Banjo the beardie

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I adopted Banjo a few weeks ago, he appeared to be trying to recover from stress, but kept stressing so I figured I could give him a better life.

So far, he is doing amazing! I love his quirks and adventurousness! He always pushes his paper towel aside to poop right on th glass ( every single time!). Of course he does the dragonly 'has to lick everything I run up to' thing but also licks my hand when I reach in to pet/pick him up. He's caught onto grabbing onto my arm when he comes out of the tank 8) , come out for sometimes hours on end and then it takes the forces of the gods to get him back into his tank lol, I think he just really enjoys being out with me. I can't wait till summer to take him outside for playtime! Banjo can be quite clumsy sometimes, miscalculating the jumps distance for his leaps of faith. He can also be found running full blast and lunging at white walls sometimes :lol: so I've put up some towel/blanket barriers because his nose is still healing from previous glass rubbing in a small terrarium.

His favourite foods are hornworms ( he will jump 10+ inches to get to them before I can get them in his bowl) blueberries, grandmas garnden fresh kale and strawberries. Still trying new foods. He doesn't care much for apples or carrots, and will usually eat around them on his dish, the little bugger. He's on a regular staple of super worms and salad daily. Tomorrow we try boiled lentils! I don't think he will be thrilled about them, but if I mix them with blueberries I think I can trick him to try some. There's always the trusted baby spoon that I have that is his favourite, I can get him to gobble up everything I serve on in!

Here's Banjo during run around time. He decided that he would do about 10 laps around the room stopping at his basking spot to warm up each lap for about 30seconds and would take off on another lap. He's so funny sometimes and I think he is a happy beardie!
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Carmalitaaa

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Banjos terrarium is starting to come together nicely!
Added a regular fish tank background to prevent him from getting confused and trying to go after his foods reflections :banghead: . I've also got the backside and two sides layered with a fleece blanket to insulate during the winter. The bulb on the left is an extra infrared for extra cold days and nights. Going to readjust the fake plants so he can hide in them in his favourite corner. If you're wondering what's in front of him suctioned to the glass, it's a digital probe thermometer, pretty handy. As for the left of the tank, that is where he likes to poop, :roll: so I keep it obstacle free. He just finished his Sunday dinner of butterworms a few super worms and some blueberries and kale... he decided he didn't want my grandmas kale today, must have a sweet tooth today lol! :blob5: he's got 4 good shed spots starting, which I think he'll shed no problem with his baths and shed-aid if needed. His colour has come back 100%, no more wondering if it was the medication, all I needed was the reptisun 10.0!(worth every penny). He never blackbeards me, but when I have a towel on my head after a shower I must intimidate him because he hisses at me when I enter the room, no blackness while doing it so I think he's just confused.
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
He looks happy and healthy, but have you tried crickets or roaches to see if he likes them? Superworms are not the best thing to use for a staple.
 

Carmalitaaa

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Roaches are illegal in Canada and I've tried keeping crickets but they get all over the place right now. I know supers are high in fat, but he needed to put on some weight so I'm having him on supers for a little while. The good reptile store near me can get pheonix worms in (I hear those are a decent staple) so I may try those. But yeah as for this month, he needs to get chunkier due to his sad diet of unguttloaded crickets and freeze dried veggies. Today is soup making day so I'll be boiling up some lentils (high protein) for him to give a go, there's always the trusted baby spoon. I do limit his super intake, and include apples in his salads when I feed him any insect with a shell to help him pass. He seems to be getting a lot of moisture from his diet because he no longer chugs the water from his bath so that is good. Days that he gets salad I'll remove his water dish seeing as he never drinks from it, and only pushes his paper towels into the bowl making it humid.... what a guy
 

Carmalitaaa

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Every payday it seems he gets something new in his terrarium. it still looks so boing and blah to me, so I try to take him out and let him run around my one dragon proof room. I clamp his basking bulb to the underside of his shelf so h gets a warm up spot.
 

Carmalitaaa

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But how I wish I could get Dubai roaches here, every dragon online that is on Dubai looks so muscular and healthy! I want that for banjo!
 

JessPets

Gray-bearded Member
Are all roaches? I know dubias are illegal in quite a few places, but how about turkistan roaches or orange heads? Are they illegal too? And BSFL are awesome, just a little expensive
 

Carmalitaaa

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I'm not sure, the lady at the reptile store didn't say anything about others, just that the Dubai roaches were illegal... ill have to look into the others
 

Carmalitaaa

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A yes, I can get the pheonixworms or reptiworms, but again I do want something with a higher fat content right now... maybe for the next few weeks...
 

Carmalitaaa

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Good morning banjo! He's shedding his face as of today, not so fun, but has shedded off old spots that he had been trying to shed for about 2 months. He's decided to either make life easier for me by pooping on the paper towel the last two times, he'll actually hang his butt off the rock and poop so he doesn't get messy either. I'll be calling my local rept store to place an order for pheonix worms, it seems they always run out fast. Hopefully my store gets in some nice plump hornworms this week, the last few weeks they have been sooooo small, and I don't wanna pay 1.50$ for a sad skinny worm. If they come in small this week I may grab a few, and just let them from for a week or two.
Hoping I can find some collard greens and mustard greens this weekend :evil: I've looked everywhere and can never seem to find them.
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
If you can't get dubia roaches, it's good that you can get phoenix worms for him -- in the long run they'll be better than superworms. And keep in mind that hornworms grow really big really fast, especially if you feed them well. I used to be able to get them for my beardie but I would only bring home one or two and I'd feed them to him the same day, before they got too big for him to eat. I think the bright blue-green color confused him at first because he's used to black or brown bugs, but I could almost see the little light bulb go on over his head: "Oh! it's moving -- it must be good to eat..." [nom nom nom]

Crickets take a little getting used to -- my husband and I have gradually gotten a little better at catching them and keeping them from escaping -- it takes a little practice. You can always experiment with different types of containment to find out what works best for you.

Some beardies seem to have a natural instinct to stay out of their own poop as well as to poop somewhere away from where they usually hang out, and sometimes you can use this to get them to where they're almost "housebroken" -- almost. But best not to expect perfection :roll:
 

Skipper7

Juvie Member
You're doing an awesome job, and Banjo is very cute :D

I noticed that you said "days that he gets salad..." I would reccomend giving him a nice salad 1-2 times a day. It may help you put on some weight. Also, high fat diets aren't always the best way for them to put on weight. A normal, steady diet will do just fine. You'd rather him put on healthy weight than just fat. (Think of a person trying to bulk up)

Anywho, not trying to offend you/attack your husbandry! Obviously Banjo looks healthy!
 

Carmalitaaa

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Lol I didn't realize that I put "days he gets salad" cuz he does get salad everyday lol. I'm probably going to go pick up some pheonix worms today ( if successful). I really don't think crickets are an option as I live in a house with roommates and can only really store them in my room, with them getting out all the time not so much fun, I think I'll spend the extra on pheonix worm diet for convenience too
 

Carmalitaaa

Member
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As for the hornworms I do know they grow fast, but the ones that I get right now are like maybe an inch and a half long and less than a centimetre thick.... just super sad, so I think if I were to feed them for 3-5 days they've be a better size for him. He just loves hornworms, he has jumped almost a foot to get one off my gloves before I could put it in his bowl. Today's salad will feature garden fresh and organic bell peppers, strawberries and kale. I really hope I can find some collard greens or mustard greens from the store today.... I don't understand why I can never find them.
 
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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
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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