Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

A little help please

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • A little help please

    With our new "child". Click image for larger version

Name:	new baby.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	85.6 KB
ID:	2033489 Mr evil and I are now the new parents of this beautiful 2 year old pastel Bearded Dragon. A friend of my mothers wasn't able to keep up with her and her son was not as interested in it as he had been. I have never had a lizard, let along a dragon before but we have taken care of two ball pythons before.

    I am terrified of getting her hurt or sick since I am so new at this so any advice for caring them would be greatly appreciated.

    She currently has a heat light as well as a UV tube light. We are feeding her tomorrow with 5 calcium dusted crickets *I hope* and buying some kale and carrots.

    Thanks for any advice ^-^

  • #2
    My brother has a Beardy (named Mr. Pibb). He loves his super worms! As in when he sees one, he starts running for it. You do have to cut the heads off or they chew on the lizards insides though. Of course make sure you bathe her, we do once a week. Just a little plastic storage container should be fine.
    Some people just need a high five...

    In the face with the back of a chair....

    Comment


    • #3
      We have a three-year old Beardie called Pep, although she is a little strange because she wasn't taught properly We've had her for two years now. Yours is a sweetheart! What's her name?

      - Fresh veg or fruit every day - we used a compilation of several lists from the internet (try http://blackninjakitty.com/herps/car...reeniglist.htm for starters) to see what she couldn't have and work out what she likes - she loves broccoli, strawberries, pineapple and peppers mostly! Make sure you cut the pieces small enough so that a lizard can eat them ok - nothing bigger than the space between her eyes, which goes for worms/crickets too. We didn't have much luck with carrots as I think they're too hard for her to eat, but we gave her some part-cooked ones and she liked those.

      - We mostly feed Pep morio worms, 3-4 a day or 7 every two days. She's pretty good at ignoring them if she isn't hungry. If your beardie does seem to be a picky eater, make sure you drop the crickets/worms in one at a time, and then get them out again if she doesn't eat them - morios eat through wood (one made it into the cork log and took a good half hour to pry out!) and crickets can bite the beardie if they're left in there for too long. Make sure you gut-feed the crickets an hour or so before you feed them to her as well, and calci-powder is good. You can dust the greens with calci powder, but we just dust the worms before we give them to her and she manages fine. She does eat crickets but isn't particularly good at chasing them, so they tend to be too fast for her and are annoying to then fish out of the tank again, hence why we stick to worms. They aren't great for her as they're high in protein, so we do try to make sure she has veg as often as possible.

      - Bathing - our vet recommended a bath every day for Pep, but that is partly because she's odd. She doesn't really know how to drink (if you put a dish of water in her tank, she ignores it) but she'll swim quite happily in a large bowl, so we've taken to giving her some attention and playtime every evening when she has her bath which she really likes, and it gives us some time with her. If you're not sure if your beardie needs a drink, put a drop of water on her nose - if she licks it from her lips, give her a bath. They also absorb it "through the other end", as our vet put it, so don't worry if she's just sitting there and not drinking.

      - Don't worry too much about hurting them, beardies are pretty solid - Pep fell a meter from my hands and just bounced, and then ran away! And I've caught Pep by her tail before when she did a flying leap off a shelf, so don't worry too much about gentle handling (as long as you're nice, you know?)

      - We work on "if she hasn't eaten for two weeks" or "if she is listless and not moving much for a few days", we take her to the vet. They're a lot more hardy than most animals.

      - They should also self-regulate with their temperature so if she isn't (Pep hides under her log when she isn't well), that's a warning sign - either that your tank temperature isn't right, or she's ill. However they also hide when shedding, so if yours is particularly grumpy, it may just be that. Pep really appreciates a bath every day when she's shedding.

      - Vet-wise - I assume you have a local one who's good with exotic pets as you had snakes before? Ours is lovely but Pep hates him because he gave her medicine which tasted horrible. It did make her better, though.

      - Temperature - I assume snakes are similar, being cold-blooded? They need a basking spot, preferably high, and a change in temperature between hot (35-40 c) and cold (anything about 15, preferably 20 c ish). Pep has a large log to bask on plus a small tunnel to hide under. Careful that the heat mats don't get the floor too hot and burn the lizard's stomach - we use a hanging heat lamp plus a heat mat so that most of the heat is coming from above.

      - It looks like she likes being on your head as well - dominant lizard! Try wearing a felt-type hat (as opposed to wool, as her claws might stick) if you find her claws hurt your head. Pep likes shoulders so I always go for a jumper that covers me up when I put her there - claws on your neck HURT!

      - They have trouble going backwards or getting down from things. Pep climbs...and then just falls off, bounces and looks very embarrassed! She's also very good at turning round in confined spaces, but try to arrange the tank so they don't have anywhere they can't get out of again, if that makes sense. Pep can get to her log from both ends, but seems to like belly-flopping off the top of it. I swear we have a kamikaze beardie sometimes!

      - If she puffs, get your fingers out of there - beardie nips HURT. They also apparently have horrible bacteria, so if you do get nipped then go wash it quickly. Pep has only bitten the husband once by accident, and she didn't break skin - she mostly puffs when she's grumpy (i.e. shedding) and we leave her alone until she calms down/stops shedding.

      That's all I can think of for the moment - some of the things we do for Pep are simply because she hasn't been taught to do anything else, so there may be a better method! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions - we're learning as we go along as well, so hopefully I can help or point you in the right direction, or say "no idea, vet time!"

      Edit: an image of Pep!
      Attached Files
      Last edited by houdini; 03-10-2013, 09:54 PM. Reason: Added an image
      I speak English, L33t, Sarcasm and basic Idiot.

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth houdini View Post
        - It looks like she likes being on your head as well - dominant lizard! Try wearing a felt-type hat (as opposed to wool, as her claws might stick) if you find her claws hurt your head. Pep likes shoulders so I always go for a jumper that covers me up when I put her there - claws on your neck HURT!
        The husband has just commented - are you sure it's a female? It looks very large (Pep's only 30cm long and she's three), and also males tend to prefer the dominant positions - Pep does sit on my head but prefers my shoulder, whereas a friend of ours has a male that always sits on his head. It is notoriously hard to tell what sex beardies are so there's no guarantee the person before you did know. And if it is male, don't get another one!! They'll either fight or have sex continuously, and they are quite happy being solitary.
        I speak English, L33t, Sarcasm and basic Idiot.

        Comment


        • #5
          We are still working on her name. She came with the name Spike but it doesnt seem to really fit her. So far we have settled on Buddy cause we love to say "We got a Buddy".. yeah we are weird

          Thank you so much for the advice. It's great to know that they are so hardy cause we love to handle and hold her.

          Is it okay to trim the claws, thats the only thing I havent found yet to tell me if its okay or not cause we are both pretty clawed up.

          We were told she is a she but we have no way to tell. She is huge it seems to me compared to pics Ive found online. When she is sunning herself and I am holding her she fills both my palms.

          Here is a closer pic of her that we got once she was set up at the house. Click image for larger version

Name:	Buddy 1.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	101.1 KB
ID:	2030228

          Comment


          • #6
            Also Is it normal for them to sleep standing up in the corner?? she did that last night and was freak-en adorable!

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth Eevie View Post
              You do have to cut the heads off or they chew on the lizards insides though.


              Worms have heads???

              I'm assuming you're talking about earthworms.
              Last edited by dendawg; 03-11-2013, 01:56 AM.

              Comment


              • #8
                I'm assuming you're talking about earthworms.
                I wish but no these are superworms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zophobas_morio I have a rather viceral reaction to worms so if I can avoid them I most likely will plus the whole eating from inside out thing..

                Comment


                • #9
                  Why did i click that link? o_O

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    So She bounces when she hits the ground too apparently. She either tried to jump to the piano that was behind me or fell off my shoulder to the ground a few minutes ago. Not sure which but luckily she didn't run afterwards so I was able to grab her back up. She can back herself back up though cause she just did it to my head.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Sleeping standing up - yep! They can lock their limbs so poses that look really uncomfortable aren't. Pep goes to sleep on her tail! We did have a pic but I can't find it

                      Bouncing - yeah, they're pretty hardy. Maybe it's just Pep that's useless at going backwards

                      Claws - you can clip them, but they're similar to cats: don't clip right up to the toe. There should be a whiter section nearer the toe, and then a hard black curve of claw at the end - clip up to the white but don't clip it, as that's part of their toes. Pep likes having a bit of claw to be able to hold on, so we try to leave a few mm of the black curve there when we trim hers.

                      Morio worms - check how she's eating them to see if you need to cut the heads off. Pep crunches hers up really well so there's no chance of them eating her!

                      I do wonder if she is a male...she's just huge! Pep fills one palm of my hand, and although she is the runt of the litter she's not that small for a lizard. Maybe get your vet to check it out whenever you take her in.

                      She is so cute!!
                      I speak English, L33t, Sarcasm and basic Idiot.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        She is a she apparently. I found a way to check that looks at the pouches on the bottom side of her tail. She has the one horizontal bulge and is apparently just a huge lizard. She is chilling out with me on the coach now. Not holding on to her is a hard lesson for us to learn right now cause we are afraid of her getting hurt.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth evilfarmer View Post
                          Not holding on to her is a hard lesson for us to learn right now cause we are afraid of her getting hurt.
                          She'll be fine - Pep likes being stroked on the back of her neck. Chilling time is fun! (Until Pep decides to explore under the sofa...that isn't so fun.)
                          I speak English, L33t, Sarcasm and basic Idiot.

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X