Poor Baby Nubs

Nubs is my favorite beardie. He's the one that got the closest to death but still managed to live. He's such a sweetie. 

And now he's got a new problem. :( 

Nubs tested positive for adenovirus. His poop had been liquid for a week or two so I did a fecal sample. Came back totally clean. Another week or so passed and he started having bad in his liquid poop so I took him to the vet. 

Oh all the crummy luck. I've always been careful with sterilizing and such, but now I'm even more careful with Nubs. Adenovirus is transmitted through poop-- poop to mouth contact.  Even my kids know now to be ultra careful. 

The problem is that Nubs is still doing poorly. He's very lethargic and his beard is always black. His eyes are sunk in and he's not much into eating. 

We had him on antibiotics and he perked up for a week, but then went back downhill. I need to see if there's another treatment plan for him now. 

Nubs is young-- only 2 or 2 1/2. But the adenovirus may be the end of him. I may opt to let him be put down so he's not continuing to suffer. Whenever he goes, I'll choose to have him cremated. He's one of my very special ones. 

But not Nova

A local pet store (that I adore) took my babies today. I totally trust them to find the twins and Feisty Bits a good home. 

But they didn't want Nova because of his stumpy tail. :( 

So I brought him back home. 

Nova is going through his grumpy teen phase currently. Plus I had to force feed him so he extra-specially hates me too. I'll make sure I keep him & LilBit away from each other so they don't attempt to take me down in the middle of the night! ;) 

Ugh! Of course!

Blaze, the sick savvy from the fire, hates my guts. He hates me looking at him. He hates me touching him. He hates me tube-feeding him. He will not eat on his own. He hisses. He puffs up. He whips his tail at me. 

In an effort to make him happier, I sent him to be with my rescue sister who has the healthy one. 

Within 4 hours, I get a pic of Blaze eating. 

Then an hour after that, I get a pic of him 

chilling with Marybeth. Uh huh. Of course. 

Today he ate again without hissing or puffing up or fighting. 

Yep. 

Savvys hate me. Babies hate me. Good thing I don't take it personally. Good thing I have my rescue siblings to take the ones who hate me. 

LilBit, rescue 97.2

LilBit and Peanut were rescued last August from two clueless teenage boys. Both of the beardies were underweight and both had MBD. 

LilBit came back to me last week as one of the 5 beardies. Boy, does he have an attitude! 

He and Gizard had vet visits the other day. The tech said Gizard was a sweetie. LilBit was ...... not. At all. Ha! 

He is a brat! I got him moved into a 40 gallon tank with some branches to climb on. Once I'm able to place some of my babies and have fewer beardies to take care of, he and I are going to learn to be friends. Right now, he's too grumpy and wild to ever be adopted. 

It's going to take awhile, I think. He's almost a year old and that year mark makes a big difference in attitude. He's stuck in his testy teen phase. Adults are almost always more mellow and slug-like. 

The Twins, rescues 140 & 141

I've never been able to come up with names. And now they are going to a new home. 

So here are the "twins." I believe they are both girls. 

They are both about 6 or 7 months old and quite healthy. 

Feisty Bits, rescue 139

Apparently baby beardies now hate me. What's up with that?!? 

This is Feisty Bits. He's adorable. And when he won't eat, I force feed him. Or I push a roach/worm in his mouth. 

He's very pretty and healthy. Ready to be adopted! 

I'll consider shipping him in the US only if you show me your set up for him and pay actual overnight shipping charges. 

Dex, rescue 138

Dex is the only adult of the 5 beardies I rescued last week. She's very sweet and appears to be healthy. Her belly does seem bloated, but she won't poop for me so I can do a fecal test. 

This is how I found her today! Ha! 

Once I get her fecal test done, she will be 

ready to adopt out. 

My Sanity

This is my bike. It keeps me sane and helps me feel less guilty after I eat an entire box of fruit snacks! ;) 

Life gets crazy and sometimes I don't have time to ride. I hate those weeks. I'm trying to make more effort to plan my rides so they happen. 

The best thing about riding new is my ne app: Map My Ride. Paid $2.99 for it and it was worth every penny. It keeps track of my speed & mileage & distance, etc. I love it! 

In March, I rode 60 miles. Hopefully, I'll get one more ride in this weekend and break that mileage. 

So there's my post about what I do for me to make sure I stay sane. I ride and I read. Ha! But never at the same time! ;)

A Year

I took this pic of Georgie & Heidi on April 23, 2015. Both of them were about a year and a half old and both were just over 200 grams. They were the size of a small orange. 

I took this picture this morning. Georgie is on the right again; Heidi is on the left. Georgie is now 907 grams. Heidi is 1980 grams. 

A year and 4 days. Georgie is the size of a large grapefruit. Heidi is the size of a small soccer ball. 

PS. they both had pyramided shells when I got them. Neither had the right UVB light or good food. Both were eating plain lettuce. As they've gotten bigger, the uneven shells have gotten more pronounced. 

Flame Update

This beardie is finally starting to shed! It looks like he's wearing gloves. I gave him a bath tonight and he still stinks like old smoke. :( Poor guy. 

He did NOT like the bath. 

Or the drying off. 

A good full body shed will help return him to his normal colors. 

Update on Phoenix

I pulled Phoenix the blood python out tonight for a good check up. 

The side of his face is just burnt. His eye is dead and he has some raw spots. 

I think I'm going to take him to the vet tomorrow for a check in. 

Poor snake. 

Ole!!

I played dress up with Big Noodle tonight. He hated it. ;) But it's adorable. 

Oh Poop!

A couple weeks ago, I met my sister and her kids at our local aquarium. My favorite exhibit (besides the huge shark tank) is the river otters.

I couldn't see any of them and kept trying to move past the crowds to catch a glimpse. 

Finally, one of the otters went in the outside part of the enclosure (where there were no crowds). I got right up to the glass and had the perfect spot for a picture. 

And the otter stood up. And pooped. 

I started laughing so hard!! 

Poop! It's my life!!! 

Morning Pancakes

Every morning, my beardies wake up, position themselves under their lights, and flatten themselves as they warm up for the day. 

As soon as they saw the camera, most of them stopped being as flat. 

Lil Bit- 

Twin 1- 

Twin 2- 

Flame-

Gizard worked on his flatness and dos his beard flaring exercises. 

And Dex, the oldest of the 5 from last week, wanted nothing to do with any of it. I don't blame her. ;) 

My Dream Lizard

One day, this will be the dream pet I own: 

a Frilled Lizard 

A pet store near me sells babies for $250.  Sometimes I just like to watch them and dream. :) 

Happy Earth Day!

(To share this post, click HERE)

Upgrades

I finally found two more 20 gallon tanks and got the 2 "twin" beardies into bigger tanks. Until my UVB order arrives, we're sharing UVB lights. 

The tiny baby is still in a 10. 

All of the 4 babies have eaten, pooped, and drank. They are all active and alert. I should be able to start adopting them out next week. 

My bedroom is packed now. 9 tanks total. 

Still no names. I call them: the tiny baby, the twins, Lil Bit, and the big one. ;) I'll figure out names soon. 

Blanket Training--- Entry Level

Tonight began the fabulous process of training the new beardies to snuggle in blankies at night (AND like it!!). 

Gizard took to it like a fish to water. He was in the colorful blankie. He immediately settled in and slept. 

The other beardie wasn't so sure. It took her awhile to fall asleep and she woke up easily. 

Smaug was continuing his training through Independent Study on the back of the couch. 

It's hard to snuggle with the tiny beardies. I usually start them when they are 6 months old because it's easier to hold them in their blankie. 

Aw, sleeping beardies are so adorable! I just love them. 

The 5 Beardies

I haven't named them yet. But here they are. 

The oldest (around 3), probably a female. 

Lil Bit (who I rescued with Peanut in August of 2015). He's almost a year. 

One of the two "twins." About 5 months. 

The other "twin." 

The tiniest & weakest one- 

4 of the 5 have pooped. All 5 have had baby food squash today. 3 of them ate little superworms. All of them are pretty feisty. 

Gizard, rescue 137

Gizard needed to be separated from his younger, weaker brother and so he was a "sorta" rescue. :) 

He's about 8 months old and is mostly friendly. Right now, he's too spooked by all the changes. I just discovered the end of his tail is dying so he'll go in next week for a little snip. 

Hermy's School Visit

Hermy got to be the star of the Earth Day Assembly today at a local Charter school.  

She was unaffected by the noise and attention and took a nap while we waited. Then she walked around while I spoke for a few minutes. 

Once we got in the van, she got to eat her dandelion breakfast and was MUCH happier then. 

Now we are headed home so she can go back to basking in the backyard with the other tortoises.