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]

Hi Lori, we posted at the same time, thanks for checking in, aren't my grandkids cute?

 

[Oki05]

It's nice that you got to see them all Deb and everyone is being nice. I remember when you kept telling us that you weren't sure how everything would go with seeing your grandson but it's nice stuff has worked out

 

[Lindz0518]

I loved all the pictures of your family, I can't believe that Leo is so big!!!

 

[Tonja]

The pictures of your family are lovely. I am so happy you got to see them and your grandson and daughter. Hope things turn around for you and they realize just how much you love them all and how much they really need you to be in the kids lives.
Love the pictures of Cierra and Nathaniel. Such cuties they are. I don't always say anything but I do keep up.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Matt, thanks for enjoying the pics!

Hi Lindz, Leo is a big boy, he's already growing out of size 2, going into size 3 and he's 30 lbs, all solid chest & shoulders & legs. He's not fat, either, just chubby. He was teething so not on his best behaviour, but he sure enjoyed roughhousing with Dad & me playing with him. He loved me making the vroom vroom sound, laughed every time I did that. There were tons more pictures, my sister took about 50 in a row :lol:

Hi Lori, I'm glad you enjoyed the pics, too. Cierra and Nathaniel keep me laughing but I have a feeling I need to take in fecal samples...I guess I'd better do that sooner than later, maybe next weekend when I get paid again.

So I've heard tales of beardies painting with their poop and don't come across it often in this household. But last night when I got home, I had to give Cierra and Puff baths to clean off their tails what a wonderful thing to come home, too. Guess they didn't get the memo that I leave at 10:30a so if they want to be cleaned up, that's the deadline :lol: Oh well, they went to bed much cleaner than when I got home. Cierra, of course, woke right up, ate some worms :shock: so I put her on the ramp to watch Disney cartoons. Puff, being Puff, went right back to sleep, even with the TV on right in her ear :mrgreen: I've never known Puff to wake up for anything, even huge thunderstorms. Love my girls :love5:

Love my boys, too :love5:

I swear since I saw my grandkids on Saturday, my world is suddenly a much better place. Seeing Eric and Tara getting along so well make my heart glad, too.

 

[sweetiepie9]

My sister send me these pictures:
Eric

Safara

Gail and Leo

Gail and Ian in front of their new RV, they're storing in a neighbour's garage

They can't wait until they can start travelling!

Well Cierra has decided that she's not going to eat many crickets anymore. I'm stuck with 300 (about, still) and I had to cancel the order of 500 I ordered on Sunday. :roll:

Luckily I saw Jake today, he was away for the last few days, and the new order of small worms should be in today or tomorrow. Thanks goodness.

I also fed Nathaniel today, I do that on the days I'm home, he honestly hardly eats on his own, he's just too busy doing the male thing with Gabriel :lol: So at least he'll sort of let me feed him.

Puff is steadily gaining, for which I'm grateful. She's also not doing any low bobbing when she sees Nathaniel or Gabriel, for which I'm also grateful. I'll be talking to my vet about spaying her (cost) when I take Leo in for his blood test on April 10. I'll be glad to know so I can start saving.

Gabriel & Nathaniel are made out of the same cloth, I'm sure. They just LOVE bugging each other. So funny to watch, I'll have to try a video one day.

Gabriel has also been out daily when I'm at work & he's always on the ramp when I get home. Good thing, too, I was almost ready to ban him permanently. He decided he'd rather be on the ramp instead on in his tank for the day. He's also shedding parts of his belly, mouth and around his knee joints. Funny how they shed in patches when they're older.

Leo is doing well, have to feed him now. He's down to 535g, he looks so much better and his eyes sockets seem to be not as big. He still doesn't really like to be out of his tank, but in his tank he's very active.

It's nice to have a day off, got all the blood tests I needed this am & now I'm just relaxing.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Aw, Cierra...what is mom going to do with the crix?

How is Rocco? Still the same? I really do hope he lives. I hope this isn't a sign of an illness.

Glad Gabriel can be trusted again.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I"m not sure what's going on with Cierra, but I"m sure she'll get her appetite soon. I have a friend who sells phoenix worms, so will talk to her later today. At least I cancelled the order for the crickets, as I couldn't have that many in my house at the same time, not enough room.

And Rocco seems to be almost back to normal, he's back on his wall that his heat mat is against and staying nice and warm. He's letting me stroke his back, again, too.

It's nice to see Gabriel back on "his" ramp. They've all had a turn out this am. Cierra somehow got into the bottom of the stereo, with 3 tall partitions in the way :shock: So she went back to her tank, that's forbidden territory :mrgreen:

It's been fun being home all day, too, having a good time with my babies.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Lol she found her way under huh? Hope Cierra eats for you soon.

Glad Rocco is getting better.

Broly seems to find his way under the table that his tank sits on.

These dragons...they sure know how to get under things that's not good.

Being home feels good sometimes.

 

[Goonie]

Why did Cierra suddenly stop eating crickets? She's too young to wean herself off of them already, no?

Thank goodness that Leo's eye swelling is improving.

Is Rocco able to stick to the glass again?

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Gina, Rocco seems to be doing fine now, he's sticking to the glass & getting warm with his heating pad that's along the back of his tank. I think he ever ate 2 crickets last night, will have to clean out his tank to find out.

As for Cierra, I think she's preferring the small supers at this point, so I cancelled the order of crickets. She's still eating crickets, just not as many as before. I'm going to contact a friend who sells phoenix worms for next weekend, get her 200 or so to start to see if she'll eat them. See if Nathaniel will eat them again, too. Then I can get them regularly if they like them.

So seems everyone is doing well! Makes me feel good!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I took advantage of being home & took some pictures of everyone, including Rocco on the back of his tank. He looks skinny but he really isn't but I do think he's starting a shed & that was the issue with not being able to use his paws wide to stay on the glass. He's back to normal that way now.

Cierra has re-discovered her piggy because it was in the wash for awhile, she pooped on it. She seems to be more careful now, hasn't done it since!

Nathaniel is looking very proud of himself :mrgreen:

I'll have to measure him again, I think he's grown in length and weight.

Puff managed to move her heavy log right across her tank :lol: Guess she's now getting like Tonja's Emily :lol:

Gabriel is full of energy again, good to see

Caught him in the middle of a bob while running back up the ramp :lol:

Leo looking good, even though his eyes aren't back to normal, will know after vet visit Apr 10

 

[Esther19]

Deb, I'm so glad you got to see Eric and the kids. The pictures are wonderful. The kids look healthy and happy and everyone looks happy to be together. Your reptile family pictures are excellent, as well. Good that things are getting sorted in that area. Yesterday morning I found that my Cissy had crossed over as we slept. You know the devastation, but I'm managing as well as I can. I hope your health continues to improve.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Oh Esther, I'm so sorry to hear about Cissie, may she rest in peace. She with my boys and girls over the Rainbow Bridge. I've always believed that they look down on us, healthy & happy, with love for all the time we took such good care of them. I'm sure it was devastating for you, it's so hard to lose one of our babies. I so feel for you.

I was so glad to see the babies, not sure when I'll see them again. I heard from Eric today, now I have a phone# finally. He had a vasectomy today. They knew they couldn't afford more children so seemed the best route. Very adult of them. Leo and Safara are so well taken care of, too. Tara and Eric get along so well, it's great to see and they're wonderful parents. They're not married yet but wearing wedding rings. Tara was insistent that they all go to the dinner on Saturday, even though they didn't stay long, at least our whole family got to meet the babies. Even though I have to say, Leo is such a boy now! I have to get them little gifts for Easter and get them in the mail next weekend. Going to buy them Easter books.

I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures of my gang. It was lovely to spend a whole day with them for a change. I got so used to being with them every day when I was off sick, going back to work was really difficult. But today made up for it.

So does anyone know why Cierra would suddenly not want to eat much? I'm at a loss to explain it. She's doing well and is a year old, after all, but thought for sure she'd continue with this appetite until she'd grown more. Oh well...

 

[zandi202]

Maybe Cierra is not eating as much because she now knows that she is guaranteed food everyday she doesn't eat like every meal is her last?