Returning to work, need advice for leaving beardie @ home!

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zampano

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I've been out of work since I got Tifa last June (she's 14 months now) and I will soon need to return to the workforce. I don't know what I'll be doing or what my schedule will be like but there's a good chance it would be 9-5 like, meaning I'm gone before she wakes up and back late in the day. Thus far I've been home pretty much every day tending to her needs in real time, pampering the hell out of her.

I'm getting severe anxiety imagining her running around in her poop all day, getting it on everything, not eating her salad because it wilts so fast, and figuring out how to get her her daily bugs. No matter how I imagine it it sounds like a recipe for an unhealthy, unhappy dragon.

I can't imagine there's any perfect answers to these problems out there - but can anyone point me to a good thread/guide on how to address any of these concerns? This is all kinda hitting me at once and it's really freaking me out.

thanks as always!!
 

Ryanps

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I would say start adjusting the light schedule so she is up for an few hours before you would have to leave for work. Feed her before you leave and take care of everything else once you get home from work. Mine goes regularly every morning around 8:30 so I’m able to clean up her poop before I leave but have found with mine at least that she avoids her poop until it’s mostly dried out so I have never had an issue of it everywhere if she goes later in the day. If you mist her greens they should last a bit longer, also leaving them on the cool side will help as well.I figure it’s just going to take some adjustment to a new schedule. I have heard of some setting up a web cam so they can check in on their dragons during the day. Good luck and I’m sure a few others may chime in to give some suggestions as well.
Ryan
 

zampano

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Thanks Ryan, that sounds like good advice to start with. The days will start shortening soon and I can start slowly working on moving the lights earlier. Assuming I get a 9-5 type job, I'll probably need to move her from waking up at 8 to 5-6am. And we live in a big open loft that gets lots of natural light (not direct light) and I hope it won't be too confusing if her lights go out but it's not totally dark...

All in all that will be a big adjustment. She's a picky eater who I have to spend a lot of time making sure she gets hungry and eats her proper amounts, but we all gotta grow up sometime..

By the way you are lucky yours is a conscientious pooper. Mine tends to stomp around in it, drag her tail through it, fling it at stuff, etc. It's crazy. But it's usually stinky and she taps on the glass until I take care of it. I'd definitely prefer to be there to help out...gonna start removing a little of the excess decor so she has more 'floor room' to walk around it rather than in it by default.

Anyway thank you for the tips! Open to all the advice y'all can offer folks )
 

loljelloclowdz

Juvie Member
If she runs around in her poop once and realizes you aren’t there to clean it off of her, chances are she will never do it again. You gotta let her learn how to be cool in her tank. She won’t die or anything & you can take her out when you get home to let her run around.
 

Gormagon

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I work 7 to 5 every day, both my dragon's houses are set on timers from 6am to 8pm. I feed in the morning before work and clean when I get home (if my wife doesn't clean it before I get home :roll: ).
Most dragons will run from it and stay away until it's gone because in the wild they will go poop somewhere far away from their usual hangout to confuse predators, (this is why they don't like to poop in their domain)
 

zampano

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Thank you two as well! I hope you're both right as to her learning her lesson quickly. She's definitely made big messes of her poops before but in hindsight it seems like she may have just been trying to get my attention, which is usually available. I'm gonna work on setting up her viv so it's a little less cluttered and more poop-friendly and just hope she continues to go for me first thing in the morning.
 
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What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
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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.

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