Roja
Member
I apologize in advance for the length.
So here's the deal. I don't know how old Roja is for sure. We got her in late August from someone and...
here.. just read this:
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=133065&hilit=roja <--pics
I posted this last month:
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=136554&start=0&hilit=roja <--pics
Aaaand I introduced us here:
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=136825&start=0&hilit=roja <-- yep.. pics too.
but didn't get much response.
Today she is here:
I measured her today in the sink and she is just about 11 inches, but has an extraordinarily long tail.. her body is still tiny to me.
Setup:
40 gallon breeder
50 watt Zoo Med Nocturnal Infrared Heat Lamp (use 24 hrs)
50 watt "All Living Things" neodymium Basking Bulb with UVA (12 hrs p/day)
100 watt "All Living Things" neodymium Basking Bulb with UVA (12 hrs p/day)
Reptisun 10.0 (12 hrs p/day) (I have a 24" which I bought when I had her in the 10 gall tank. She's in a 40 now and I need to upgrade to a 36" bulb but haven't done it yet. She never spends time on the cool side where the reptisun isn't over, so I know she is getting all her reptisun)
Temps taken with digital probes:
Basking log 105 degrees
Mid temp 95 degrees
Cool side 79 degrees
Night temp 68-72
*she spends most of her time up high on the climber "tree" under the reptisun and partially the 100 watt basking bulb. This is the area that is about 90-95 degrees. After she eats she always climbs up on the bark log and hangs out for a while then up onto the tree she goes. She only goes to the cooler side to eat (its where I keep her veggie bowl so it will wilt slower). <-- refer to photo above to see what I mean.
substrate:
eco-carpet reptile carpet
food:
• red kale, green kale, chard, cabbage, mustard greens misted with water daily (she rarely eats it except on accident when going for bugs)
• crickets daily (medium sized up to 30-40 per day dusted with calcium and vitamins)
• waxworms (only just bought some to give her 3 with her crickets twice a day to try and fatten her up)
• phoenix worms (couple weeks ago I bought almost $40 worth (400) and they were gone in less than 2 weeks. too expensive.. I'm going to stick with crickets.)
I spray her twice a day with water, she always looks a little dehydrated to me -- just the skin behind her shoulders when she twists her body always looks a bit wrinkled. She never licks the water off her nose and when I bathe her (4-5 times a week) she never seems to drink in there either. She HATES baths. Its luke-warm, like how I bathed my young children when they were little. Not too warm, not too cold. But she always blackbeards and gets all leopard-printed underneath. She tries to run out of the sink and will keep running even tho she just slides down. But I make her do it because she needs some moisture.
Here.. this is what I mean by looking dehydrated:
You see the wrinkles behind her front legs? does that look like dehydration? Should I do more than 5 baths and twice daily sprays?
Maybe I'm just being a paranoid mommy... but she seems SO small for her age. The youngest she could be (and this is if they sold her at 3 weeks old) is 4 months old and the oldest would be 6 months. The problem is I will never be able to know how old she was when she was bought.. or WHEN she was bought. All I know is it was sometime in the middle to the of July and I got her in the middle of August. I assumed she was 6-8 weeks when I got her on Aug 20th.. which would make her about 15-16 weeks old now.
I'm just so inexperienced.. this site is the only knowledge I have to gauge if I'm being an okay parent.
Any thoughts?
Oh I forgot.. She has shed about 4 times in the past 6 weeks. The last being right now. I went in to check on her a few mins ago and her entire back was coming off in one piece. Guess that bath this morning brought it on. She had no sign on shed earlier today.
See?
Btw... when I went in to peek on her she was EATING the entire piece of skin that had come off her face. Is that normal?? This is the pic I took right after she finished swallowing the huge piece.
now THAT is a stink eye!
Okay... enough of the book.
Thoughts? Am I doing okay? Is SHE doing okay?
btw.2.. I'm going to take her to the vet next week for a checkup. Ive never taken her before. I want to see what her parasite count is like.
So here's the deal. I don't know how old Roja is for sure. We got her in late August from someone and...
here.. just read this:
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=133065&hilit=roja <--pics
I posted this last month:
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=136554&start=0&hilit=roja <--pics
Aaaand I introduced us here:
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=136825&start=0&hilit=roja <-- yep.. pics too.
but didn't get much response.
Today she is here:
I measured her today in the sink and she is just about 11 inches, but has an extraordinarily long tail.. her body is still tiny to me.
Setup:
40 gallon breeder
50 watt Zoo Med Nocturnal Infrared Heat Lamp (use 24 hrs)
50 watt "All Living Things" neodymium Basking Bulb with UVA (12 hrs p/day)
100 watt "All Living Things" neodymium Basking Bulb with UVA (12 hrs p/day)
Reptisun 10.0 (12 hrs p/day) (I have a 24" which I bought when I had her in the 10 gall tank. She's in a 40 now and I need to upgrade to a 36" bulb but haven't done it yet. She never spends time on the cool side where the reptisun isn't over, so I know she is getting all her reptisun)
Temps taken with digital probes:
Basking log 105 degrees
Mid temp 95 degrees
Cool side 79 degrees
Night temp 68-72
*she spends most of her time up high on the climber "tree" under the reptisun and partially the 100 watt basking bulb. This is the area that is about 90-95 degrees. After she eats she always climbs up on the bark log and hangs out for a while then up onto the tree she goes. She only goes to the cooler side to eat (its where I keep her veggie bowl so it will wilt slower). <-- refer to photo above to see what I mean.
substrate:
eco-carpet reptile carpet
food:
• red kale, green kale, chard, cabbage, mustard greens misted with water daily (she rarely eats it except on accident when going for bugs)
• crickets daily (medium sized up to 30-40 per day dusted with calcium and vitamins)
• waxworms (only just bought some to give her 3 with her crickets twice a day to try and fatten her up)
• phoenix worms (couple weeks ago I bought almost $40 worth (400) and they were gone in less than 2 weeks. too expensive.. I'm going to stick with crickets.)
I spray her twice a day with water, she always looks a little dehydrated to me -- just the skin behind her shoulders when she twists her body always looks a bit wrinkled. She never licks the water off her nose and when I bathe her (4-5 times a week) she never seems to drink in there either. She HATES baths. Its luke-warm, like how I bathed my young children when they were little. Not too warm, not too cold. But she always blackbeards and gets all leopard-printed underneath. She tries to run out of the sink and will keep running even tho she just slides down. But I make her do it because she needs some moisture.
Here.. this is what I mean by looking dehydrated:
You see the wrinkles behind her front legs? does that look like dehydration? Should I do more than 5 baths and twice daily sprays?
Maybe I'm just being a paranoid mommy... but she seems SO small for her age. The youngest she could be (and this is if they sold her at 3 weeks old) is 4 months old and the oldest would be 6 months. The problem is I will never be able to know how old she was when she was bought.. or WHEN she was bought. All I know is it was sometime in the middle to the of July and I got her in the middle of August. I assumed she was 6-8 weeks when I got her on Aug 20th.. which would make her about 15-16 weeks old now.
I'm just so inexperienced.. this site is the only knowledge I have to gauge if I'm being an okay parent.
Any thoughts?
Oh I forgot.. She has shed about 4 times in the past 6 weeks. The last being right now. I went in to check on her a few mins ago and her entire back was coming off in one piece. Guess that bath this morning brought it on. She had no sign on shed earlier today.
See?
Btw... when I went in to peek on her she was EATING the entire piece of skin that had come off her face. Is that normal?? This is the pic I took right after she finished swallowing the huge piece.
now THAT is a stink eye!
Okay... enough of the book.
Thoughts? Am I doing okay? Is SHE doing okay?
btw.2.. I'm going to take her to the vet next week for a checkup. Ive never taken her before. I want to see what her parasite count is like.