Glad to hear things are going well for you, or at least as well as can be expected with the two beardies and a new human baby in the house... :wink:
Some beardies are really good about staying out of their own poop and others don't seem to care, and as for still others, it depends on what kind of a mood they're in. Ours falls into this last category. Sometimes he goes "downstairs" to poop in his tank so he doesn't mess up his basking platform, then does a little dance to let us know that we were too late with his bath and we have a mess to clean up -- he's semi potty trained to poop in the water, but we can never expect perfection, and he doesn't always do his little "get me out of here I have to go to the bathroom dance" soon enough for us to have the bath ready in time, and besides, it's hard to tell the difference between that and the "get me out of here I want to run around the house and get into mischief" dance, which does not call for the immediate preparation of a bath... :roll:
On the other hand, our beardie has been known to poop in his sleep or right under himself while awake and basking, and sometimes he turns a darker color to let me know that he's not happy about something, and sometimes not, and I don't see it until and unless I pick him up. So Kevin's not really abnormal in that respect, at least not as far as beardies and poop go. Same thing with shedding -- they tend to be sloppy about it, and as long as you keep the skin moist with frequent baths, it should be ok. My reptile vet has "held my hand" through some stubborn tail sheds, as well as warned me that beardies don't do it as neatly as snakes.
You probably know about the "Never leave a baby alone in a bath" rule, and it applies to bearded dragons of all ages just as much as it applies to human infants, especially in Kevin's case. If I were you, I'd stay with him and keep both of my hands and all of my attention on him when you have him in the water, so best to do his baths when hubby is home just in case Penelope demands attention from one or the other of you at the same time, unless your daughter feels confident to take over with Kevin's bath while you go do whatever else needs to be done.
It's really good that Kevin is holding his own and eating and pooping and at least trying to move around, and that he doesn't seem to be in any pain. It's possible that he may always have some deformities and/or at least a limp, and may not grow up to be what would be considered perfectly "normal", but he may still be able to have a good and enjoyable life anyway, and in my opinion, that's what really counts. And it sounds like there are at least no worries with Keisha. So with two healthy human children (one of whom is willing to help with the beardies), one healthy beardie and one somewhat healthy beardie with "special needs", and a helpful husband (at least where the human children are concerned), it sounds like you might be able to cope? Sorry if I sound like I'm trying to keep score -- it's more than I could handle but you're younger than me -- and I know you have to be quite a bit younger than me because you just had a baby and I just finished menopause. :wink:
I'll leave it up to Tracie and some of the more knowledgeable people to advise you on which powders to dust on which meals (I have it too easy with our beardie -- just calcium powder and multivitamins, no meds, at least not currently), except to say that BSFL are very nutritious (high in calcium, if I remember correctly), so if that's the only thing Kevin will eat, he could do a lot worse. I suppose he'd have lots of trouble catching crickets unless you disable them for him, but BSFL are easy.
Shopping trips to crowded pet stores with a new baby are probably not worth it. Having hubby stop for supplies on his way home from work is probably a much better option. Hopefully he'll get used to it and learn to follow a shopping list and not forget to stop at whatever store he needs to on the way home. I had to quit driving several years ago (I was a road hazard
) and my husband promised to do the grocery shopping, and he's been true to his word. At first I felt like I had to go with him, but now he "solos" on the way home from work, hauls all the groceries into the house, and even helps me put some of them away. We're even getting to where I can email him the shopping list instead of going over it with him in person the night before to make sure he understands what I want him to get (yes, I'm a control freak, especially about what comes into my kitchen, just in case that wasn't already obvious), so hopefully yours will be able to get used to helping with what you need help with so you can all settle into the new routine without more chaos than any of you can handle...
Sorry about the TLDR -- hopefully you'll be able to take good care of your little family even if you don't have time to read all of this.
Some beardies are really good about staying out of their own poop and others don't seem to care, and as for still others, it depends on what kind of a mood they're in. Ours falls into this last category. Sometimes he goes "downstairs" to poop in his tank so he doesn't mess up his basking platform, then does a little dance to let us know that we were too late with his bath and we have a mess to clean up -- he's semi potty trained to poop in the water, but we can never expect perfection, and he doesn't always do his little "get me out of here I have to go to the bathroom dance" soon enough for us to have the bath ready in time, and besides, it's hard to tell the difference between that and the "get me out of here I want to run around the house and get into mischief" dance, which does not call for the immediate preparation of a bath... :roll:
On the other hand, our beardie has been known to poop in his sleep or right under himself while awake and basking, and sometimes he turns a darker color to let me know that he's not happy about something, and sometimes not, and I don't see it until and unless I pick him up. So Kevin's not really abnormal in that respect, at least not as far as beardies and poop go. Same thing with shedding -- they tend to be sloppy about it, and as long as you keep the skin moist with frequent baths, it should be ok. My reptile vet has "held my hand" through some stubborn tail sheds, as well as warned me that beardies don't do it as neatly as snakes.
You probably know about the "Never leave a baby alone in a bath" rule, and it applies to bearded dragons of all ages just as much as it applies to human infants, especially in Kevin's case. If I were you, I'd stay with him and keep both of my hands and all of my attention on him when you have him in the water, so best to do his baths when hubby is home just in case Penelope demands attention from one or the other of you at the same time, unless your daughter feels confident to take over with Kevin's bath while you go do whatever else needs to be done.
It's really good that Kevin is holding his own and eating and pooping and at least trying to move around, and that he doesn't seem to be in any pain. It's possible that he may always have some deformities and/or at least a limp, and may not grow up to be what would be considered perfectly "normal", but he may still be able to have a good and enjoyable life anyway, and in my opinion, that's what really counts. And it sounds like there are at least no worries with Keisha. So with two healthy human children (one of whom is willing to help with the beardies), one healthy beardie and one somewhat healthy beardie with "special needs", and a helpful husband (at least where the human children are concerned), it sounds like you might be able to cope? Sorry if I sound like I'm trying to keep score -- it's more than I could handle but you're younger than me -- and I know you have to be quite a bit younger than me because you just had a baby and I just finished menopause. :wink:
I'll leave it up to Tracie and some of the more knowledgeable people to advise you on which powders to dust on which meals (I have it too easy with our beardie -- just calcium powder and multivitamins, no meds, at least not currently), except to say that BSFL are very nutritious (high in calcium, if I remember correctly), so if that's the only thing Kevin will eat, he could do a lot worse. I suppose he'd have lots of trouble catching crickets unless you disable them for him, but BSFL are easy.
Shopping trips to crowded pet stores with a new baby are probably not worth it. Having hubby stop for supplies on his way home from work is probably a much better option. Hopefully he'll get used to it and learn to follow a shopping list and not forget to stop at whatever store he needs to on the way home. I had to quit driving several years ago (I was a road hazard
) and my husband promised to do the grocery shopping, and he's been true to his word. At first I felt like I had to go with him, but now he "solos" on the way home from work, hauls all the groceries into the house, and even helps me put some of them away. We're even getting to where I can email him the shopping list instead of going over it with him in person the night before to make sure he understands what I want him to get (yes, I'm a control freak, especially about what comes into my kitchen, just in case that wasn't already obvious), so hopefully yours will be able to get used to helping with what you need help with so you can all settle into the new routine without more chaos than any of you can handle... Sorry about the TLDR -- hopefully you'll be able to take good care of your little family even if you don't have time to read all of this.
