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]

I know you wouldn't Liz, you don't have that in you, you're like me, what they need, they get :lol:

 

[zandi202]

Yup! Besides, I think Jace had the cutest babies years :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

I only had Rubio and Issy (who passed away at 19 months from a virus, RIP Issy) as babies. The rest I got as adults, but still all cute (in my eyes anyway). I remember pics of Jace and he was a very cute baby. Rubio was already 3 months old & injured when I got him, but he healed up really well. He was just always very active and loved to play acrobat!


And here he is at 3 mo old, he was 24g, the pictures is sort of green, not sure why:

Here he is a 5 mo old, got his first black beard, he was so entranced with it, he fell off his log :lol:


And this is what Issy looked like when we got her:


And awhile later:


Full grown:


Boy, those pics bring back so many memories! I still miss Issy, she was such a cutie!

 

[zandi202]

I can't believe how little Rubio used to be! He was so tiny! Time sure flies.

Issy was adorable. Again, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Liz, she passed away in 2010, same time as Angel, another rescue we had, who had severe MBD and lived for a year with us, very happily, too. I'll have to put a retrospective on here one day of all the dragons I've had. With Titan, I've lost 6 beardies over 7 years, but that's what happens when you rescue dragons, they don't always make it, but they all had a wonderful life with us. It's always hard to lose them but it's also great to know that you gave them a life they wouldn't have had without you.

And yes, Rubio was tiny when I got him, he's now a big galoof :lol:

 

[JangoMom]

Hey Deb Stopped by and say hello

 

[Tonja]

I thought I left a post but guess it didn't post. I love the pictures of Rubio, he was so tiny and now look at the big boy. He sure has grown in a handsome dragon. I am sorry you lost Issy and she was gorgeous and loved her little red collar with the bell on it. You can tell you take really good care of them and that they want for nothing. Such a good beardie slave you are!!!!! How is the white patch on ?? <I am sorry I cant remember his name> doing? Last I saw you were to clean it off really well to see what was what. Snowing pretty good here, has been since yesterday and will through tomorrow then again next week. Needless to say I have the CHEs going tonight as the house is a bit chilly. Anyway have a great night!

 

[sweetiepie9]

That was Rubio with the white patch, we never did get the silver sulphadine cream off & I don't know what to make of what is left. Now he's got dark scales underneath his belly, I was hoping it was a shed starting, but his sheds are light to start off with, not dark, so we're back to the vet tomorrow am. After Titan I'm paranoid about anything that's not normal, so will let you know what the vet thinks.

 

[sweetiepie9]

So the vet is pretty sure that Rubio is starting a shed. It's been so long since he's shed his belly that I couldn't remember if he turned dark or pink So she said to keep an eye on him and to bring him back in two weeks for a biopsy if it gets worse, the dark under his belly and the large spot on his side. So fingers crossed he is shedding it all off!

So I saw the Cavalia show today, OMG it was WONDERFUL. I'm going to make sure I see it if it comes back to Vancouver, we were all entranced. They stable 67 horses, 20 stallions and 47 geldings. There were 17 shows in the show today, beautiful horses. The acrobats were also wonderful, so talented. There were so many different parts to the show, some with just acrobats, some with just horses, some with both. There was one part where a woman had 6 horses on the stage and had them doing all sorts of things, then come back to her, it was awesome. I bought the book about the whole show, my friend Adrienne bought the DVD and CD. So I'll get to borrow the DVD one day. There were 12 of us in all that went, we had great seats, could see everything that was going on & there was always a lot going on at once. Totally awesome.

I got a call from Eric this am, not to invite me over (it's only been a month since I saw Leo and it was his 6th month birthday today) but to ask me to scan his baby pictures and email them to him. I don't even know how to scan to the computer...another learning curve...told him it would take me awhile to do that as I'm back to work tomorrow full time and have to find all the pictures, too, they're in a memory box with a lot of others, not in albums anymore, as they were fading. They're from a LONG time ago, Eric is 30 after all!!!

I also put my favourite picture of Leo on my banner on Facebook, so I'm waiting to get heck for doing that, but I'm not going to remove it, after all, he is my grandson and Eric and Tara don't know my friends. And I'm very proud to be a grandmom, so to heck with them :lol:

All in all, it was a wonderful day!

So yes, I'm back full-time to work this week, so didn't get an extension on my short-term, even though I only worked 5 hours a day last week. The week I was so sick with the flu put me back, but they were going to cut me off benefits starting tomorrow, so instead I'm taking Tues and Thurs off (with my manager's blessing) as personal days. I have physio on Tues and doc apt on Thurs, so that will mean I only work 3 days next week. Next Monday is our national Family Day holiday and I've taken Feb 14 off as well because of a late apt with my physio to start on my ankle to strengthen it up for surgery (which could still take awhile) so that will be my 2nd week of full-time, again with 3 days. After that I should be ready for 5 days in a row full-time. Luckily I have 25 days vacation, plus they gave me back Xmas & New Year's Eve holiday from last year + 3 hours, so that's a lot of vacation time. I have 4 days off end June, Mondays off in July and Aug, and Xmas eve. I parked the other days in November & will move them around as needed. I was late getting my vacation time in, so I don't have New Year's eve off this year, but we only work 6 hours and I'll be checking monthly to see if someone drops it. I would like to have that day off as that's the day I bake for New Year's Day, which is the big day at my folks for lunch. So we'll see how that goes, it's still a long way off.

Puff has finally gotten used to living here, her beard is more often peach than black, so I'm so pleased about that. Gabriel is still in love with her, he goes nuts every time I put her out or I put him out on the ramp. I have some pics but have to get to bed, so will post them tomorrow or Tuesday, when I have more time. He's such a riot :lol:

 

[Goonie]

(apologizing in advance if this sounds out of line) Why can't Eric just borrow the box of photos and scan them himself?? He doesn't want to go to your house nor have you drop them off at his house??

Baby Rubio was adorable!! Loved the one of him black bearded and off of the branch :laughing6:
Hope the spots on his back and tummy are shed patches.

I remember that pic of Issy with the bell. It's so cute.

Could Gabriel and Puff's relationship be like Squirt and Gianna's, where he'd go nuts only seeing her from afar but perfectly fine when they're actually sitting together??? Or are you not willing to try that yet?

 

[sweetiepie9]

Yes, they're the same as Squirt & Gianna. Lots of bobbing, black bearding when one or the other is out on the ramp, then put them together & they hardly react, it's kind of weird but funny :mrgreen:

Rubio was a very cute baby & I fell in love with him. That's when Roger was working at a pet shop & there was a baby that was biting all the other babies, so we had a little hospital going at home. That's how I got Rubio for free, even though he was on sale for $150! And now he's 5 years old. Time sure goes fast!

And Gina, Eric would never think to come over here or have me over there. I've decided that I'll just live my life but I'm in no rush to get those pics to him either.

 

[dragonlover3]

Hi Deb,
I popped in to catch up on your gang. I know we chat on fb but wanted to see your beautiful dragons too! Hoping you feel better. Being GrandMom is great isn't it! Leo is ADORABLE!!!
<3
Amanda

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Amanda, nice to see you here. Yep, love being a grandma, just don't see him often enough. Have no idea when I'll see him again either, but don't fuss about it, I'm still smiling from having him at my folks on New Year's Day

My boys are doing fine and so is Puff, Gabriel is still in love but Puff, the little hussy, will low bob at any of them that are on the ramp, I think she just loves all the attention!

My niece Tehya and her boyrfriend Cole left for London, England yesterday and I just got an email from my sis that they arrived safely. Tehya went out for lunch with my folks on Sunday and I guess my sis took this great picture:


They both got 2 year working VISAS so not sure how long they'll stay. They're living with friends for awhile while they look for a place to live, then I guess they'll check for jobs after sightseeing. I'm hoping she'll do a blog, like she's done for all their other adventures, as I love to read up on what they're doing and she posts wonderful pictures. She's a great photographer.

I'm back to the vet on Feb 17, my manager allowed me to take a day vacation when I explained about Rubio & I'm taking Puff in, too, just for a check up. I'm not sure what my vet is going to say about Rubio, I'm hoping that semi-circle on his tummy is the beginning of a shed, but that ring he has on his back still hurts him. I haven't put any polysporin on him as it's not helping him at all. So we'll see what she says, at least if it is shed, it should be less dark by then. Fingers crossed this will all go away with a shed!

So I'm back full time, glad I'm getting time off in between days, though, as I'm still kind of tired by about 6p, but have made it to 8p Monday & today. So have tomorrow off, going to my doc, then my folks for lunch, then my brother's to replace the back taillight, then to my friend Joanne's; her dragon Cleo passed away today, she had a tumour on her liver. She was only 3 yrs old, so I'm going to help her bury her tomorrow night in her garden. RIP Cleo

 

[Goonie]

then to my friend Joanne's; her dragon Cleo passed away today, she had a tumour on her liver. She was only 3 yrs old, so I'm going to help her bury her tomorrow night in her garden. RIP Cleo

Oh no! I'll send her a message on FB.

I didn't know that the spot on Rubio's back was a ring. Did you have him tested for ringworm?? I have no idea how he could've caught that, but a "ring" on the skin mostly only means one thing.

 

[sweetiepie9]

No, it was a circle of what looked like calcified scales, there was white encircling the scales, making a circle with white around the edges. Strange looking thing. Then I put silver sulphadine cream on the circle and that caused a sunburn, believe it or not, and so that caused a pink ring around the circle. In other words, made it worse. I think he's starting to shed it off & that's started a half moon on the belly. I'll have to take pics to show you. So the last vet visit the vet & I both thought it was the start of a shed, so to make sure I take him back on the 17th to see what it looks like then, but I'll take pics of it tomorrow and post it here. Whatever it is, it's still sensitive to touch and driving me nuts.

But here are other pics:

I think Puff is finally feeling more comfy & relaxed here, got 2 pics here of her true colours:


And her pretty beard:


I'm so glad that I see these colours more than dark

And here's Gabriel in his "where's Puff" pose: :lol: :roll:


"Hi Mom"


"I'm enjoying the warm sun" even though he's not getting any UVB :roll:


Here's Rubio in the strangest sleeping position I've seen yet:


And in his "food" dish, we're still trying to figure out what that spot on his side is:


Here's Didi showing off his black beard at Rubio:


And a silly picture, I'd moved the "beehive" in front of his basking brick, to clean up his poop & found this: :lol:


And last, but not least, is my Lonzo, enjoying all the soft blankies in his tank:

He's sure looking good for an almost 11 yr old, he'll be 11 yrs old in April...