Blaze's Thread (Updated 7/7/12)

[Zeusmybeardie]

The viv looks really good he might like the more climbing room
Now

 

[Sammysmom]

I've decided to bond with Blaze inside his viv until he's more comfortable with me. Tonight I spent a few minutes sitting in front of his viv petting him without picking him up. He seems to like having the side of his face rubbed.

 

[Sammysmom]

Blaze's tail is shedding. He's one grumpy boy. Speaking of boy. I've read that you can't tell if a baby is a boy or girl until they're like 6 months old. I got Blaze at 6 weeks old and we know for sure he's a he. The breeder showed me by lifting his tail up and you can see two very defined bumps. He's very...ummm...well developed for his age lol.

Here's just some random pics from today. Blaze isn't his normal citrusy self because of the shedding but he's still cute!

Check out the pretty yellow on his tail where the skin has already shed! He's gonna be a pretty boy when he grows up!

He was a little chilly so he warmed up in mommy's shirt. He almost dozed off.

"NO! I don't wanna come out yet!"

 

[elmore91011]

He's so sweet! Bella pretty much lives in my shirt, I take her every where she stays on my chest/shoulder under my shirt and snubbles As for him not liking you... Bella for the most part sits on my shoulder however she's been know to leap to other places. Today it happened to be INTO my Dads empty coffee cup! She was PO'd! I bet you two will be best of friends=)

 

[PumpkinJelly]

So cute! In the pictures where he's just sitting there he's like "Mom, can you please pull this shed off?" He's so adorable!

 

[Menolly07]

It looks like Blaze is beginning to take better to you. Personally, I think it's like any critter. They just need to understand that you're not going to hurt them and that they can trust you. It's easier when you're starting from a place where they haven't been hurt by people. I know that Odahviing really did warm (see what I did there?) with handling. Hand feeding did wonders too. The shirt thing is great also. I Sometimes tuck our little guy into my cleavage. :lol:

 

[Sammysmom]

Blaze loves me! He hasn't ran from me or jumped out of my hands at all today. He loves it when I rub his face right in front of his ears. He's soooo sweet today!

 

[elmore91011]

Blaze loves me! He hasn't ran from me or jumped out of my hands at all today. He loves it when I rub his face right in front of his ears. He's soooo sweet today!

AWWWW... good!

 

[Menolly07]

I think that spot may be the magic beardie spot! Odahviing loves it too. He actually lifts his chin and will nudge into his rubbies, exactly like a cat! I'm so glad he's taken to you.

 

[Sammysmom]

The weird thing is that he's not his normal yellow color. For the past 2 or 3 days he's been a dark gray, like he's stressed. I read that it could mean that he's trying to warm up but his viv is 110 on the hot side and between 85-90 on the cool side. He spends all of his day on his basking rock or his branches so he's no more than 6" from his reptisun tube.

I want my yellow baby back. :|

 

[Menolly07]

Did he shed his body yet? My guy turns really mottled and dark brownish-earth toned red when he's going to shed. All of him gets dark as well. It's because he's stressed and uncomfortable. I find giving him warm baths helps. If Blaze doesn't like baths maybe putting him in the water on top of you hand will help. I let Odahviing hug my finger if he's not in the mood to swim but I know he needs a soak because his back is getting really dark.

When they shed the skin gets tight and starts to pull. I imagine it MUST be tender and itchy. It may even hurt a little. We can't ask them, but I could imagine it being like a bad sunburn. A soak makes them puff which helps them puff. That can help encourage the skin to lift and separate which could help it move toward sloughing off. The moisture must also help them feel more comfortable.

Does he have a pronounced dark pattern on his belly? Those are stress marks and may just be because he's little. Sometimes they get that when they're little a bit randomly. It can happen when they sleep. Odahviing still goes dark when he gets into a REALLY good bask and he's coming to the end of a shed cycle/about to shed his back. He's on his third shed now, and it's been like that each time so far.

 

[Sammysmom]

Did he shed his body yet? My guy turns really mottled and dark brownish-earth toned red when he's going to shed. All of him gets dark as well. It's because he's stressed and uncomfortable. I find giving him warm baths helps. If Blaze doesn't like baths maybe putting him in the water on top of you hand will help. I let Odahviing hug my finger if he's not in the mood to swim but I know he needs a soak because his back is getting really dark.

When they shed the skin gets tight and starts to pull. I imagine it MUST be tender and itchy. It may even hurt a little. We can't ask them, but I could imagine it being like a bad sunburn. A soak makes them puff which helps them puff. That can help encourage the skin to lift and separate which could help it move toward sloughing off. The moisture must also help them feel more comfortable.

Does he have a pronounced dark pattern on his belly? Those are stress marks and may just be because he's little. Sometimes they get that when they're little a bit randomly. It can happen when they sleep. Odahviing still goes dark when he gets into a REALLY good bask and he's coming to the end of a shed cycle/about to shed his back. He's on his third shed now, and it's been like that each time so far.

He shed his tail yesterday but a few times today it's been really dark gray along with the rest of his body. He loves his baths and he gets one every day. He lightens up in the bath and when I hold him. He just lightened back up because I put him on his basking rock under his heat bulb. I guess maybe he's just been getting a little chilly. Maybe he likes it really warm. It's only been a few times that he's had the stress marks on his belly and neck. When he gets really really dark he gets them. Other than the coloring he's fine. Eats like a maniac! He's basking right now and he's his normal pretty pastel yellow.

 

[Sammysmom]

Today my hubby brought home a huge desk from work that they were gonna throw out. We needed to build a stand for Blaze's viv so this was perfect. Now we don't have to build anything! The desk is so big that we couldn't get it into the office where Blaze's viv was so we ending up putting it in our sunroom and moving Blaze. I have the walls painted a really dark brown so it's hard to take pics but I did the best I could. Here's Blaze's new digs and a few pics of Blaze and his happy colors.

And here's his not so happy dark colors that he's been displaying. The pics above were taken after this one so you can see that he's not like this all the time. I do think his body is going to shed soon.

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Oh my gosh he's so cute! He's definitely modeling & striking a pose in this picture!

 

[FranktheTank]

Blaze is adorable, and I have to agree he definitely looks like he's modeling in that picture! He's sexy and he knows it!! It's common for baby beardies to have stress marks or wear their dark colors a lot. As they continue to grow and settle in, you'll see them less and less. Sometimes stress marks and being dark isn't always because they're stressed or unhappy. Most of the time it's to absorb heat, or they haven't warmed up yet. The longer you have Blaze the better you'll become at reading his moods. I noticed with my female she'll wear her dark colors just to get my attention so I'll take her out to play. As soon as she's out snuggling on me she is super bright!

-Kaleen