Corcerns for a possible owner

[Yoshi93]

Hello Everyone,

I received some gifts for xmas so i can get a dragon. I have been researching like crazy and i just have 1 concern before I commit. Any advice or info to help me make my decision will be greatly appreciated!!

I am moving from CT to Florida and i was planning on getting a dragon when i get down there. My biggest concern is next year when I come home for the holidays what can I do with my dragon. its a 19+ hour drive and im just not sure if I will be able to take the little guy. I would be gone a week max. is this a huge problem? I obviously dont want to be cruel by not feeding him, is anyone else in this situation.

 

[Rukii]

In my opinion, it would be best to arrange to have someone care for him while you're gone, if that's possible. :mrgreen:

 

[CamoLover]

With mine I usually have someone to care for them while I'm away.

 

[Yoshi93]

Ya I just don't know if I'm going to be able to trust anyone enough to 1 let them in my house while I'm away and 2 obviously care for the little guy

 

[CamoLover]

i can understand what you mean. it took me forever to trust my roomie with just my cats. to be honest you might just have to wait and see because you don't know who your going to meet once you get where your going.

 

[Elvis]

Where in Florida? I know a cheap place to board in St. Petersburg.

 

[Yoshi93]

Winter Park. Just outside of Orlando

 

[CamoLover]

Where in Florida? I know a cheap place to board in St. Petersburg.

Really where????

 

[Yoshi93]

I just went to a local pet shop who does a decent amount in reptiles. I told him what I was considering for enclosures and how I wanted to do tile instead of sand. He said he's never heard of that and sand is the way to go. From what I have read on here it seems sand is bad. He said calcium sand is what I should use. Any thoughts?

 

[sweetpea1981]

any kind of loose substrate can have a risk of impaction, beardies use their tongue to test their surroundings, so they would pick up the loose substrate, it could have deadly consequences. From what I understand calcisand is one of the worst as it will harden in their stomach, also things like ground walnut shells can cut up their insides when the try to pass it cause it is sharp. I would stick with a flat substrate, like the tile you mentioned cause even a little risk is too much in my book.

 

[Yoshi93]

That's what I thought and why I think it's interesting how this guy was recommending this stuff to me. I told him about the consequences and why I wanted tile and his concern was cleanup

 

[sweetpea1981]

Their job is to sell their stores stuff, and clean up with tile would be super easy, I'm thinking about it myself I have repticarpet and the clean up is a little more work than tile would be.

 

[thebenior]

You might want to check local pet stores about boarding, I was surprised to find out that one by me provides boarding for a reasonable price.

Also, the exotic animal vet I bring my dragon to offers boarding, though I imagine at a higher price.

FWIW, I've tried non-glazed slate tile and have since switched to non-adhesive shelf liner. It's cheap, durable, easy to cut to size (the tile cutting guy at Home Depot/Loews never seems to be there when I want), and easy to clean. Eventually it may get stained if some poop sits for a while when you're not home, but that's where the part about it being cheap comes into play.

 

[Yoshi93]

You might want to check local pet stores about boarding, I was surprised to find out that one by me provides boarding for a reasonable price.

Also, the exotic animal vet I bring my dragon to offers boarding, though I imagine at a higher price.

FWIW, I've tried non-glazed slate tile and have since switched to non-adhesive shelf liner. It's cheap, durable, easy to cut to size (the tile cutting guy at Home Depot/Loews never seems to be there when I want), and easy to clean. Eventually it may get stained if some poop sits for a while when you're not home, but that's where the part about it being cheap comes into play.

Thats awesome im glad their are options about boarding