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:

 

[Jasper's Mom]

Tell Sweetie that Bob and Phineas say good luck with the egg laying! Chloe didn't say anything because I didn't tell her about it. I don't want to put ideas in her head! :shock:

 

[puppytoes72]

And Michelle, she did start before there was ever a male in our house. I've heard that, too, that you need male hormones to stimulate the egg production, but it's not true in our case. I know of other beardies that lay infertile egg, with no male in sight. So it's a mystery to me

Deb

I think you meant to direct this at Christine,not me?

 

[sweetiepie9]

Sorry Michele, my mistake, my only excuse is I was tired after work...

I weighed Sweetie this morning & she's 428 grams, which is heavier than I thought, but she's still 100 grams lighter than the last time she was getting ready to lay eggs. Hopefully she won't have as many eggs, so won't lose too much weight after she lays, it's such a worry, as you can't just spay a dragon like a female cat, which is too bad. And I'm rambling.

Roger set up a play area for Sweetie in our bedroom, he's got the lay box out and we'll see what Sweetie does. Meanwhile the boys are having a ball in the living room. We also have our neighbour's beardie Puff for a couple of weeks. They discovered a few days that there may be bedbugs in their home, so they had a sniffer dog come in (sent by the management of our complex) and sure enough, they have bugs :shock: So they're having their apt fumigated tomorrow, so we have Puff and Deja until Sat, which is fine, we really enjoy both of them Anyway so our neighbours are now moving to North Vancouver, about 30 miles away as soon as they can, she can't even think about it; they're also getting married on July 24 and she's busy getting all that sorted. They even got rid of their bed, bedding and other furniture. Luckily, even though we lived next door and moved, both the apts were checked out by a sniffer dog (rat terrier) and both places came out negative, thank god So we're good and our dragons are safe. I'm starting to be really glad we moved!

Deb

 

[FaaFaa]

I think that I would be very happy that I moved too Deb with all of that going on.

Poor Sweetie. Poor you. I can't even imagine the stress that you go thru every time that she lays a clutch of eggs. Heres hoping that this will be her last clutch for a very, very long time.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Jen, I'm hoping it'll be soon, and that she has a great appetite afterwards, but I'm going to check into what would help her the most.

Pics on the weekend
Deb

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well I just talked to Roger, thank goodness he put the play area together with her laybox, she hopped right in just before I left for work & started digging. He said she's pretty well finished & the eggs are really small, so I'm hoping she doesn't lose alot of weight. She'll be looking for Daddy to help cover them up and tamp the soil down, she so spoiled :mrgreen: I'll post pics on the weekend. Glad that's over with for another month or so.

 

[FaaFaa]

Wow that didn't take her any time to do now did it? Poor Sweetie. Is it good or bad that the eggs were tiny? Roger takes such good care of them, and so do you too. Give Sweetie an extra hug for me, poor baby was working hard today.

 

[fez09]

Hi Deb, boy she was ready and waiting for that laybox wasn't she!!! That's so sweet that she wants Roger to help her!! Can you take pics of her play area?? Hopefully the eggies didn't take alot out of her and she bounces back quickly...Lord knows I'm so nervous about eggs!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Katrina, I don't blame you for worrying about eggs; Sweetie started on her 2nd birthday, until then it wasn't even a thought as we thought Sweetie was a male. Surprise! She ate over 20 worms today, and got her liquid calcium, she didn't lost alot of weight, the eggs were small, so she shoud fatten up well if she continues to eat her protein and salad. I have to weigh her tomorrow, see how much she lost.

I'll take a pic when Roger puts it back up. We have to put other things in the play area now that the laybox is put away again. For how long, it's a mystery.

Deb

 

[puppytoes72]

Sweetie is such a trooper!
Like Katrina I would love to see pics of her play area :wink:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Sandi, I don't blame you for not telling Chloe, no use in giving her ideas. :idea: Hopefully laying eggs won't start at any time

Jen, thanks for the good wishes, Sweetie came through again, it's good the eggs were small, less weight for her to lose. Infertile eggs have yolk & orange yolks & that's all,not enough to sustain a baby, they grow doulble the size or larger when they've been fertilized. So the smaller the better for Sweetie, she loses less weight that way. Roger got that box out just in time, too. She's almost a month between lays, so won't know for 3 wks if she's carrying again. She ate of 20 supers yesterday, plus greens. So hopefully she'll get her regular weight back before thinking about another clutch :roll:

Michele, Roger will put up the play area today & I'll take pics. Sweetie hasn't even asked to come out of her tank, she lay on her yellow blankie with her pillow & watched racing with Daddy. She was very content, so Roger moved her power sun over a bit, that gives her a better cool area on the other side with her hide.

I'll post pics later, it's been a very busy weekend so far.

Deb

 

[sweetiepie9]

Sweetie was sick again last night. She was very distressed when I got home from meeting Nicole's beardies, that we're going to foster. Poor Sweetie had a black beard but the rest of her was very creamy, no stress marks. She seemed "antsy", so I grabbed her & wrapped her in a blankie. She managed to poop on me then she managed to throw up all over me later. Would explain the black beard. Needless to say after cleaning her up, I snuggled her some more. This am the black beard is gone and she just seems tired. So I've given her the day on exercise and we'll be careful feeding her for a few days. Still not sure what's causing this vomiting, this is the 2nd time for Sweetie and none of our beardies have even been sick to their stomach like that until this year. Strange.

Still need to get those pics up, they're already in photobucket, will get to it soon. I need to get ready for work, lunch, etc.

Deb

 

[fresnowitte]

Poor Sweetie she's just a little egg laying machine.

 

[FaaFaa]

Hey Deb---I was checking in to see how Sweetie was, then I read that she's not feeling too well. Poor poor baby, first eggs now this. Isn't it supossed to be morning sickness and throwing up first? Seriously, I hope that she is OK. I know that you are a great beardie mommie and she's in great hands with you. Keep us updated (can't wait for those pics) So how did the meeting go with the soon to be fosters?

 

[vickson420]

Poor Sweetie
Did you change feeders perhaps or feeder suppliers?