Going out after eating?

[Jamiedog]

We often go outside to spend the evening with our next-door neighbors. It's been staying warm well into the evening - in the high-80s this evening, after it got to 93 degrees (summer is going to be miserable) earlier today.

I usually feed Wave her evening meal between 4:30 and 5:00. We usually go out right after that. I would love to be able to take Wave with us, in her Rubbermaid container, so she could get some evening sun and spend some time outside.

I know I need to give her an hour or two after she eats to digest. My question is - how warm does it need to be outside for me to take her with us if it's half an hour or so after she eats? Even if it's not warm enough yet, will summer - where temps regularly remain in the 90s until after dark - be warm enough?

Just curious! If it's not going to get warm enough, I'll just try to start feeding her a little earlier!

 

[Prouddragonmama]

Great question! I wonder that too!!!!

 

[Jamiedog]

Hopefully someone knows!

 

[essenm25]

I would feed her a little earlier, while 90s aren't bad trying giving her at least an hour with temps at least 100 to help digestion. Especially for younger ones which I believe should be around 110. T

 

[Jamiedog]

Her viv-temps are fine for that, no problems with digestion. Thanks, I'll move feeding back to a little earlier, so she can go out with us!

 

[kaitquestions]

a little different... my vet told me that he sees fried dragons way more often than frozen ones - since I had my first checkup I've kept the cage at lower temps and Borris has never been so active or regular (pooping wise) ever. His basking spot used to be 100-114 degrees, and he was very lazy, rarely interested in bugs or greens, and irregular. After I reduced the temps and put him in a bird cage, he eats regularly, poops more than ever (at least 5/7 days a week), and he still has the option of climbing closer to the light. I don't think it would be bad to bring wave with you at night, but its good to give time to digest, so maybe feeding earlier would help. But don't stress too much about being too cold - you must remember how cold Australian deserts get at night - my vet said they are most comfortable when we are most comfortable. Just a little info that has really improved Borris' life.

 

[Jamiedog]

I have no idea how cold Australian deserts get at night. :lol: Australia is one of the continents I haven't made it to yet! I'm not worried about her temps in the viv during the day or at night - she's fine in there. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to make her bring up her dinner every night! But thanks for the info!

 

[Jamiedog]

I found some averages - interesting info! - but can't post them. Keep getting an error message... Will try it again this afternoon! Never even thought about looking that up!

 

[kaitquestions]

Heres a website that gives a short overview about temps in australia - its hot in the summer, but the rest of the year, days average 61-71 degrees F. Night temps get downwards of 20-30s, so if your dragon is within these limits, I think they're fine. Here's the site I found this info: http://www.desertfishes.org/australia/desrtgen.html Hope this is useful!

 

[Jamiedog]

Very interesting! The one I found is this one - http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/australian-outback-temperatures.html. Looks like the Alice Springs temps would be the closest to the ones beardies would find in nature (since they're central).

...However, I would nonetheless be reluctant to risk letting some of those temps be the "norm" for a dragon in captivity. There are a lot of things that happen that are totally natural, but will nonetheless negatively impact the health of an animal - doubt beardies in nature are careful not to eat something larger than the space between their eyes, for instance! :wink: Your vet has a good point, though, about too high temps being as bad as too low. Definitely something people should be careful about! (The highest temp in Wave's viv is usually around 104-107 degrees, and that's usually only in the afternoon. She's had no digestion problems thus far, thankfully!)

(I hope I didn't sound snarky earlier. I only had about 15 minutes to be on the computer, and then it stopped letting me edit posts, so I had to just leave it alone, and didn't feel like it got my point across very well. Hope I didn't sound rude. Wasn't trying to be, I promise! I definitely see your point, and think it has a lot of validity. And is definitely reassuring if Wave is out in cooler-than-normal temps!)

 

[kaitquestions]

nah no way! I like to talk to people who know about dragons too (unlike everyone who just looks at me like i have 3 heads). I just wanted to share some info that was contrary to everything I've seen posted, and has seemed to work really well for Borris. Hope that I didnt sound snarky either!

 

[Jamiedog]

You didn't at all, don't worry, and it's an interesting way of going about things - sounds like it works well for him!