Gabriel's Thread!

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Alright, I'm claiming a thread for my Gabriel! I did so for Charmander, and I enjoyed having a place to share my experiences with my beardie, so I wanted to do it again!

He's doing really great so far! If he was indeed about 9 months when I got him, then he's close to ten now. He's definitely grown a significant amount, his tail is longer. I never measured, although I think I'm going to start, but he's growing! He is finishing up a shed right now, I think he just has the tip of his tail and his head to go. He keeps rubbing his head on his rock, and he's also very irritable starting today (actually he hissed at me this morning!), but he did allow me to give him a bath after a few hours alone, and now he's eating a meal.

Hopefully it will finish up soon and he'll be a bit more friendly again! I bought him a new feature for his tank which I really love, honestly, it has a large bowl on one side and curves off into a little tiny hut. Since he can climb on top of the hut, and right down to the bowl, it encourages him to eat more greens, so it was well worth it. It's better than just the bowl, which he doesn't always notice.

He always seems to have some stress lines, but from what I can see, since they're usually light when I'm around (sometimes they're pretty dark but when I come home from school they lighten up, so maybe he's just lonely), I think it's just one of those 'babies have those lines a lot' thing. He defecates at least once a day, usually in his bath, and it looks very normal and healthy, and his basking temps seem to be normal (I have a CHE on all the time right now, it seems to be doing the trick. He'll bask with his mouth open sometimes to regulate, so that means I'm getting up high enough, right? His cool side is still cool enough. At night, the temp tends to drop to 60 without the CHE, so I've started using it at night too), and since I have one screen lid off, and he can climb the one tree branch, he gets close enough to the flourescent strip.

That is all a long way to say that to me, he seems pretty great so far!
 

Beardienatic

Hatchling Member
Hi! I don't have my bearded dragon yet, but I have spent hours and hours researching these beautiful animals! Just something I thought I might mention, if he is gaping with his mouth open constantly (not the absolutely the WHOLE time, because he will be thermo-regulating, but you get what I mean), so you should consider turning your CHE off at night. Your UVB and UVA light along with the basking light should provide more than enough heat. How are you taking your temps? The most recommended on here is a temp gun. The cool side of your tank should be 80 - 85 degrees Fahrenheit (26 - 30 degrees Celsius), warm side 90 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit (32 - 37 degrees Celsius), and the basking spot about 105 - 110 degrees Fahrenheit (40 - 44 degrees Celsius). 60 degrees Fahrenheit is enough at night, but you can raise it to about 65 or 70 degrees, but generally I think the cooler temps stimulates their "feeling" of it being nigh-time, as its usually colder at night than during the day. Hope you have tonnes of fun with him!!
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Hah, trust me, I've spent hours researching as well and I've owned bearded dragons before, so I wasn't really questioning how to do things, I already know how. I keep the CHE on at night because the temperatures in my house are starting to drop to around 50 at night now, which even for an animal that is used to cooler nights, is a bit too cold for him, or so I've found. I am measuring my temps with a temp gun, and they're all proper. Thanks for the advice though!
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Welp! I have finally decided to buy a bigger light fixture, even with my CHE, the 100W bulb is just not cutting it. Since winter is coming (okay there, Stark), and things will be even colder, I investigated and found that ZooMed does indeed make a larger lamp fixture and apparently I have the mini dual dome, which is why the 150 W bulb sticks out of the fixture. I can't have that, since my lights rest on my tank. So! I've ordered it and it should be arriving by Monday! I'll switch out the 100W for the 150W and hopefully all shall be well! Unfortunately that means Gabriel will have to deal with slightly less than ideal temperatures until then, but he's been alright thus far, just less energetic, he spends more time basking. His bathroom use is alright though.

It's not ideal to wait, but it's the best I can do since apparently no stores are big enough here to sell anything but the mini lamp fixtures. EDIT: What I've done for now is put several large books under his basking spot to raise it up higher to the lamp! It should do for now.

On a better note, he is shedding well! He's actually shedding for the second time in a very short span of time, he's grown a great deal since I bought him just a month ago. I'm excited!
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
It's been a while! My little king is growing so fast, honestly, he no longer comfortably fits in the palm of my hand! The only other big update is that I believe he may be going into brumation, which is a new experience for me! He's turning a year old this month, so brumation seems to be very likely, since he's old enough! The past few days, he's been a little more sluggish to eat, and then today, instead of just going to bed an hour or two early, he crawled into his corner hide at about noon and just cuddled into the fleece bits I've put in there. I came home hours later and he was still there! He woke up when I picked him up to check on him, but he remained pretty sleepy, and when I put him back in his tank, he only remained up for a little bit longer before finding his hide again. I don't blame him, it's definitely getting to be cold here (the thermometer reads 63.4 in his tank, currently, I might switch the CHE on sometime soon, it's gonna be a bitter winter, I think, and my heating system hasn't switched on yet). So we shall see! Tomorrow I'm mostly going to leave him alone, I'm going to be pretty busy, but I'm at least going to take him out and bathe him. If he perks up when I show him crickets, I'll feed him, too, but if he just wants to sleep, I'm going to leave him be.
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
It's been a bit since the last post, so I figured I'd finish up the year with a post! Maybe a picture later, but I don't have any on me right now.

Gabriel's been doing wonderfully, he's a little over a year old now. He's grown a lot in length, so I'm thinking that this coming year, he'll bulk up a lot! At least, that's what I've seen in other posts on here, that they grow lengthwise first and then bulkwise. I think it must be true, because he's getting ready to shed his head yet again, the third time in a very short amount of time. His tail is also pretty thick by now, so I'm thinking the rest of his body will follow.

He's eating very well! He usually gets crickets once a day (unfortunately, I cannot afford to constantly buy other options such as dubias. Crickets are cheap, and I'm thinking about getting them for one of those 1000 for 20 dollars soon. I just can't afford to get dubias constantly at this point, and since crickets are a still a viable source of food, that's what he gets), and he's eating about 20 each time, sometimes more, sometimes less. More usually if he didn't get them the previous day (which happens from time to time, now that he's older). He's eating lots of salad though! He's a very good boy with that, he gets a lot of kale and mustard greens (and some assorted others from spring mix, except the spinach), and sometimes some fruit. Strawberries are his favorite!

Other than that, not much to report! He defecates regularly, he sleeps regularly, he's very active, and he loves snuggling. I absolutely adore him!
 

MufasasMomMakayla

Juvie Member
Hello!
Gabriel sounds like a cutie, can't wait for pictures! Have you seen this site for bugs? http://gordosfeederbugz.com/shop/feeder-bugs/dubia-roaches/
You can get roaches for a better price than most places and other feeders like worms and such. :)
Also, the kale shouldn't be fed to him except once a week if he really likes it. It binds the calcium so he can't absorb it, maybe try collard greens, they are a great staple green and my beardies love them. :)
Makayla.
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
I have not, thank you! That's a great site, it looks like. I would love to buy him dubias and some waxworms as a treat, I might be able to with this.

Yeah, he doesn't actually get kale everyday, it was just the only thing I could remember that came in the spring greens mix XD Mostly, his salad is mustard greens, I have used collard greens for variation, but he doesn't take to it as well, so he gets less of that than the mustard greens. But those are the two that make up most of his salads! Other greens and fruits are only a little sprinkle here and there (especially with the fruits, no matter how much he loves them).
 

MufasasMomMakayla

Juvie Member
Your welcome, hope you can get some for him! :D
Awesome about the kale and such, I have never tried a greens mix, lol, I always buy them separately. Limiting fruit is always sad cause they love it so much, my Norberta loves apple but I have to tell her not today, eat your greens. :roll:
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Me too! I'd love to treat him to something different.

I usually get an entire head of mustard greens or whatever staple I'm choosing and then a small container of the greens mix, I've figured out that they can have everything in the spring greens mix except for spinach, so I usually add a few extra little pieces of anything from there to give him some variety! But yeah, Gabriel absolutely adores strawberries, and I know he'll go for those first if I put them in his salad.

Some photos from this morning! He just woke up so he's all dark and sleepy. Also not the greatest quality because my phone is not so wonderful, ah well. But here he is in his sleepy lethargic glory.
81865-6295999838.jpg
81865-8112869160.jpg
 

MufasasMomMakayla

Juvie Member
Isn't it nice when you have an easy way to make food? :)
Such a cutie, love his markings! When they first wake up is so funny case they just want to snuggle and go back to sleep. :love5:
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Oh, it's so nice, it took me a while to find an easy system!

And thank you! When he's soaked up some heat, you can see some orange on his arms and his eardrums.

And it's so niiiiice, he's such a cuddler now that he's grown up a bit and he knows me. He loves to cuddle right before bed.
 

LucisAbsentia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Time for an update! Gabriel is doing so well, he's currently around 13-14 months, and he's growing tons. He's about 14 inches, and he just keeps growing! It was very sweet today, I had my first day of classes since last semester let out, and it was different, because I've been home all break except for a few evenings for work. So all he wants to do right now is cuddle!

I've also found out he absolutely loves blackberries, so I've been giving him some every few days. He is shunning his mustard greens a bit though, so I'm probably going to go back to collard greens more often and maybe have him try dandelion greens, maybe throw in a bit of endive or escarole.

Here's a recent pic! He's big and fat because he had just had a very large meal. He's getting to be such a spikeball!
81865-7369231316.jpg
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
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