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Introduction - and a question.

K

Kimberely

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Not my first time to Fauna's forums, but the first time posting instead of just reading other's posts. :)

So, anyways...Hi y'all! I have an 8-year-old male beardie that I've owned for about a year so far. His previous owners had him on calci-sand and fed him 50 dusted crickets once a week. His lower jaw overlaps the end of his upper one giving him a kind of 'bulldog' expression, making me think that he had MBD before they started dusting the crickets. A little too late, but better than not at all. He's a little stunted and 'runty' looking, but not awful bad.

The question: Can chicken/turkey/etc. babyfood substitute for the insect portion of his diet? After getting him, he began vigorously refusing crickets (he appeared panicked - would twitch his head, and run to the opposite side of the cage...and if it started hopping that way he would jump and scrabble against the sides before bolting to the other side farthest from it), so I switched to the bearded dragon pellets with waxworms (he needed the weight). Months later and now he's on a every-other-day salad with silkies, butterworms, and occasionally fruit/veggie babyfood. This worked fine for a while, and now he refuses to approach the food dish if something in it is moving. :eek: Jeeze. He eats the salad fine...as long as nothing moves - otherwise he squinches his eyes shut, twitches his head a few times, and runs for his basking log. :shrug01:

Oh, and a couple more questions: Does anyone have tips for caring for older dragons? All the info I find is people asking about their less-than-a-year-old ones. Is the 105-110 degrees basking temperature the spot temperature (ala by a temp gun - just got one :) )? I've been using a digital thermometer, but mainly been adjusting the temperature depending on how he's acting. And, any info on the coconut coir substrate? He's on it currently - given how much he enjoys digging burrows under his hides, I just wouldn't feel comfortable using tile/newspaper/shelf liner/etc. Not to mention he only eats off the dish.

Mkay...that's it. Didn't mean to start writing a book here :rolleyes: and thanks for reading it. :D

-Kim
 
hmm... I personally wouldn't have him on anything he can ingest... but that's just because i've noticed many beardies that will eat the substrate with their food or whatnot... my tegus on the other hand spit it back out... So I keep my beardies on a substrate that they can't swallow, such as (for babies) paper, paper towels, repti carpet, or critter country (which I don't use anymore because it molds easily and is kinda dusty, it's like an alfalfa type pellet. My beardies like to be misted so I don't use it for that reason) I have my older beardie on cypress mulch, but I keep it dry, for they don't need the high humidity, but if something does spill in her cage, it won't mold, also when I mist her, no mold. As long as yours doesn't eat the substrate, I guess it's okay to have him on. As for the other problems... I'm not really sure what you can do for you stated he was 8 yrs old, which means his original habits are going to be very hard to break... Have you taken him into a vet, just for a checkup, to make sure that he doesn't currently have MBD (unless you know how to check for it, and have experience doing it) also to make sure he doesn't have any parasites and the vet might be able to give you some medications to "fatten up" or to help him get better quicker. I'm sorry I don't have any other ideas at the moment, for I am tired and kind of out of it, I'll come back later and maybe have a few more to help you out. -Art-
 
For a little over a month right after I got him he was on aspen shavings, and I worried over ingestion until I noticed that everytime he missed and got one he'd spit it out and either shake his head or rub on the basking log to remove it. Picky eater. The coir is kept dry, and Vex is also so it doesn't stick to him (except when he gets bathed, but he's dry before going back in). Was vet checked as soon as I had the money available after getting him - he had a coccidia overload (which is back to normal now), and the vet mentioned that he probably had MBD in the past, but said the lack of fracture marks on the x-ray, the general density of his bone and his blood calcium levels at that time meant it could have (unlikely, but could have) been a birth defect. He's gained a nice amount of weight so far, and is just a little too skinny around the tailbase - but that's improving too.
 
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