teacherspet707
New member
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.
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.