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 . 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

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.

This is Tazz in November.

Here's a few of Tazz in december.

And a few of Zep in December.

 

[tazznzeppelin]

Alright I finally did a photoshoot with all of my females. Well, what I thought were all females anyway! First up is Kalypso, looks to me like I need to change her name cuz I think she's a boy!


What do you think? Boy or girl?

This is Kalypso and Tera in the bath the other night.

Kalypso is on the left and Tera is on the right.



Tera's beard looks pink in this pic because it's in shed. It's usually bright red.

Tera by herself.

Kalypso by herself.


Here is my pretty Tazzy girl.

Tazz again.


And last but not least baby Lulu.





Ok that's it for now. Please let me know what you think about Kalypso being a boy or a girl.
Amy

 

[morphmom]

Well, the pic is throwing me a bit, but...I see Male I can't say 100% but I'd put a small wager on it!
Hmmm... isn't Kalypso the goddess of the sea..? Perhaps a name to do with water? So good to see all of your babes. 2 reptile babes run me ragged, *Pat on the back* You, are a braver person then I am! 8)

 

[tazznzeppelin]

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of! I see male too. It's a shame, I really love the name Kalypso. I can't have a boy named Kalypso though. Her and Tera are the only two I let out together for playtime too. Guess that can't happen anymore, and they were so cute together.
Amy

 

[morphmom]

Aw, Tera can play with Lulu once she's older :wink: Well, there's only one thing for it! What kinds of names do you like? Lets get this boy feeling like a guy! 8)

 

[tazznzeppelin]

I kinda like the name Zion for a boy.

 

[morphmom]

Ooohhh! Zion, is cool! I mean it! Seems "Z's" work for you the way "M's" work for me. Does it have a meaning?

 

[tazznzeppelin]

I don't know the meaning. I just like it.
Thanks for the compliments earlier too Holly. I was so side tracked by gender that I forgot to say thanks.
Amy

 

[Menolly07]

We have a little "girl" I named Faranth (from the Pern books) who seems to have unfurling hemipenes as well..... So we have potentially similar problems.....

 

[morphmom]

Oh, heck you earned them! :wink: I really can't wait for someone to jump in! I wanna know if we're right on the gender! :lol:

We have a little "girl" I named Faranth (from the Pern books) who seems to have unfurling hemipenes as well..... So we have potentially similar problems.....

Nah, no problem, just fun. It's fun picking out another name. It's one of the few time you can do it and not feel bad :wink:

 

[tazznzeppelin]

Odahvving has a baby sister or brother! I did not know this, I must go find pics of her/him.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Yes, he's a boy, and Zion is a great name for him. You'll have to watch him and Tera as he might just jump on her and beardie sex seriously takes a second. So congrats, soon you'll see the joys of blackbearding, bobbing, and foot stamping. I have 6 males and see a lot of that, especially at this time of year. My 10 year old, Lonzo, was out in the living room and he bobbed everything, he's my Security Chief, all the furniture, the geckos, the other dragons, the curtains, the patio door...just to let me know the house was secure :lol:

I've been meaning to read your whole thread, your beardies are wonderfully coloured! And Lulu is just soooo cute So I'll get to that right away.
Deb

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well I got through your thread, loved all the pics and can say that we're both overwhelmed with beardies. As I said before I have 6 males, Titan is the latest, he is about 9 mo old and a bit small for his age, about 260g and 16" long. He was abandoned at the pet shop where I go for bugs in January, but by March I couldn't live him there, he wasn't in the best conditions, on wood chips with a coil UVB and he was also changed from tank to tank as they got new reptiles in, so he came home end March, finally. He also had parasites, so was on Baytril for 10 days and like Tazz, he lost his appetite and lost almost 40 grams. He's made up for the loss, but he's a bit behind on development. The previous owners also burned his head and down the left side of his face, the colour around his left eye was also burnt off and part of his eyelid, so it doesn't shed well and around his ear and his spikes. He's shed a lot of the yuck off his head since I brought him home. Took him to my vet and put polysporin on his head every 2nd day or so and that's also helping loosen what's left of his burn. He's full of beans, when I brought him home he arm waved all the others, but now has changed his mind and has been black bearding at every opportunity.

So I know what you mean about not having a lot of time to take care of them all, yet you find the time they need, don't you.

Your babies are just wonderful, loved the pics of your kids and other animals, too. You sure have a full house! And love the vivs your hubby made, they look very comfy for your crew. Zeppelin and Tazz are like my Rubio, he's 22" long and 800g, when I measured him along the spikes across his face, he's 3 1/2" wide there. It's nice to have big beardies, isn't it

 

[tazznzeppelin]

Thanks so much for taking the time to read through my whole thread. I know i get long winded a bit so it probably took you quite a while. I have read through your thread before and you definitely have your hands full!
I was out of town this weekend and just got home last night. It's always stressful for me to leave all my animals, although I always leave them in good hands and they are all just fine when I get home. I still haven't gotten used to the fact that Kalypso is a boy I am still referring to her as she. I don't allow her and Tera to be out together anymore. I can't take the chance of Tera getting prego. Aside from the fact that she's only 10 months old, I don't need 90 babies to take care of.
I had to take Tera to the vet on Friday before I left. I thought she injured her a rm somehow but the x-ray shows no break. The vet thinks it's some type of either genetic disorder or perhaps I fed her too much too fast and her bones couldn't keep up? He also said her bone density looked good so he wasn't really sure what the problem is. I have to take her back this Friday for a re-check. I'm thinking about getting ahold of the breeder and asking her if she has any ideas. My vet is a reptile vet, but he doesn't specialize in bearded dragons. Maybe the breeder will have a better clue whats going on.
Amy

 

[sweetiepie9]

If it was a genetic disorder you would think it would have shown up by now. I'm wondering if she didn't knock herself somehow and bruised the arm, it's happened to Rubio before and took a couple of months to heal, still have no idea how it happened as mine are never out together, ever, they would just try to kill each other.

Hopefully it's nothing that can't be treated and will heal on its own. And thanks for checking out my thread, yours was easy to get through, but mine would be a different story, it's way too long for anyone to read through!

 

[tazznzeppelin]

No It's definitely not just a bruise. On the x-ray it looks like the bone is thicker there. The vet said if I didn't know her history he would have thought it was a chronic injury, like she hurt it several times before. But since I've had her since she was a baby and she's never hurt it, then he wasn't really sure. It could be something that she grows out of or it could bother her the rest of her life. I really hope that's not the case and she grows out of it. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime I think i'll put a call in to Cheryl (the breeder) and see if she can shed some light on the situation for me.
Amy