My First Beardie

Hello Amber,

Great story! Yeah, you should go ahead & plan now for the new tank, design it etc, so you wont have any problems when you move him into it. A waterfall sounds good. Just keep the humidity 50% or under.
He is still light enough to sit on one of those fake leaves, that is so cute.
Hm, I would be careful buying beardies off of Ebay. I don't think that they are supposed to sell live animals off of Ebay though. You don't want to take a chance on them not being healthy though.

The link below is for silkies & a few other things there. I wouldn't buy silkies from mulberryfarms.com right now because they have had problems with the grassiere virus. As far as I know, coastal is doing pretty well.

https://coastalsilkworms.com/catalog/index.php

Butterworms can be found here:

http://www.butterworms.com/
or:
http://www.wormman.com/

This place has both for sale:

http://www.thereptilecenter.com/Insect-Feeders


That is just so funny that he gave you a funny look when he realized that he got greens in his mouth along with carrots, too! LOL Crazy dragon.

Tracie

Oh no. The guy isn't selling the beardies on Ebay. He has his own site that he sells them through, along with his worms. He just puts some of his worms on Ebay too in order to somewhat corner the market. I'm guessing his site itself is fairly new, so he's trying to attract people to it through Ebay.

One of the places I was looking for beardies was actually advertising somewhere on this site. But, it's only to keep in mind for some later time down the road.

I picked him up some more crickets, hopefully they will last until his others come in. These are WAY small though and I don't see it happening since he'll eat more in one sitting. Might end up having to buy more later tonight just to be safe.

I was thinking about making a custom tank. I saw this one on Ebay, but it was a coffee table. The top opened up and the lights went in on one side, and everything else on the other. It was very neat looking. Might talk to my dad or somebody like that to help me build one. Alls it would take is a bit of plexi glass, wood, some hinges and some mesh wire to hold the lights from what I saw. Then it'll have multi-purpose, and he'll be in the living room with the rest of us and can have all the attention he wants.

Hello Amber!

OH that is cool. As long as his quality is good, no problems then. Ebay is definitely a good place to get business, everyone goes there!
That is an awesome idea. Alot of people do tanks that look like furniture. He would be so spoiled with being the "center" of attention. I think you need to look into that, he would absolutely love that! You all could make a really nice looking tank.
He is eating you out of house & home now! That is super. He must be doing so well now.
Great job! Talk soon.

Tracie

I'm thinking instead of a coffee table, because I wouldn't know how to hide all the cords, I'm going to do a knick knack shelf. I was going to do a book shelf, but my hubby doesn't think it would be a good idea to have books on top of his cage. So, I will make it similar to a bookshelf, only we'll have pictures and little decorative things on it...along with 2 small cabinets to put Toby's supplies in. This way, the cords will be hidden in the back, I won't need a top to the cage, just a screen in the front and plexi-glass on 3 of the sides. Put a door in the front of the cage, or the side, so when it pulls out you can take him out from the door or from the top.

Not sure though, it'll take some time and thinking on my end before I figure out something I like.

Not eating us out of house and home yet....hopefully his crickets arrive today otherwise I have to make a stop after the kids I'm babysitting go home.

I ordered him more worms as well. hee hee...he's going to love it. I bought some Sweet Potato baby food as well. He didn't like the squash, so I'm hoping he likes this.

Hello Amber!

That sounds really good. That way like you said you can hide the cords in the back & have a place to put his supplies in too.
So the top will be completely open? Will you hang a mercury vapor lamp over him then?
It sounds like it will look very nice & he will have a great home in there, too. How large are you looking at making it?
Did your crickets come in I hope? What type of worms did you order him, the phoenix or butter worms?
Picky thing, he didn't like the squash babyfood. Hm, maybe he will like the sweet potato instead.

I hope he is having a good weekend.

Tracie

Phoenix worms.....they are WAY small though. I should have gotten him medium sized ones. I'm not even sure if he's going to notice them mixed in with his veggies. There is a plus side to their size though, he can't just pick them out, he'll end up with a mouth full of veggies every time.

I'm looking at a 75 gallon smallest. It just depends on how much it's going to cost to make it, it might be a bit bigger.

I might do a mercury bulb, it all depends on how well it's going to hold it's heat and what not....it's just a matter of what will and won't work with the design.

Hello Amber!

Yeah, I guess you will have to see what type of setup you are able to do. I highly recommend a mercury vapor if you have the opportunity to use one, especially if you have an open tank. They are so much better than the flourescents are, & they last longer, too.
How is Tobias, still eating tons? Yeah, that is a good thing, he will have to get a mouthful of veggies trying to get to the phoenix worms! The small ones are very small, so you could get the mediums next time & he will be fine with that.

Tracie

I just weighed him, and he's still the same length as last time but he's gained 8 grams. He now weighs in at 42 grams.

He's eating very good. Bell Peppers did the trick. He eats his veggies like a champ now. I just have to make sure they are in there. I started him on red and yellow ones the other day. So now he gets a mixture of red, yellow and green bell peppers, parsley, kale and the occasional cucumber. Along with his dragon bites.

He's running around now. I felt bad that he hasn't been able to get out lately. It's been raining a lot here and the temps. are dropping. It's about time to look into upping his lighting for winter.

Is it normal that Toby doesn't like dark places? When I let him run around, he stays out of those areas where I wouldn't be able to get him. He still goes under things, but he stays out from behind the book cases, and the sides of the comp. desk...etc.

Is it also normal that he's been waking up a 1/2 hour before his daytime lights come on? I got up at 5:30 one morning and he was walking around his cage waiting to be fed. I had to laugh because I don't feed him his first meal until around 10 am....so he'd have to know it wasn't time.

Hello Amber!

Great to hear that the bell peppers worked in enticing him to eat his greens then. He must love the flavor, but they are attracted to color as well. That sounds like tasty mix to me! LOL I am happy that he started eating them now. Plus, the dragon bites, so he is getting a bit of extra protein too.
Wow, he gained some weight, too! Don't worry, he will grow & shed plenty more.
That is totally normal, for his age, not to want to hide & to stay out in the open right now. Yes, for the wintertime, you will need to up his lighting since you can't take him out much if any right now. Which UVB are you going to get right now, until you get the other tank built? Reptisun 10 or reptiglo 8 or 10 are the best flourescents out there.
That is great Toby is waking up before his lights come on wanting to eat. He must be hungry & growing. Awesome. You are putting out the veggies & greens so he has them when he wakes up? It sounds like he is doing very good right now!!

Tracie

I will go with whatever is available in my budget, I know that much. I will make sure it's a reptisun...and I might invest into a mercury bulb if anything.

His permanent tank, I was wondering if this would be big enough as far as measurements go.

It would be 2ft H x 4ft L x 2ft D.....it's a foot longer in length than the one he is in now, and it's a foot more in depth than the one he is in now. The height is about the same, but I'm debating on if I want to hang the lights inside or outside of the enclosure then I might have to make it taller.

I'm making his background, and I'm going to put small "cliffs" on it so he can use those as his basking areas, and get to climb a lot. It saves me trying to find driftwood the right size or gathering enough stones...etc.

I was also wondering if mouse bedding would be good to use in his cage. It's like little wood chips, and absorbs water pretty well. It's soft so it won't hurt him, big enough so he can't ingest it at the moment. Not sure how well it holds heat, but, that's what his new grape vine and basking rocks are for.

He LOVES his grapevine. My mother in law gave it to me to give to him. She's into the whole lizard thing and reptiles too. She'll be getting his tank when he's moved to his permanent home.

He's eating a LOT. I put him in his travel case to feed him his crickets. It saves him the frustration of them getting away, and it saves me the trouble of having to clean out his cage every time one is able to get behind the background. He nabs about 20-30 of them at a time. On top of eating his veggies and he's still munching here and there on his commercial food too. Such a piggy!