fuzzy mice, play sand, hot-rocks, oh, my...(pix)

[Anya]

Just rescued my first beardie ever from Craigslist...let's just say, I'm glad I picked her up, because there are going to be some changes...

From the ad she actually seemed like she was really well cared for, but on closer inspection...oh, my. When he started asking me what I should feed her, and I replied with appropriate vegetable and fruit matter, he interrupted me and was like, "and PROTEIN?" lol...he then proceeded to feed her two f/t hopper mice! I mean, there were like twice the length of the distance between her eyes...and in her food bowl all i saw was some wilted lettuce and shredded carrots... Plus, she has NO UVB bulbs, and I'm a little panic-y at this point, because I really wasn't expecting to have to buy UVB bulbs and lamps so soon...I do NOT have the money this week...stupid me. Anyway, basically what he did was put her out to bask in a wire care for a few hours a day. I'm afraid I'll have to do the same for a little while...but I live in Half Moon Bay, which is fog central. Sunlight is a rare commodity, especially during the summer...

Sigh. I really think I did the right thing. I'm going to get her on a good diet, vitamins, calcium dust everything, and OFF that stupid sand and hot rocks (two of them. Her ONLY heat-source, may I add? Yeah.) He also gave me a few small basking lamps and heat bulbs for them. That he never used...grr...

Here's my plan, tell me what you think-

Get her a warm bath to get all that stuck shed off...

Get those claws trimmed!

Sterilize the tank and furniture, get her on paper towels, better diet obviously,

Run a piece of flexxwatt the length of the tank (I have one) and set the thermostat to 85

Position the 2 heatlamps (both 75 watts, I don't think just one will cut it...) over the warm end, and monitor temps of course.

Open the window, take her out of the tank, and position her in a morning sunbeam whenever I have one/afternoon sun when I have it.

Get her UVB asap...



Okay, moment you're been waiting for, here's 'Allie' She's a total sweetheart. I've already fallen in love, and now I want to do everything I possibly can to make her life better!

[Anya]

Bath Time!




She got REALLY upset at one point and puffed up like a balloon-



But for the most part, it was a success. She drank a TON of water, and then gave me two HUGE smelly poops, but wasn't too horribly happy about the whole thing. I think she'll get over it, lol.

[jhaskins]

Wow - I'm no expert on Beardies but even I have read enough to do a face palm on the previous conditions. Glad to see she has found someone to properly care for her - although I don't see her properly wearing a seat belt in a couple of those photos .

Good luck - beautiful animal.

[Anya]

haha, thank you! Just got her her breakfast this morning. Still can't get a basking spot above 90 F...gonna go outside and gather & wash some slate to see if I can make a higher (and more heat absorbent) basking platform.

[Anya]

After the sun cam out nice and bright, and the deck had heated up, I put Allie out to bask. After I took the temp of the deck it was like 120...o.o so I put her branch out there, and that was more like 105-110. Our backyard is small, and privacy fenced, so I just left her there with her breakfast, and went and had my own.

Okay, yes, this is a learning process. And THAT was a mistake. I came back to a dragon racing all over the yard. I didn't realize how fast they could run when they were warmed up! I gentle picked her up and set her on the raised bed at the back of the yard. it's more filtered sunlight, and she seemed to be aiming for it. Another mistake. She ran under a rosebush, and puffed up and opened her mouth anytime my hand came near. So I thought..."How painful could her bite really be?" ANOTHER mistake. Ow. I know it doesn't look like much, but that HURT. I ended up taking off my shirt, and grabbing her with that.

Ulgh. I feel I've irreparably ruined the beginnings of friendship...why did I get an intelligent reptile, again? I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING












Pic from after her bath last night.

[Anya]

Platform built! Her back is reading 95-96 underneath it. Plus it looks major cool in the tank.

Should be able to order her UVB this Thursday. Until then, she gets an hour of sun in the morning. (SUPERVISED!)

[MrLang]

I don't want to bash because you are doing the right thing and it sounds like she is getting massive upgrades, but why is there a picture of the dragon on the dashboard of your car while you're clearly driving down the highway? That just seems like an awful idea regardless of the fact that dragons are pretty docile.

Go light on the fruit - it's not that great for them. Dusted roaches or crickets a few times a week will be a solid replacement for fuzzy mice. Yuck. I'd probably do crickets but mostly greens for a while because she looks a little fat and the rodents are definitely the cause of that. People like their dragons plump but if you talk to reptile vets they'll tell you that obesity is the cause of most of the organ failures that kill dragons these days.

Other than that congrats and I'm glad she is going to a great home! Good luck!

[brobertson]

Thank you so much for getting that girl out of what she was in! Looks like everything is coming along great, I'm sure that she will warm up to you with time!

[Anya]

I don't want to bash because you are doing the right thing and it sounds like she is getting massive upgrades, but why is there a picture of the dragon on the dashboard of your car while you're clearly driving down the highway? That just seems like an awful idea regardless of the fact that dragons are pretty docile.

Go light on the fruit - it's not that great for them. Dusted roaches or crickets a few times a week will be a solid replacement for fuzzy mice. Yuck. I'd probably do crickets but mostly greens for a while because she looks a little fat and the rodents are definitely the cause of that. People like their dragons plump but if you talk to reptile vets they'll tell you that obesity is the cause of most of the organ failures that kill dragons these days.

Other than that congrats and I'm glad she is going to a great home! Good luck!

No problem, no bashing. Sorry, maybe the dashboard wasn't the best idea. She really wanted to be up high, though, and it was the warmest place other than me in the car. It won't be a regular thing, I assure you. And as soon as she wanted down, I let her down. Plus, I wasn't driving. I would never do that if I was driving...I was right below her, watching her closely.

No fruit in that bowl. :-) she had a breakfast of squash, greens, nasturcem (sp?) Leaves and flowers, and a little bit of a pepper, dusted with reptavite and calcium. I don't have any bugs yet, but need to pick up crickets tomorrow anyway, and plan on setting up a dubia colony soon. :-)

Thanks for the advice, though! I'm Soooo unsure of everything, and have pretty much spent the last twelve hours doing nothing but research.

Side note though, she REALLY doesn't feel fat. She's 420 grams, and feels rather hollow. The guy I got her from says she lays infertile eggs on a regular basis...like a chicken...so I think that might be what's going on. But I really don't know.

[Anya]

Alright, kind of a gross question. Is it safe to feed my kingsnake her freshly laid slugs? I'm told he loves eggs. Would this be acceptable?