grind slowly and it can be very frustrating in the meantime. I hope things work out for the best for everyone involved. The fact that you have a big supportive family should help Eric's kids cope and recover from any damage that's been done in the meantime.

My husband and I have a hard time getting together with the rest of our family lately, due to his current work schedule and my increasing disability and need for his help with critter care and the rest of the household chores. My two sisters and their kids and grandkids are almost all here in Anchorage, except that one of my nieces has recently decided to move to Maine. None of us has a large enough house to get everyone together for Thanksgiving or Christmas, so we usually end up each doing our own with our own families, but in our case that's just my husband and me. We've been trying to get together and go out to lunch for my husband's 50th birthday almost a month ago now, but so far we haven't been able to find a time to do it. We used to do that every time someone in the family had a birthday, but we're all getting older and it's been getting harder and harder to get together over the years. I miss it and I'm hoping we can figure out a way to do more of it again somehow someday. My husband and I both know that whenever we visit my sisters we end up spending the rest of the day there and not getting anything else done that day, because it's usually been so long since we've talked that we just go on and on, but I think we should figure out a way to do it anyway as long as the critter care is done. Family and friends are important, and the rest of the housework will still be there tomorrow (unfortunately).

I have a hard time being the one to make the phone calls myself. I seemed to have developed that 21st century thing where I'm more comfortable with email. But one of my sisters has internet access and an email address and the other one doesn't. She didn't want a computer in her home when she retired because it made her feel too much like she was still at work.

Best wishes for Gabriel. I know you love him and want the best for him, and that you may have to make some hard decisions at some point. I've often thought that it must feel like he has a big fragile water balloon in his belly, but if I remember correctly, he's had it for over a year, so it's amazing that he's been doing so well up to this point. I hope you can at least continue to keep him comfortable for whatever time he has left.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I get to spend Halloween with my grandkids and they do go door to door in their area, full of townhomes and regular houses. So glad I was able to get the day off!

I'm back from the vet, we decided not to take an xray or blood work because he's the same as last year. My vet thinks the aneurysm may be nudging against one of his lungs, causing the choking so I'll have to be careful on giving him liquids, one drop at a time. Otherwise she said he's in good shape. He's lost a bit of weight, but is actually the same weight as last year, so the aneurysm is a bit bigger, so he's actually a bit smaller. But she said the less weight he's carrying, the better, as long as he's eating and pooping without an issue and told her in those two respects, he's fine. He gobbles down as many super worms as I'll let him. So it's again a waiting game, so again, I'll put it in the back of my mind and just take care of him.

So it's just a waiting game for Gabriel, but I'm ignoring time and enjoying that he's still with me.

As for Eric, he called the Justice Society and was given a # to make an appt with a lawyer at no cost. If they want the lawyer can take his case, as he's asking for full legal custody of the kids (he's been caring for them for almost 7 mo on his own now), plus he's asking Tara to undergo a psychiatric checkup, as her Dad told me yesterday that she's fine now...I beg to differ. Anyway, he's left a message with the Law Society and hopes to hear from someone, but won't get an appt for at least a month, which is fine. They'll duke it out in court, as she's suing for child visitation. We'll see how it goes, courts here grind exceedingly slow, too, because there are so many separations and divorces. I'm just glad he never married her, one less legal step to take. If the lawyer takes Eric's case, it's probono because Eric has no income. Should be interesting to see how it turns out.

 

[SHBailey]

Glad to hear that Gabriel got just about the best news from the vet as can be expected under the circumstances. The miracle continues.

Hopefully a good probono lawyer will be able to help Eric and his family through that mess. It seems like the courts grind slowly just about everywhere, but I hope it turns out well and doesn't take too long, because it's got to be stressful not knowing what the outcome is going to be. At least you get to have fun with the kids in the meantime -- might take all your minds off of it for a while.

We got our first light dusting of snow this weekend. It's not summer anymore, but there's nothing wrong with Puff's appetite. He scarfed his latest batch of crickets and roaches with much enthusiasm, and he turns his very happiest golden color right after he's done stuffing himself with bugs.

 

[sweetiepie9]

We're in our rainy season, that should continue until spring. We had about 4 mo without much rain, so this rain is making up for what the trees and flora missed. Lots of dead areas in alot of trees, hopefully they make it over the winter.

Yes, I see my grandkids alot, they also go to stay with their other grandparents weekly, too. Gives my son and his girlfriend them only time, gives them a good break and the kids are behaving again.

So Eric got a pro bono lawyer for 45 min On Nov 8, so he'll have the car for that. I'm glad it was quick. After the 45 min, the lawyer decides if he wants to take the case and again it's pro bono. Eric is looking for full legal custody of the 2 children. He warned his ex last time he saw her that if he had the kids for 6 mo, he'd go for that, also wants a the court to make sure his ex gets a psychological evaluation. She told her dad that her mental illness was gone. He doesn't trust anything she says or does, so he's going to demand that be done before visitation is awarded.

He found out on the weekend that his ex went into the store where his girlfriend works and was stalking her, went to 2 cashiers before putting herself in Traci's line up. Traci, being the professional that she is, never said a word. She works in a very expensive grocery store, so his ex, instead of just giving him $, got a $50 gift card from that store, which means that's $50 that he can't spend at the store way less expensive, so the kids would get more food out of the $50 than at that store. She did than on purpose, with $ she can't afford. She also bought alot of cheap toys for the kids, instead of giving Eric the $ for food. He still doesn't have an income, I had to get a loan to support him for the next 2 months...and on it goes. I'm so glad he's taking her to court, he needs to resolve all this. He got his paperwork in for a gov't child tax benefit, which we have in Canada. That area has received it all but said it can take 3 months to approve. Sigh...

It's just a mess but glad it's in his hands now.

Gabriel is still with me, you're right, he's a real miracle. I snuggled his this afternoon for a few hours, felt good. I'm hoping he'll be with me for a long time yet.

 

[SHBailey]

Glad to hear that Eric is going to get some legal help with that mess, and that the kids seem to be doing well in the meantime. The behavioral evidence does not suggest that the other parent's mental illness is gone, or that she's a fit legal guardian for the children, so I hope the courts will see that and he'll get full custody and whatever financial assistance is available till he can get back on his feet.

In the meantime, at least you have your beardies to cuddle. :love5:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Yes, I'll be so glad when that $ comes through for him and he sees the lawyer next Wed. I'll be so glad when all that is in court and being decided. He's had the kids for more than 7 mo now and deserves to have them legally.

I got some great pictures last Sunday when I had my sleepers, Castiel, Nathaniel and Cierra up for their baths. It was 80F outside, so opened up the balcony door and they got sunshine most of the day. Bella, of course, was in the middle of it all :love5:

Gabriel decided to walk across Bella to get to the other side of the living room. She didn't even flinch, sweet girl.

Bella got between Nathaniel and Castiel in the last of the sunshine that afternoon.

Nathaniel and Cierra were having their soaks when Nathaniel decided to jump out. The look on her face was priceless "why would you do that?", like she doesn't try at every opportunity to get out of the bath herself :roll:

Castiel soaking up the sun, it moves around alot in the fall. All his wonderful colours came out that day.

Imp was on the ramp and I got this picture, sun was on his face, he thought his whole body was in the sun, silly boy :lol: Looks like he's shedding but it's just the sun.

Two weeks ago we went to my sister's to celebrate my mom's birthday, my b-i-l's and my granddaughter, Safara, who turned 3 on Oct 10. It was a great time, especially because my eldest niece Tehya is pregnant and due Feb 3. Her birthday is the 15th and my sister's in the 17th of Feb, so there's going to be another birthday to celebrate in February. She's just glowing!

And I finally got to take my grandkids out on Halloween, 1st time! We were out walking for about 2 1/2 hrs, so they were very tired when we got back.
So here are Princess Ballerina and Mr Dragon!

And Leo showing off the head of the dragon costume

Bella got a haircut a couple of weeks ago and she also got a ribbon in her hair with cobwebs on it. Her hair was so long (she has yorkie in her so fuzzy hair) I couldn't comb it anymore, and it was terrible giving her a bath.

And last but not least is Bella's new winter coat. $4 polar fleece coat at the Dollar Store.

She's not thrilled but she's warm and has never tried to take it off. It was 80F last week but today it was cold and rained all day. Some areas even had snow today.

 

[MufasasMomMakayla]

I love all the pictures Deb!! Everyone looks great. And I'm slightly jealous of your warm day, its gotten cold fast here (there was some snow last Saturday when I was picking up my new snake tank!), but today has been relatively warm comparatively.