Full time work + Bearded Dragon care

[Doddins]

Hi guys,
Ive recently moved out of my parents house where my parents where home all day due to being retired and often had Liz out and entertaining her during the day while i worked and then i did the same in the evenings when i got home.
I moved into a house with my lovely girlfriend and we both work full time.

Now, the issues im facing are:
Feeding - i normally start work around 7:30am and get home 17:00pm
Company - she will be alone during the day for first time since we got her

I can either give her some greens in the morning as her light comes on and live feed when im home or do both when i get home, im not sure which is the better option?
I normally get her out when ive got out the shower and got cleaned up, so around 18:00pm for a good half hour while we walk around together and she goes down for an explore. She then goes back so i can cook tea etc

So my question to you guys and gals is:
How do you cope with working full time and no one in the house for your beardie during the day in terms of feeding and giving them company?

 

[MissT]

I was in the same situation last year when we got out own house.
Thankfully, when im working, Im only away from around 8am until 3.30pm but I do understand where you are coming from.
Give her a bowl of salad each morning before you leave. Im assuming her lights go on around 7am? So put the salad in last thing before you leave so she has had some time to warm up. Give her her bugs when you get home or, get some worms and put them in a smooth sided bowl so that she can eat them during the day. Remember she will need 2 hours to digest her bugs in the evening before bed so feeding her when you come home will limit the amount of time you can spend with her (im assuming she goes to bed at 9ish?) If you feed her at 5.30pm, she will need to bask until 7.30pm and if you bath her she will need to bask again so I would lean towards using worms as her staple so that you can get some time with her.
Do you both work on the same days and at the same time always? Is there any days that one of you gets home a little earlier?

 

[Doddins]

Thanks for the reply MissT

We both work at the same place (different office mind you) with the same work hours so sadly the house is empty except for Liz.
Her lights come on at 7 and go off 9:30 so i think ill start her on a worm diet with the salad in the morning.
Is it easier to have one dish with salad and the worms or a separate dish for each? im guessing just one dish?

When you say a staple worm diet do you mean wax/horn worms or something else?

Thanks again!

 

[MissT]

I'm thinking reptiworms as her staple during the week- they seem very popular on the boards and as far as I'm award if u have a deepish see through container they won't climb out wax worms are too fatty and I think horn worms can climb! You could vary what you feed her on the days you are off tho

 

[MissT]

OOOh, also, by any chance do your parents live nearby? Im sure they will miss having her around and if they are nearby they might like to call in once or twice a week to visit her. I know my mother in law really misses Kazi and Phoebe - if we lived closer, I know she would want to call in to visit them!


EDIT - are you UK?????? If so then its not repti-worms... go for soldier worms - you ca get them from butterworms.co.uk or silkworm-store.co.uk you could also try superworms if shes over 16 inches - they dont climb usually and are cheaper - I used to drop some into one of the plastic containers that they come in and they never escaped

 

[Doddins]

Cool, ive just placed an order for some Reptiworms. Whats their life span like? and do i feed just a few or a large bunch? sorry for all the questions.

My parents live a fair distance away so visiting isnt a regular occurance.
im going to try the greens and worms in the mornings and getting her out when im home from work.

Thanks for all the advice MissT im sure Liz will thank you too!

 

[MissT]

My parents live a fair distance away so visiting isnt a regular occurance.

You could always invite them for dinner once a week and tell them to come early so that they can spend time with Liz! hehe!

Repti-worms could get expensive - I cant get them over here - I just go with Phoenix worms, butterworms and silkworms - although the butterworms and silkworms can escape!!

If shes over 16 inches then I would def go with the superworms.

Also, if you think shes missing having someone around, you could place a little radio near to her viv to play throughout the day. Mine all act very differently when they can hear 'noise' around the room.

 

[Doddins]

im popping to my local store later to get a new bulb so ill ask about the Phoenix worms. The superworms, arent they hard shelled (chitchen shell)? if so i cant feed them that often can i due to the digestion of the shell?

 

[MissT]

Superwoms are usually ok - you will just have to be careful the first time you feed them... feed her 1 or 2 and then dont feed any more until you are sure that she is able to digest them and pass them without any issues. They arent as hard as the meal worms and a lot of people on here use them as a staple.

 

[Doddins]

Thanks MissT youve been a huge help!

 

[wckdbtch]

Hi there, seems like my work-hours are very much the same as yours! My schedule for both of mine are:

07:15 Salad goes in the viv
07:30 Lights on (on a timer)
17:30 Bath and play time
18:30 Worms (hand-fed)
19:00 Beardies back in viv
21:30 Lights off (on timer)

Mine can't see each other, so as far as they are concerned, they are also very much at home alone all day. I had the webcam on them for a while, and it doesn't really seem to bother them when we're not around. They do seem to be more active when we're at home though.

Weekends I switch the worms and salad times around, and they also get out a bit more for play and cuddle time.

Hope this helps.

 

[MissT]

Wkdbtch - that's a great schedule. Just one thing iv had a problem with in the past is feeding too soon after baths- if I feed any of them within an hour and a half of bath time, their food is either spat back out immediately or regurgitated a few minutes later... Obviously it works for you but I would be careful about doing it!

 

[wckdbtch]

I might be lucky then - I haven't had a problem yet! There are some evenings that I swop bath and feeding times around, but they seem to be sooooooo lazy in the bath after they've eaten!