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My First Beardie

Hello

Hello Amber!!

Oh great that Toby loves his greens & strawberries chopped up in there, too.
I would give them only 2 or 3 at most per week though, just because he doesn't need excess sugar.
Well, that does happen when the weather is cruddy outside but he basks for most of the time, right? I hope your hubby will get to his tank cleaning so it doesn't get too dirty. Don't overdo your activity!
You had to go to the ER? Get more rest. I am glad your daughter is helping you with Toby too, but at least you get to see him.
I am glad he is doing well. Is he eating daily now?

Tracie
 
Hi

I haven't checked in for a bit. So Sorry to hear your still sick! Rest is right. Drink lots of clear fluids and take some good vitamins! Stay away from sugar and caffeine, They are bad for your immune system!
I can relate to the being tubborn about taking the liquids thing. My Younger one Tang is a little sh-t about it. I will say this , I always use the plastic droppers so they can't bite into and break glass in their mouths. Also still have to be careful if you try to use the little (1/8") or so soft feeding tubes the vet will give you at times. I had my big guy bite a 3/4 " piece right off of one of them! We could see it in his belly when we got an ex ray. Luckily it passed in about a week w/ no big problems!
Hang in there...G
 
I set aside one of the many medicine droppers we used for Harmony. It's plastic but pretty hard.

So only a few strawberries a week, no problem. I have none left anyways, Harmony and hubby ate what was left. :p

I need to clip his nails soon again too. Probably do that next week depending on how I'm feeling.

I'm finally taking my vitamins again...I can't believe it took me this long to remember I had them. I am also adding this Emergen-C (nasty) stuff to my water. Each packet is 1000 mg. of vitamin C so if I drink about 2 of those packets a day, I should slowly start to feel better, at least, that's what some doctor told me on yahoo answers.
 
Hello

Hello Amber!!

Is Toby pretty good about drinking from the water dropper then? I hope so. It is easy to train them to drink from the dropper.
Yeah I would say 3 times a week is fine for the strawberries, no problem. There is no reason to take his favorites out. :D So your family ate the rest of them??
Clipping his nails again, they are growing alot. Was it pretty easy last time then?
I bet that vitamin C pack does taste terrible! You need to take your vitamins & drink tons of fluid, too. It will flush out your system. I hope you feel better soon!!

Talk soon.
Tracie
 
I haven't tried the dropper again yet. The first time was a flop and I figured I'd wait till I feel more up to it to try again.

Yes, clipping his nails the first time was actually very easy. No sweat! The only one I was nervous about was the one on the crooked toe.
 
Hello

Hello Amber!

Good that it isn't too hard to clip his nails & the he cooperated last time. As long as he sits still, it isn't too bad. :D
Aw, well, sometimes, they don't take to the dropper very well the first few times. Our dragons all drink from droppers very easily. It is a great way to keep them hydrated.
Get some rest!!

Tracie
 
Here in a few more months, he'll be getting his permanent home. I'm wanting something that isn't glass/plastic looking in the back because I want to drill holes so I can mount rocks and platforms around it so he has spots to climb and bask and just have fun and exercise with. Also, so just in case a cricket is able to hide from me, he'll be able to sleep high enough to not be bothered by them.

I'm also adding a waterfall/water dish...this way, the water moves and attracts his attention, and yet keeps the humidity good in there as well, although I'm still thinking about a mister.....maybe time it so he gets misted twice a day/night.

I also want to be able to make grooves in the bottom to support his branches so they don't fall over when he climbs on them.
 
Hi there, Hey I guess I don't mind that Emergen -c stuff too much, try different flavors. Its good stuff though. Your probably needing the minerals badly. You might want to add zinc to your daily regimen if theres not any in that.. Try not get more then 50 mg per day from any one or multiple sources. If your eating plenty of greens like your Beardy! Especially darker greens it really helps to get proper nutrients to help your immune system fight this.
Too high for crickets? I don't know if thats possible. I've seen them sitting at the top of things right near the screen top and or on top of my lizard on numerous occasions. They're pervasive little creatures. If you get bites this worked for me. Romeo had some bites on one of his feet last week from a couple of escapes. His foot got all red and a little swelled. I soaked it in betadine water. And treated it with "wounded Warrior" Gel . Its great stuff for critters or humans. His redness was gone w/in 20 minutes. I changed his cage out and put just paper towels in for a while that way I can change out the poo papers more quickly and easily, and keep his little piggies cleaner for a while! I have repeated the beta rinse once, then after that grapefruit seed extract in warm water soaks a couple more times . Its fine now. There are other options for treating of course. Feel better.. G
 
Hello

Hello Amber!!

I am sure that Toby's new & permanent home will be great! The waterfall, the rocks & platforms will be so nice for him. He will have a georgeous condo when you are done.
He will get plenty of exercise, with all of that running around will be awesome for him too. :D
I hope you are getting the rest that you need!

Tracie
 
I don't know if it would. I don't plan on having a very big one, maybe even hand made, just enough to keep the water circulated so it entices him more.

But now I risk having to possibly give him up. *sniffs* We had too many car problems, and have to get another. Hubby says he won't deal with a used one again, so a new one is going to cost us roughly $14,000, that's an entire years worth of food for Toby, and he's selling off his coin collection for it. He's wanting me, hasn't asked, hasn't said I have to yet, but has brought up, that I should sell him, and wait awhile until we are out of this, and possibly stick with something smaller and have many. *shudders at thought of not having Toby*

I'm hoping it doesn't come down to that. I'm looking into cheaper food options for him, including all freeze dried crickets for now and the commercial food and veggies opposed to live crickets....at least for awhile. Hoping against all hopes that if I can find something, and it stays short term, I won't have to give him up and it won't do any harm to him and his growth either.
 
Well, I found a more reliable source for my crickets, still paying roughly the same amount per cricket, but they have better times on arrival. So, maybe, JUST MAYBE I can figure out more ways to cut down costs, that includes him waiting a bit longer for his new permanent home....which is no big, he doesn't need it until the end of July at the latest/earliest really. I'm just one for getting it all done. :p
 
Hello

Hello Amber!!

Great you found another cricket supplier. Who are you getting them from?
You could try to breed crickets perhaps? I hope that you will be able to keep Toby that would be a shame not to be able to.
A waterfall should not raise the humidity too much, if it's a small one. The humidity around 40% or so should be fine. During the winter when it's cold, just empty it out or take it out so it isn't too cold & damp in there.
Too bad you are having so many car problems, that is rough. We have been there, too.

Tracie
 
Well......we are getting rid of the sand for his tank too. I just cleaned it, and I can't take it no more. It can't be good to breathe all that stuff in....ya know?

Only problem is, I'm not sure what to replace it with. I want something that is not only going to look NICE (like the sand) but holds heat decently too. Any ideas? I'm thinking felt, but, I don't know.

I'm getting the crickets through one of the links you gave me for worms....WAY WAY back around when I first got him.
 
Hello

Hello Amber!

Good you are using another site for the crickets that I had given you. I hope that one works out better for you.
Well, alot of people use textured tiles. They hold heat pretty well & they look really nice. Felt looks good too, but you have to wash that so you would need at least 7 or more pieces of it, so you would always have a clean piece. Felt looks pretty good though. We actually use green felt for our ball python & he loves it. He burrows under it sometimes, because we have a couple of layers of it for him.
Anything is cleaner than that sand.
Hope you are feeling better. Are you getting some rest?


Talk soon.
Tracie
 
Feeling LOADS better! Nyquil not only knocks me out so I have no choice but to sleep, but it knocks whatever it is I have right out after a few times too. hee hee

So textured tiles, oooh, if I can get the cage I'm wanting, that'd look GREAT inside.

Yeah, the cricket site ships Mon-Wed. and you have the choice of waiting for the normal mail to deliver it, or you can pay a few cents extra per cricket (still comes out to 2 cents though) to have it delivered the next day. Which I opted for only because he needs crickets.

I just got yelled at by a friend of mine. He heard I was sick and told me I'd better not handle Toby too much cuz he could catch what I had since it was viral. I was also told NOT to feed him 3 times a day. Maybe once or twice, but not 3 times due to the fact that "in the wild they sometimes end up going for days without eating due to weather, and that they normally have to catch their food, but here they are basically being given to him on a plate and he doesn't have to run very far" This is coming from a guy who raised 2 milk snakes, 2 tarantulas, a few bearded dragons, a savannah monitor, and a few others.

So I don't know.
 
Hello

Hello Amber,

How are you feeling? Nyquil, huh? Yeah that is powerful stuff, very strong.

The textured tiles are pretty popular & do look very nice. Maybe you can get them for his new tank.

Well, true, in the wild they may not eat every day or go several days without eating. You also have to remember that they probably do not last half of the time that they can last in captivity, due to that simple fact. It is survival of the fittest. We want to provide more than what they would get in the wild, otherwise, we may as well not even have them in captivity because they wouldn't fare any better with us than being in the wild.
For his age, you can feed him several times a day. He will slowly begin to taper himself down on protein anyway when it's time. This usually happens around 10 months or a year or so. He still has alot of filling out to do though.

I do not think that Toby will "catch" your virus. Their system is adequate to fighting off things, plus, a virus is specific to the species & you are not a lizard. Obviously use common sense & don't cough or sneeze directly into his face of course, but handling him is just fine.

Tracie
 
Good deal....so no giving him kisses on his head for awhile. I can live with that.

Makes me wonder what type of tile I'd pick out. I know it'd be a sandy color, but would it be a marbleish type, or a solid.....ooo options are endless. :D Would I put the grout in there??? or just let them sit loose?

I give him a ton of crickets to eat throughout the day, on top of his veggies (mostly only all peppers, he loves his peppers :D ) but I think he manages at LEAST 2 meals out of the crickets alone.
 
Hello

Hello Amber!

How is Toby doing?
Oh there are so many different types of tiles to choose from you will have alot of trouble deciding which one to get!! LOL
Well, you don't have to put grout in there unless you want to. The grout makes it permanent so you can't take the tiles out easily. You would want to put the grout in that doesn't stain so it cleans better. If you don't put grout in then you can take the tiles out for easier cleaning.
So he loves his red peppers huh? At least he is eating lots of crickets & veggies, what a good boy he is!

Talk soon.
Tracie
 
Oh I haven't checked in lately, I hope you don't have to get rid of him. How sad would that be. I understand the money thing all too well though. I always try to exclude any living creatures from the expendable list even in the hardest times. But I know sometimes its tough.
Ya ditto ,,on the red peppers, any peppers really, but colorful things seem to be special interest! Red tomates..
So are you guys talking about regular floor tiles from the building store? Are there any ingredients that could bad for them? Or are there specific ones I should look for? How about some of the nice rough counter tiles? We've seen some really cool stuff lately though ...cause we've been shopping for a kitchen remodel.

I don't know how it compares to the tile for heat holding. But granite holds heat pretty well. we went to a granite supply and asked for chunks/ remnants. We gave the guy 10.00 and got quite a bit. All of our lizards seem to like it a lot. We usually have it somewhere over where an outside heat mat is located under the cage. Then their nighttime sleeping hide is put on top of it. Toasty! On real cold days Lil Tang doesn't always feel the need to stray from her warm cave. Our Emerald Swift's
( Malachite, and Jade) , have one for their basking stone. Again a favorite spot. I have some extra pieces, if you'd like to have a small chunk I'll be happy to send it. Don't worry about postage I don't have to pay for it. I don't know if I'd want to necessarily line my whole cage w/ it..like the tile though.
 
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