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]

Thanks Mike, I'll get on here as soon as we get home, but I'll get some pics of Gabriel this am. I pick him up in about 3 hours, so have to clean out Sweetie's tank & find the old power sun I had that was working ok, just until I get the new one on Saturday. I'm sure going to be busy over the next few days!
Deb

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

So any new updates on lonzo or gabriel

 

[sweetiepie9]

Gabriel is home, I've given him a bath, he was kind enough to poop on me, so have a sample for the vet. He's now in his tank checking everything out, but he had a bath first thing when I got him home, gave him liquid calcium & min/vit & he licked it right up. He woudn't drink any water, but that will come. He's got roaches & salad in his tank, he's already checked it out but hasn't eaten anything yet. He's basked under his power sun (I had an extra until I get a new one on Saturday) and found Sweetie's pillow that I put in his tank. He's got a cool side, a big food dish full of river rock pebbles that he can lounge on. I couldn't find Sweetie's hide, can't remember where I put it, but have a box I can make one in later. Not sure if he'll need one, but we'll see. I'm loading pics of him now so will add them in a minute:

Getting used to his new tank:

Already basking:

Different views of Gabriel:

That's all he had patience for; his fat pads on his head are sunken, his eyes have some goop on them, not sure what it's from but he can see fine. He's been all over the tank but hasn't eaten anything yet. He's cuddled alot, too, but he needs to get his strength up.

Hope you enjoyed the pics, here are few more of the rest of the crew;

Rubio doing his morning exercies, this one is the splits!

I'll have to put the rest of later, photobucket just froze again , oh well, later I'll have an update from the vet anyway.
Deb

 

[athenacp]

Awww, love the pics! Great to see him!

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

Aww what a cutie

 

[Jiffy]

Oh wow, I have missed so much. My updates stopped coming and I have missed pages and pages and pages of stuff. Congrats on the new guy. Now I have lots of catching up reading to do!

 

[spikerocks]

Oh Deb, he is so handsome! Can't wait to see how he changes after you've had him awhile! I know Gabriel is LUCKY to have found u!

Aren't u going to miss having a female around to drive u crazy with eggs????

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Mary, thanks for looking, I've fallen in love again, just call me crazy!

Thanks Mike, hope you'll get those harnesses soon.

Hi Jennifer, good to hear from you, have to check out your thread too, any news on your crew? I've been catching up on your facebook more than here, though, glad your doggies got through their surgery, give them both hugs for me. And all the rest of your crew, too

Gabriel has already made his way through the whole of his new tank & has taken a few bites of salad, so he's getting used to it all. And I am, too, it's nice to have company in my room again. I haven't brought him out to the living room, want him to see the vet first, make sure he doesn't have any parasites & get a good checkup. I'll post an update when I get back, have to leave in an hour or so to get there, so will post later And if photobucket stops being so annoying I'll post the rest of the pics of the rest of my crew, too.
Deb

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

Yes hopefully I do get them soon actually I should go check the mail I will be waiting for and update on lonzo

 

[Goonie]

Congrats!

Gabriel's such a sweetheart, latching onto you like that. He knew you needed him just as much as he needed you.
Aside from being skinny, he looks great! I'm sure you'll have him fattened up in a month's time.
Can't wait to read stories of when the other boys meet Gabriel. I'm sure they'll be bobbing themselves silly :lol:

 

[athenacp]

It's been nagging me so I just took another real good look at him...he looks like Digger!!!! A real cutie!

 

[Goonie]

It's been nagging me so I just took another real good look at him...he looks like Digger!!!! A real cutie!

:silent:

 

[Nicodemous]

He looks awesome, I hope he starts eating soon, Im having a problem with Shen-ron not eating.
How old is he?

 

[diamc]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Gabriel has nice coloring and we all know that you'll have him fattened up in no time. We also know that TLC makes a big difference in how well they do and he sure will get LOTS of that from you. I imagine that it does seem good to have a beardie in your bedroom again. Good idea putting him there where it's quiet to give him time to get used to everything and away from the other boys for now.

Hopefully everything will be fine with both of them at the vets tomorrow. Gabriel may have parasites but we know that's an easy fix. So, he pooped on you already? :lol:

Rubio was so funny with the way he was holding his legs, that would be painful for us humans!

 

[sweetiepie9]

So the great news is Gabriel is in great health, no MBD, no problems with his eyes, no issues with his vent, he's just dirty & skinny. Because his head is fully developed the vet & I both think he's over a year old, so he may not grow in length, but I know I'll get him fattened up in no time, just like you said, Diane. He does have parasites, so a dose of panacur weekly for 4 weeks to get rid of that.

Lonzo's lung started to function a bit this afternoon from being out & running around. The vet said it sounds good, even though he's doing his best to flip over, she was glad I'd gotten everything out of his tank & that I keep an eye on him when he's running around. There was no sound of an infection or water or anything, so she said to keep doing what I'm doing & she's hoping it will be back to normal within three weeks. And to make sure he gets alot of exercise so he's forced to take deep breaths, so baths daily & we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the kind words Diane, yes isn't that amazing what Rubio does? He does it all the time on that "thigh master" as Dawn in Florida used to call it. He's always running around or doing that kind of thing all the time, besides Didi, he's the most active of the bunch.

Nicodemous, have you checked your UVB light? That's what the matter was here, I'd not paid attention to the length of time & all the power suns I was using weren't giving off any UVB, that made them not want to eat. Now that they've had new lights for a week, they're all starting to eat much better. Lonzo has lost 26g since April 15 & I think it's the UVB, so now I have to get more weight on him again. At least his abdominal fat pads are full again & the ones on his head are starting to grow in again. If it's not the UVB, it could just be spring fever. If not that it could be parasites. Those are the 3 main things I can think of off the top of my head, as those are the usual things over here. Do you have a good herp vet where you live? Maybe a vet visit or at least a fecal check would help.

I'm so pleased with Gabriel, considering how bad he's been looked after, I'm amazed that he's as healthy as he is. He's taken to Sweetie's pillow & won't part with it, so he's on top of it on his basking spot right now. I just measured him, he's 7" snout to vent & 17 1/2" from snout to end of tail (he has a really long tail), so not as bad as I originally though, I'm hoping he'll grow another inch within the next few months of good eating, calcium, vit/min & lots of love.

Lonzo is going to have to cut out being a kamikaze. At the vet he kept trying to jump off my shoulder, to the point I had to put him back in his carrier after he'd seen the vet. Gabriel on the other hand, was an angel & was really good about being checked everywhere. So I start the panacur on the weekend & I'm hoping it does the trick for him.

So I'm off to eat supper & relax. Glad that's all over.
Deb