It's been almost 2 years!!!

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March 26th is the day we brought Spike home. My 7 year old son picked her out at our local Exotic pet store and named her Spike. She was in an enclosure with other dragons around her size and away from the smaller ones. We were told that the babies she was in with were moved because 'they were growing faster than the rest'. Spike ran right to the front of the glass and started scratching when my son walked by. Needless to say, she got his attention and we took her home. She had a full body shed 3 days off getting her home, too. ('She' does look female (I looked when we brought her home, but not since) Spike is now, roughly 3 months old and weighs 31g at 9 inches long.
We have had some set backs with her lights, which you guys have so graciously helped me with, and her lack of eating for a little while due to her relocation stress, but she is definitely a hearty eater now. BSFL being her favorite.

When we first brought her home:
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Throughout the month:
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New tank:
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Cuteness:
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10 minutes ago, waking up and warming up:
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Sorry for all of the pictures! ^-^ :D
 

smackey2

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
I never thought of it like that, but yes! That is exactly what it reminds me of!!!
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
I suppose we're guilty too. :oops: :oops: Both of our reptiles are klutzes as hunters and it's probably our fault for hand feeding them too much, but I figure, what the heck, it's not like we're planning to teach them how to survive on their own so we can release them into the wild or some such (no way), so why not "spoil" them? No human children here, either.

At this point, I'm happy if the beardie eats any greens at all, even if we have to sneak them in his mouth while he's busy chewing on a bug. But lately he's even been having such a hard time catching bugs that I'm planning to check in with the vet about it. We're beginning to suspect that he's having problems with his vision or coordination or something. He's always been a lousy shot with his tongue, but it's gotten way worse recently. At this point, I'd be happy if he'd do the "baby bird" thing like Spike does and open his mouth and let me drop them in, but he just gets frustrated and sits there and gives us "The Look." :|

At least he seems to like the artificial worms I make out of Repashy Grub Pie, once he gets a taste and realizes what it is. Catch 22 -- if it's not moving, he doesn't recognize it as food (I have to wiggle it for him, and we still have trouble trying to figure out how to get it in his mouth), but if it is moving, he goes after it but can't catch it. :banghead:
 

traildrifterphalanx

Sub-Adult Member
:lol:
I feel so bad saying I had to just stop feeding Alucard collard greens this morning before work because she wouldn't stop eating them, all sleepily. She's my little 3mo old
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
Hey -- count yourself lucky that she already eats greens at such a young age, :D as long as she still gets enough protein so she can grow. And if you're late for work, you can always drop the rest of the greens in a little dish for her and let her eat as much as she wants on her own if she's still hungry. :mrgreen:

And I'm glad to hear that somebody's beardie likes greens... :roll:
 

traildrifterphalanx

Sub-Adult Member
Her feeding regime is usually 3 meals of roaches/crix/BSFL "poppers", and veggies as snacks, but my hours today are thrown off as my boss is off today and we're a 2 person department, so I'm covering her entire shift, meaning I had to leave not long after lights on (6am)

What I did to get her interested was shredding pieces of greens and basically sprinkling them around her enclosure floor (tile) so her little curiosity peaks and she goes to check it out with her mouth. It worked, and now she'll willingly take veggies and seems pretty excited about seeing them. The veggie sprinkling also helped lure out crickets that were too quick for her, they come out to nibble and she can get'em. I'm weening her off of crickets now, though, as I breed roaches and not gross crickets.
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
I've heard that others have introduced their young beardies to veggies by cutting them into little worm shapes and scattering them around so they look like bugs.

Our beardie used to attack his salad like he thought it was going to get away when he was younger, but somehow later in his life he decided he wanted to be a carnivore (he's 5 years old now). I don't think he's got much curiosity left either -- his main interest seems to involve worshiping light bulbs, and he doesn't tend to be a happy camper if anything upsets his comfortable little routine. If we try to get him interested in much of anything else, he gives us this look like, "So what? Am I supposed to be impressed?" :|

...Although he does tend to stare at us intently when he wants something, and we get to try and figure out what it is. :?

Roaches are much easier to deal with than crickets in many ways.
 

smackey2

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Spike isn't much for veggies (even though I still offer her a variety. I want her to get used to seeing them), but sure does love the dandelions out of our yard. (Not treated or anything.) My youngest, 3, loves to pick flowers and if I have Spike outside, he likes twirling them in front of her. They found their own way to bond since he is still too rambunctious for her to feel safe with him holding her.

She always gives me this look like, "WHAT... am i supposed to do with THAT?" when I put her salad in her tank. I even tried popping a few pieces in her mouth like I do with the roaches. She spit them back out and gave me the stink eye. Haha. Yeah, didn't work.
 

smackey2

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
I couldn't help myself, I had to take another picture of Spike to show off how plump she has gotten over the past few days of her appetite increase and I promise, she isn't flattening. Lol!
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Her head is turning more pale with some orange stripes since her shed and her back legs are getting more orange-ish looking. Her back is getting even darker and more blurry with a fine line right above her tail, so I have a feeling a back shed is in the future.

Today is also her weekly weigh in and measurement:
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Needless to say, she is growing waist wise faster than length wise. Haha. I love her chubby belly!

I was a day late on her last weigh in as we were out last and didn't get home until so, but on the 31st Spike weighed 48 grams. In one week, with one heck of an appetite increase, she has gained 12 grams. The hubby swears I am feeding her too much. Haha.
 

traildrifterphalanx

Sub-Adult Member
That's one round baby!
And yeah I noticed immediately her back looks to be in shed. Last time Alucard looked super round, she popped her shed off and went back to looking a bit flatter. I think the tension gives the rounder look.

She's really put the weight on
 

smackey2

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Well, at least working on a shed hasn't put her off her roaches. If anything, she is eating more of them. She is quite, round, huh? I was poking fun at her last night while the hubby was holding her. I told him to be careful, if he touched her sides or belly, a bug might pop out of her mouth. Spike didn't look amused at my comment.

I am hoping she starts growing a little more length wise isn't of waist wise, but I do ave to admit, I find her quite adorable with her little piglet belly.
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
Spike is growing nicely, and I wouldn't worry too much about width versus length (unless a vet tells you she's getting too fat). I think it's probably normal for them to go through growth spurts where one increases faster than the other, and I suppose things usually catch up and even out sooner or later. And it's ok if she prefers protein because she needs it to grow -- she still has plenty of time to learn to like veggies. The usual strategy is to make them available and let her eat as much as she wants whenever she's ready. But they all seem to have their individual preferences.

( :study: This from someone whose limited knowledge does not include the experience of ever having raised a baby beardie myself -- ours was already about a year old when we got him, and pretty much done with most of his growing.)
 

smackey2

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
I'm not too worried about her not liking veggies right now, I just hope it isn't too difficult when she is older and her diet is supposed to flip flop. I did call my vet yesterday just to get her opinion on Spike's increased appetite/weight and she assured me that she should be fine, even if looking a little more plump than normal, saying the increase could be due to her being in the sunlight for 4 days in a row for an hour at a time and also a possible growth spurt. (We have had some amazingly, warm and sunny weather the past couple of days so she was outside with me and the boys while they played in their sandbox.)


Interesting day yesterday:
While my youngest was napping, the dogs were also napping with him, which I completely forgot about. I had Spike out, holding her when Xander came running into the computer room. Normally, I have the dogs in their cages when I have Spike out just as a precaution. Well, it never dawned on me until Xander was already in here. Nothing bad happened, promise. Spike was lounging on my hand and Xander was sniffing her. She just gave him this look like, "are you crazy?" Any who, long story short, and curiosity kicked in, Alexander ended up with quite a few licks to the top of his nose, in which he would shake his head and sneeze afterwards, but came back several times to let her do it again. Reese, on the other hand, wants absolutely nothing to do with Spike and that even includes sniffing.

(So no one gets the wrong idea, our German Shepard/Pitbull mix is one of the most gentle dogs I have ever owned. (And he doesn't look like what he is due to being malnourished and abused before we rescued him. He only weighs 36 pounds and is quite stunted according to our vet.) He is also, basically, my youngest son's personal therapy dog, just not certified. (This is what his Occupational Therapist referred to Xander as because of how much he has helped him along.) Neither pet was harmed. Spike was nice and secure in my hands, never head bobbed, never puffed up, but did actually WAVE at Xander from her tank once I put her back. Just to make things clear, Spike has only come in to actual contact with my dogs TWICE, this being one, and is ALWAYS in my HANDS, NEVER aloud on the floor with them, obviously. Just to clarify. ^-^)
 

SHBailey

Gray-bearded Member
Yes, I know you do your best to keep them all safe. But that would have been one for YouTube if someone'd had a camcorder handy to get some videos of Spike licking Xander's nose and then waving at him. :lol:
 

smackey2

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
It was so cute! I definitely enjoyed watching them interact with one another, that is for sure! If I could have caught it all on video, that would have been amazing!
 
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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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