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:

 

[blondie098]

Hey Deb -- not sure which seed variety Barbara sent you, but I have a couple different ones -- they grow great in containers!!! I bought an ounce of each variety, from Johnny's Seeds in Maine -- so if you need a small sampling let me know... one is red-veined (Ho Mi Z) mustard greens... the other is green wave mustards... I misplaced my turnip greens seeds, I am searching everywhere for those bad boys, since I am lining up containers on the railings of my porch to deter my bunny farm (we got a plethora of bunnies this year, they love my wild strawberries and nibble on the rest of my plantings, too)

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'll let you know Dawn, thanks for the offer. Barbara sent the seeds to Joanne Henderson & we're going to share, so I see her Saturday am & I'll let you know. I have the soil, just need to get a planter. My son's coming over this weekend for a bit to get this great big chair off the balcony, takes up 1/2 of it! Also bring the soil in my trunk upstairs (I put my back out trying to get it into my trunk, one of workers at the nursery gave me heck, said that's what he was there for!) So I'll see what I have room for. I harvested some dandelion seeds, so hoping they'll grow, too, they all love baby dandelion leaves. I have alot of clean up & rearranging to do there, so will know by the weekend if I have room for more. Happy planting, hope you find those turnip seeds!

 

[slavetoIzzie]

Ooooo, dandelions! Osca new fav. She'll not only eat the leaves but just dives into her dish for the flowers! If the darn rain and chilly weather we're having lately would go away, I'm hoping to plant a couple of containers of greens for the bugger. My problem is finding a green that she likes for longer than a week.

Osca has once more been allowed on the internet, but is still restricted in what she's allowed to see. If she continues to eat her food from her dish, she'll be allowed to look at some more pictures, appropriate pictures!!! So tell that young man of yours to behave himself. The last talk I had with her, I explained that boys are what make her have eggies. So she's not so keen on the idea of a boyfriend anymore :twisted: Can we say " nasty mummy"? :lol:

Hope you have a nice sunny weekend.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Frances, glad you explained the male + eggies thing. Doesn't sound like she wants to do that again, it's alot of work! I'm hoping we'll get enough sun so I'll be able to have a little beardie garden going for greens. I can only find chard, bok choy & kale here, sometimes I can find collard greens at Walmart. That's it for greens. They pretty well grew up on bok choy, which is a chinese cabbage but that really sit well with them all. They eat alot of it, which is great. I'm going to see how growing the dandelion goes. We have tons of it as everywhere, but it's most abundant beside roads, so I"m not too keen on picking dandelions that are full of exhaust. Can't see that can be good for them.

Sorry Osca doesn't have any females over here to be friends with. Found out that Rocco really is a male gecko, even though he's not like a crestie & shows of male parts, they're like dragons & their parts are hidden. Anyway, maybe Osca can pretend that the pics on here of Didi and the gang are females :lol: As long as she's not being given any suggestions, would that work? I put only PG13 pics on my thread :lol:

Big news, I had Lonzo in the bath for a long time & his lung started functioning again from all his jumping around. I also put him out in the sunshine for a good 2 hours & it's still functioning, so maybe not to the vet just yet.

And Gabriel ate 7 supers, even though he wouldn't eat any greens. I'll have to try tomorrow. Didi, Rubio & Lonzo drank tons of bee pollen; I could only find granules, but they melt in water, so put 1/8 bee pollen to 3/4 warm water & they just drink it down. I'm hoping it helps Lonzo & Rubio; Didi can always use the extra boost. I did get a probiotic into Gabriel this am, but he wouldn't drink any of the bee pollen, so will try again tomorrow. He's basking lots, it's the most he's eaten in a week. He also ate 3 tsp of chicken w/veg babyfood, too.

 

[diamc]

Hi Deb,

Sounds like they're all doing great, you are sure a wonderful beardie mom. Lonzo has been behaving and now his lung is all better, awesome.

Wow, Gabriel ate a lot, that must have made you very proud. So, they like the bee pollen? I got the granules too but they don't seem to dissolve as well as yours must. Perhaps I should use slightly warmer water next time.

How is work going? Are you quite tired when you get home?

 

[NeosMom]

It sounds like everything is going well with the kiddos, Deb. Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well today. I hope you will be back to yourself very quickly.

Be sure to keep us posted on how your garden comes along. I've been seriously considering trying to start one myself. I want to grow the stuff I can't get here. Believe it or not, we don't have dandelions! :shock: I'll be keeping a close eye on every one else's progress.

Tell Lonzo good job on staying up right and to keep up the good work.

 

[beardie parents]

I'm glad to hear that lonzo's lung is working better again. I hope you will feel better soon. It must be frustrating when you keep feeling bad and don't stay feeling good. I hope that stops soon.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Diane, I`m so glad that Lonzo`s not flipping over anymore, I was sure he`d kill himself. His lung isn`t fully functional, but a bit better, still looks a bit caved in, so leaving him at least 20 min in the sink for his bath & he loves to climb out. I caught him glass dancing, which is good exercise for him & he just went sideways, didn`t flip over, so that was good, too. I`m such a worry wart when it comes to him! Gabriel hasn`t gained any weight, he`s actually lost & back to his original weight, but he did eat those supers today & his last panacur is on Sunday, so after that I`m hoping he`ll get back to normal with eating & start gaining weight. He`s getting stronger & he swam a bit in the big tub after Leo was done his swim. So I might be letting him swim a bit with me there going forward. He`s also gotten into the habit of pooping in the sink when he gets his morning bath, which is great, less clean up for me!

Hi NeòsMom, thanks for the good wishes, I`ll let you know how my little beardie garden goes.

Hi Lori, me, too. I felt fine, just a bit tired yesterday, but it was awful this am and I got a good sleep so was very frustrating, so seeing the doc tomorrow & also the chiro, just in case it`s my back causing all the issues. I have some pics that I tried to load earlier, but photobucket keeps freezing, so I`ll try tomorrow.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Gabriel ate 7 supers today again, which is great, I weighed him but he hasn't gained any weight. His poops are good, so will call the vet tomorrow to see if I can get a fecal done on Saturday to avoid the last panacur treatment if possible, I don't want him to lose any more weight, I'd rather he keep eating supers & veggies/greens when I can trick him into eating them :roll: He's as bad as the rest of them :roll: Even hand feeding, I have to slide them in on the side of his mouth, so might try to make the baby salads I used to to see if he'll eat it that way, will try on the weekend.

I did get to the chiro & doctor. My back feels much better. The doc thinks I had a complete body figromyalgic flare (yuck, like having the usual flare doesn't hurt enough). She checked me very thoroughly, so ruled out a possible flu, as said I would have had more than pain & fatigue. So I feel better & I'm back to work tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn't happen again, but any change in temperature can bring it on, even with the meds I take.

It was good to be home with my boys for two days, got everyone out in the sun, especially Rubio & Lonzo. I started giving Lonzo probiotics & bee pollen, so will see if it makes a difference down the road. He was out for a good hours today running around, trying to get off the ramp by the sides :shock: :roll: instead of down the ramp, but he never flipped over, so that was great. His lung function is not great, but still better than it was, but if it's not better in a month I'll be taking him back to the vet, as will be able to take a day off. And that's the time I need to make sure it won't get back to normal on it's own. He's not in any distress, I still give him a bath every day as much as possible & leave him in for at least 20 min so he jumps alot. On weekends I get him out on the ramp for at least an hour a day & if it's sunny, I'll leave him out in the sun for as long as he'll stay there. I'll be cleaning up the balcony this weekend which will give them all more room to romp in the sunshine (when there is sunshine, so far we've had sun for a whole week & I'm hoping that will continue for at least the whole weekend).

So I did get some pics, so will try to get some on here, as long as photobucket doesn't freeze:
Gabriel in his bath:
"Can I come out yet, Mom?"

He's standing up in the sink now and trying to jump out, which is new, he's really lightly coloured in the bath:

My African violet that is doing really well, first one in years:

Where Rubio falls asleep most nights:

and sometimes here, he woke up with the flash, notice the back legs :lol: :

Where Gabriel falls asleep:

Lonzo's black beard, goes right down his legs :shock:

and getting back up on the ramp, of course he doesn't start up from the bottom:

then he has a rest:

on his way to the top!

Didi, always trying to jump out of his tank when he's not on the ramp:

Leo "more worms please"

Rubio enjoying the sunshine:

And last but not least, my nieces & nephews on Mother's day at my parents, enjoying the sunshine outside by the pool:
Emily, 10, helping Uncle Ian clean out the pool:

Carly, 8, enjoying the sun:

Cole, almost 12, also enjoying the sun, in the side jacuzzi with the little pool cleaner:

and Ryder, 6, wearing a life jacket, just in case he decided to jump in, even though the pool isn't ready to swim in:

My dad, my mom, my sister & my sis-in-law (mom of the boys) on the deck above the patio where the pool is

We all had a great day!

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

Wow I really love didi colors that bright yellow is so nice I love all the pics

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Mike, took me 2 days to get them up, photobucket was constantly freezing. Glad you like the pics! I just saw the pic of Zeus outside, looks like he enjoyed himself. If you can, leave him out longer, the sunshine is great UVB for them.

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

I tried but Sheba was to intrested and he was puffing up at her and I didnt need them to scrap

 

[sweetiepie9]

Put the cat in the house while you have him outside, that might help.

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

Yeah I am but she would run when I tried lol

 

[blondie098]

Holy cannoli, I have never seen a black beard that goes the WHOLE belly too!