Hello there, I think I am insane.

[Vodevil]

It's 3PM on Sunday and I officially feel like a crazy person.
I have spent the majority of the afternoon as well as last night staring at a bunch of crickets skittering around and eating.... I literally can't stop watching them. I was disgusted by them at first but now I am quite fascinated.
I am "gut-loading" them as they say for my first ever beardie who is arriving on Tuesday morning from a breeder across the country.
Everything is all ready and set up for her, I have been preparing and researching non-stop for the past month and a half and staring at her empty enclosure for a week.
I have also rearranged and checked temperatures on the enclosure like a million times now.
TWO MORE SLEEPS AND SHE'S HERE. But for now I just have these crickets....
Have I gone insane? Is this normal pre-beardie behavior? I have two big final papers to write but can barely find the motivation to start... even though I know I should start NOW because once she gets here I will just want to stare at her instead.
But still I just keep staring at the crickets.... Lalalala
Yep. Insane.

This is her:

I refuse to name her before I actually have her but I feel this overwhelming urge to call her Pikachu as of right now....

 

[LunaLuna39]

you're not insane, just excited

 

[smauggle]

I can confirm you are not insane. Went though almost the exact same thing - spent a ton of time on setup before we brought our little guy home. It's great to be prepared, but be aware once you get her you will start second guessing everything you did, and questioning if her behaviour is 'normal'
(It probably is )
Welcome!

 

[neilkd21]

Nope not insane we were the same when first got the bugs. I still do it, spent about half an hour watching the super worms eating pasnip the other day lol.

Its good to hear you done so much research before. I am sure you will check the temperatures a million times more over the coming months. Welcome to the world of being a beadie owner/slave.

Any questions don't be afraid to post it's a great place for friendly advice and help.

 

[Vodevil]

Haha, awesome, thanks for the replies, it's good to know there are people out there who consider this normal behavior. I feel less weird now.

Just got the notification that she has been picked up from the breeder and has started her journey across the country... ahhh. Hoping the trip goes as well as it can for her and she doesn't get too stressed out in the process.


TOMORROW!!

 

[Taterbug]

Ahh how exciting she's beautiful.

Don't worry about being crazy. I have a terrarium of pet cockroaches now, I love my little buggies.

 

[Vodevil]

My little baby arrived this morning around 10 AM.
When I opened up the box she wasn't moving and her eyes were closed... My heart just DROPPED.. but then maybe three seconds later she opened up her little eyes and perked right up, little girl had been fast asleep LOL.

She arrived perky and warm despite being in a container and box for almost an entire day. I let her into her viv for awhile then offered her some food, she ate about 7 crickets but hasn't touched her collards yet. I think that's pretty good for a new arrival, though(?). I also gave her a little misting to re-hydrate and she let me drop water onto the end of her nose and drank it, ughhh I am in love :love5:

Now she's just exploring AND I just looked over and she's just pooped!

She still has some stress marks but she's only been here 5 hours, so far so good I think!

 

[CooperDragon]

Sounds like a very good start!

 

[Texsdad]

Awesome. I myself never thought I'd be so fascinated with anythings poop, let alone praising something for it lol

 

[Vodevil]

I'm using an absolutely awful cellphone camera so this pic doesn't do her justice but oh well, here she is hanging out!

 

[AHBD]

You are clearly not only insane, but have crossed over in to the realm of deranged. :lol:
Just kidding ! We reptile lovers do spend time obsessing about things that are not normally obsessed over by the general population. I'd personally like to see your cricket colony !

Your baby is beautiful, looks like hypo trans leatherback. Just be sure that your crickets are smaller than the length between your baby's eyes so he doesn't get impacted from the crix being too large.

Hope everything goes smoothly with your new baby.

 

[Vodevil]

Hii, yes, she is a hypo trans leatherback exactly
Both of her parents are citrus so I expect her to keep getting more yellow with age.

And yes, I am making sure the crickets are not too big. I got "small crickets" from Petsmart and the majority of the bunch look like they are around the perfect size for her but there are definitely a few that are too big in there, so I will probably end up sacrificing them to the beardie gods... lol

The baby started trying to sleep in the shade last night so I shut her lights off early and she got a long nights rest, she didn't want to wake up this morning when they came on either lol

She hasn't wanted to eat yet today, though. I have tried offering her crickies twice over the past hour and she just looks and me all cute and confused and then ignores them. I will try again in an hour or so.

 

[Betty53218]

What a beauty! If you haven't read the thread titled "you know you have a bearded dragon when..." You just have to stop and read it. I'm sure you could add something to it already! It might be a good idea to post a pic of your setup so the pros on this site can check it out for you. We want to see your baby around for along time. I inherited a baby from my son after saving his life from the info I read on this site. Amazing how fast you can get attached to these little guys!

 

[Vodevil]

For those asking about her set-up, my camera is really awful and you can barely see inside when the lights are on in pictures so I think I'll just break it down instead. I'm way overdue for an upgrade on my phone so I should hopefully have a decent camera to work with in the new year.

- 41x18x20 Atasuki terrarium
I believe it's about 55-60 gallons.I understand this is quite big for a baby and that she might feel overwhelmed with all the space but she seems to be doing well. I also have two cats, one whom is very large, they doesn't mess with her or the terrarium when I am around but the fact that it's so big and sturdy makes me feel more at ease when I have to go out and can't play hall monitor.

- 70W Exoterra Sunray Lighting
Metal halide bulb and fixture, it's apparently top notch and is a UVB and basking light all in one.
Hot spots and basking areas go from about 113 - 90. The cool side stays around 74-79, at night it gets no colder than 71. I use a digital infrared thermometer.

Paper towel substrate
Just using this for now but plan on getting tile eventually.

I think she is adjusting well but she's my first beardie/reptile ever so I definitely have a lot to learn about them still and have some questions/observations that feedback on would be great lol

Is it normal for them, especially a baby (she is 2 months old today actually) to be lazy? I know they are slow and docile reptiles but she doesn't run around at all really and spends most of her time basking. She is also very slow to wake in the mornings, when the lights come on she does not want to wake up and will go hide in the shade of the vines. I know she is adjusting so I let her take her time but a few times now she has taken so long that I just pick her up and plop her on a branch. Once I do that she usually makes her way over to the basking area pretty quickly.
Same goes for eating. She barely 'hunts' her crickies at all and will only eat them when they come really close/convenient. I've seen her do the crawl/lunge for a few but the majority of the time she waits for them to come to her. Because of this I am feeding her outside of her enclosure since the crickets get away and hide so easily in there.

Her appetite is kind of all over the place as of right now. The first day she ate her crickies like a little champion and even had some collards from my hand, she also took a big poop.
Day two she refused to eat ANYTHING. I tried four or five different times throughout the day, nada. She did do a little poop again though.
Day three she ate a good amount of crickies but not as much as day one. She did eat 3 whole pieces of collards all by herself though and kind of made a show of it, it was adorable. She also took another poop.
Today she has eaten a couple crickies so far, and has shown no interest in her greens yet. I made her a really nice mix today too lol

I absolutely adore her and think she is the cutest little thing ever. I can't figure out how she feels about me, though, haha. She is very tame and docile, she never runs away from me when I try to pick her up or give her pets in her terrarium, ect. I want her to adjust to her new home though so I am keeping the handling to a minimum besides pre-bedtime snuggle time, and taking her out for feedings and bath time (going to be giving her baths every other day) - she had one the other night and seemed to really enjoy it. I definitely spend a lot of time observing her, though, and she usually stares right at me or away from me when I do so.

So yeah, I don't know, does it sound like she is adjusting? Anything you think I need to change/am doing wrong? This is her 4th day with me, and her 2 month birthday

And of course since I just wrote a short novel I need to include some pictures ^_^

 

[Vodevil]

Mini update:
She is more active today and has been exploring her terrarium a lot more.