Crack has 2 new baby sisters! *SAD UPDATE*

[momo4]

Oh wow, dang free online classifieds got me again, LOL... Tonight I see 2 baby beardies plus tank and lights and basking log for a fairly low price, posted just a couple hours earlier. So I email, leave my ph# and before the message saying my email was sent left my screen my phone was ringing.

I drove out at 10:30pm to pick these two babies up as the breeder just wanted them gone. They are normal x sandfire I believe and I was told they should be females due to the temp he incubated them.
One has the nicest orange stripe below her ear and the other one is darker.

They are approx. 1 month old!! So TINY!!

Ok, so now... what on earth do I do with these mini beardies???? He gave me a baggie of dandelion and another of calcium dust. Told me 1/4 size crickets, but I might see if they have any smaller since these two are just sooo teeny!

I'll get pics in the morning for you guys, omg, I am so in love already.
I'm afraid to even handle them they are so little.

He gave me a tank with them, I think it's a 20 gal, big enough for them for now. I will be making them each their own larger enclosure, probably a Beardie Triplex with Crack's house in there too, lol... But when do I separate them? So far they've got all their fingers and toes, and are moving around great, nice and healthy looking. Since they are only a month old, should I leave them together for now or get them used to being on their own?

The tank I got has red sand in it and I'll be replacing that with tiles in the morning. The one baby already licked at the sand and that's creeping me right out.

Anyway, just thought I'd share our happy news!! I have to get them another light, the one they came with is just tiny, it's blue but not a blue/night light, it's bright, but it's not really hot. I've got a spare light from Crack's tank that I'll put on them and then off to the store to grab another UV light and probably another thermometer too. Ugh, these spur of the moment purchases are never cheap, lol!! :lol:

 

[momo4]

Sadly we lost one of the babies last night

She was happy yesterday, eating and drinking no problem, then suddenly in the afternoon she just became very lethargic, laying down wherever, could hardly hold her head up. In the evening I noticed she was gasping for breath and straining to poop even though there were already 2 fresh poops in the tank from that day. So I gave her a warm bath and tried to help her go, there was white poop/urate sticking out of her vent and I managed to ease a bit of that out while in the bath with a cloth but nothing else would come out. I checked near her vent for a hard spot as I've read on here if impacted there would be something there and it was hard all around her vent, so I wasn't sure. I checked the other one and it felt the same, so I thought maybe that was her hip bones? and couldn't figure out what was wrong.
She continued straining for breath with huge breaths every 10 seconds or so and twitching, I rolled her onto her back in my hand and she fought to right herself but could only hold her head up for a moment before it would slowly fall backwards or forwards, depending on how I held her.

As much as I wanted to keep her from leaving us, it was late and I was told, if she lives through the night, as much as it would be awful to let her go, just leave her alone with as much stress as she was in. Her belly was white though, no stress marks and she was holding onto my fingers every time I held her.

But this morning, she was not moving at all. She probably just passed too as her body is still very flexible, but she is not breathing at all anymore.

The other little one seems to be doing fine, very alert still and moving around, holding her head up... I knew that buying them as young as I did we had a higher chance of losing them, and now that we have lost the one, I wonder if they were being sold like they were if there isn't more wrong than I've noticed and I might be losing the other one soon too

My kids are going to cry, as they named them Sunny and Flower... my 5 yr old knew the difference between them, which one was which, so I am unsure who passed away.

What really sucks is that I didn't get a pic of the two of them, so I am going to get a pic of this one now before we don't have any evidence that these two sweet hearts graced our lives if even for only a short few days.

 

[zebraflavencs]

AH, Jill... So very sorry to hear this... You are so right, at that age, so many things can go wrong, and it is all at the breeders husbandry, not at your care at all.

Big Hug, and just remember, this little one will be waiting for you at the Rainbow Stairs !
Janie.

 

[sara24354]

Big hugs to you and your family!! I am so sorry you lost your little one.

 

[sunkist]

I'm sure you know this but please give the other one baths twice a day to ensure it's hydrated completely. I'm wondering if the first one was impacted and dehydrated. I'm sorry for the loss of her.

 

[momo4]

I'm sure you know this but please give the other one baths twice a day to ensure it's hydrated completely. I'm wondering if the first one was impacted and dehydrated. I'm sorry for the loss of her.

I did not know to bathe them 2x a day, THANK YOU!!! My husband guessed that the other one was dehydrated... gotta go bathe this little one now! Thanks again!!!

 

[momo4]

Well she had her bath & pooped on her log right afterwards! Hasn't been interested in her greens today and I'm not sure which one was eating them yesterday. But I did offer her some freshly shed mealworms (little ones) as I couldn't get the right size crickets at the store earlier. She chased one but didn't eat it, so I removed them from her tank. Now that hubby is home, we're heading out to the other reptile store to get the right crickets.

Is there anything else that I should be doing to ensure this little one makes it?

I've got the lighting all right as per all the advice I've read on here, basking temps and UV bulb, etc.... she's on paper towel and the only thing I don't have is an appropriate sized water dish for her so I use a margarine lid so it puddles around the edges, then I put the mealworms in the centre and they can't escape, lol... she has sat on the lid and stuck her face in the water, don't know if she drank, but she was licking her lips after she was back on her log, so she did get them wet.

I also picked up some baby applesauce just in case and am going to try to offer that to her to help with feeding since she hasn't eaten her greens today.

We have leopard geckos in a large tank that keep a red light on all night and I placed her tank on top of the gecko tank to get the ambient heat last night to keep them warm as it gets quite chilly in our house at night and I don't have another red light just yet. That seemed to work ok, so I might do it again since it's easy to do, although it's probably 80 degrees at night up top, is that too hot?

Thank you for your condolences and support! I hope this little Flower (my daughter confirmed this afternoon after much scrutinizing the baby that's still here that it was indeed Sunny that passed away) will have a chance to grow up and allow me to share many enjoyable escapades with you guys!

 

[sara24354]

A water dish is ok but not necessary. Some dragons will not drink from standing water,that's why bathing is so important. Beardies take in water through their vent (where they poop) so bathes are important for hydration.As far as temps,how are you taking them? What kind of thermometer,digital or other? Light at night is NOT recommended for beardies,they need bright white light during the day and no light at night. If the temps in your house get below 65* at night you can use a ceramic heat emitter but if temps stay above 65* at night no heat is needed. Beardies need to cool down at night to sleep better and for proper body function. After a while constant heat with no cool down period may cause health problems that may not show up until it is too late.If there is any thing else I can help with,I'll do my best or find someone to help you.