Queen, Gabriel and nowCleopatra! (RIP beautiful boy)

Some of you might remember Queen, the beardie I rescued with MBD, unsanitary conditions and a bit underweight for a dragon her size and age. With a lot of help from a lot of members on this sight, Queen has improved a LOT, she still has MBD but she doesn't have the uncontrollable twitching like she had 3 weeks ago, she now weighs 194-200+ g where she weighed much less when I got her, she is now about 9 months old. And she can be a feisty little brat when she wants to :lol: When I got her she barely wanted to move, the past week she's been window dancing non stop.

Just before starting to shed

Her soon to be castle

Check ma belly

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

Okay a little help here?

Looking pretty as always

Soaking up the heat

With natural sunlight, although not sure what her real color is but thinking grey,white

Chilling in new temp viv

Oh what's that?

After shedding her head and part of her tail

EDIT: To show Queen's possessiveness I'll post you some pictures

Queen: I don't know what this is but it's mine
Her on a whole block of Rose Quartz (I think)

Queen: Mine, don't dare touching it slave!

Queen: Oh sweet mother of Neptune, best place in the world -insert in love face here- this is definitely mine -proceeds to chase 10kg Maine Coone cat away from her new throne-

I'll post about Tyrant tomorrow with a LOT of pictures just like my Queen And a few pictures not seen before taken on the day he was brought here by Drakenkeeper's brother.

 

[penelepe]

Okay ladies and gentlemen, this update will contain many stuff, pictures included! So first things first, let us begin with Gabriel.

Gabriel is my sister's dragon, he didn't get the care he deserves, and is thus stunted in growth, like in major stunted, he also has a tail nip so he would've measured longer if not for that, poor guy. He is a sandfire morph says the breeder. He is about 6'' and 5 months old. I know, my fault, but he is now on the right track, he has shed 3 times since being in my care, I haven't been able to feed him 3x a day like recomended but I just ordered a new tub of roaches, so I will start feeding that 3x a day. He now has the repti-sun so that will also help with growing a bit? Anyway he is now in Tyrant's old cage, which I am going to steam again for reasons I will mention further down the post. This little guy is still a bit jumpy because he is still a bit small. I hope he hits a growth spurt soon, he is going to shed again soon so yeah.

Now some news from Tyrant. We received the results of his culture, and brace yourselves. Tyrant had cancer, but the tumors weren't caused by cancer, it was caused by Tuberculosis. So my little baby was in a lot of pain, he didn't have URI at all turns out, he had the TB, 1 lung filled with tumors and 1 collapsed lung, so that caused URI like symptoms, his whole body was filled with bone tumors. Luckily we steamed the cage before putting Gabriel in the cage, she says that it is good that we did that but even if he was exposed to it, we can't do anything now until he starts showing symptoms, she said as soon as symptoms are showed we need to get him to them as soon as possible. She called our vet and he called my mom and asked or commanded her to get me to our doctor to be checked out as the TB is contagious to humans, and I have weak immune system. I have consulted with Tracie and waiting for her to get back to me with answers to some questions.

Now that we have the repti-sun 10.0, I can clearly see a difference in both my babies, here is a picture of Gabriel before Repti-Sun

Now:

Quite a difference right?

Anyway here is some pictures taken before Tyrant passed on

I see with the following pictures in what bad shape he actually was... I'm so sorry Tyrant.

His last day

...
Now some pic span of my Queen and then the little Gabriel

Look at my color!

Striking a pose

Dinosaur stare

lol, I'm high

Hypnotist Queen, "look in my eyes.. You are getting very sleepy"

Yes, I am smexy

Sexy legs!

"Move and you will die" -Turning attitude off" "Snuggle time with mommy!"

Now, Gabriel spam!!
N'awww

Color, kind of

This one is so adorable!

After falling asleep like above, he falls a bit and sleep like this the whole night

 

[ShannyBeard]

Penelope, I enjoyed all of your pictures and I am glad you posted quite a few since it has been a while since I have seen so many of Queen. She looks good, and happy. You are so right, Tyrant looked really bad in his last days. Sometimes you don't really see the full picture of a gradual decline in health until you go back and start looking at old photos and then you see where the bones are coming up more, etc. I am in disbelief about it being TB...! I know you are in a different country than I am and that could be why we just don't hear about TB being transmissible to dragons.
I hope for Gabriel that he does not contract the TB as well. *fingers crossed!*

What are your plans after school? Did you get an actual job? You didn't give enough details there! lol :lol:

Shannon

 

[penelepe]

Hi Shanny!

Like the specialist said to our vet that it is our loss but their gain, as this is the first sample they have of the TB, she is very happy about the TB sample, and the whole thing even let our local vet think of it to go study further in exotics.Like I said to someone, I'm terribly sad over Tyrant, but if he was able to help the research facility, then his death wasn't in vain. So far lil' Gabriel hasn't shown symptoms and me neither so I hope we are in the clear. Queen is a spoiled little brat :lol: if she doesn't get out if she wants to she will go lay in the corner and sulk.
Sorry for being a bit confusing there lol, I want to go study for vet or veterinarian nursing, it depends on what I get accepted, but for experience I can go work at our vet, cleaning cages, feeding, that sort of thing, and maybe assist the vet with some cases, and he will teach me also, so I hope this happens. Everything happens with a reason right?

 

[beardie parents]

I'm sorry about your little man. I know how much it hurts to loose a beardie. We've lost to many for our hearts. The other two you have are gorgeous. I want to go back through all 3 these pages but I can't right now. This is the reason for this post so I can find it again.

 

[penelepe]

Hello everyone! Sorry for lack of updates, we have exams, okay I'm almost with it then I will update more.

So little Gabriel tested positive for parasite eggs, nothing major, we took him to have a flush today, I feel really bad about his size, everytime I think of how big he should be I feel very guilty. He is going to shed his head, so I hope that that is a good sign. I hope he gets a growth spurt soon. He has gained 10 g in total since the last time I weighed him. The poor thing looks like he feels horrible, with the flush and upcoming shed, poor thing.

Queen... I feel like something is wrong, I think her MBD has returned even though she has Repti-Sun 10.0, she can get to 8-12'' from the UVB, it varries where she basks, she has twitching of muscles in the tail, belly and near her arm, I have tried to put in a towel so she can get a bit closer, I have tried everything but when I go to school to write exam and come back she is just outside the UVB range? So I don't know if it is because she doesn't like to bask where the UVB is or if it is a bad tube. Sometimes she has a black beard for no reason. So I'm worried, I don't know what to do, she basks more under the UVB today so I'll have to see in a week or so if the twitching gets better. Pictures coming soon!

 

[morphmom]

Dinosaur stare

LOL! :lol: I've always wanted a term for when they do that! now I have it! I hope you don't mind but I'm going to have to use that one!

This one is so adorable!

I loved this pic. It looks like he's meditating!

 

[lillylizard]

I am very sorry to here about your baby. i lost my first leo a month and a half ago. she never had a great immune system and she kept getting sick. she was fine in the morning, come home she's dead. Working in a vets office is very fun. i am going to go away to go into Vet Technolegy. i am not sure where you live but maybe your school has a Co-Op program. because of my High school program i got to work in a vets office for 3 months.

 

[penelepe]

Hey all!

Thank you for your replies! Lillylizard, I wish there was something like that in our school, I live in South Africa and we don't have somthing like that sadly. I don't know if it pays a lot, being a vet nurse, as long as I'll be able to get by alone every month I'm fine. The research facility where we took Tyrant is also the only place in South Africa where you can go study for vet and anything to do with vets.

So News on Queen: I think her problem was that she was a bit constipated, this morning I woke her up, and took her outside for 10 minutes, back in cage, I move up basking branch quite a bit and put her there, wasn't even 5 minutes closer to UVB that she pooped, ALOT of water and poop, it stank quite a bit but I don't think she has parasites.

Gabriel: He shed his head -happy dance- And it looks like he is going to shed his body in a few weeks! I weighed him just before putting him over to Tyrant's old cage, and he weighed 5 grams, but after the flush and correct diet and such he has gained 15 grams! And it has barely been a month (I think) The Repti-Sun helped a lot. He is extremely active and has the appetite of a lion! He eats his food in the cage, but then he will attack the towels in his cage thinking it is food, to be fair his roaches is the same color as the towel after being dusted.
I know I keep promising pictures, the last time I posted I was uploading pictures, then the electricity went off, and with the new photobucket layout, I can't find the pictures already uploaded before power went off.

I need a bit of help now, Queen has the awful habit of sliding off head first off her platform, even if there is another way down, I did put in a blanket there where she usually does it, but now she stays under the platform on her new found cuddle buddy. Is she just tired? Her schedule of sleep and such has changed so I don't know? What other ways can I prevent her from doing her "Skydiving" trick.

 

[Beardiesforthewin72]

How old is queen it might be time for brumation! I know the word that every beardie owner dreads but it's something to take into consideration. Also I want to say I'm terribly sorry about tyrant the poor guy. I know it must of been a tough call and losing someone you love is never easy. I'm sorry i was a little late but i do mean it.

 

[Breebaby11]

This is such a good story. I'm glad you have done such a well job getting these babies taken care of. Keep us updated :mrgreen:

 

[penelepe]

I am posting from my mobile so excuse mistakes.

At this moment I hate people, okay not all but people who get dragons and do no research. I suspect that in the near future, I will have possibly 5 dragons. But before trying to buy them or resue I'll try educating.

My friend who is also the one who is going to look over my dragons while we are gone just messaged me and tells me about her uncle who has 2 dragons, housed together, male and female, the female doesn't want to eat, turns out they don't have UVB, no heat, at all, max temp in the cage is 71.1 F, male eats good and is a bit active. Her brother has to look after them while her uncle is away, I told them to bath them, getting a light for them and get temps right and sunlight, seems like everytime I go away, a problem with someone else's dragon occurs or someone rescues a dragon but has no experience. Last time I went away for a week, my sister's bf got Tyrant, and now its these 2. Strange...

Anyway beardiesforthewin thank you for the sympathies, I did think that it was brumation as she just hit a year old last month, but it is summer here so I don't know if it is the right time. But she is a bit better now, she started basking willingly yesterday, so I take that as a good sign. She also ate much more yesterday. Thank goodness for that. Gabrriel eats good and he may start shedding again, my dubia colony is slow to start so I can't feed him as much as he can eat in 5 minutes, but I feed him 38 a day.

My friend mentioned above may post this evening in Beardie ER, as she knows the setup bettter, any gelp will be greatly appreciated.

 

[penelepe]

Hi all! I have tried to upload about 100+ pictures 2x now on photobucket, and everytime it's done... I forget to save but this time I remembered to save so pictures coming shortly!

Little Gabriel has shed his body and tail and is begining to get ready for a head shed. He is back with my sister but this time I monitor closely, he is getting a new climbing branch today (Hopefully) so he will be able to get closer to UVB. He weighs 25g, and is 6'' with 2'' tail. So I compared to another picture and it seems like if he didn't have the tail nip he'd be about 7.5'' (I think lol) Still small but yeah.

Queen is acting up again, her UVB was lowered and she basks more but she keeps going down to where she sleeps (she doesn't have a hide yet) And just lay there, she went to sleep an hour before lights off, I read it's because it's winter time but we are having summer so I don't know. She doesn't want to eat her salad but eats her bugs happily, she only poops in the bath but it seems cut of so its not whole poops. She gets bathed everyday but still seems dehydrated. Worried about her. So I don't know if she wants to brumate or not?

But here is the reason for posting. I may need y'all help later, I'm dragon sitting my friend's dragons, problem is they might not be in great condition. Their diet is those pellets and the occasional superworm. The one doesn't have a light or UVB, only source of heat is a hot water bag, doesn't get bathed ect. The other one has most of his tail missing, only source of light and heat is a coil UVB, the supers get dusted with calcium but calcium doesn't stick to supers that well. The only good thing is that they spend most of their day outside in the sun. So we'll see how they look. I want to help her give the proper care for them, but she wants to see it black on white, I want to put together a list on whats wrong with setup and such, I'll post pictures on setup and whats wrong with it and explanations ect, if I miss something or make a mistake on it, can any of you correct me and such. And help on putting together a proper care sheet?

I'll post pictures of our 2 guests with the pictures of my babies. They are coming in the next couple of hours so pictures soon too

 

[penelepe]

We now have a new addition to the family! Temple is a 1 year old female, who didn't have heat for the last few months, she disappeared about 4 months ago, and she was feared dead because they had JRT dogs at the time and she got outside, 2 months later they found her, she was not underweight and not dehydrated so she survived on her own for 2 months. In that time my friend's bond with the other dragon, Astro, grew so she is doesn't want to give away Astro but doesn't care if Temple goes, I offered her $11 for Temple and its just "yeah, whatever". Currently he is as flat as a pancake on his basking stone. But I'm worried about him, she is impacted because she gets fed supers with only a warm water bag to digest it. Will the few hours of basking help with the impactation? Astro is also a bit blocked up but not as much as Temple. Poor thing, when she was in the bath she had these defeated look in her eyes. But after a few hours of basking and 2 baths she is much more lively. Introducing Temple who has beem renamed to Cleopatra, Cleo for short

His setup now (I know its small but it will have to do for now)

His setup before Exactly like we got it, no light at all.

That defeated look...

More pictures of my new girl tomorrow!

Now Astro, he is a male 1 year old, I only got few pics as I was busy running around prepping cages, feeding, bathing ect. Now he is in his prime. He was small the last time I saw him, but now he is about the same size as Queen. This afternoon he saw the EMPTY viv on my bead, attacked the window and black bearded, I had to cover the glass of the empty one. Pictures of that tomorrow.

He has a yellow-ish head and limbs while Cleo has light red limbs which doesn't show on pictures with flash.

Now my 2 babies! There isn't a lot of pictures of my Queen in this batch but next time there will be more.

"Oh Hai, I demand to be let out"

"Please?"

"Fine! Then I have to break this window"

How on this earth does anything sleep good like this?

Gabriel Spam!!
"Yes, they call me sexy, why?"

"Hypnotized by my cuteness"

"Touch my food and you die"

"I hate this"

"Hai there"

"Yes I will sleep like this thank you"

Have a great day everyone!

 

[penelepe]

Astro and Cleo pooped okay only Astro a whole nicely formed poop, Cleo didn't poop that much out and it is not well digested, which is to be expected. Poor thing, I weighed Astro and he weighs 219g, not bad. They get fed a staple of juvie pellets and superworms, so he is a big boy, what I don't understand is why does he have these nice fat pads and such and Cleo's is not as prominent, and she isn't as fat as he is, she has a belly but I think its more poop than fat. They had their first greens and squash today and enjoyed it quite a bit. Anyway I have a question, the 2 dragons, not used to much heat, is now introduced to right temps and all, but they seem to thermoregulate or whatever you call it much quicker than Queen, 5 minutes of basking on 100-103F basking surface and they move off. Why is this?

Here is some pictures of Astro

Seeing an empty viv

Now some pics of Cleo!
Yesterday

Today

 

[penelepe]

I have a question, we put in a climbing branch in for Gabs, so he can get closer to UVB, is it common for juveniles to play Superhero and "skydive" from log, and try stupid things like jumping on the things holding his UVB? My sister got a real fright when she saw him practically against his UVB.Is this normal behavior?

My dad is going to switch to wires to hold it up and hope he doesn't do it again.