A small(ish) rant.

[Abbipetty]

So as I’m sure you can tell from the amount of questions I ask on this forum (I apologize and appreciate everyones responses sooo much) I am quite a nervous pet parent. I do the same thing with my cat Beau, (you should see my Reddit I just know they’re sick of me on r/cats.) anyways, I have ocd and terribleee anxiety, so i obsess over everything. Inanna and Beau are my children, I’d do anything for them, so naturally I want the absolute best for them. Inanna I’ve had for maybe 6 months, and usually the first year with a new pet is when I worry the most. So I have never owned a reptile before, and I am traumatized from the last exotic pet I owned when I was a teenager, a bunny, Alice. She was my whole world and I’ve never experienced grief like when she passed away. I was young, 12-15ish when we had her, and we received her quite unexpectedly as she was originally my brothers. Because of this, me and my parents were not educated on proper care for a rabbit. It eats me alive that I know we could’ve taken better care of her. She was loved IMMENSELY, and her care wasn’t all that bad, but there were things we definitely could’ve done better. I believe this fear of not taking proper care of her is why I worry. Inanna is another exotic, obviously, and I know now as an adult, that her care is going to be a lot different than basic animal care. So, I worry. I worry about lightning and temps, supplements and vitamins, diet, her overall well being, and how my care is. She’s brumating I think, so she hasn’t been eating much. I weighed her the other day, her weight is the same. That’s good. She has not been eating her vitamins though, when I put it in her food. She has just recently started eating her greens again, so im going to put her vitamins in there tomorrow and hope for the best. But I worry about the three months she went without really having her vitamins, I mean I think on occasion she’d eat her greens when the vitamins were in it, but she was much more picky, so I know she wasn’t getting them every week. Not sure if she’s done or not, but the past two days she’s been out and about and active. I feel very bad about the vitamins, and like I could’ve done more to make sure she was getting them. I just want to give her proper care I’m still so new to this, I’m not sure what’s a big deal and what isn’t and stuff like that. I again appreciate everyone on this forum for helping me with all of my problems. You guys have helped me make sure she’s in a good home. I just want to make sure she’s getting all she needs.
(I’m also not sure if I mentioned this before, her previous home was incredibly neglectful. That is why I took her in. So I also worry that if I’m not careful, she’ll be more likely to develop problems due to the care (or lack there of), that she received for the three years she was in her previous home. So any advice or words of encouragement from someone who’s rescued a beardie from a bad situation would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for the long rant. Just had to type it out and get it out.)

 

[xp29]

So as I’m sure you can tell from the amount of questions I ask on this forum (I apologize and appreciate everyones responses sooo much) I am quite a nervous pet parent. I do the same thing with my cat Beau, (you should see my Reddit I just know they’re sick of me on r/cats.) anyways, I have ocd and terribleee anxiety, so i obsess over everything. Inanna and Beau are my children, I’d do anything for them, so naturally I want the absolute best for them. Inanna I’ve had for maybe 6 months, and usually the first year with a new pet is when I worry the most. So I have never owned a reptile before, and I am traumatized from the last exotic pet I owned when I was a teenager, a bunny, Alice. She was my whole world and I’ve never experienced grief like when she passed away. I was young, 12-15ish when we had her, and we received her quite unexpectedly as she was originally my brothers. Because of this, me and my parents were not educated on proper care for a rabbit. It eats me alive that I know we could’ve taken better care of her. She was loved IMMENSELY, and her care wasn’t all that bad, but there were things we definitely could’ve done better. I believe this fear of not taking proper care of her is why I worry. Inanna is another exotic, obviously, and I know now as an adult, that her care is going to be a lot different than basic animal care. So, I worry. I worry about lightning and temps, supplements and vitamins, diet, her overall well being, and how my care is. She’s brumating I think, so she hasn’t been eating much. I weighed her the other day, her weight is the same. That’s good. She has not been eating her vitamins though, when I put it in her food. She has just recently started eating her greens again, so im going to put her vitamins in there tomorrow and hope for the best. But I worry about the three months she went without really having her vitamins, I mean I think on occasion she’d eat her greens when the vitamins were in it, but she was much more picky, so I know she wasn’t getting them every week. Not sure if she’s done or not, but the past two days she’s been out and about and active. I feel very bad about the vitamins, and like I could’ve done more to make sure she was getting them. I just want to give her proper care I’m still so new to this, I’m not sure what’s a big deal and what isn’t and stuff like that. I again appreciate everyone on this forum for helping me with all of my problems. You guys have helped me make sure she’s in a good home. I just want to make sure she’s getting all she needs.
(I’m also not sure if I mentioned this before, her previous home was incredibly neglectful. That is why I took her in. So I also worry that if I’m not careful, she’ll be more likely to develop problems due to the care (or lack there of), that she received for the three years she was in her previous home. So any advice or words of encouragement from someone who’s rescued a beardie from a bad situation would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for the long rant. Just had to type it out and get it out.)

My girlfriend is ocb also, so I understand to a degree.
As far as questions, ask as many as you need.
When you say vitamins are you referring to calcium & vitamins? Or just vitamins?
Multivitamins should not be given daily. A coulpe times a week is sufficient. Calcium is 5 or 6 days per week but only light dusting. You don't want the bugs (if that's how it's offered) looking like powdered donuts. If it's on green just a very light sprinkle.
Your lighting is the most important aspect of your husbandry. Keeping the poop cleaned up asap is probably 2nd. (Leaving poop can cause an outbreak of Coccidia) use a cleaner like f10, wipeout, or chlorhexidine to sanitize.
As long as your lights are on par everything else pretty easy.

 

[Minimum3]

My girlfriend is ocb also, so I understand to a degree.
As far as questions, ask as many as you need.
When you say vitamins are you referring to calcium & vitamins? Or just vitamins?
Multivitamins should not be given daily. A coulpe times a week is sufficient. Calcium is 5 or 6 days per week but only light dusting. You don't want the bugs (if that's how it's offered) looking like powdered donuts. If it's on green just a very light sprinkle.
Your lighting is the most important aspect of your husbandry. Keeping the poop cleaned up asap is probably 2nd. (Leaving poop can cause an outbreak of Coccidia) use a cleaner like f10, wipeout, or chlorhexidine to sanitize.
As long as your lights are on par everything else pretty easy.

I agree with almost everything here as well. (There are always minor discrepancies in how we care for our dragons or what we believe are the best ways of doing it.) But to help with your anxiety this is what I'm going to tell you. As far as husbandry goes, the lighting is the most important. keeping the tank clean important. and a varied diet (yes including kale and spinach and broccoli). But the other thing that people don't think about a lot of time is fulfillment of your Dragons instincts. Letting them run free in a room and "hunting" for their food is not only fun for them it's fun for you. Chasing blue berries is the greatest thing ever in my house. Also, moving them to different windows so they can look out is a great thing for them too. Seeing new things can keep them entertained for HOURS. Let them climb things like furniture, curtains, (in my case walls because their textured) and let them EXPLORE. This might not seem like it will help your anxiety, but it will because you will quickly learn that Beardies are a whole lot tougher than you think they are. Here is the other thing. Letting them outside is huge for their mental and physical health. 10 minutes in sunlight is better than 2 hours under a UVB lamp. I have a cat play pin that I use for mine. Got it from Temu for like 15 bucks. It's cheap, but it will hold a dragon just fine. You're anxiety to keep them safe might make things worse.