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

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!


http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...613_200903.jpg
http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...613_200907.jpg
http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...613_200917.jpg
http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...613_200923.jpg
http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...613_200959.jpg

Bath Time!


http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...613_221851.jpg

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

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...613_222409.jpg

But for the most part, it was a success. :D 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.

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...613_221839.jpg

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.

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.

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


http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...dxX/13-4-1.jpg

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...iddxX/13-1.jpg

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...iddxX/13-5.jpg

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...dxX/13-2-1.jpg

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...iddxX/13-3.jpg

Pic from after her bath last night. :)

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...dxX/13-6-1.jpg

Platform built! Her back is reading 95-96 underneath it. :D 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!)

http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...rqg8o1_500.jpg
http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...25032-Copy.jpg
http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/v...25023-Copy.jpg

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!

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!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 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!

---

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.

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?

You can see the fat is mostly in her legs and tail; beardie legs aren't supposed to have rolls, and her tail is really thick!

Getting her on the right food and making sure she gets exercise should take care of the problem over time. And yes, make sure she is strictly supervised when outdoors, they are VERY fast! They make harnesses for beardies too, FYI. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sita

You can see the fat is mostly in her legs and tail; beardie legs aren't supposed to have rolls, and her tail is really thick!

Getting her on the right food and making sure she gets exercise should take care of the problem over time. And yes, make sure she is strictly supervised when outdoors, they are VERY fast! They make harnesses for beardies too, FYI. :)

---

Ah, I see that. :D Her tail is really thick. I guess she probably needs to stay that weight, but convert some fat to lean muscle?

She hasn't moved for hours. She's just sitting and sitting under her lamp. I'm trying to get the rest of the tank warm enough...it's staying around 80. is this good enough?

edit: ulgh, now it's saying it's 76. Noooes! Flexxwatt, don't fail me now.

Do Beardies need a temperature gradient as well?? I always thought they needed constant heat all around....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mephibosheth1

Do Beardies need a temperature gradient as well?? I always thought they needed constant heat all around....

---

Yup, nearly all reptiles need to thermoregulate. Beardies, as far as I can tell, need ambient 80-85 and a basking spot of 95-100. But at night you turn everything off, and let the temps fall to 65-75.

To my understanding.

First off congrats on your decision to get a Beardie. I have a little girl name Mushu and I love her to death. I have read hundreds of different articles and care sheets pertaining to Beardies but the most comprehensive care sheet I was able to find was here:

http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-care.php

Young Beardies will eat a lot of insects and they should be offered them dusted with calcium without d3 if you have powerful enough lighting and with d3 if you think that your Beardie is having troubles digesting. Another thing people don't realize is that Beardies don't naturally drink from a water dish so often this is somthing that you have to teach them to do. I like to use a water dropper or spray bottle and squirt it into the water dish. The Beardie will often get excited pertaining to the movement, explore, and once he realizes it is water will begin to drink. You sometimes have to do this several times to get them into the habit of using it themselves. Also I like to dust the insect with a vitamin supplement 2 days out of the week along with the calcium supplement. Heat and lighting (uvb and uva) are extremely important to the growth and digestive system if your Beardie. Without it your Beardie will become lethargic, can get sick (MBD metabolic bone disease) , may become malnourished and even die. Getting your mini dragon to eat insects typically won't be a problem. Growing beardies have a veracious appetite and seem to love chasing insects.... Not so much eating greens. Soooo if you do get a Beardie that will be the real challenge. To get he/she to eat greens throughout the entire growing process and into adult hood. Here is a video on a way that I decided was the easiest route to go when providing greens. It also provides some other info on bearded dragons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=GC5eruXzbKE

Hope this helps!
Best regards from
Mushu and myself! :)
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/19/5umaza9y.jpg

Haha, thank you, but Allie is a full-grown big girl. :D I appreciate the links, though. ^_^ Mushu is adorable!

She ate her first bugs today, a dozen superworms. She's been so good about eating her salad, I decided it was time. She ate them all in about a minute, lol. She's also really into her salad today, too!

I know superworms are fattening, and they're more expensive, too, so I made sure I got a good supply of enormous crickets.

I swear, she teleports to and from her food dish and basking spot. I never know where she is.

Nice work and good luck with her. Sounds like you are well on your way to giving her a great home and life. :) :gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Anya

Haha, thank you, but Allie is a full-grown big girl. :D I appreciate the links, though. ^_^ Mushu is adorable!

---

Yeah. Sorry about that. Canned message. I try to put it out for anyone who is posting under the Beardie section of the forum. Once again, congrats on the little dinosaur. :)

Oh geez I feel your pain! Just adopted my own little dragon, and he's causing an uproar in the house; I am sick with worry at work when I leave because I'm trying to get him all set up and settled in.

Kudos on the relentless research - I still find myself reading new material and then re-reading the tried and true care sheets to compare notes.

Good luck!

Great job with the rescue, looks like she is in better hands for sure. My beardie freaked out the first time I let her outside too. I think it's something they have to kind of get used to. She would puff up and open her mouth too, luckily I didn't get bit tho. Also I was going to mention Powersun bulbs are great, they provide both heat and UVB in one bulb. Good luck with your new baby :)

Oh lord...oh lordlordlord.

Today I gave her her bath, and left her in longer than she liked (she's usually DONE in 3-4 minutes.) because she hasn't been poo'ing for me.

Well, she dumped a huge mixture of (what appears to be) undigested food + some grass she ate while outside a few days ago. Note to self: Just because she LOVES grass, doesn't mean she should EVER eat it. Anyway, plus, she dumped a huge amount of what appear to be pinworm eggs (Even though pinworm eggs aren't supposed to be visible to the naked eye...?), and the poo stank so badly I almost vomited all over her. I came SO close. which sounds a lot like how I've heard Giardia infections described in Dragons. Soo I'm going to order some of this along with everything else I'm ordering:

http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.ph...product_id=245

I have plenty of experience dosing things out, and dealing with parasites, and although I'm no vet, I do feel confidant about at least trying to beat this myself before plunking down money I don't have at a herp vet. (I love my herp vet! Nothing against him, he rocks.)

And now I'm going to go disinfect her cage like my life depends on it.

Edit: I'm such an idiot. I knew those eggs looked familiar. She poo'd CRICKET eggs. Most of my big feeder crickets that are female are pregnant and full of eggs. False alarm. Still, though...that's some stanky poo....I don't think it would be a bad idea to go ahead and worm her anyway, right?

Eww, gotta love huge dumps, bleh! You were right about the pinworm eggs though; they are microscopic, I want to say you need 100x to see them? It's the second lens on our microscope at work, :D. Panacur plus the metronidazole does take care of most common parasites, as long as you use the correct dose.

100x total

10x ocular and 10x objective. You can see them at 4x objective, but they look better at 10x

Okay, so...I've been thinking about this a lot, and I'm going to give Allie up. Honestly, she overwhelms me too much. I really should have just stuck to my snakes and crestie. I love her a lot, but I know I won't be able to care for her the way she deserves when I start getting even more overwhelmed. I'm putting an ad up on my local craigslist, and start screening potential adopters. I won't adopt her out unless I'm sure they'll do right by her. I'll also put an ad up on here, too.

The ad, if you're so inclined:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/pet/3932526761.html

I'm sure you'll find someone who'll take great care of her; maybe even a fellow forum member so you can keep tabs on her :)

I'm sure. :) I'm already corresponding with a very nice guy, who although he didn't know a whole lot about bearded dragon care seems to really care about proper husbandry. :) A forum member would be ideal, of course, but a good home is what I'm looking for, and I'm not in any particular hurry.