Just when you thought Rocky movies were over...surprise a new star is about to emerge! Rocky #12!
Hi, I am still a juvie on the forum, but have already felt so welcomed by the members and administrators that I feel like folks here are family. Pogi was my baby beardie I adopted about 4 mths ago from Petco. I had never owned a beardie or reptile...just furry & feathery creatures. I went in quite naïve but learned quickly through this site and many good folks who work at Petco how to get things started. But after a couple of weeks Pogi wasn't as active or eating as much so I took him to the vet to discover we brought some of his friends home with us...pinworms and coccidia. What a challenge that was for a first time beardie owner. But this forum and a caring vet helped us persevere and we were able to wipe it out. Pogi started gaining weight and his colors were starting to pop out. He was a leatherback with tiger orange markings. We were really bonding and building a nice routine with each other. Until two weeks ago I noticed his leg was lame. Thinking it may be broken I took him to vet only to find it was worse than that...septic arthritis which my vet said has been linked to the beardies and also to other susceptible animals who have had coccidia before...we gave him meds and did a recheck last Friday. It had begun to spread. Now his other leg was showing visible signs as well. He had also been very slow to get out of his sleeper sack and go up his basking rock. I also had to hand feed him his worms because he looked frustrated having to go down to get them. Knowing that this was a terminal condition that would spread rapidly in his blood stream to other joints, the vet and I knew it would be more humane to put him to sleep. I can't even tell you how devastating I felt...holding him, stroking him, his eyes looking at me with complete trust...only to hand him over to the vet tech. I was crushed...still am...and will always be. You can't every erase those memories and it would be unfair to Pogi for me to.
They brought him back wrapped up and I brought him home, wrapped him in his favorite sleeper sack...my husband buried him yesterday and as I have told others before, we set his favorite basking tree on top so his spirit can climb out and soak in the sun...
When I got back from the vet I slowly began putting his things away and wondered if or when I would adopt another. It just felt so empty in his room...the lights were off and it just felt terribly sad. I brought my neighbor some of his feeders for his reptiles and I guess he saw how sad I was and sat me down to show me some websites of breeders. For I told him earlier in the week how frustrated I was about buying my pets from pet shops only for them to die on us so early. While buying from a breeder can be expensive, I knew my next one would be worth the money as long as I knew it was raised well and healthy...that feeling is priceless.
So that's when it happened...as he scrawled down at all the beautiful beardies up for sale I knew I had to buy one. I went home and got my families blessing as they knew how much I loved Pogi, and needed to share that love with another...even my husband, who was absolutely against me buying Pogi could not stand the sadness, for he was rooting him on hoping he would recover. So he felt better knowing we were adopting another from a good breeder.
I went on Dragons4You and found my hunk. Dragon #12. He is a leatherback citrus male. 15 3/4 long, and 204 grams. Pogi was almost 4 mths and only 74 grams and 10.5 inches...so I am a bit anxious knowing he will be bigger but also comforted that perhaps he may not be as 'delicate' as a baby or juvie. I always looked forward to seeing Pogi get big and fat and fanaticized carrying him around on my chest or shoulder...we never made it that far. So Dragon #12 was there and needing a home, so I bought him.
The breeder sensed my apprehension in all my emails and was very kind and reassuring. She said he was tame, a good eater, and healthy. But what sold me was when she said she had considered holding him back for herself but that she already had too males so she put him up for sale. I figured, if she was partial to him, then he must be special!
After sometime going through a list of names with my kids, we decided the best name for him would be Rocky...an American fictional icon of strength, honesty, and loyalty. Perfect! Not to mention I think he looks beefy, and so was Rocky!
Rocky will be shipped overnight via FedEx on Monday and is scheduled to arrive Tuesday at noon. I honestly feel like an expectant mom! Though I can say after having three children, this is a whole lot calmer of an experience in waiting!
So now I have been busily prepping everything for his arrival. After spending a long time at Petsmart picking up and comparing all the basking rocks out there, I ended up picking the same one we had for Pogi but in a different color. I didn't want to use any of the same accessories because as others suggested, this is Rocky's tank now and should reflect a new life...but that was a great basking tree and figured it would work well for Rocky too...it can be Pogi's way of saying welcome to the family...
I also realized I had to prepare for a larger dragon so everything is getting upsized. I did throw away Pogi's bedding including his beautiful hammock I had made him, but again, the fear that some parasite survived all the bleach and washing just eats at my brain...so I am making him a new and larger sleeper sack, and a new hammock. Will post pix of those when I make them.
Meanwhile...here is Rocky's File sheet from website! I swear he looks like he is saying "yo, Adrieanne!"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u65e4vxlanu1dc3/#12.PNG
And here is his tank set up (for now...still adding the sack and hammock)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ea0v0kklfqirwsg/rocky set up.JPG
I use tile as a substrate but will hold off until we get his fecal tested in a couple of weeks. Plus I want to note his poop pattern...Pogi had his favorite spots to poop in so I knew where to clean...figured Rocky might also. Paper towel is easier to maintain when you aren't sure of their health...
I also got him a clear live feeder bowl so he (and me) can always note if yummies are in there. I plan to use the bigger corner dish for his greens. Janice the breeder said he likes collards and will eat some beardie bites too. I bought some adult sized Beardie Pellets to put as a supplemental food, which will go in the Cactus dish, along with a small serving of water daily. While I want him to eat live fresh things, I know it can be valuable to get them to eat prepared foods as well especially if vacationing and for pet sitters.
My neighbor is going to give me back some of my dubias and phoenix worms too. But Janice said he has never had dubias...only crickets...and the occaisional super worm as a treat...because dubias are illegal in FL. Well, I hope he will learn to like dubias and other feeders because I am wary of crickets...the bite, jump, smell, and are known to carry parasites. She also said they worm their adults every six months as protocol since they feed them the crickets. But that he had not yet been wormed as he was a tad young...he was hatched 10.29.2013. So he will definitely be getting wormed in two weeks!
She also said he may need a bath when he arrives as they tend to poop on themselves so I went out and bought him a little Rubbermaid tub. Plus got some old hand towels already for a little scrub down when he arrives. Got my beautiful beardie shampoo too! Spa treatment!
Then she said to offer him some crickets in a couple of hours as he will probably be pretty hungry and was a good eater. So that's when I will try the dubias on him. But do you all think I should go ahead and get some crickets too in case he prefers that????
I have plenty of calcium powder etc..plus my lights are not even 6 mths old yets...so that is set. My question for you all is should I give him any supplements this so as he begins to adjust to everything to help reduce his stress level?
It was suggested not to try and hold him too much the first two days to give him time to settle down...and to look for his cues that he wants to socialize...and watch for stress lines...anything else that might help with the adjustment period?
Okay...now I will take a deep breath...and wait. So hard to do that!!!! I wish he were here already!!!!!!!! He is my "other' Mother's Day present for sure....my kids bought me a beautiful hummingbird feeder too...
Hi, I am still a juvie on the forum, but have already felt so welcomed by the members and administrators that I feel like folks here are family. Pogi was my baby beardie I adopted about 4 mths ago from Petco. I had never owned a beardie or reptile...just furry & feathery creatures. I went in quite naïve but learned quickly through this site and many good folks who work at Petco how to get things started. But after a couple of weeks Pogi wasn't as active or eating as much so I took him to the vet to discover we brought some of his friends home with us...pinworms and coccidia. What a challenge that was for a first time beardie owner. But this forum and a caring vet helped us persevere and we were able to wipe it out. Pogi started gaining weight and his colors were starting to pop out. He was a leatherback with tiger orange markings. We were really bonding and building a nice routine with each other. Until two weeks ago I noticed his leg was lame. Thinking it may be broken I took him to vet only to find it was worse than that...septic arthritis which my vet said has been linked to the beardies and also to other susceptible animals who have had coccidia before...we gave him meds and did a recheck last Friday. It had begun to spread. Now his other leg was showing visible signs as well. He had also been very slow to get out of his sleeper sack and go up his basking rock. I also had to hand feed him his worms because he looked frustrated having to go down to get them. Knowing that this was a terminal condition that would spread rapidly in his blood stream to other joints, the vet and I knew it would be more humane to put him to sleep. I can't even tell you how devastating I felt...holding him, stroking him, his eyes looking at me with complete trust...only to hand him over to the vet tech. I was crushed...still am...and will always be. You can't every erase those memories and it would be unfair to Pogi for me to.
They brought him back wrapped up and I brought him home, wrapped him in his favorite sleeper sack...my husband buried him yesterday and as I have told others before, we set his favorite basking tree on top so his spirit can climb out and soak in the sun...
When I got back from the vet I slowly began putting his things away and wondered if or when I would adopt another. It just felt so empty in his room...the lights were off and it just felt terribly sad. I brought my neighbor some of his feeders for his reptiles and I guess he saw how sad I was and sat me down to show me some websites of breeders. For I told him earlier in the week how frustrated I was about buying my pets from pet shops only for them to die on us so early. While buying from a breeder can be expensive, I knew my next one would be worth the money as long as I knew it was raised well and healthy...that feeling is priceless.
So that's when it happened...as he scrawled down at all the beautiful beardies up for sale I knew I had to buy one. I went home and got my families blessing as they knew how much I loved Pogi, and needed to share that love with another...even my husband, who was absolutely against me buying Pogi could not stand the sadness, for he was rooting him on hoping he would recover. So he felt better knowing we were adopting another from a good breeder.
I went on Dragons4You and found my hunk. Dragon #12. He is a leatherback citrus male. 15 3/4 long, and 204 grams. Pogi was almost 4 mths and only 74 grams and 10.5 inches...so I am a bit anxious knowing he will be bigger but also comforted that perhaps he may not be as 'delicate' as a baby or juvie. I always looked forward to seeing Pogi get big and fat and fanaticized carrying him around on my chest or shoulder...we never made it that far. So Dragon #12 was there and needing a home, so I bought him.
The breeder sensed my apprehension in all my emails and was very kind and reassuring. She said he was tame, a good eater, and healthy. But what sold me was when she said she had considered holding him back for herself but that she already had too males so she put him up for sale. I figured, if she was partial to him, then he must be special!
After sometime going through a list of names with my kids, we decided the best name for him would be Rocky...an American fictional icon of strength, honesty, and loyalty. Perfect! Not to mention I think he looks beefy, and so was Rocky!
Rocky will be shipped overnight via FedEx on Monday and is scheduled to arrive Tuesday at noon. I honestly feel like an expectant mom! Though I can say after having three children, this is a whole lot calmer of an experience in waiting!
So now I have been busily prepping everything for his arrival. After spending a long time at Petsmart picking up and comparing all the basking rocks out there, I ended up picking the same one we had for Pogi but in a different color. I didn't want to use any of the same accessories because as others suggested, this is Rocky's tank now and should reflect a new life...but that was a great basking tree and figured it would work well for Rocky too...it can be Pogi's way of saying welcome to the family...
I also realized I had to prepare for a larger dragon so everything is getting upsized. I did throw away Pogi's bedding including his beautiful hammock I had made him, but again, the fear that some parasite survived all the bleach and washing just eats at my brain...so I am making him a new and larger sleeper sack, and a new hammock. Will post pix of those when I make them.
Meanwhile...here is Rocky's File sheet from website! I swear he looks like he is saying "yo, Adrieanne!"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u65e4vxlanu1dc3/#12.PNG
And here is his tank set up (for now...still adding the sack and hammock)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ea0v0kklfqirwsg/rocky set up.JPG
I use tile as a substrate but will hold off until we get his fecal tested in a couple of weeks. Plus I want to note his poop pattern...Pogi had his favorite spots to poop in so I knew where to clean...figured Rocky might also. Paper towel is easier to maintain when you aren't sure of their health...
I also got him a clear live feeder bowl so he (and me) can always note if yummies are in there. I plan to use the bigger corner dish for his greens. Janice the breeder said he likes collards and will eat some beardie bites too. I bought some adult sized Beardie Pellets to put as a supplemental food, which will go in the Cactus dish, along with a small serving of water daily. While I want him to eat live fresh things, I know it can be valuable to get them to eat prepared foods as well especially if vacationing and for pet sitters.
My neighbor is going to give me back some of my dubias and phoenix worms too. But Janice said he has never had dubias...only crickets...and the occaisional super worm as a treat...because dubias are illegal in FL. Well, I hope he will learn to like dubias and other feeders because I am wary of crickets...the bite, jump, smell, and are known to carry parasites. She also said they worm their adults every six months as protocol since they feed them the crickets. But that he had not yet been wormed as he was a tad young...he was hatched 10.29.2013. So he will definitely be getting wormed in two weeks!
She also said he may need a bath when he arrives as they tend to poop on themselves so I went out and bought him a little Rubbermaid tub. Plus got some old hand towels already for a little scrub down when he arrives. Got my beautiful beardie shampoo too! Spa treatment!
Then she said to offer him some crickets in a couple of hours as he will probably be pretty hungry and was a good eater. So that's when I will try the dubias on him. But do you all think I should go ahead and get some crickets too in case he prefers that????
I have plenty of calcium powder etc..plus my lights are not even 6 mths old yets...so that is set. My question for you all is should I give him any supplements this so as he begins to adjust to everything to help reduce his stress level?
It was suggested not to try and hold him too much the first two days to give him time to settle down...and to look for his cues that he wants to socialize...and watch for stress lines...anything else that might help with the adjustment period?
Okay...now I will take a deep breath...and wait. So hard to do that!!!! I wish he were here already!!!!!!!! He is my "other' Mother's Day present for sure....my kids bought me a beautiful hummingbird feeder too...
