Adventures of (: *UPDATE - help? - pictures!*

This is the thread about my two favorite little Beardie, Fiz And his brother KD
"Your hand is nice and cozy... I think I like you!"

He's giving me the stinkeye "Get that camera out of my face before I eat it AND you"

He's such a sweetheart! I love him a lot & I love Bearded Dragons now!

 

[ShannyBeard]

The Day geckos have such a brilliant green I can see why you would want one! My husband has been eyeing them! I have a leopard gecko and it's great to have because they are nocturnal so when all the beardies are asleep we can play with her. I really want a super giant leopard gecko, and I want some emperor scorpions. So many wants...so little money! :lol: :lol:

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Scorpions and tarantulas are really cool to look at, but I cannot have them crawling on me. If you can bite or sting me with fangs or stingers, I'm not going to hold you! Haha!

The Day Geckos do have those really bright colors and they have cute little tiny faces The only downside is geckos like that aren't really good for holding because they don't usually like to be held, but I think they'd make a great showcase gecko! I like the leopard geckos because you can hold them, but at the same time I'm trying to stay away from the nocturnal types, because I have more time for them during the day. That's another reason why I like the Day Geckos, because they are one of the few geckos that aren't nocturnal.

My dad said he'll be finished my viv tomorrow! Fiz should be able to move into the new viv in about two days, because I still have to install the tiles and then paint them with the gritty mod podge coat to make it more grippy (then let it dry). Fiz will be really happy to be able to run around more. The good part of my new viv is that it's got a lot more square inches than my 40 gallon. When it's all finished, I'm going to upload pictures! But today I went to the hardware store and I got linoleum tile squares. I got this cool pattern that looks like natural stone squares. It looks very nice. I also bought some command hooks to hang up my hammock, my thermometer and probe, and my Reptisun.

I'm so super excited! Pictures are to come!

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Pictures of both Fiz's viv and KD's viv will be uploaded tonight!

Here's a funny story that I think would be fun to share

So last night my dad brought Fiz's viv up to my room and set it on the floor so that we could paint it today and put the tiles in and get everything set up. So a little while ago I took Fiz out for a little playtime and I opened the door to his new (but unfinished) viv and set him in it. He was as happy as anything just sitting in his viv like "Look! Dis iz my homey now!". So then my 11 year old pomeranian, Bart, came into the room. When he came in I was just taking Fiz out of his viv. Well Bart may be old, but he sure is a curious little guy. He walked right up to Fiz and I guess Fiz thought Bart was a "threat" and was "invading his personal space" so he opened up his little mouth wider than I had ever seen him open it before and puffed up his little beard! I wish his beard turned black but when I saw Fiz's reaction to Bart I was quick to open the new viv's door and stick him in there until my little buddy, Bart, walked away. Fiz looked at me when Bart left from behind the glass of the viv as if he were saying "Ha! I will rip that doggy to pieces! Don't let him come near me again if you want him to keep all 4 of his legs!". So I put Fiz back in his tank and he seemed pretty happy to be up off the ground where Bart the trespasser was lurking :wink: Fiz really does go on 'adventures'. Today he scared off a HUGE fluffy dog and then returned to his nearly-renovated castle!

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Sadly, I went out today and didn't get back until later than I expected, so the viv will be finished tomorrow AND the pictures will be uploaded tomorrow. It will be a nice perk to everyone's Sunday tomorrow.

Sorry about the mishap. lol. I just installed the rest of the tiles, coated them in a mod-podge grit mixture, and taped up the sides of the melamine so I can paint the trim tomorrow morning. I bought this cool corner shelf that is already painted and finished to use a basking platform for Fiz. I've got to check the temps to make sure it won't be too hot if it's raised a little too high. I'm going to attach my suction cup ramp currently suction cupped to the inside of my 40 gallon to the new shelf, so that Fiz can get up there easily!

Here's my to do list.

- Paint the trim
- Set up all the lights
- Check temps
- Put in the shelf
- Add in all the accessories
- Put Fiz in

 

[FranktheTank]

I can't wait to see pictures of Fiz in his new digs!! I bet it looks amazing!!

-Kaleen

 

[noella5088]

Sure it's a nice looking new castle for King Fiz! Looks like he really digs his new castle. Poor doggie!

 

[rchick]

I am so happy you are getting Fiz all set up. I just had a thought though. How soon are you planing on putting him in? Mostly because it takes a while for the paint odder's to die down enough for it not to be toxic to there breathing. Also any glue smells there might be. I dont know how your dad put it all together. But when you put heat on it it magnifies the smells big time I have noticed. But like I said just a thought. I am sure you already had thought of this.

 

[PumpkinJelly]

VIV PICTURES!

Today I woke up really early so that I could get all that I needed to get done as soon as possible so Fiz could move into his viv. My dad built KD's viv last week, and my mom decorated it and stuff. KD has been in his viv all week, and he loves it! But this week my dad and I built Fiz's viv! My dad built everything because he's good at that type of stuff and I did whatever he didn't do! lol! I picked out the tiles, mod podged them, painted the trim (which looks awesome!), helped my dad build the viv too, and then I went crazy with command hooks so I could hang all of Fiz's stuff up! Now let me stop blabbering and let you guys see the pics!

Fiz's Viv

Okay here's Fiz's viv. It's in my room, and we made it so it can fit into the wall. It has white trim (that I painted ) with a sliding plexiglass door. The bottom is self-adhesive linoleum tiles that are sealed completely with mod podge and gritty stuff so that they're more grippy.

Here's a closer view

The inside. The platform thing to the left is a corner shelf I picked out from Lowes. It was already painted and finished white so I bought an extra tile that matched the rest of the viv and I cut it to fit the top and I stuck it on. I really like it because it's a nice basking spot. My ramp was supposed to be connected to the platform but it broke so we have to buy a new one. I hung my hammock up with command hooks.

Lil' Fiz is saying hello! He's also wondering where his salad is because I'm supposed to be making Fiz and KD's salad, not taking pictures!! Lol!

KD's Viv
Sorry about how dark it is on the outside of the viv. My brother was yelling at me to stop taking pictures and get out so I didn't have time to turn on the lights. There's only two pictures because my brother wouldn't let me stay for any more. Anyway the trim is supposed to be a stained maple color (I think it's maple colored, I don't know for sure though) but you can't see because the lights are out. I'll upload more pictures soon. But it's the same specs as mine besides the trim is stained and not painted. Mine is also three inches longer though, but don't tell my brother :wink: But they're fitted in the wall the same way and all that. You can't really see the outside because I was rushing lol.

KD was under his rock but I moved it and he wasn't too thrilled about that.

I promise to upload more pictures of KD's viv soon, or until my brother leaves. ha ha.

rchick: I painted the trim this morning but it's not on the inside of the viv, only the outside. It's made of melamine and that didn't need any painting. I put mod podge on the bottom so that had all night to "air out" I guess, and I'm almost positive that mod podge is nontoxic. I'll take a look on the bottle. Oh yeah and the paint we bought was this stuff for allergies and asthma or something like that so the fumes are less harsh anyway.

HOPE YOU ALL LIKE MY VIVS! Fiz, KD, and I sure do!

 

[PumpkinJelly]

*repeat post*

 

[ShannyBeard]

That looks amazing! I thought Fiz would look teeny-tiny in there but he looks really good and there's still plenty of room for him to grow into it. GOOD JOB!!!

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Thanks!

Like I mentioned it looks very small in the pictures. Fiz isn't even as long as one of the tiles and there's about 5 1/2 of those tiles all in there so he's got a lot of playing space! The last I measured Fiz was a few days ago and he was around the 10 inch mark. He's so little! KD is a monster. He's really long and has a ton of chub in his belly area.

Oh yeah and under the "KD's Viv" part, I accidentally put a repeat picture of Fiz there so it's updated and I put the picture I originally wanted on there. It shows more of KD's viv.

I hope you all enjoyed my pictures!

 

[ShannyBeard]

The picture of KD after you moved the rock made me giggle. He looks pretty annoyed... :lol:

 

[AtlasStrike]

Those vivs look great!!! What are the dimensions?

Just a thought on the lights and temperatures...make sure you are leaving the probe in place for 45 minutes to an hour to get an accurate reading in the basking spot. The temps in my viv fluctuate quite a bit throughout the day, so my basking spot can be anywhere from 98F to 107F depending on the time of day and ambient temperatures. The melamine will definitely hold the heat better than glass, so it would probably be a good idea to have the probe thermometers permanently affixed to the basking spots to make sure they are not getting too high. I can't tell if that is where the probes are in the pics, so I just thought I would mention it.

 

[Kalyn876]

The new vivs look great! Fiz looks extremely happy!

 

[PumpkinJelly]

AtlasStrike: Oh yes, I leave the probes right underneath the basking spots. In the pictures of KD, the probe was moved over to the cool side because I was taking the temps for the cool side. Other than that, it's usually directly under the focus-point of the basking light. In the pictures that are of Fiz's viv, I have wired the probe wire around the cage and it's sitting directly on the ledge where his basking spot is. The wiring is messy, but I'm going to straighten it up a bit. Fiz's temperatures are always changing. His temperatures range from 98 F to 103 F so far. The highest temp was 103.9 but that was when we had this huge light in my room so that I could see where I was painting and the light added some heat to the ambient temperature of my room. The funny part is that my dad and I disagree that the probe should stay directly underneath the basking spot. He thinks that it's in the way since Fiz and KD like to lay flat on their basking platforms, but I like to have an accurate reading every time I walk into the room to check on them.

ShannyBeard: Haha I know! He spends about half the day under his rock nowadays. I don't know why, there's absolutely nothing wrong with him. But as soon as you pick up that rock he gives you his best evil look. The funny part is that he's got such a cute face (he always looks happy) so when he tries to make himself look angry he usually just looks funny. Lol!

Kalyn: Thank you! My dad and I spent a lot of time on them. Fiz is really happy! He's been running all around the tank, and he hasn't quite gotten the point of the sliding door. Whenever he sees me with my cricket dusting bag or his plate of salad, he goes nuts and runs into the plexiglass! He also has been doing daring jumps from his basking platform to almost the other side of the viv! He's so tiny, and so cute, and the things he does just crack me up!