• In the past two days I have gotten emails asking about being requested to provide credit card info in order to register and also to make a post in the classifieds forums. PLEASE NOTE: In no instance will this site ask you for this sort of information. The only time any request for payment is made is if you choose to opt-in for a higher membership level, and that is done SOLELY through PayPal. Anything else is coming from a source other than this site. My guess is that this is coming through Google Adsense, but when I can get someone to send me a screen shot of this sort of request, I will know more.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
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New Owner with LOTS of questions!

I'll take a better picture of the basking area later on today. We have the round, ceramic light hanging in the tank at the far right end with the half round log and the new hammock so he can get close to the light. There are two thermometers at that end. We just got the hammock as I read he needed to get closer to that light than what we had set up so I'll get a better reading today to see if I have it at least 199 degrees. Before, we had the ceramic basking light just lying on top of the screen and I don't think it was warm enough for him.

I also just read that we needed to turn the lights on at least an hour before feeding him so that he can warm up first. I just turned the lights on a few minutes ago so in an hour I will go read the temp and see if things are better. I don't think he was getting warm enough before. There is a small gap now where the light cord runs in at the top of the screen and I sure hope that the crickets don't jump out of that gap! I guess I need to put some plastic wrap or something on there so they won't jump out.

I also have a light timer than I kept out from the Xmas lights as I read the lights need to be turned on/off at the same time each day - is this true?

As far as the chameleon goes, my 14 year old and I read a lot about them last night and decided that if we ever got one, it would be later on when we feel like we know what we are doing but now he wants a BD like Gizzard so we'll give it a few months and see if he still wants one at that time.
 
Off topic here but Cat 72, everytime I see your avatar, it reminds me to tell you that a good friend of mine has a MINI Cooper that is called "Darth Cooper" and has Darth Vader on the windows. They are also crazy into DragonCon and are in the annual Atlanta parade where they lead about 200 Stormtroopers! Just thought I'd mention that! LOL
 
You are probably better off leaving the ceramic heat emitter above the screen (in some type of dome fixture), and making him a higher basking area. Those things get HOT, and if he has access to it, there is always the chance he will burn himself on it. Again, I would get him a higher basking platform of some sort.....whether it be a fancy ceramic one from the pet shop, or a plain ol cool rock from outside. The rocks absorb the heat from the lamp, and will radiate some of that heat back to his tummy to help with digestion. If you use a rock from outside, just make sure it is well cleaned and disinfected with a mild bleach-water solution, then rinsed well, before putting it in with Gizzard.

What I do as far as the morning warm-up time for mine is put in their salads as soon as the lights come on in the morning (yep, I keep them all on timers ;) ), and wait about an hour or so before giving them their live food. This serves a couple of purposes.....one, it does take them awhile to get fully awake and moving, they aren't going to be very good at catching their food right away, which gives the crix more time to hide out from them if you dropped them in right awa, then they may not find them....and two, once they start waking up and moving about, they are more likely to decide they are hungry and start nibbling on their salads before their tummy is full of bugs. With critters that are already well established eating their salads, this isn't such a big deal, but it can be of help getting babies established eating their greens.

And "Darth Cooper".....OMG, that is too funny!!!
 
Hello

Hello,

Ok, so you decided to wait on the chameleon, that is probably a good idea. :D Gizzard will give you plenty to do for awhile.
I agree, making the basking platform higher & just leave the ceramic heater where it is.
How is he doing today? Does he enjoy his hammock? What are the temps measuring now?


Tracie
 
Okay, I moved the light back on top to rest on the screen. I have two thermometers in that corner and they are both reading around 90. Hopefully if he climbs his hammock and/or we get a tall rock, he can get to the 100 mark. He loves his hammock. Every time I've went in the room he is climbing on it.

We fed him three crickets that were powdered with the vitamins and calcium. He was so funny, He looked at me and waited for me to chaise the crickets to him! Guess he is already spoiled!
 
Hello

Hello,

Ok, well, the temps are pretty good. You can take the temps at the basking spot up to 105 if you can. The 100 would be fine too. You are using the digital probes, right?
It sounds like you have made some good changes for him now, great job.
Yes, I am sure he is already getting spoiled now! :D So, he is eating well today then?

Tracie
 
It felt so weird yesterday going to the market just for this tiny lizard! LOL Yes on the digital probe. I bought curly kale, collard greens, red, yellow and green bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, apples, strawberries adn grapes.

This morning we put the "greens" in when the lights came on and we will feed him the crickets in a couple of hours so hopefully he'll eat a little bit of greens. He LOVES the crickets and yesterday we saw him eat six of them.

My oldest has decided against the chameleon now and I told him that if all goes well with Gizzard that we will get him a BD in a few months. So, we've been looking on the web for a local breeder here in the Atlanta area. I saw where there is a reptile expo once a year but still can't find a local BD club and I know there has to be some out there.

In my car club, we place an invite business type card on the windshield of MINI Coopers that we see inviting them to the club but we are also on the web so people can find us. Any ideas on how to find a local reptile club? My son wants to know the different colors of BDs, etc. but we don't know what words to Google in order to find out. Oh well, hopefully all the searching on the web will turn up something one day.











1
 
Sounds like you got Gizzard a great variety of foods! Just have patience, and with a buffet like that, I'm sure it won't be long before he will be really chowing down on his salads. :)

I don't really think you will have much luck finding a club that is exclusively a Beardie club, but they do have the Georgia Herp Society that would be a great place to start!

http://www.georgiaherpetologicalsociety.org/

The Georgia Reptile Rescue may be a place to get some information on local herp resources as well.

http://www.georgiareptilerescue.com/index.html
 
OMG! You won't believe that the Bell's Ferry vet is within walking distance of my house! I was worried about finding a reptile vet as we never found a bird vet when my cockatiel got impacted with an egg one day and we ran around to eight vets with her dying in my son's arms! That's great news!

Thanks for the links to the Atlanta area site but still, no website. In my car club we get together at least once per month for dinner, puttputt, gocarts, racing, or just plain talking! I'm sure there is a reptile club here in Atlanta somewhere and I'll just keep looking.
 
Reptile shows are great! Lots of times you can get supplies cheaper... especially once your beardie gets bigger and is eating tons, you can buy in bigger quantities a lot cheaper. Many times at the shows you can get the yellow, orange, or red dragons for only a bit more than what a pet store charges for the normal color beardies if your other kid wants something a bit different.
Shows are also a great place to find a local herp club. Exclusively BD club would be pretty hard to find.
One place we have found lights and other supplies like the vitamins at half the pet store prices is www.reptilesupply.com
Welcome to the site and enjoy. I'm glad you have a herp vet so close to you. That is really nice.
Oh... and we agree about the feeding more and greater variety. One of our beardies favs are red bell peppers... I think they are drawn to the color partly.
Here's another site that has a lot of really awesome nutrition info if you ever question if a food is ok or not, www.beautifuldragons.com Click on the nutrition part.
ENJOY!!! Reptiles are like potato chips... you can't have just one.
 
I can't believe the homeade platform page on that website. I am a genius at making things out of building styrofoam. For five years now, I've make lots and lots of things out of the styrofoam for the Macy's Xmas parade which is televised every year here in Atl. This past Xmas we were the Whos from the Grinch! I even made the Roast Beast out of styrofoam:
Whopeople%20066%20(Medium).jpg
Whopeople%20063%20(Medium).jpg


Everything on my house was decorated with parade leftovers, all out of styrofoam:
DSC02688%20(Medium).JPG
 
Well heck if you can do that I bet your beardie is going to have a castle when you are done. You could probably sell cute lizard furniture. :)
 
That gave me an idea, to sell stuff! Now, I have to get my styrofoam cutting equipment out. I have tons of styrofoam left over from this year's parade. I need to get nontoxic paint. I already have nontoxic glue, etc. I'm sure anything that is alright for people would be okay for animals.
 
You're going to have to cover the styrofoam with something much sturdier than paint....as soon as the Beardie gets any size to them, their claws will shred it just climbing on it. And if they start shredding it, they might just be silly enough to eat any small bits that come off, and who knows what that will do to their innards, as it sure isn't going to digest, lol.
 
Styro...

I've noticed all different and new habitat backings at stores this year. I haven't looked into them all that closely, but they appear to be a form of Styrofoam as far as I can tell? Some are seriously cool looking and actually useful!
I wondered the same thing about the styro holding up to sharp little claws climbing on them for any length of time.. I think its worth checking out though to see what they are doing w/ them, If you can make cool designs and figure the way to make them safe that would be excellent!

There are so many things out there now for us to buy for our critters! I know there just isn't that much regulation w/ this stuff. I often wonder about what the materials are for things, how safe or non toxic etc.. All the different water and food dishes, they don't really tell you what they are made of. Hey maybe melamine!! So I wonder about my lizards drinking and bathing in water thats been sitting in them ,maybe soaking up some toxin. I try to get ceramic dishes when I can, the smooth kiln fired type.
 
I've been thinking about that all night. Hopefully I'll come up with something although the "stone" paint that fellow used really protects the styrofoam and if there is enough of a clear protective coat it might be okay. Maybe I'll build something and make one of my cats the "guinea pig" LOL At least Gizzard will get a few months wear out of it. I'm still amazed when I see how fast they grow.
 
Hello

Hello!

It sounds like everything is going very well. You are working on the decorating portion now. That is the FUN part, huh?
Good luck with your project. I would love to see pics when you are completed with it all! :D


Tracie
 
Yes, that is the fun AND expensive part! I had no idea that the dragon would be the least expensive thing I would buy! I am really having fun cruising all the message boards/pictures and information out there. You guys have been so helpful and have made me confident that we are hopefully doing the right things and we so appreciate it!

When should our first dr visit be? I keep reading about the fecal matter testing but figured I'd let him get use to our diet before any of that would actually give a true reading.
 
I've been a crafter/builder for a long time and with having kids, I use a certain clear protective coating that is made expecially for kids on most everything I paint. I figure that with the "sand" coat that goes on the styrofoam and then a few layers of the nontoxic clear coat, it should be fine. But with anything one would buy to put in the cage, it still is the owner's responsibility to check these things from time to time for wear and tear.

A friend of mine came over yesterday that helps me with the Xmas parades every year and she laughed so hard when I showed her the basking platforms as she has a styrofoam cutter too! I also wonder if making the platforms out of a thin, lighweight wood would work just as well but then you'd have to use a scroll saw, not as much fun as the styrofoam cutter but we might try that route too!
 
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