Dude - *New and Improved

[Neromom39]

I'm glad to hear that the Dude gained so much weight this week. He's going to be enormous. :mrgreen:

Can he still grow? He's between 2 and 3 years of age and only 15-16 long (ncluding his tail nip). He went so long without UVB's that I think his growth was severely stunted. I just thought they stopped growing after a certain age :?

A spa for beardies What a life!

 

[Ethelia]

Ive no idea how I missed this thread.
Oh the poor darling. When I scrolled down and saw that first picture I gasped.
So skinny and just caked in filth.

I cant believe he shed so quickly for you. What a trooper!
I think he wanted to show you his colours to say thank you.

The difference between your last pictures and your first ones are incredible. He has real life and excitement in his eyes now ^_^

Holly

 

[sunkist]

My boys poo in their dish when it's empty. Kinda like "HELLO MOMMY"

 

[Neromom39]

The difference between your last pictures and your first ones are incredible. He has real life and excitement in his eyes now ^_^

Holly

His eyes are totally expressive. When I enter the room he looks at me a certain way, when we talk to him a different look and of course, my favorite... the "What the heck!" look when it's bath time.

 

[Jasper's Mom]

He may not get any longer... but he can definitely get wider.

 

[Neromom39]

He may not get any longer... but he can definitely get wider.

He has certainly done that! I may have to put a "wide load" sign on his viv soon :lol:

 

[Neromom39]

What is the best buddy for a laid back guy named "Dude"?


Woodstock!


He sat and stared at it forever before he climbed down and tried to eat it!

Silly Dude!

 

[kiyohime]

Aw! It's Woodstock! He looks FABULOUS.

It's nice to know he has a good appetite! (hehe)

 

[Neromom39]

He's come quite a long way in the past couple of months. He has so much personality that he makes me laugh every time I see him.

I keep hoping that he will go through a HUGE shed and get rid of the rest of the darker scales that he has. I know he has lighter ones underneath, because there are splotches of white and yellow all over him. But, it may just take him awhile because he isn't going to grow anymore.

 

[Ethelia]

What a beady eye he's giving Woodstock!

 

[Neromom39]

So I stayed home from work today because I broke one of my front teeth yesterday and I was hoping the dentist would be able to do a quick fix on it. No such luck as I probably have the most horrible teeth in the world and for what needs to be done, the first available appointment isn't until the 18th . So I have to walk around looking like Alfred E. Newmann for the next week and a half... work is going to be a blast!!!

ANYWAY.... so I decided to do some heavy duty cleaning in my master bathroom and since I have a sliding glass door and the sun is finally out, I thought why not let the beardies hang out in my room while I am cleaning and look outside for a while (not together for anyone starting to hit the reply button already :mrgreen: ). So I took Dude with me first and I placed him on a towel in front of the open slider and went about my tasks. I looked in on him and he was pretty dark and had the look of terror on his face so I figured he didn't like where he was. He was looking right at me and I bent down to pick him up and all of a sudden he flattened out, beard flared (biggest I have EVER seen on any of my dragons), blacker than black, and opened his mouth at me! YIKES! I didn't come at him from above or behind and I was talking to him like I always do so this was totally scary for me. I tried to talk him down, but he wouldn't have any of it. I grabbed the end of the towel he was on and pulled him away from the window thinking that maybe that would do it. Nope. Still in defense mode. Finally I just took both ends of the towel and covered him up so he couldn't see me and carried him back to his viv. Then I opened it up and let him crawl back in there. That was probably the scariest thing to me ever. And so unexpected. I guess he is not a fan of the outside. I remember his previous owner (the lady I rescued him from) telling me that she had an outdoor enclosure for him. I don't know if dragons remember things long term, but I have to wonder now if something awful may have happened to him outside that made him react that way. Like I said, I approached him directly from the front as I always do, so this is totally a mystery.

The other two were absolutely fine so I don't know :dontknow:

 

[Neromom39]

So I guess he must be spooked or something because when I went to give him his bath, he was still in "defense mode". The whole time he was bathing, his head never moved and his eyes were scary spooky and he even flared at me again a couple of times. I took pictures this time so I will post them when I can get hubby to download them.
Later, close to lights out, I went to check on him to see if maybe he calmed down and as soon as he saw me, the same thing. And his back half was lying underneath his log. But that is creepy how his head doesn't move but his eyes follow.

Do they behave this way if they are not feeling well? I know he just started acting this way after I put him in front of the sliding glass door, but he hasn't pooped since Thursday (which is extremely odd for him). I have been giving him extra long baths and I even had hubby dip his hornworms in applesauce w/olive oil.

He's come so far since his rescue... I hope he's OK

 

[beardie parents]

Then I opened it up and let him crawl back in there. That was probably the scariest thing to me ever. And so unexpected. I guess he is not a fan of the outside. I remember his previous owner (the lady I rescued him from) telling me that she had an outdoor enclosure for him. I don't know if dragons remember things long term, but I have to wonder now if something awful may have happened to him outside that made him react that way. Like I said, I approached him directly from the front as I always do, so this is totally a mystery.

The other two were absolutely fine so I don't know :dontknow:

Yes, Neromom39, I believe they can remember scary things that happen to them. The first two beardies we had were terriffic, and not afraid of outside. Miss O had a tail nip, maybe close to 1/2 of her tail, I'm not sure about that, tho. Once that Miss O got really scared and tried to climb up the outside of our trailer and get away. The only thing that changed was the school bus had started to back up after letting the kids off at the stop that is at the corner of our property, a good 100 feet (more or less) away from where she was. That is the only thing she ever freaked out about. She disappeared one afternoon because we had forgotten it was so late and I was inside and my husband was about 30 feet away and by the time he realized that the school bus had come he ran back to where she was and she was gone. Thankfully the low temp that night was only about 60f. We didn't think we would ever see her again, but she came back that next morning after she'd warmed up enough to move. She knew where the front door was and climbed into the wild flowers that were there at the time and just waited for us to come out and get her. I've never forgotten that. Anyway that's my one experience with a beardie freaking out like that.

Lori

 

[Neromom39]

Thanks Lori - I hope today is better... I had to go back to work today, so maybe if he doesn't have to look at me, he'll calm down. He was awake (no lights on yet) before we left today, and I talked to him, but he was still under his log and I couldn't tell if he was still being freaky. I can't bear the thought of not being able to interact with him due to something stupid that I may have done. I don't want him to associate me with the scary outside.

Since I'm the one that rescued him, I have more of an attachment to him and I would hate to not be able to handle him anymore because I spooked him

 

[Neromom39]

I have my Dude Back!!!

As I was hoping, yesterday he was somehow just spooked by the "outside" and today he seems to be back to normal. I went in and checked on him and he actually looked at me instead of through me and I was able to pick him up to give him his bath. I gave him some applesauce (because still no poops) and he did go while in the bath. He seemed to have a bit of trouble though so I think I'm going to cut back on his supers. He ate some hornworms and now he's basking and everything is right with the world :mrgreen: .

For anyone who reads this post, maybe you can answer a question for me because I can't seem to find the answer on my own...

Dude is between 2-3 years old, he weighs 346 grams (a 70 gram improvement in 2 months since he was so malnourished when I got him). I am currently giving him live feeders every day, but since he is an adult should I cut back? Or since he is still underweight should I keep feeding them to him every day? If I cut back, how often should I give them to him? This is the answer I am having a hard time finding.

Thanks in advance for any advice and responses.

I really love my Dude :love5: and I am soooo glad is is his old self.

Beardie Waves :wave: