Tazz and Zeppelin Tales

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[TOPIC AUTO-LOCKED DUE TO INACTIVITY] Its unlocked now!

OK so I've been a member here for a few months now and I only have my 2 little cuties in Introductions.
I think it's about time I made them their own real thread.
I'll give you a little background if you never saw them in introductions.
I got a male and female dragon from Cheryl at Rio Reptiles on October 18th 2011. Little did I know then
that these two would soon take over my life. I decided to name the female Tazz because she was so full
of energy and spunky. I named the male Zeppelin mostly because that is my favorite band, but also he's
very laid back. For the first few weeks I had them they were housed together and had a coil uvb bulb.
I didn't know any better at that time :oops: . Zeppy was very shy and hid alot then. He didn't eat much
either. About 3 weeks after I got them I joined this forum and learned of my mistakes. I promptly
separated them and got them the correct uvb bulbs. They currently have the new t-5 arcadias.

I work at a hydro supply store and the plan when I got Tazz and Zeppelin was to have them live here
at the store. I didn't realize how attached I would get to lizards. We already have a Veiled Chameleon
and anoles and two water turtles that live at the store and I really have no problem leaving them here.
Our chameleon as beautiful as he is has an extremely bad attitude! I feed him and take care of him and
he still hates me. He's a look but don't you even think about touching me type of lizard.

So after I moved Zeppy to his own cage he was still really skittish and didn't eat very well. I decided to
take him home to live with me. After the initial shock of moving him wore off he stared to do a little
better. He ate more, and his stress marks weren't as dark. But he was still very skittish and tried to
hide every time someone walked by his cage. I have 2 kids, 10 yrs. old and 13 yrs. old, 3 dogs, a cat
and 2 tortoises at my house so it's not exactly quiet there. I then decided to move him to my bedroom
since it was much quieter and I could close the door and keep the cat out of there while at work.

I kept him in my room for about a month, maybe a little longer. But he wasn't getting any better. If
anything he seemed worse. He was terrified every time someone would come in the room. He'd
suck in the sides of his body as if to mimic being a stick.I felt so bad for him! I decided I was just
making him worse by locking him away in the quiet all day so I moved him back out in the living room.
And he slowly started coming around. He would even sit and watch us and the other animals sometimes.
About 3 weeks ago I bought him a bigger enclosure, it's a 36x18x17 reptile tank with a screen top and
vents on the sides. I also made him and Tazz their own custom cave/ basking spot out of foam and
grout. After the initial shock of being moved AGAIN I think he's finally turned a corner. He basks with
us in the room now instead of running and hiding. and when me or my daughter hold him he has no
stress marks! He still only eats when he feels like it though, so he's not that big. He's about 5 months
old now and only weighs 53 grams and 10 in.

Tazz an the other hand has done nothing but grow since I got her. She's full of personality and demands
my undivided attention. She comes home with me every week-end right now. Her light cycle during the
winter turns off at 5:30 so she goes to sleep as soon as I leave to go home from work at night. I probably
won't leave her here during the summer, i'll want to take her home to play with her in the evenings
when she's still awake. I guess i'll cross that bridge when I come to it. She's 5 1/2 months old now and
weighs in at 165 grams and 14 inches. It's hard to believe that she was only a couple grams more than
Zeppy when I got them.

Here they are the day I got them housed together in a 10 gallon tank
tazznzeppelin.jpg

Tazz is a citrus hypo and Zeppelin is a hypo trans leatherback. She's in the front of the pic.

Here's Zeppelin in November, when he still lived at the store.
zeppelin1.jpg


This is Tazz in November.
tazz2.jpg


Here's a few of Tazz in december.
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Aquarium146.jpg

Aquarium140.jpg


And a few of Zep in December.
Aquarium141.jpg

CopyofAquarium138.jpg

Aquarium143.jpg
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
So I think that my baby Zeppelin has recently figured out that he's a man! He was so little and timid for so long. It's really funny to watch him display typical male beardie behavior. My son has told me that the past few weeks when he gets home from school and is watching TV that Zep has been beard puffing at him and stomping his little feet to get his attention. This from a lizard that used to run and hide anytime someone came in the room.
I have been taking him outside on the weekends since the weather has been warming up and he is so funny. If I stand up and walk by him or he sees my shadow he flattens out his body gapes,hisses and beards at me till he realizes it is me and not a predator. He's also started "wagging" his tail at us sometimes. It's kinda creepy! The first time he did it I was sitting in the backyard with him on my chest. I think a bird flew by or my dog ran by us, anyways he wagged his tail and cocked his head and looked at me and I was completely creeped out!
He also HATES my dog Sparky. She chased him across the living room a few weeks ago and he hasn't forgotten that. He's fine with my other two dogs and my cat but if Sparky walks up to sniff him he gapes and hisses and beards her. It's hilarious!
I weighed and measured him last night also. He weighs 108 grams now and is 13& 1/4 inches long. I know he should be bigger but he had a bit of a rough start and has doubled his body weight in the last couple months. I took a few pics of him in my daughters Easter basket that I will post soon.
Amy
Edit- I just looked back at my previous posts, on Feb. 2nd Zeppy weighed 56 grams and was 10 in. long
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
I posted in behavior last week and got no response sooooo..... I thought I would post here too. Tazz Has been very spazzy this past week and she won't eat her bugs. She runs all over her viv all day and glass dances. All her temps are correct. Her lights are fairly new. She has still been pooping. But she has lost about 30 grams. I'm getting quite worried about her. I'm gonna do a fecal check the next time she poops. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.
Amy
 

athenacp

Extreme Poster
Maybe repost this in beardie er? I didn't get a chance to go back thru this thread to see how old she is,so I am reaching here, but maybe she is making eggs?
 

Kalyn876

Sub-Adult Member
Hmm I've noticed on the board that many many dragons go through this phase.. it seems to me somewhere between 7-10 months old. Tyrus did the exact same thing to me at 8 months and recently another dragon named Thug here on the forum went through it, he was 7-8 months at the time. I wouldn't worry too much and as mentioned maybe have a fecal done just in case..thats what I did for Tyrus and it came back clean yay!

After 3 weeks of not eating and acting completely crazy he settled back into his normal routine. He lost 75g in the process :shock: I was one worried; stressed mama and all for nothing :lol:
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
I really hope that's all it is. She has already lost close to 40 grams now! I'm getting ready to see if she will eat a little bit of a mixture of baby food, acidophiliz+, liquid calcium and liquid multivitamins. Wish .me luck.
Amy
 

ShannyBeard

Extreme Poster
tazznzeppelin":3lp28pi1 said:
She is only 9 months old. I have felt her belly, and I don't feel any eggs.
Amy

If she has infertile eggs, breeders say they are very hard to feel because they are so much smaller than fertile eggs. I had 2 breeders at ReptiCon that Ginger is so fat because she has infertile eggs. Thing is, she still eats like Miss Piggy. :?: I've got the opposite problem - a pigging out girl who is digging in the corners of her viv a few days a week. :dontknow:

If this is any comfort at all, all of our dragons were acting weird for Spring, and several of them aren't eating what I'd like for them to eat. Our new male that we took in has been sleeping in his hide for a week. Papa Smurf has only eaten about 5 worms in a week (down from 50+!), and Chief is on and off his feeders since January. Clean fecals on them all, too.
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
That does make me feel a little better Shannon, thank you. I did get her to eat 1.5 ml of the baby food mixture yesterday. I would have liked her to eat more. I will keep trying. I'm waiting for a poop now so I can check her fecal. I will update with any news.
On a better note, Zeppelin is doing fantastic! He weighed in at 224 grams the other day. He's been eating like a champ lately. He also just went through another full body shed and he is gorgeous. I will have to post new pics soon.
Amy :D
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Ok so I did a fecal check on Tazz Friday and it was clean, no parasites. Then on Saturday she started eating normally and has put most of the weight back on that she lost. I can't believe she had me sooo freaked out for nothing. I was really starting to think there was something wrong with her. Little stinker!
I weighed and measured both of them this weekend and Tazz was down to 286 grams and 16 1/2 inches. She was over 330 grams before her little fiasco. Zeppelin is 250 grams and 17 inches. Way to go little man! He is growing in leaps and bounds lately. I will post new pics soon.
Amy
 

ShannyBeard

Extreme Poster
I am so glad to hear Tazz is regaining the weight! It is a huge relief when they just miraculously return back to normal. 8) The pre-shed white Tazz looks like how Ginger gets. It's like having a totally different dragon!!
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
I'm glad she's back to normal too! Her pre-shed pic is quite hilarious isn't it? I took that one with my phone so it's not the best pic. It makes her look really bright white when really you can still see her orange underneath showing through just a little. She kinda reminds me of a creamsicle when she's shedding. And that patch on her side that was still orange shed about two weeks after the rest of her body shed. Pretty funny. :D
Amy
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been on here alot lately. I keep saying I'm gonna post new pics soon and never do it. Well today I'm finally gonna do it. Tazz and Zeppelin are both doing great and are getting huge! Zeppelin is 2 inches longer than Tazz now but not quite as heavy. He wants to mate with her in the baddest way. He is so funny the last month or two he has figured out he is a man! He can't usually see Tazz because her viv is under his, but when shes out and he sees her he goes nuts! He stomps his little feet and blackbeards and headbobs her. She just slowly waves her arm back at him. The first time he did it I almost died laughing! My kids think it's hilarious and they like to hold Tazz right up against the glass of his viv. He rams into the glass and licks it. I don't let them do that to him very often poor guy. a couple weeks ago I let Tazz out to roam around and I got Zep out and was sitting on the couch with him sitting on my leg. He started his whole routine of head bobbing and stomping, then all of a sudden he jumped off my leg and ran across the room faster than lightning and jumped on top of Tazz. I was right behind him and grabbed him off of her very quickly. I definitely learned my lesson that day! They can't be out of there vivs at the same time anymore EVER! And Tazz the little hussy was just gonna sit there and let him have his way with her. I could not believe that, I figured she would at least try to run away or bite him. I think she enjoys strutting her stuff for him and watching him go nuts!
Pics uploading now.
Amy
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
This first one is Tazz. She is 10 mos. old now and weighs 360 grams and is still 16 1/2 in. long.
lizards023.jpg

These next two are better, I think the lights in her viv wash out her colors so I took her out.
lizards024.jpg

lizards025.jpg

Here are their vivs, Zep on top, Tazz in the middle, and Sulcata Tortoises on bottom.
lizards014.jpg

Tazz and Zep's vivs.
lizards012.jpg

Here is Zeppelin he is 10 mos. old now and weighs 335 grams and is 18 1/2 in. long now.
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And some of him out of his viv.
lizards017.jpg

lizards020.jpg

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lizards026.jpg


Ok that's all for now, hope you all enjoy them as much as I do.
Amy :D
 

KatieKat

Juvie Member
Aw! You have some gorgeous babies! Zuri has that same little beard that Tazz has :) I love their colors! They look like happy little lizards!
 
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