MHD care
Hi...the first thing you should do is google FroggieB and read her site. She is the foremost expert on MHDs, but recently had to let all her dragons go because of other commitments, she is leaving her site up to help people. She has care sheets on there and a wealth of information. I doubt you will have questions after reading her information but if you do, just post again on here or PM me. I'll be glad to try to help and I know people who have been into MHDs for several years and they are always willing to help.
I'm not sure about the external parasites, (maybe someone else can chime in on that) I think you would treat them the same way any other reptile would be treated for them...I don't know about this but one of the breeders I know that has many different reptiles used to wipe them down with Novalsan - do not get it in their mouth or eyes. You will have to sterilize all the cage accessories or they will continue. I would keep your MHD on papertowels until you have all that under control. After you're good with the bugs you can put her on bed-a-beast, coconut bark, etc. I stopped using those and switched to ceramic tile in their big enclosure and I have plants in soil and an empty pot with dirt where I dump the worms so they can dig them up if they want one. I'm getting a box with organic soil ready to go in with them also.
If there are external bugs there are probably internal parasites. If you can go to a vet for a fecal I think you should do that and get meds for the specific parasites they identify. I give mine a dose of Panacur and MTZ as a precaution every 4-5 months.
I keep mine in about 80% humidity with running water using a water fountain that I completely disinfect with Novalsan at least one time a week. You can use a bubbler in a dish - air pump and airstone for aquariums to keep moving water and increase humidity. You can also use a dripper from the top and let it drip into a dish, this can be simple like a Styrofoam cup with a pin hole in the bottom or you can put ice cubes on the top and let them melt and drip down for an emergency fix. They absolutely have to have running water...they will not drink from standing water.
I use 5.0 UVB on the adults and 10.0 on the babies. I just got a Mega Ray UVB for the adults and they seem to like it and appear to be more active. I keep a regular bulb on them too, just to heat up a basking area for them. They are under-canopy dwellers and usually don't go much over 4 feet off the ground in the wild from what I understand. Taller cages are better....if you use a 29 tall you might have to cover part of the screen top with plastic to help keep the humidity up but it should do fine for now.
I dust with Sticky Tongue Farms Minerall 3-4 x week and herptivite the other days. They eat earthworms, nightcrawlers, mealworms, superworms, crickets, and phoenix worms. I don't dust earthworms, nightcrawlers or phoenix worms. I gutload the crickets, mealworms and superworms. I mist in the morning when the lights come on and that is when I feed, that seems to be when most of them eat. Toss in a couple of dusted crickets and see if there is any interest. If you have trouble getting your MHD to eat let me know, I've fed with supplements and Fluker's Insectivore Rescue powder and baby food to keep a sick one going.
I normally mist in the morning, at lunch, after work and around 8:00 before the lights go out for the babies. I would do that with a new WC also.
The first MHDs I got were WC and I named them Pandora and Marius. The lady at the reptile store where had purchased a bearded dragon and a chameleon told us that these lizards could live in a open mesh cage with something to climb on and be misted a couple of times a day. That is so wrong! When I got them home they seemed thirsty so I ran water in the sink and the poor things buried their heads and gulped. No telling how long they had been without. Marius died the next day. I spent about $400.00 at the vet trying to keep Pandora alive. I scoured the Internet and found a forum for MHDs and started posting. I tried everything and she lived for almost 2 months and then she died. I was so disgusted by the treatment these fine creatures receive being jerked out of the wild and transported thousands of miles, held at the importer, then sent to a distributor and then to pet shops where the people are totally ignorant of how to care for them that I decided to make it my mission to help stop some of the WC trade by starting a captive breeding program.
Good luck with your new MHD....I'm on here all the time if you need any help....just let me know. Angie
