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:

 

[diamc]

Wow Deb, sorry to hear about Gabriel and you having to do CPR. Glad you were able to get him doing better. Hope he starts acting more like himself very soon, it must have scared & exhausted both of you.

Isn't that something that Leo & Puff just sit there calmly alongside each other. They are both too cute. Hope Puff starts eating better for you & she takes a break from laying more eggs so her body can recover.

Nathaniel is sure getting long and Cierra too. Boy, she sure can eat!

How are you feeling?

 

[Lindz0518]

Tell Gabriel he is not allowed to do that again. I like seeing Leo and Puff just hanging out together, so cute!!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I will let Gabriel know, Lindz. He is such a funny dragon, I'm sitting here, typing, he's fast asleep and bobbing on my shoulder, really :lol:

Hi Diane, I'm feeling much better and start back full time on Monday. Boy that has taken so much time to get well again. I'm back at the chiro Sat am as my back is taking it's time to feel better, too.

Gabriel is feeling much better, and yes it was very scary, but having been through it so many times with Lonzo and Leo, too, at least I knew what to do.

Aren't Puff and Leo cute? I was so surprised that they could sit close like that & no reactions at all
Puff is starting to eat more now and has gained a bit of weight, I just have to get at her daily to get those supers in her. She eats her greens very well.

How are Angie and Loki doing? I'm hoping you all will have spring hit you soon, this winter has gone on long enough for you!

 

[Goonie]

Wow! How wonderful that neither Leo nor Puff had any reactions to sitting next to each other. I highly doubt that age had anything to do with it, because Pookie is 7.5 years old (holy cow!) and he's still as hormonal as a juvie. It has to be that Leo is just a very calm and non-hormonal beardie, and Puff could sense that so she's not reactive either.

Gabriel was head bobbing in his sleep?! What a riot!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm not sure as Leo, when he was younger, was the most hormonal dragon I've ever met, worse that Gabriel or Nathaniel by a mile. I was surprised at the change, he's been like this ever since his eye sockets grew and a blood test showed that he was very near fatty liver disease. Ever since then he's been very laid back. But it's nice to have 2 dragons that can be out together

And yes, he bobbed last night after I'd had him on my shoulder for awhile :lol:

 

[Goonie]

Maybe his hormone level changed as well? Without doing a hormone level test, it's anybody's guess.

 

[sweetiepie9]

It's just nice that he can be out when Puff is out and they get along great. I'm sure his medical issues have something to do with it.

So I weighed Puff this am & she's up another 2 grams to 294. She ate all the supers I put in her dish, 8 I think and all her greens again. so she's getting her appetite back. She's also not bobbing anyone but she still doesn't look herself, seems very tired. I'm going to feed her some of the mix I make to see if that helps her.

Cierra is now up to 259, not only did she eat all those crickets yesterday, when I got home the small supers I'd left in her dish were gone as well as all her greens. She is just an eating machine! I'm so proud of her! Now to get Nathaniel to turn into an eating machine, he's down to 297g again At least it's Friday and except for Sunday I'll be home, so will feed him what's in his dish yesterday. He is eating, just not as much as I'd like. So we'll see how the weekend goes.

I did order more small supers as they seem to love them and they're disappearing, so ordered another 500. Boy, Cierra is acting like a juvie with her appetite, so wondering if they were starved a bit with their previous owner. And getting in 500 crickets again, too :lol: Good think I'm back to full time work & so getting a bit more than usual as working my usual night shift. Gives me a shift differential from 4-8p, an extra $25 per pay, so that will help pay for the crickets :mrgreen:

 

[sweetiepie9]

So as I'm going to work a bit later this am, finishing my last day of part-time, took some pics. I was spraying Rocco's tank when he got near my hand & jumped on, so I got pics of him, too. He's been doing this lately, which is such a thrill!

So Puff and Leo have been out together for two hours and are fine together, it's just amazing!

And here's Rocco, he's so golden on his tummy and tail:

And he was so comfy in my hand:

I had to take these pics of Nathaniel, now when he black beards, his tail gets dark about 3" at the end.

Not only is his beard black, but it goes down his tummy and his arms now. I was shocked :shock:

The pic of his arms aren't clear because he wasn't co-operating, but the dark goes down to his wrist on both arms.

I've never seen a dragon get dark on his arms. Lonzo, when he black bearded, it went down his belly and legs, but arms is new to me. Nathaniel sure is different :lol:

 

[Goonie]

What a treat that Rocco jumped onto your hand and stayed. He's really becoming the little social butterfly, huh?

Wow, that is some black beard on Nathaniel! I don't think I'd ever seen black down the arms too. Goodness gracious!

Puff is below 300 grams now?! Oh dear

 

[sweetiepie9]

Gina, I"m not sure if I wrote it down incorrectly, but Puff is now 394g, so she's gaining bit by bit. She's eating more and I'll be so glad when she gets back to 470g where she belongs.

Oh if they were all like Cierra, she's cricket hunting right now, finishing off the rest of the 500 I bought last weekend as I'm bringing in another 500 today. Her belly actually is hitting the ground right now LOL

It's a nice sunny day so I opened up the balcony door and Nathaniel is in the sunshine basking. They'll all get their turns but I have to leave at 10:30, so we'll see.

 

[Goonie]

Gina, I"m not sure if I wrote it down incorrectly, but Puff is now 394g, so she's gaining bit by bit. She's eating more and I'll be so glad when she gets back to 470g where she belongs.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Yep, that's how I feel, too!

Cierra did clean out all the crickets left yesterday, so there are 500 more waiting for her again...not sure if she'll eat any today, she seems still full from yesterday :mrgreen:

It was nice to be home yesterday, just playing with everyone. I did get the desk from my mom's upstairs finally, will set it up tonight when I get home. I'm taking my nephew to a movie and then I've been invited to stay for supper afterwards. And tomorrow I start full-time at work, so this should be interesting.

I also forgot to change over the time last night, so I just lost an hour, felt odd as I normally change it the night before so I don't notice it as much. Silly me :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

So Diane, I checked the Arcadia lights today as I bought 4 of them this time last year, the other two I bought in August & they're all reading 3.5 on the solar metre! Thanks so much for recommending the Arcadia lights, my crew love them and so do I. I'm hoping I won't have to change them out until the end of the year. But I'll keep checking them monthly, just to make sure.

Cierra was hungry again this am, ate another tube full of crickets, I'm amazed at her appetite

 

[diamc]

That's great Deb that you're still getting good readings from them. What a money saver for us and piece of mind having the Solar Meter so we know exactly when it's time to change them.

So happy to hear that CIerra is eating so well. Hope Nathaniel follows suit very soon. How's Puff doing with her appetite?

Wow, Nathaniel's black beard was VERY impressive! Could see the blackness on the inside of his front legs too. I had never seen it there either.

Rocco is so cute, adorable the way he wanted to cling to you. :love10:

How are Angie and Loki doing? I'm hoping you all will have spring hit you soon, this winter has gone on long enough for you!

Loki had more energy than Angie & Laura today, he walked all over the downstairs today which was great to see. Prior to today and for many months, he had been quite lazy. Angie still takes a 3 hr nap daily in her cat bed and now that Laura has her own cat bed too, she has been sleeping a couple of hrs in the afternoon most days. They are all active in the mornings though. Dozer (the Russian tortoise) is doing well. It's amazing how quickly he can get out of sight when he's walking around on the carpet. :lol: The beardies are still trying to figure out exactly what he is. :mrgreen:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Puff is starting to eat well and out of her dishes, too. She's been cleaning out the 6 supers I've been leaving her & all the greens, too. So I'm glad about that. I'm starting full time work tomorrow, so that will be different, haven't been full-time since Jan 2!

So glad to hear that Loki is getting more active. So Angie has let Laura know that afternoon naps are good for them, how funny is that. Glad Dozer is enjoying themselves, I don't think the beardies will ever figure out what he is :lol:

I found Nathaniel's black bearding to be very impressive, too. Now if only he'd put it away for awhile so he'd eat more. I intended to feed him yesterday but the day got away from me & I never did; they all had their baths, calcium/vit & min and food today, so Nathaniel has my complete attention tomorrow. I'll be stuffing his face, that's for sure!