Growing Issues.

[jeffrey]

Thanks for the info and all the help! I will order him some. And I do feed them all the time, they have a endless supply of food. I just ran out of crickets. so he had to get them that way. Also I noticed that he really likes the crickets more if the powder is not on the crickets.

 

[Embee]

Also I noticed that he really likes the crickets more if the powder is not on the crickets.

I hear ya!! Although a change today... Cloudy ate more crickets at breakfast (with dust) then in the afternoon (without) so maybe it's just day to day, or dependent on appetite. Our PetSmart feeds the Flukers Cricket Feed and water as well. At least they come home with a little in them. I feed them Flukers cubes, beardie kibble and some greens, or whatever veggie/fruit is around.

Great news on how much your little guy ate! I'd love to have day like that! We're feeding medium crickets so they are pretty "meaty" so I'm hoping that counts for something. He tends to ignore the small ones (looks them over, but doesn't seem to think they're worth the effort--snobby little beardie!) :mrgreen: Ah, it's just good to see him eating more and more, so I'm thankful for that. I'm sure you are feeling the same. Hope things continue to get better and better. I swear if Cloudy sheds in the next week or two, I'll cry... happy tears, of course. Maybe even throw a party. Everyday, my son and I are saying to him, "GROW GROW GROW, show us a sign!" He certainly seems more robust these days, not so sleepy, alert, eating more, all good. I'm thinking it's just a matter of time, and perhaps some patience on my part.

The best,
Em

 

[jeffrey]

Ohh, I know what you mean! I am so thrilled that he is picking up his eating habits! I want him to be 24 inches!!!! I will still love him if hes small, I just want him to be at the top of his health! I hope mine sheds as well. I am hoping that happens soon. We can have a yay for growth party ourselves! lol I guess we just have to be patent and watch and wait. I feed mine some ground up organic bird food. So expesnive. I am soon to switch to ground juv bd food, they already get oranges, potato, and greens. Along with the calcium watering thingys flukers has. So they are good and juicy for him. I should stop saying him, I am not sure its a him...

 

[Embee]

I should stop saying him, I am not sure its a him...

Ha, ha... we're still awaiting confirmation on this as well. :mrgreen:

Guess my "lack of patience" paid off. DS took Cloudy out of the viv this am for a cuddle, and so I could change the substrate. I had just started pulling up the dirty repti-carpet, when DS says, "Mom Stop! Don't bother! He's shedding!" I was like, "You're sure?! Your TOTALLY sure?!" (a week or so ago, he said the same thing, turns out it was just some calcium dust on his head :roll: ). This time he was sure, Cloudy's arm had a nice chunk of skin hanging off of it. We danced around the room, singing a shedding song! Seriously. The neighbors must think we're nutz. We did put Cloudy back on his basking rock before we started the dancing though... at any rate, we're over the moon here. Hope you see the same soon! With an appetite like that, I'm sure that next shed is right around the corner. I tell you, I've never been so happy to see a messy viv!

The best, and hang in there!
Em

 

[Embee]

Almost forgot the funniest part, when we went to feed him this morning, I plopped the veggies down in viv, and before I could even get a second cricket out of the plastic bag, Cloudy had jumped down off his vine, and DIVE BOMBED the cricket in the bowl (er, yogurt lid). He went on to do the same to many other crickets before taking a break. It was the most hilarious thing. It made me realize just how uninterested he'd become in eating. We changed his environment 11 days ago, so it's probably a pretty fast turn around for progress, but still... it has FELT like eons! The best, Em

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Awesome that he is doing so well now. It sounds like he is finally on the mend & eating great now, too.
So he did get some dusted crickets then, that is good.
Let me know if you need anything!


Tracie

 

[jeffrey]

Everything is fine my way, hes eating fine. Hopefully I will see skin soon! Congrads on your success! Great day today!

 

[Embee]

Everything is fine my way, hes eating fine.

Great news! Cheering on your little beardie! May both of ours recover and thrive, and not be little for long!

The best,Em

 

[jeffrey]

Sorry for not posting back, we have had internet issues.

My BD is doing okay, he is eating about 17 1/2 inch+ crickets a day. Though he is getting dark at times, I have searched around a bit, and I am not getting much of a answer. Is darkness related just to their emotions? and stress? Earlier in the middle of the day he was laying beside his basking area and got really really dark. He also gets kinda dark at night. It kinda worries me. But A friend said that was normal?

Also I have a offer to buy a tank that is 50 or 55 gal. The person didn't have time to measure it, but the lid is for a 13X48. So that is about what the tank is... Is that a decent size? I know its not very wide, but it seems to be long. It comes with the metal wire lid, and a under tank heating pad. for $50. Which I know is a great deal. The 40gal breeder tank at petsmart is 109. So does it have to be wide? Or can it be long? Getting that at that deal well help to to buy more accessories for his tank.


Thanks!

Oh and no skin for me yet Hopefully soon!

 

[Embee]

Hey Jeffrey,

Good to get an update!

I don't know if this helps, but over the last couple of weeks as he'd getting back up and going, Cloudy had been getting dark quite a lot, off and on throughout the day. I can see that temps seem to have something to do with it, as he's brighter and lighter in the basking end, and darker in the cool end. I read here that this can happen more often in the earlier part of the day while they're trying to get their temps up and stabilized. At any rate, his limbs in particular, would get very dark, sort of randomly. However, since he's shed (so far, just his limbs), not so much darkening going on. :dontknow: I do wonder if there wasn't some discomfort with the approaching shed that may have caused the darkening. I do know that when he's stressed, he'll turn dark, so if he was uncomfortable in his skin, I imagine some color change might have taken place. One thing I can tell you, is that since the shed, he is sooooo happy, and BRRRIGHT nearly all the time, save for the am. Yesterday, I had him in a sunny window for 20 or so minutes (real UVBs!), and I swear, he turned bright on a whole new level. He was riding the sunny wave all day today, lookin' good and eating well: 18 medium crickets, 4 medium phoenix worms. BIG day for the CloudMaster, indeed. Maybe your guy might be getting ready to do a little shedding himself (herself? ). Here's hoping!

A 55 gallon can work... it's an aquarium, yes? I believe they are 48 long, 13 wide, so skinny, but I know people use them, happily. We looked at the 55 aquarium, and the 40 gallon breeder together, and came up with that while one is shorter, it's wider (the 40 gal), and the other is longer, but quite skinny (the 55). So, we were sort of thinking, 6/one half dozen/the other. If you go to the enclosures forum and look at the "viv pics" thread, you'll find some 55s in there that people have done some great stuff with. We've been checking Craigslist everyday for a good deal. We'd like to get something 60 or above, 75 would be ideal, but we'll have to see. Cloudy is still small, so we have some time, but I'm hoping not much! (Oh, the 55s around here go for about $120.00 ($95-100 on sale), and come with two 24 inch tube fixtures. You have to purchase a screen top separately for about $25, so $50 seems a really good deal. Not sure if you'd want to use the under tank heater under the tank (beardies can burn their bellies) though. We were using one on the SIDE of our tank, thinking it was helping keep the cool side up at 80, but I unplugged it yesterday, and found out that we didn't actually need it. :mrgreen: Few, one less thing. Just got our light bill and it wasn't pretty!

The best,
Em

Best of luck.

 

[jeffrey]

Well I think that the heating pad is attached some how to the bottom of the tank. So I am not sure. Maybe he is getting ready to grow! Woo. I wish we wouldn't of removed the sky light now. It would of been perfect to shin on him where he is. I am going to take a look around on that part of the site and see what I see. Thanks for the info!