New BD Momma and need guidance!

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teacherspet707

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Hello all,
I am a new mom to a baby fancy beardie who doubles as a class pet. My TA bought me a 20 gallon tank with lights and a hygro-thermometer. We named him Pogo (short for Pogona) and I am doing my best to be a good reptile mom. Buying him yummy crickets and roaches, got some nice features for his cage, and a new night heat lamp with a night vision blue light.
Since we got him he has been nervous whenever I reach in to pick him up (bloated his belly out- gaped once or twice), but would calm down as soon as in was in hand. I've had students hold him and he has ate food out of our hands and seemed ok with the attention.
Recently though, he had what appeared to be a spasm or seizure when i reached my hand in to pick him up! Now I am afraid to try and hold him again. He'll run to the corner of the cage and start scraping the walls and then seize up. Is this caused by being overstressed?
I'm wondering if he is struggling to acclimate to the classroom environment- kids coming in and out- all have been very good to him (no rapping on the glass or anything), they love looking at him, sometimes taking pictures. I don't take him out during class because I don't want him to jump out of someone's hand and get hurt with so many people in the room. Only at lunch or break with a handful of students. This occurred about once or twice a day for the last three weeks, but since the seizure two days ago I haven't.
I also recently put the lights on a timer, so I'm not coming in the classroom twice a day anymore. Is the isolation too much for a baby beardie? Should I take him home and keep him there until he is bigger- more one on one interaction time? I spend much more time in my classroom during the week than at home however.
I have been having trouble getting him to eat veggies and we are still working on it, but I wonder if this could be related to lack of vitamins or natural sunlight? Afterall, I'm learning there are a lot of particulars for beardie diet.
Any advice or recommendations would greatly appreciated.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Baby beardies main diet is protein- they wont or dont usually eat vegies till older but you can offer them -- dubias are the best in my opinion - crickets tend to give them coccidia and pin worms-- how old is he? The blue light is a no no -- they dont need lights on at nite and it could hurt their eyes- he will need calcium 5 times per week and vitamins 2 times per week- he should be fed 2-3 times per day eating as much as he will eat in around 15 minutes-- basking spot should be 90-105 or so -- cool side of tank 80 and if its lower at nite that is ok as long as it is not lower than 65 --- not sure about the seizure thing but that is not good -- Tracie or Drache613 would be the one to consult about the seizure thing-- as far as the kids in the classroom I am not sure- I know we got our first beardie from the high school and the high school boys were not nice to Troggy- my daughter caught them several times trying to put pencil erasers in her ears------------- we adopted her and got her out of that environment and put her in a 50 gal tank as she was in a 20 gal and it was way to small -- she had a red light we got rid of that and set her hours to ours as they had her lights coming on at 2 AM and going off at 2 PM-- I finally got rid of the timer all together- they are a social animal so it is up to you about taking him / her home-- but they should be fed 2 - 3 times per day when young- please PM Tracie -- and ask her about the seizure deal -- I really cant help you on that one

Karrie
 

teacherspet707

New member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3v7360wx said:
Baby beardies main diet is protein- they wont or dont usually eat vegies till older but you can offer them -- dubias are the best in my opinion - crickets tend to give them coccidia and pin worms-- how old is he? The blue light is a no no -- they dont need lights on at nite and it could hurt their eyes- he will need calcium 5 times per week and vitamins 2 times per week- he should be fed 2-3 times per day eating as much as he will eat in around 15 minutes-- basking spot should be 90-105 or so -- cool side of tank 80 and if its lower at nite that is ok as long as it is not lower than 65 --- not sure about the seizure thing but that is not good -- Tracie or Drache613 would be the one to consult about the seizure thing-- as far as the kids in the classroom I am not sure- I know we got our first beardie from the high school and the high school boys were not nice to Troggy- my daughter caught them several times trying to put pencil erasers in her ears------------- we adopted her and got her out of that environment and put her in a 50 gal tank as she was in a 20 gal and it was way to small -- she had a red light we got rid of that and set her hours to ours as they had her lights coming on at 2 AM and going off at 2 PM-- I finally got rid of the timer all together- they are a social animal so it is up to you about taking him / her home-- but they should be fed 2 - 3 times per day when young- please PM Tracie -- and ask her about the seizure deal -- I really cant help you on that one

Karrie

Thank you so much Karrie for the advice. I have heard that a light at night could interrupt sleep, it was marketed as a heat night lamp meant for reptiles. I’ll look into heat options that don’t involve light. I wanted to make sure he had heat at night because the room can get cold especially in winter.
I was concerned about the veggies because all the pet stores have been insisting that he needs to eat greens but he just won’t! I’ve been using calcium powder on the small crickets and then sprinkling it on chopped up greens to entice him but no luck :/ I’m going to try shredded carrots.
He loves all the insects- dubias especially, small crickets, and mealworms. I also got some canned mealworms and he seems to really like those too.
It seems like the spasms are because he gets so scared when he thinks I’m coming to pick him up... and maybe low calcium? At least I’ve read that baby beardies are more susceptible to MBD which one of the symptoms is seizures and it’s due to low calcium levels.
I think I need to practice moving more slowly and giving him food before holding and more space from students. Move him to a less trafficked part of the room. I want to build a trusting bond with him because I hope to have him for years!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
You can get a Heat Emitter from Petco PetSmart etc- they come in different wattages and can be left on 24/7 - it will help w/ the temps at nite- I have one and keep it on during the winter months- if your dusting his / her bugs 5 times per week that should be good - are you using the calcium D3? Also you want to be giving him Vitamins-- I give Hiccup JurassiVite - my heat emitter is a ceramic or CHE wattage 100-- my tank is 50 gal-- you can figure out the days you want to give the vitamins but he should be getting those as well -- dont listen to the pet stores - they dont know what they are talking about unless you have some one that works there that actually has a beardie and has had experience w/ beardies or could be a breeder of beardies at the store but for most part none of them have a clue and give bad advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you need advice or have questions this board has many people who can help you---- if you have a breeder in your area example some one who owns a reptile store that breeds them you can always consult them as well --- uh let me rephrase that not even all of them know what they are talking about as I bought Hiccup from a reptile store and I will never go back to him -- the guy is a fruit cake!---- He is probably just scared and the more you handle him he will learn to trust you- Hiccup was very scared when we brought him home and he used to run and flare up when we put our hand in his tank - he is now 8 months old and does none of that now- just keep working w/ him but please make sure he has the proper lighting or he will get sick and die- there was a girl on here on the ER board and her dragon just died from lack of calcium I believe and lighting- I dont think she had the proper UVB for him -- on the right side of this page is articles and all kinds of info you can read -- please do so

Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
I agree that the little spasms are due to being scared at times. You might consider taking him home or else be 100% sure that there are adults around so bratty kids don't hurt him. You can also put a towel over part of the tank for privacy but taking him home is really best.

It IS good that his appetite is strong, that's a real bonus. Careful with mealworms, beardies can get addicted and if they eat too many they can become impacted.
 
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