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My First Beardie

Hello

Hello Amber!

Merry Christmas to you & your family & Toby! :D
So hopefully you will find something good in your price range, soon. There are tons of choices & I doubt you will have too much trouble finding a nice looking tank.
He got all excited when Harmony was opening presents, really? That is so sweet! What a cutie pie!~ You made an outfit for him out of a gift card holder? I have got to see that one! LOL
Did you get any rocks or bricks today at your brothers' house?

Talk soon.
Tracie
 
No, I forgot about the rock/brick.....things were pretty busy at his house. I did get him some worms though today and he chowed down. :D He's shedding again. It's been awhile since he'd done that, so I'm excited.

I got some pictures of him developed. One of them was him climbing around the Christmas Tree. I'll post a copy of it below this. I'll get a picture of him in his shirt a little later. With him shedding, I didn't want to irritate it any by accident, so it has to wait. His Christmas pictures will come a bit later. :D

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Hello

Hello Amber!

Ah, those are such cute pics of little Toby climbing around in the Christmas tree! He looks so adorable & curious! :D Thanks for posting them for me.
How is his shedding coming along?
You forgot about his rocks & bricks yesterday? That is funny! Too bad though. At least you got some worms today that is good.


Tracie
 
Well, his new light came today...right before I left for work. So I put it in while the other was still hot. OUCH! But it was worth it. The light isn't as bright as the other one...I thought that was a bit weird....but oh well. It is the Reptisun 10.0 UVB and I bought him fresh sand today too. I emptied his entire cage of any sand that was in it, wiped it down, then I sterilized the sand, and then put almost 50 pounds already into his tank. I'll be adding the rest tomorrow when I don't have Harmony bugging me to help. But it put his rock closer to the basking light and UVB light.

His shedding is coming along. I stuck him in his bath again a little bit ago, and will keep doing so until he is done. While I was adding sand to the cake pans to bake in the oven, he managed to escape from his bath container and started to run amok in the apartment. I let him go only because he was in the bath for a good amount of time.
 
Hello

Hello Amber!
WOW the UVB light came today! :D
The reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb is not real bright no, but the UVB output is strong but safe. That is why you need a bright white basking light placed beside it for warmth, & basking as the UVB is not good just alone.
You use washed & sifted playsand, right?
So, Toby went streaking around the house after he escaped from the bath? That is so hilarious! At least he had a great time.

Tracie
 
Yes, I sifted the sand myself since there were still bits of seashells in it...then I stuck it in cake pans and put it in the oven for about 10-18 mins...mixing it up here and there so it would all get hot.

Yup he went streaking after his bath...at least this time he didn't poo in it.

I think he's craving attention. Yesterday, for the FIRST TIME EVER he started puffing out his beard. It was GREAT! And every time I looked at him, he'd stop until I turned my attention away. Eventually he was doing it just to show off for the camera once he realized he was getting his attention. I'll post pictures right below this.

I've got his rock set up really high, then I put his sticks around it so he can get as close to the lights as he wants.

He fell asleep with his head in the cricket feeder. No crickets in there though, I took them all out when I emptied his cage...but it was funny. I should have gotten a picture of that as well.

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Hello

Hello Amber!

Oh Toby looks SO great, his little beard looks really good! So he was showing off for you then. They LOVE getting their picture taken though! :D
That is good you baked the sand, & it is all cleaned out & everything. He looks like he is having a good day in there, too.
He has plenty of stuff to climb on, too.
Yeah at least he didn't mess up his bath water though! You might be able to get him potty trained if you work with him.

Tracie
 
LOL at the thought of him being Potty Trained....that'd be rich! My family and friends think I'm crazy enough as is. What with buying him a Holiday shirt, referring to him as the son I'll never have, giving him kisses, and just fussing over him completely. :D

He's almost done shedding from the looks of it, so I'll be able to put that shirt on him and snap a picture.

He's out of crickets. :( So I've got to substitute the freeze dried again and LOADS of veggies. I ordered him some more, along with some wormies....I figure he'll love those as a little treat here and there.

At what age is he supposed to hit maturity? I don't remember. I know with females it's older than the males.....but not completely sure.

He is a LOT more active since he got his new light....well....looking at him now he's being VERY lazy..haha. He is standing on his rock on his back legs, and has his head resting on his branch....kind of funny looking really.
 
Hello

Hello Amber!

Great he is doing so much better now, with his new light. I told you that his mood would improve alot with it! So you fuss over him like a kid? Well, that is ok!
So your family is giving you a hard time that sounds about right! LOL He will look so cute in a holiday shirt. :D You can potty train him. If you give him the opportunity & learn how he acts when he needs to go, you can get him out of his tank, & he will most likely run over somewhere to go, & you can get a newspaper or a paper towel, & put underneath him. Eventually, he will start going on the paper, you just have to work with him. It isn't hard, but just persistence, that's all. It is worth it though.
Well, his hormones will increase by 6 months or age, but he will not hit the peak of sexual maturity until roughly 14-16 months, whereas females around 16-18 months. However, I never recommend them being bred until they are 2 though.
So he is lazy now, just lounging around? Does he have his back legs all sprawled out too?
Oh no, freeze dried crickets huh? Oh you should get your crickets next week, right? You are getting more worms too? Lucky little Toby!!
You are doing great!

Tracie
 
Yeah, I may even get them right at the beginning of this week. Usually the guy only ships out to my area on Mondays and Tuesdays, but for me he ships whenever he goes to the post office. :D Which works out great. And since it's cold and he has to put a heat pack in, he ships them in a bit of a faster way so they come sooner than normal.

I'm def. going to start potty training him. That'd be so cute, and much easier to clean. :D

No, his legs weren't really sprawled out behind him, he was standing on his legs.....odd, but he tends to do it a lot when he's been pretty active...it's his "calming down" period I guess.
 
Hello

Hello Amber!

How is little Toby? Happy New Year!
I hope you get your crickets soon! Is he eating the freeze dried ones ok still? Yeah, when it's cold you want them to be alive when they to you! At least he packs them well though.
I can just picture him being all lazy now, with him getting older that will happen more & more~!
How is he liking his new UVB light?

Talk soon.

Tracie
 
He loves his light. :D He would still rather be out of his cage and running around. :p

He does eat his freeze dried really well still. He also eats his veggies and dragon bites. I try to sneak in some commercial food into there, but he normally picks around it.

I hope he doesn't get too lazy. I hope that he stays somewhat playful. :D
 
Hello

Hello Amber,

I hope you all had a great New years!
That is awesome Toby loves his new light now. :D
I am happy to hear that he will at least eat his freeze dried crickets though. Does he like the pellets at all? I hope you get your crickets in soon!!
They do get lazier when they get older, but, they still love to run around if given the opportunity though.


Tracie
 
He doesn't care too much for his pellets, but he'll reluctantly eat them if it's his only option. :D

The crickets should be here by the end of the week at the earliest I'm hoping, since the holidays have delayed mail so much. Who knows, they may get here sooner. And since I ordered worms as well, that'll also help a bit. I still want to get him silkies opposed to the normals.....but that will have to wait....:(

New Years was...well, let's just say I want a re-do. I'm sick, and was in bed real early. So yeah...haha.
 
Hello

Hello Amber,


Oh sorry you are sick! I hope you get to feeling better soon, what a new year's celebration huh?
I hope the crickets make it by the end of the week for Toby. Is he acting pretty hungry or is he surviving off of the freeze dried ones right now? I hope he likes the worms, but most likely, he will!
You are doing so well for him. I am so happy he is doing so good & he has a new UVB light & everything.

Talk to you soon.

Tracie
 
Not acting hungry, that I can tell. He's on the last bit of his freeze dried crickets though. So I'm going to have to get him some more next week. They are great for emergencies. :D Those and squash baby food :)

It's starting to get pretty cold here, I'm hoping the crickets can survive it even with the heat pack. I wasn't expecting it to get this cold when I ordered them. Guess I need to pay more attention to the weather more often. :p

I think I'm going to give him one last hoorah in the Christmas Tree before I take it down. :D
 
Hello

Hello Amber!

When are you getting your crickets, thursday?
Yeah I hope that he uses a good heatpack for them & that they make it safely! At least there are other options of foods though that he will eat thank goodness.
It actually got cold here too! Yuck I hate cold weather.
What else did you do for a last Christmas present? Any presents?
What a lucky little boy Toby is. :D


Tracie
 
No, no other presents, trying to make sure every penny I have for that cage stays...so he can have a real awesome enclosure.

He got a wagon ride today. Harmony got this miniature wagon for Christmas..I mean seriously miniature.....it is like a wagon for baby dolls. :p Well, she comes in the living room pulling it behind her asking if she could give Toby a ride in it. So I let her. He sat with one front leg over the edge and his head up as he rode around. Once they got to her room though, he made a jump and run for it. haha....but he went just about around the entire apartment. I've got pictures I'll be posting up of it once I find a little more time. Probably sometime tomorrow.
 
Hi there ,great pictures. I keep meaning to post some of my girl. She's a bright orange one, We call her Tang. I never fell quite satisfied w/ her pictures! She never looks as Orange in them as she is. You know one of my babies I never think the pictures do her justice! Ha Ha
I haven't read all your posts so you may have covered this already. But you were saying the you were hoping your crickets got there w/out freezing. I live in the midwest ,its currently 14 degrees, yahoo! But I wanted to say We talk to the pet store owners etc . have met a couple at reptile shows and gotten to know them a bit. But found one near us that will sell us the same thousand count boxes you order. He orders them for his store of course, so on a certain couple days of the week you can go in and pick them up from him. So we don't have to worry about them freezing. Its only a couple bucks more. So if there is a ( probably privately owned, not big chain) pet store in your area that has cricket eating reptiles for sale you might inquire if you can get your boxes from them..Gigi
 
Nope, there are not pet stores near my area like that. There was one, but they shut down since the place was too small. They are waiting to re-open once they find a bigger spot, which may not even be in this town anymore. The only thing we have around here are bait shops. The one I go to when I'm desperate for crickets, has a bearded dragon that he keeps in the shop, and he used to sell all types of bearded dragon supplies. But he stopped, except for some types of worms. But he charges outrageous for crickets and I don't think he gives you as many as he's supposed to. I'll keep an eye out for something though.
 
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