Tazz and Zeppelin Tales

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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

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And a few of Zep in December.
Aquarium141.jpg

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Aquarium143.jpg
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Hey morphmom (Holly right?) I have Sulcata Tortoises which are strictly vegetarian. You can't feed them most fruits or any protein at all. I don't think all tortoises are like that though. I know some eat lots of fruit and even others eat crickets. I'm not sure about the Hermanns though. If they are vegetarians then I assume they are supposed to eat what the Sulcatas do. We feed ours the same greens that we feed to the beardies. They are supposed to eat high calcium greens so that works out perfectly. I work at a hydroponics store so I grow all my own organic greens hydroponically. Their favorite is collard greens, turnip greens, and wheat grass. I also give them cilantro, basil, squash, pumpkin, cactus. Almost everything they eat I can feed the beardies too so it makes it very easy. They also love to graze in my backyard. They will eat all the dandelions flowers and all, they eat the grass too.
They recently got a new enclosure, when my husband and I turned an old cabinet into two vivs they got the bottom floor. Their setup is pretty similar to the beardies except the substrate. They have a heat lamp and a repti-sun 5 instead of a 10. And for substrate I use about an inch of wood chips on the bottom to soak up any moisture and then a few inches of timothy hay for bedding. They also eat the hay when they get bored. They will eat just about anything! Dog toys, toes, hair, tinsel, you name it and I have pulled it out of their mouths.
We also set up a puppy pen in our backyard in the summer months in half sun half shade for them. They love it! They graze all day on the grass. Oh, and they always have a big water dish that they can climb into all the way. They like to poop in the water. :roll: I have a picture on photobucket that I posted before, I will go find it.
I guess this is the only one I have, that's them on the bottom-
lizards013.jpg
 

morphmom

BD.org Addict
That is Fabulous! :blob5: :D :blob5:
I love that set-up! The Hermanns is a veggie only tort as well. Thank you for the pic, it's given me so many ideas!
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Thanks! It was a lot of fun to make and not too difficult. My hubby is pretty handy so he did most of the work, I just told him how I wanted it and supervised mostly. The biggest modification was the sliding plexi-glass doors in the front. Those were kind of a pain in the butt to cut. We had to get a special tool. You can't really see it in the pics but both levels have vents on the sides too. I like how it turned out. Looks more like a piece of furniture than just a plain old glass tank.
Amy :D
 

morphmom

BD.org Addict
For sure! :D I think that if I were to do something to that effect, I'd go with the door that swing out. The sliding doors look better but I think the swing style doors would be easier. Oh the 'baby' cravings are gonna drive me nuts! LOL! :laughing6:
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Well I guess it's a good thing that was still Tazz's tank when I took that picture. Now my 2 babies Kalypso and Tera are in there. That would have given you baby cuteness overload!
Amy :p
 

morphmom

BD.org Addict
That may have killed me! :shock: All your babies are beautiful :love5: Money doesn't allow for another baby right now but maybe next year. I blame Tonja! Ever since she got Emily, I've had green eyes! LOL! :lol:
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Awww, thanks. I think they are beautiful too. 4 is enough for me for quite a while. No more new beardies for me!!
P.S. Tera is in shed, I can't wait to see her when she's done!
Amy :D
 

tazznzeppelin

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Ok, so I snapped a few pics with my phone that I wanted to share.
This is Chub Chub right after he shed. He used to be bright yellow but now he turned more orange.
GetAttachment-24.jpg

Chub Chub saying Hi! :p
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Kalypso, my sweet little baby. :love5:
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And Tera in shed AGAIN! :shock:
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I know these aren't the best quality pics but it's what I have right now. Hope you all enjoy them.
Amy :D
 

noelerhard

Sub-Adult Member
The pics are great! They all have such great coloring. I love the name Kalypso, how did you come up with it?
 

ziggydoodles

Juvie Member
Chub chub is such a cutie!! :love5: I sooo wish I could have him, but I won't have space (or time) for a new baby until after the holidays when I build Doodles' new enclosure
 

FranktheTank

Gray-bearded Member
I am happy you are keeping Chub Chub, it seems like that's what you wanted all along anyway. Plus he looks so happy with you, he deserves a great family like yours!

-Kaleen
 
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