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:

 

[getgab92]

My goodness Deb. I just got to see your headline. I am so sorry to hear about Didi. Your babies sure have been through a lot this year as well as yourself. I will keep you guys in my prayers and hope that everyone gets better soon.

I can't believe how many eggs Puff had! She's a lucky lady. And a lucky mom! Can you imagine if they were fertile? That would have been big trouble lol. You would be giving away baby dragons to all of us from dragon land! <3 <3 :love5: :love5:

I am going to do my best to keep up on everyone posting. Good luck!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Puff has never had fat pads in all the time I've known her, over 4 years now. No matter how fat she gets and she was 568g mid August, her fat pads just never fill up. I'm not concerned with her weight but after 33 eggs she needs to get some protein in her and calcium (which isn't a problem). She used to eat supers, a couple every 2nd day, but she won't eat them anymore and she won't eat roaches either. Last time I left roaches in her tank, she actually let them go, I found them on the walls of her hide :lol: So feeding her this way seems fine, at least she's eating something. I just get her mouth open and pop a worm in and she'll eat a few. I'm thinking of getting out the Carnivore Care, as she loves the stuff, and feeding her that for a week to see if she'll eat. I'm also thinking of putting Didi on it, too. His eye is improving but I think he's wanting to brumate. Leo is fast asleep. So if Didi decides to sleep, I'll still leave his lights on as he has to keep warm & get his meds every day, like it or not. I have a vet appt at 9a on the 25th as I want to have him checked. He's a worry, that's for sure.

I so wish I didn't have to work full-time right now, I'd rather be home so I can care for Didi properly, not always be in a rush. But then again, if I didn't work I wouldn't have the $ for their lights and his meds...

 

[diamc]

Hi Deb, I'll bet the CC will help Puff out a lot, good idea putting Didi on it too. Hope he doesn't try to brumate. How's his eye looking?

It has to be hard for you to take care of all of them & work full-time, don't know how you do it. You're right though, have to have the $ available when needed though.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I get up at 8a, wake up (takes about 15 min!) then start dragon chores. Didi gets all his supplements first, then I get at least one of them in the bath every day, feed them or give them supplements, different every day. Then leave the meds and cream for Didi last. The last 2 days I've missed my bus and have walked the 1/2 hr to the skytrain, good exercise but Tuesday I was 5 min late. So today I managed to make the bus. I have to leave at 10:30a to catch the bus, if I want to walk then I can leave at 10:40. So I decide at 10 what I want to do...Otherwise I just do what I can. Clean up the poop as I find it. This morning while Puff was in her bath I fed all the bugs, too. This weekend have to clean out the gecko tanks. It's never ending but I always get everything done as well as I can. No-one's complaining, even Didi was running around his tank this am, so I think he's already starting to feel better, but maybe it's just me hoping he is.

 

[Goonie]

Being active is always a good sign.
How's Didi's eye doing? Are there more crud falling off?

Had Puff decided to eat anything yet? Since she likes CC so much, you might as well give her that until she decides to brumate. At least you can be guaranteed that she'll be properly fed.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Puff ate about 20 small dubia this am, I've very proud of her.

Didi's left eye is opening more and more. He's not moving around much today, I think he's trying to sleep, but until this is over, he'll just have to nap with his lights on. He goes to the vet on Oct 25 and Lonzo's going, too, to have his lung checked, he's got a small wheeze, no mucus, but want him checked. That's the only day the vet that deals with dragons is in on a Saturday. Hopefully he's ok.

So I'm off to get my breakfast, make my lunch and get out of here in 40 min. THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY :lol:

And yes, I gave Didi Carnivore Care with butternut squash this am and he ate 5 ml of it, so that's a start. That was after all his supplements and lots of water, so his tummy was sort of full.

 

[diamc]

That's awesome that Puff ate 20 small dubia, that must have made you feel better.

Great to hear that Didi was quite active yesterday. You're right, can't let him sleep until he's at least checked out on the 25th. Hope the wheeze that Lonzo has is nothing to worry about.

I agree TGIF for sure!

Didi ate pretty well. He's such a good boy.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'll take some pics of Didi tomorrow, I think his eye looks better already. The silver sulfadiazine makes his spots look dark but alot of the puffiness and some of the lesions are gone. I get more meds in the am, then, if I'm still not breathing well, I'm going to the ER to have my lungs checked out, they're burning and I had to leave work early today because I was dizzy and shaking. I'm feeling better now & checked my blood sugar and it wasn't that. So I talked to a friend who's a nurse and she encouraged me to get to the ER tomorrow afternoon (I want to pick up what little food I need and get Didi's meds first) and see if they can figure out what's wrong. She thinks I might have pleurisy, said my doc wouldn't have found that but the dry cough & burning, even though my lungs were completely clear of anything when I went to the doc 10 days ago, might be the symptoms. So I'm going to take care of everyone (thank goodness I feed them all today) do my few chores and take her advice. My whole chest is burning right now...wish me luck!

 

[Goonie]

Is pleurisy easy to treat or control? I hope so. You don't need another illness to add to your bucket

 

[sweetiepie9]

I agree, but I still want to find out why my lungs burn all the time, coughing even with puffers twice a day, so going to the hospital, is, I think, the best thing to do today. I'll take care of everyone before I go, though.

So I just got up and, of courese, first think I say hi to all my dragons. But I can't find Puff at first. Well, she dug up the newspaper and made herself a little nest LOL, wonder if that's where she plans to brumate?


And I got a picture of Didi's left side of his face, what do you think after a week of treatment?
Before:


Today


So I'm going to give Didi his supplements, then get his meds, do all my running around, give them all baths (except Didi, he'll get more water), have lunch and make my way to the hospital. I'll update you when I get home, but let me know what you think about Didi's left side of his face.

 

[diamc]

Deb, it's a good thing you are going to the E.R. since you're having those symptoms so they have to get to the bottom of it. Good luck, will be waiting to hear how you make out.

Didi's eye does look better & it''s great to see him opening it. Puff is so funny with her "newspaper nest." Hope she's all done with eggs now.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Deb,

It is slowly looking better. Poor Didi! I hope he is feeling more energetic now.
How many eggs did Puff lay in total? It looks like she likes her newspapers, she might try to brumate there also.

I hope you get to feeling better too, geez. Keep us posted!

Tracie

 

[Tonja]

Deb I get pleurisy now and again and its very painful to take a breath as there is little to no lubrication between the lungs and chest wall. When I get it, I sleep with four pillows and a 5th over my chest so when I cough it eases the pain. Mine doesn't last to long thankfully so I can sympathize with you if that's what it is.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Tracie, Puff laid 33 eggs in total over a week, she only started digging in the newspaper AFTER she laid all the eggs. And she won't use a laybox at all, lays them in her tank or her bath & she laid one on me, too :lol:

Hi Tonja, no I just got home about 7:45 (was there just after 4p, so that was fast), blood tests and chest xray and everything is clear, so no plurisy, thank god, sounds very painful. Turns out to be a virus, no fever, so not a flu. Doc said to stay home on Mon & maybe Tuesday, and if I'm not feeling better on Tuesday to come back in for more tests. hopefully it's all gone by then! I'm tired of being sick. Can't wait to get the flu shot as I always feel better after that shot for some reason. Maybe because I don't tend to get sick once it's given and it just started being received. So I'll wait a couple of weeks to make sure this virus is gone, then I'll get it done.

Didi is feeling better, he's more on his feet, even after being given the meds and being covered with the cream. So far nothing showing on his belly or his arms/legs or lower back or tail, so I'm hopeful that we'll get this healed up & get him into remission. He's back to the vet on Saturday and I'm taking Lonzo in with me to have his lung checked out. I'm hearing a wheeze. I'm also having trouble giving him liquids. The tick in his head is getting more pronounced and he doesn't want anything in his mouth, so will take that up with the vet, too. Can't wait until Jan when I get my 5 weeks vacation again + 3 personal days so I can get whoever to the vet during the week when my vet is working. Even though I like Dr Wall, she doesn't have as much experience as Dr Pruss.

I got alot done today, everyone but Didi got a bath but he got his supplements & lots of water, then his meds when I got back from the bit of shopping I needed to do. Cleaned out the gecko tanks, too, boy that was due. Got crickets, cleaned out the cricket keeper, so they're all feeding. Also cleaned out one of the roach bins. So only have to do 2 washes tomorrow & I don't have to leave my building, have lots of food in the house. So I'm all set to do not much of anything tomorrow. So I'm off to lie down, have a snack & probably sleep. I must have slept 3 hours total in the hospital, every time I sat down I fell asleep, you'd think I'd feel more rested, but no, still tired. Time for lemon water, too.

 

[diamc]

Glad to hear it's a virus Deb, hopefully you will feel better in a couple of days. That's good that the MD said to stay home a couple of days, you need a lot of rest to help you recover.

So happy that Didi is feeling better. Is he eating pretty well for you?

Sorry to hear that Lonzo isn't doing well & that his tic has gotten worse. Maybe the vet will have some recommendations, poor guy.

It's amazing how much you got done today with not feeling well. You should be able to kick back tomorrow & rest. Hope you start feeling better real soon. Take care of yourself.