Hi all, I am new to beardies. Previously only a mom to warm-blooded pets
Anyhow, please forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong place or anything, but I could use a little help!
I agreed to take on what I was told was a four year old male beardie. I heard about him through an old friend, he belonged to the family of one of her coworkers and she was told by this woman that they were needing to get rid of him. Well, as she had always done in the past, and out of care and concern that he would end up for free on craigslist or worse, she suggested me and connected me and the previous owner. Are you with me so far? Lol I would like to apologize in advance for this lengthy post...
ANyhow after a couple months of wishy-washyness, she finally dropped off the beardie at my home. It was explained to me that he was purchased approx four years ago for her son, who is now a full blown teenager and cannot be bothered with pets. So, he became neglected and lost in the shuffle. SHe told me he eats apples and romaine, which by that point I had done my research and knew was not nutritious enough but I bit my tongue. She told me he also eats superworms, crickets, hornworms... and her son who came with her told me *gasp* yeah and if you catch any spiders or flies or whatever he will eat those too! Jeez louise. Don't worry, I had already read everything I could find on caring for my new family member, so apparently I knew than they even did!
Anyhow fast forward a little... she went MIA after the drop-off, I had tried to get a hold of her with a few questions but received radio silence. I guess they were just over it. But now here I am, never having had the pleasure of living with a beardo, and I'm just trying to do my best!
I will try the flashlight trick later when I get home to see if I can confirm that he's a boy. So for now, I can only assume.
And here is why I'm posting today...
I have had him for a couple of months now, and he's been lovely. Eats superworms in the morn and any accidental produce they're crawling on. Can't for the life of me get him to eat produce by itself, but if I feed him his worms on a salad he gets some in his little mouth and I guess that's better than none! He'd bask all day, then tuck himself in for sleep around 6 to 7 pm.
But, for about the last week, his behaviour has been totally different! He's zooming around his tank trying to climb the glass or dig out (i have newspaper floor, and one half of the cage has the green reptile felt over top of the newspaper) and he is so restless and constantly moving! Then, by late afternoon, he calms down and is more still until bed. He has also stopped eating his worms every morn. He will still take a hornworm, but wont eat the superworms. He also ate a couple of crickets on the weekend, but left most of them to roam his tank and had no further interest.
All I want is to give him a safe and happy home, but I'm worried I'm not doing a good job. And I'm worried about these changes in the last week. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Anyone have any advice?
Anyhow, please forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong place or anything, but I could use a little help!
I agreed to take on what I was told was a four year old male beardie. I heard about him through an old friend, he belonged to the family of one of her coworkers and she was told by this woman that they were needing to get rid of him. Well, as she had always done in the past, and out of care and concern that he would end up for free on craigslist or worse, she suggested me and connected me and the previous owner. Are you with me so far? Lol I would like to apologize in advance for this lengthy post...
ANyhow after a couple months of wishy-washyness, she finally dropped off the beardie at my home. It was explained to me that he was purchased approx four years ago for her son, who is now a full blown teenager and cannot be bothered with pets. So, he became neglected and lost in the shuffle. SHe told me he eats apples and romaine, which by that point I had done my research and knew was not nutritious enough but I bit my tongue. She told me he also eats superworms, crickets, hornworms... and her son who came with her told me *gasp* yeah and if you catch any spiders or flies or whatever he will eat those too! Jeez louise. Don't worry, I had already read everything I could find on caring for my new family member, so apparently I knew than they even did!
Anyhow fast forward a little... she went MIA after the drop-off, I had tried to get a hold of her with a few questions but received radio silence. I guess they were just over it. But now here I am, never having had the pleasure of living with a beardo, and I'm just trying to do my best!
I will try the flashlight trick later when I get home to see if I can confirm that he's a boy. So for now, I can only assume.
And here is why I'm posting today...
I have had him for a couple of months now, and he's been lovely. Eats superworms in the morn and any accidental produce they're crawling on. Can't for the life of me get him to eat produce by itself, but if I feed him his worms on a salad he gets some in his little mouth and I guess that's better than none! He'd bask all day, then tuck himself in for sleep around 6 to 7 pm.
But, for about the last week, his behaviour has been totally different! He's zooming around his tank trying to climb the glass or dig out (i have newspaper floor, and one half of the cage has the green reptile felt over top of the newspaper) and he is so restless and constantly moving! Then, by late afternoon, he calms down and is more still until bed. He has also stopped eating his worms every morn. He will still take a hornworm, but wont eat the superworms. He also ate a couple of crickets on the weekend, but left most of them to roam his tank and had no further interest.
All I want is to give him a safe and happy home, but I'm worried I'm not doing a good job. And I'm worried about these changes in the last week. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Anyone have any advice?