u/Jealous_Location_267

Liora loves her little leaf panel!

I put a big patch of Reptisand in the back of Liora’s enclosure to provide some variety since Kimberleys have sand in their native habitats.

Liora is loving it today and mightily digging with her dotty T-Rex arms and getting a sandy snoot!

Liora fully investigated my nightgown but did not find any grasshoppers. But she was happy snuggling with me!

Literally the second I sat down with my toast 😆 (and yes, Liora got plenty of pets snuggles when I was done!)

I finally got a really good picture of Liora’s favorite pose!

It’s when she drapes herself over the cork bark like this so I can come pet her, and she does lots of tongue flickies and this satisfied wiggle as if to say “Oh, yes, Mother! Pet me! I am a spoiled lap dino and YOU MUST PET ME!”

Now she has her mister nozzle pointed towards the cork bark and she thinks it’s the best spa day ever!

Liora is soooo soft now that she’s properly moisturized. I swear, she feels like petting a short-hair cat now!

Oh, and I kept calling this thing a Reptimister lol. It’s ZooMed ReptiRain, that’s what’s working for us in case your scaly buddy needs extra hydration.

So, story time with a happy outcome and what every monitor keeper should know about gout brought on by inadvertent dehydration: if you live in a desert city like I do where you’re constantly in a losing battle with dry air even with a humidifier, a $60 Reptimister is a LIFESAVER.

Liora’s uric acid levels are down to normal levels!! 🎉 I took her for a follow-up test Monday and just got the lab results today.

The vet said she should be okay to stop taking the Allopurinol now, but we booked another followup appointment for next month to make sure her uric acid level stays normal.

But I honestly think that the mister made a much bigger difference than the meds in her case—now that it’s been a few weeks, I can see and feel a HUGE difference in my baby. She had a big bump on her tail that the biopsy said was consistent with gout—the bump is almost gone now! She still had it when she was taking the medicine, but that huge difference I can see in the photos and in person tells me that the mister did the heavy lifting.

Liora was definitely weirded out at first when I initially popped the mister in and she was a little scared of it, needed a few days to adjust. Especially since the nozzle is pretty noisy when it goes off. But now that she knows when it’ll spray, she drapes herself on the cork bark to get a nice power wash like “oh yes! I am a spoiled diva and YOU MUST SPRAY ME!”😂 she also likes sitting on the actual mister itself!

It’s also a matter of practicality: the schmucks who design these syringes and god knows how many other medical supplies and devices DO NOT design them for users deploying them at home by themselves, be they for human or animal use. It’s assumed you’re in a clinical setting like a vet or human doctor’s office, or that you got a spouse, parent, or home health aide doing all this shit for you. 

No, I will not shut up about this, I haven’t since I yelled at my married podiatrist with a housekeeper after he prescribed me this thing post-foot surgery that I can only describe as “even the customers of the local dungeon would question how overly complex this torture device is” and was not designed for one person recovering from surgery to strap in by themselves in a small apartment.

Ergo…I had to use the syringe to measure the Allopurinol, but could not get it into a tiny serrated odatria maw by myself and had to use an açaí bowl spoon and just get Liora to do lots of tongue flickies off of it. And it’d often dry up before she could get it all, and some days she’d eat more medicine than others.

Whereas all I have to do is check the Reptimister’s gauge and refill it when needed, ditto for replacing the C batteries since it’s nowhere near an outlet. You otherwise set it and forget it.

And I can FEEL the difference cuddling with a super-moisturized dino now!! Liora is soooo soft, you’d swear you were petting a short-haired cat instead of a lizard.

I’m going to pitch this whole adventure to my editor at Reptiles, because it’s a super easy fix that can get overlooked if you have a species not known for hydrophilic behavior.

From last night before lights out 🥰🦕

Have you ever seen a varanid as sweet as Liora? 🥰

Komodogenesis returns in classic howlite tusks with scaly purple Czech fire-polish beads, opaque amethyst Matubo 2/0 seed beads, and large Miyuki and Toho seed beads in matte and alabaster finishes. Polychrome black raspberry beads stitching the sides together round out the palette.

Built with 14-lb Fireline. Modeled by Fluffy the Asian water monitor!

I’ve taken a major shine to Virginia Jensen’s “Superduo Ruffle” pattern after checking out her 2015 book on two-hole Czech beads at the library, and wanted to see what would happen if I made a really long version and I replaced some of the Superduos with Cymbal Vourkoti endings.

Success! It makes a great beaded collar for a bib necklace!

I told Liora I’m going to the nail salon today; god it feels good to finally be out of my slowest time of the year lol.

She’s in a super cuddly mood today so she eagerly came for the glass like “Mommy! I have to come with you! I’m a spoiled lap dino, and I need my nails done too!”

Then I gave Liora lots of cuddles and she sweetly rested her adorable smiling dino face on my hand 🥰🦕

Liora is, she just got her brontosaurus neck petted after clobbering me in kisses!

I love her so much 🥰🦕

I only just discovered that the Preciosa website has tons of free cool patterns! I found this one, “Villa” by Alexandra Lysenko, and immediately knew I had to give it a go.

Great place to check out if you have lots of obscure Preciosa beads in your stash, I’ve had these Pellet beads the last year and a half and finally found a use for them lol. Pellets, Carrier beads, and Villa spikes with square base come together in this cool design that you easily adjust for length.

I used 14-lb Fireline with two needles and did the ends a little differently using bail beads for closure rather than the tie and seed beads in the original pattern, and going back through the beads a second time also makes the spikes straighter.

Liora simply bronto-mogs all!

My child has the cutest smile, hands down! Look at my beautiful baby! I love her so much 🥰

Ordered some beads for my dragon bib necklaces, and Liora wanted me to know she is particularly excited about these lovely Czech beads and they meet her approval.

lol I was also filling a bag on the couch for another beadwork artist I’m trading supplies with, and she kept putting her paws and snoot in it! I told her that Liora is making sure she gets the best quality and only varanid-approved beads will be shipped. 😆

I love when Liora does this, it’s so freaking cute and she knows she’s such a precious baby 🥰

I can’t slog through law journals when I have this sweet baby demanding cuddles and attention!

I love her so much 🥰🦕