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:

 

[sweetiepie9]

So am I Diane, I'm breathing better, too, not as much burning in there. Mind you, I'm moving around slowly and lying down alot. Didi so enjoyed his baths, he's one dragon that would stay in water for hours if I'd let him.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Some pics, mostly from Thanksgiving day.

Lonzo and Puff enjoying some sunshine:


Getting Thanksgiving dinner on the table, at my sis Gail's and b-i-l Ian's home

Choco, Dave, Annika, Cole and Ryder's little dog, he looks so much better since they got him:


Ryder enjoying a smooch from Auntie Gail:


My dad and Emily (the horseback rider), wish the light had been better...


Cole and Carly


Carly, Emily, Richard, Dave and Ian


My mom and dad and the pumpkin spice cake my sis made to celebrate Cole, my mom and Ian's birthdays


Cole with his birthday card from Auntie Gail and Uncle Ian, the smallest card in the world. There was a folded up a chq in there for him, too. He was so impressed with that card! And the chq, too!


My brother Dave showing off a beautiful shawl my niece Tehya & a designer had made from Tehya's photography. It's a new company. Beautiful scarves and shawls.


My mom showing off the scarf she got for her birthday from Gail, another of Tehya's designs.

 

[Esther19]

How wonderful that you have family nearby. It looks like a grand time was had by all, and the food looked yummy. I did see peas left on plates, however. Puff's picture in her paper was so sweet. And such a beautiful look on her face. Glad to hear that you are feeling a bit better, and that Didi's fungus is healing. It's good that you have another couple days off. Please give dear Lonzo extra snuggles from me, and tell him I hope he feels better soon.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Esther, we did have a wonderful time, we always do. We don't all get together that often so it's a big treat. We even talked to my niece Tehya (who did the photography the designs are from) as she's in London, England. My sis got her on FaceTime & we all had the chance to say hi to her. We really miss her, she'll be there for at least until Feb '16 and maybe later if they can get new visas.

Lonzo isn't doing well because he can't seem to take liquids anymore. He choked again in the bath, even though he swallowed some water, checked and there was none in his mouth but he kept choking, so I took him out and snuggled him for awhile and he calmed down. He's going with me to the vet this week as I don't know what to do with him. He can eat solid foods, so maybe it's time for me to dip his worms in the liquid calcium I have so he gets his share. He doesn't hold onto his weight, either, no matter how often I feed him. He looks so skinny at the base of his tail. I know he's getting older, he'll be 12 yrs old in April, but I don't want him to get worse either. I'm hoping the vet can figure out a way to get liquids in him, as he does this every time I put in him the bath and every time I try to drop water on his nose, he'll choke up, too. I'll keep you posted. I love him so much, I hate seeing him like this. He can't hold himself up anymore, can hardly hold up his head anymore either.

I'm glad you enjoyed the picture of Puff, she has such a sweet face. She's gaining weight & it's not the food she's hardly eating, so I think she's making more eggs...only time will tell, but I'm going to see if I can get more food into her tomorrow.

Didi looks even better today after the bath he got, I just checked his left side and it's even better than it was when I took the picture the other day. So I'm hoping all this medication is working for him.

How are you and your crew doing? Let me know, k?

 

[Goonie]

Lonzo isn't doing well because he can't seem to take liquids anymore.

Can you give him the water gels that are made for the crickets? The ones that include calcium?

Didi looks even better today after the bath he got, I just checked his left side and it's even better than it was when I took the picture the other day. So I'm hoping all this medication is working for him.

 

[Brezzy99]

Puff looks so cute in her newspaper bed. I sure hope she isn't going to lay more eggs for awhile. It's really amazing how great Didi's eye looks now compared to before! I'll say some prayers for Lonzo and Didi to get better.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi, Thanks for dropping in! I got another close up of Didi's left eye after his baths & cream yesterday, it still looks raw, but I'm hopeful it will heal. He had a slash on his left elbow (I think he clawed himself but I'm not sure, that's completely healed, but will continue to put cream on it anyway.

Puff is digging away, she's going to dig to China, I think. I found her in her hide today, so not sure if she's considering brumation but that can't happen if she's percolating eggs. So we'll see how that goes.

The funny thing with Lonzo is he eats his superworms and his collard greens just fine, so I think I'm going to start dipping the greens in calcium during the week and on the weekend and a bit in the vit/min on the weekend so he can at least get those liquids. Then I'm guess I can dip the other days of collards in water so he can stay hydrated. I'm still going to ask the vet about saline drip for him, see what she says. I tried to get in today or tomorrow, as I'm off until Wed but they only have a Thursday and I'm hoping to be much better & able to work again by Wed, so Sat it is.

So here's the latest pic I took this am of Didi's face:


And here are some fun pics of Gabriel and Puff keeping each other company from a distance:






He was sunning on the little couch & Puff was watching him with her elbow on her rock, so relaxed the both of them :mrgreen:

 

[diamc]

So good to hear that you are breathing better and that the burning has gotten better too. These extra days off have done you good.

Enjoyed the family pictures, can tell that you all have such a good time. That pumpkin spice cake sure looked yummy.

That little birthday card was adorable, bet he did enjoy that as well as the check of course. :mrgreen:

Beautiful scarves, Tehya is very talented.

Choco is so cute, bet he enjoyed all the attention that day.

Didi does look better, hope the areas can all heal up so he can feel better. Poor Lonzo, it is SO hard watching them get old and I know exactly what you mean about him not being able to hold himself up anymore, breaks your heart. Hope the vet can come up with something to help him out so that he doesn't choke on liquids.

Puff is so funny. Hope her gaining wt doesn't mean more eggs. :roll:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Diane, I think the gaining weight with Puff means more eggs. She spent all day today ripping up her newspaper again. At least when she poops she poops on top of the mess so it's easy to remove :lol:

Lonzo ate alot of worms today, I think it's time to get some calcium & vit/min powder for him so I can dip the worms in it & his greens, too. I'll get some tomorrow. Maybe that will be enough for him. I'm also going to ask the vet about liquids for him, maybe we can figure out a method of delivery for him. He's just dehydrated, I can tell by his urates, they're white but hard.

Didi seems to be getting better every day. The oral meds knock him out thought, or maybe it's just brumation. He also ate alot (for him) worms today, even though I have to feed him. My roach babies need to grow and I'm hoping that a friend of mine wants to start a colony so I can get rid of alot of adults, as they're overwhelming the 10 gallon feeder tank I have. Tons of babies, though. We'll see next weekend.

Gabriel is even slowing down, he's napping during the day. But still eating, pooping and active more than not.

Leo is brumating, too, even though he wakes up alot. Today he was just at the bottom of his tank, hopefully he'll get back into his hide tomorrow so he can sleep properly.

Guess it is that time, that must be why Didi is so tired. He still gets up in the am, basks alot, but by the late afternoon, he's sleeping already, before his lights go off.

Glad you enjoyed the family pictures, I enjoyed taking them. Sent them off to everyone, too.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Deb,

That is great you are feeling better! Those are nice pictures of your Thanksgiving pictures of you & your family. It looks like everyone had a wonderful time.
It looks like Didi's face is starting to look much better now, what a trooper he is.
All of your gang is looking great! Poor Puff, it does sound like she is developing more eggs.
How is Lonzo doing today? I hope you are able to get him hydrated up. It is so hard when they get older, he is so beautiful.
The scarves Tehya made are gorgeous, how many do you have?

Get some rest!

Tracie

 

[sweetiepie9]

I had to pass on getting any of Tehya's scarves as I had to pay for Didi's surgery and then more vet bills and meds. Maybe next month I'll have a bit extra to spend. The scarf my mom was wearing was $70, the big shawl my brother was showing off is $150, so we'll see if I have enough for one of the smaller scarves. I'll check with my sis on my birthday at the end of next month.

We all had a great time at Thanksgiving, but we always do; the kids get a bit bored but they managed to last until 8:30 when their folks when home. I was lucky that my brother Dave gave me a lift both ways, that made the day extra special.

Then on the Monday (we got together on Sunday) I took my nephews to the movie Guardian of the Galaxy. Ryder made me laugh because he kept asking me who the bad guys were, considering that the 5 main characters, the heroes, were all in jail at the beginning of the movie, his questions made sense. They both had a good time, though and enjoyed the movie.

I'm feeling better but had a bit of a cough today, nothing like last week, so taking one more day & I'll be back to work on Wednesday. It'll be good to be back in my regular routine, will be making a calendar so I get all the chores I need to do with the beardies straight, so I don't miss anything. I take Didi and Lonzo to the vet at 12:45p on Saturday, was able to move the date up. I have my cleaning lady in for 2p so it will be very close, but I should be able to get home b4 2p. I'll call her to let her know tomorrow. It was that or 9a and after getting home at 9:30p from work on Friday pm, 12:45 sounded better.

Puff finally give up trying to dig through the bottom of her tank; at first I couldn't find her, she was against the inside of her basking log and blended right in :lol: After feeding her earlier today, I can see it's going to be a struggle to get her to eat protein. I have to put some fresh collards in her dish tomorrow, completely forgot. I'll be up at 8a as have the dishwasher repair man in early tomorrow & then have to get wash done. Then I'm off at 6p to get to the chiro, had to change my appt because of the repairman. So lots of chores to do tomorrow, will keep me awake! I slept most of the day yesterday and today and feel much better.

 

[getgab92]

Great pics Deb! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. I always forget our thanksgiving is different than ours lol. WOW look at Didi's eye! It looks so much better just in that one week. Its not all red or anything. I think you got this one kicked in the butt.

So glad to hear that you are feeling better. It's no fun when you feel crappy. No matter what it is thats making you feel that way.

I loved that picture of Puff with her elbow up :lol: Just the cutest! She's such a lady.

Good idea to start dusting Lonzo's food. Riley would never eat anything that was dusted lol. Thats why I had to go to liquid. What a stubborn dragon he can be sometimes. But i love him

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi, glad to see you here! I tried the calcium powder on Lonzo's worms and he spit them all up. Guess I put too much on, it's been over 3 years since I last used it, forgot how thick it can go, especially when I dumped a pile on those poor worms. So next time I feed him (Wed, I'll go easy and use my tiny spoon I got with the bee pollen from Tracie to just put a bit on them, not a flood. Then he'll eat them better, I'm sure. I'm thinking I might give him a few a day instead, see how that goes. It's tough getting old, poor sweet Lonzo.

Didi is looking better every day. I've stopped giving him the oral meds twice a day & dropped to once a day, but I think I'll double up on weekends if he gets worse again. So far there are no spots anywhere by around his eye, two light brown spots on top of his head and one black spot in the middle of his back. Then I discovered all this black on his beard, not sure if it was him trying to black beard with cream on, or what. So that's where I'm putting the cream. I did take some pictures on the weekend:





And what looks good:

I had to tell the vet on Saturday (my vet's partner) that the polka dots are original :mrgreen:







So I really don't think he has yellow fungus. A month after Titan was diagnosed, he was covered with lesions and a month later he was dead; I keep checking Didi every day (with gloves on, of course) and he's not getting worse. So now I'm just confused. Even the vet, Dr Wall, that we saw on Saturday, said she thought he was getting better. I think he has a different type of fungus and I'm so hoping we can get rid of it. His left side still looks raw, every time he scabs over, putting on the cream makes it come off. So he's getting the oral med and the cream daily, with Betadine underneath. The vet said I can treat his eye with 30:1 Betadine to water as a drop, said it might help. There are artificial tears I can use, too, but she said the Betadine has been used on cats eyes when they get a fungus and it's been very successful, so I might just try it to see if it helps.

 

[Goonie]

Look at how great Didi's eye is now! And he can fully open it!
I hope the black spots on his beard is just him not being happy with you messing with him at that time.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Aww Gina, thanks I was hoping his eye was getting batter. I'm hoping that's just black beard trying to get through all the gunk, but we'll see. I'll take more pictures on the weekend for comparison.