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:

 

[Goonie]

Great pic of all but one of your boys!
Was Lonzo awake at all for the photo shoot? He seemed a tad annoyed that you woke him up for a silly photo :laughing6:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Holly, Christine, Diane & Gina, thanks for the compliments. I just took the one shot & it worked because none of them were very happy to be so close to each other. I'd just picked Lonzo up from the ramp, that's why he's not happy at all, poor dear. But at least I was able to get them all in the pic & me, too. Yes, I'm a proud mama!

 

[beardie parents]

They all look great! I can't imagine how you can hold 4 beardies with one hand take a picture. I would need both hands at least then someone else to snap the pic.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Lori, it took some juggling but it only took one pic, so I was lucky that I didn't drop any of them, especially Mr Wigglewort Lonzo, he wasn't happy at all to be among the rest! But it was great to see that it did come out well!

 

[diamc]

Oh, what a great picture, must have been difficult to get the camera set up just right. So nice of you to do that for us. Have to admit that you look like a very proud mama. :wink: Leo is looking right at the camera, guess he knew he should be posing. Lonzo sure didn't look very happy with his black beard and with his eyes closed too, looks like he's trying to block it all out.

 

[diamc]

Hi Deb, how are your crew doing?

 

[sweetiepie9]

We're all doing well, I'm on my way to Walmart to pick up a few things, not waking them up yet, they can sleep in for a few more minutes. I have some pics I'll post later. I spent yesterday with my neice Emily, it was her 11th birthday, so it was fun, then next Sunday my sis is giving Emily & I a birthday lunch, which is also going to be alot of fun. I'll check in later. Glad you liked the photo Diane. It turned out alot better than I though it would!

 

[diamc]

Glad to hear you are all doing well. A good idea letting them sleep in a little if you can. Who isn't brumating right now? Wow, your niece Emily is 11 already? Bet the birthday lunch will be fun too.

Yes, your picture turned out great. Did you take it with a webcam?

Always enjoy your pictures. I have to put some up of Loki & Angie.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Diane, I took that picture myself by holding on tight to the boys & pointing my camera at us all. I was so pleased it turned out so well! Have more and a few pics of yesterday, too, will post later. On my way to food shop for the week. And I figured out how to get worms into Lonzo, he ate 4 yesterday & 6 today. It's the only way to get weight back on him, squash & collards just don't do the trick. So I'll keep doing that until he's got the 30g he lost back on. Then I'll give him a break! I have to open his mouth, put the tail end of the worm in his mouth & voila, he'll eat it! Now if I can only get Rocco my gecko to eat. He hasn't eaten anything for over a month. Jake was offered a 20g long glass tank with a front opening that will be better for Rocco, he's coming over later with it to help me get Rocco into it, then coco fibres as substrate. We figure that Rocco is very dehydrated from keeping the heating on, next weekend I get him an under tank heater & with a top on & lots of water, it will be more humid for him. I think that's what he's missing, so wish me luck. He was Roger's gecko and I really don't want to lose him. Plus if he's nice and warm I don't have to keep the heat up so high, it's at 75 right now, ugh, too hot for me!

The other 4 are doing fine, Didi is keeping on his weight, he won't eat supers now so I bought him big crickets and he scarfed down five, 1 white super so far today, so now I have a way to feed him to. Leo's great with worms, he'll always eat at least 4 a day, so he's keeping on his weight & Gabriel will eat white supers and chicken babyfood, but he was really fat so I'm not as concerned with him as with Lonzo.

 

[diamc]

Wow, can't imagine trying to get the angle just right to take that picture. If I tried doing that, I'm sure it would have been just a big blur.

That's great that you got Lonzo to eat 4 worms yesterday and 6 today. How do you go about coaxing him to open his mouth to get a worm in? Hopefully he'll gain the 30 g and more back soon. How has his breathing been?

Sorry to hear that Rocco isn't eating. How long have you had him? Good that Jake found that other tank and hopefully it will make a difference to Rocco's health. The UTH's aren't very expensive. What had you been using to heat his tank, just the room heat or a CHE? (as you can tell, I don't know much about geckos.)

Great that Didi is enjoying the crickets. Sounds like the rest of them are doing quite well.

I just posted some new pics if you get a chance to check in there.

 

[haleygirl272]

Now, I've joined very late in this conversation, but what is the temperature in that room!? :shock:

Great set up!

-Haley

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Diane, I did see the pics, boy has Loki grown! Amazing! He'll grow in length soon, enough, he's only 5 mo old, but sure looks like an older dragon! They're both beautiful, almost the same colours, too.

Rocco is very confused, he's now in a glass tank, which is better for humidity, with coco fibre as a substrate. I need to get him an under tank heater, they're expensive, but I can get one next weekend for him. He's very frustrated, as he can't seem to manoeuver on glass. He's always used his nails to get around, not pads, but I know he has them, it's just to get used to using his suction pads. Jake got him into the new tank. He's so confused he's not been upset with me handling him. I put two heaters on top of his tank, 40W black lights. The CHE wouldn't be good for him, but he's clinging to the mesh at the top. I'll just keep an eye on him & hope that he gets used to the glass & can get around.

So I have new pics but PB isn't cooperating in downloading them, I'll try again later.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Haley, nice to hear from you! Thanks for the complements & I've been keeping the temps at 75F night & day, trying to keep my gecko warm. An under tank heater will do the trick & then I won't have to have the temps up so high. The dragons don't need them that high!

If you look a page or two back, you'll see a pic I took of myself & 4 of my dragons. I'm still surprised it turned out so well & I didn't drop any of them!

How are you and yours?

 

[haleygirl272]

Hi Haley, nice to hear from you! Thanks for the complements & I've been keeping the temps at 75F night & day, trying to keep my gecko warm. An under tank heater will do the trick & then I won't have to have the temps up so high. The dragons don't need them that high!

It's been quite a while since i've stopped by the forums :roll:

Oh I was more referring to human temp. Just one heat lamp in my room is enough to raise the temp to 80. I can't imagine all of those! :lol:

-Haley

 

[sweetiepie9]

All of my dragons have power suns 160W, including the one in my bedroom. For some reason it takes alot to heat up my apartment, even though it's a 1 bedroom, but my bedroom is cold at night. Gabriel, who has the tank in my bedroom, sleeps on the couch in the living room, that's how cold I like the bedroom to be! He gets covered up in his fleece blankie and his pillow and sleeps away until I wake him up in the morning. Once it warms up in the spring he'll be back in his tank overnight.

I knew it had been awhile since I'd seen you on here, so welcome back!