Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, sorry I have been gone for so long, I have been really busy with school and finals are finally over! Anyways, have some updates here on all the dragons:

rusty: previously gravid but dropped 4 eggs and didn't finish them. the 4 eggs molded and dented about a month into incubation. also about a month after she laid the 4 eggs she couldn't get the rest of them out and finally passed away egg-bound. She was still eating and I soaked her daily in warm water, but nothing seemed to help.

Link: He's been a busy guy, looks like he got 2 other females in that tank gravid, but more on that below.

Little female: has been doing quite well and about a week ago she laid 4 eggs for me that are all in the incubator and looking good right now. I checked her after and can't feel anymore lumps inside her so hopefully she got all her's out and will produce again in a few months. She worked hard with her nest for the 4 eggs though, digging about 4 inches deep over the course of a week and packing all the dirt on top of them.

Houdini (bigger female): we call her houdini cause she managed to escape out of the tank with no apparent place for her to escape. I caught her chillin on the stairs one day when I got back from class. Anyways, she has been eating a lot lately and appears to be getting a little lumpy so I might have another gravid girl on my hands

Lucky: well she is just about the same as she always has been. Eats just fine and is active when she is awake, but tends to like the shadows and sleeps a lot of the day, however she is over 4 years old so she may be getting too old to be very active. Still no eggs from her either, I guess Link just doesn't find her attractive

Tripod: Appears to be doing just fine even without the use of his back leg. Eats normal, stays kinda skinny but I know he is still eating and I make sure he gets his filling. sometimes I think I see him actually use his dead leg, so he may have a little feeling left in it, but for the most part he doesn't use it.

now the Armata's: somehow, someway the female managed to get gravid, and drop 13 eggs without me noticing until I looked into the water dish when I was about to change it and there was an EGG! She laid all the eggs up on the ledge where I have plants and must have missed her hole with one of the eggs so it dropped down into the water dish. I was too late to save any of the eggs since they dried out, all but the one that landed in the water dish. That one looked perfect, but soon dented and molded in the incubator, so maybe I will get another clutch out of her soon so we can go for some CB armata's. As for the male, he hasn't been very active lately and has been a little darker than normal. He still eats and poops just fine, so I am thinking maybe it was the drop in temperature so I just added a regular light bulb in a dome to the tank to add some heat for them to get the temps back around 70 daytime and mid 60's night. If that doesn't help him improve it is off to the vet.

And just today, I noticed that the door on the big tank had come loose from the velcro so I counted dragons and found that I am missing 2 from the tank. They would have just gotten out today, so they can't have gotten far or gotten into any trouble (no other animals here) The 2 that are missing are link, and little female, so wish me luck in finding them and getting them back in the tank. And houdini decided she didn't want back out for some reason, lol.

It looks like ya'll have had a lot of eggs and a lot of dragons passing away. Kinda the same that I have had lately too! It appears to be the season for these guys to be gravid and I really wish I could explain the sudden deaths you are talking about, but I can't think of anything from just reading through the posts. Good luck with all the eggs that are out there! we need more CB's

Also, I am thinking about downsizing my collection since they are getting kinda hard for me to afford, especially now that they doubled my tuition costs here at school. so I may have some dragons and some enclosure for sale here soon

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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

Sorry for the loss (I told you that before)
wish you were on this coast, I would help with your population problem (especially if a tank extender/cover came with the deal)
good luck with the escapees, one of the babies was MIA for a few hours, until we noticed he was riding on Erowens back. Quite funny to look at

Erowen is digging up the dirt in her tank, and it smells a bit boggy, so I M thinking of getting some lime to put in the soil, and a bit more Vermiculite in the soil for drainage.
You have read everything else that is goin on with me and my Dragons
Take care
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

Joe, so sorry to hear about your loss, both the female and the armata eggs. Since we have not had experience with armata you will be the first to find if they lay the same as capra with the multiple clutches. I hope so as we do want to see little CB armatas!

As for the MIAs, I have left the sliding door open 3 times in the last 2 weeks. Have been really busy with them and also have additional clutches cooking. In the past I have had an animal mission for up to a week. When they return they are often thin and dehydrated so be prepared for that with good food and electrolytes. Hopefully it won't be that long for you.

The last time, before the last 3 times, there were 2 on the loose. One climbed a piece of cactus wood and was easy to spot. The other was gone about 4 days and one day when I was feeding I turned around and she was sitting on the floor behind me. If I had stepped back I might have got her!

These last three I have been lucky and found them within 24 hours. I think they know where the food is! They don't seem to go too far now. Or maybe the floor is just too cold for them!

Joe, I would set out a pan of water and a bowl of supers or other insect they like to try and coax them home. Put a nice vertical branch near the food and perhaps they'll use it making them easier to find.

Anyway, hope you both get more eggs and that they are good.

Good luck to All........
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

well, turns out the tank door opened up on its own (the sticky backs on the velcro aren't working well anymore, time to replace), and I found link and the little female hiding where I didn't see them before. So everyone is accounted for now. Thanks for the help though, I was getting ready to put a water dish and a dish full of mealies out when I thought I'd have one last look inside the tank to make sure, and I found them both. At least I don't have to worry about stepping on them or not finding them now!
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

>>well, turns out the tank door opened up on its own (the sticky backs on the velcro aren't working well anymore, time to replace), and I found link and the little female hiding where I didn't see them before. So everyone is accounted for now. Thanks for the help though, I was getting ready to put a water dish and a dish full of mealies out when I thought I'd have one last look inside the tank to make sure, and I found them both. At least I don't have to worry about stepping on them or not finding them now!
>>-----
>>Joe
>>joebradbury@attbi.com
>>aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html