helping kaiju

[Star69]

new here hi all. i just got my dragon kai a little over a week ago. she was eating fine and all and then just stopped. first with the greens the with her bugs i know she is getting ready to shed her nose is gray should i be concerned about this ? also i took her from an abusive family she is just now getting use to being held but still fights me sometimes could this be the problem to?

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Welcome to the wonderful world of beardies!

When they are shedding they can be a little grumpy so it could definitely be associated with that. Has Kaiju pooped since she ate? She might not be hungry.

What is your light/temp setup? Lights play a huge part in their digestion and can impact whether they are healthy or not.

It will take some time for Kaiju to trust you if he/she was in an abusive home prior. You are going to have to be patient and work with him/her to gain it's trust. Don't force interactions if they'renot comfortable. A good time for interaction is before their bedtime when they can snuggle and fall asleep on you.

 

[Gormagon]

Relocation stress and handling don't go well together. Give her time to get used to her new world. Talk to her when you feed her, she will get used to the sound of your voice and see it as a good thing. it will take some time like my friend SpacialCoogs said, be patient with her she has had a rough life.

 

[Star69]

kai stopped eating greens 4 days ago and bugs 2 days ago.she pooped 2 days ago.

the lady at the petsmart said that the lights were fine for now. i know the cage is too small i am working on that i have to wait for my husband to get payed next. then i am going to buy one of the dragon 40 gallon all together setups for her. http://www.petsmart.com/reptile/supplies/habitats-and-decor/zoo-medandtrade-reptihabitat-bearded-dragon-40-gallon-terrarium-kit-15027.html?cgid=500009
this is what i am looking at

i only hold her at night when i get home from work our animals cycles go from 1 pm to 1 am because of the way we work if we wake them up ant 9 there is no one home to put them to sleep at 9. for the last few days my husband had been waking her up at 10 and i was putting her to sleep at 1 could that be a factor to ?

could i be not feeding her the right food i give her prepackaged spring mix it was the only one that i could find that had a wide verity of greens with no iceberg lettuce in it?

 

[Gormagon]

First off, the people at petsmart couldn't find their butts with both hands, never put any trust in what they say, most of them are clueless.
What type of uvb light do you have? Coil or Long Tube?
The coil bulbs don't put out enough uvb and are bad on their eyes. "Not recommended"
Basking temp should be between 95° and 105° for an adult.
Warm side(below basking spot) should be 90° to 95°.
Cool side 75° to 82°.
Since he is in a small enclosure he may be getting to hot, this will cause him to not eat as well.
So let me wrap my head around this time thing, I have a question.
Is he in a room with absolutely no sunlight coming in?
If not he is only getting 5 hours of sleep if the sun is rising at 6am, because when the sun comes up and lights up the room, he will wake up when it does. He is not used to that and this could cause problems as well. That makes for a long day, poor guy.

I never by those premixed salads because they sometimes aren't as fresh as they seem and hardly ever have the right veggies in them. I buy my veggies separately so I can be sure of what she's getting.

 

[Star69]

i have her in my bed room which is really dark because i have black out drapes for i use to work at night and sleep in the day. the bulb is a coil but like i said i am getting her a new tank SOON with a better light. the temps are on point. as far as food she was eating like crazy for the first 2 weeks then nothing whitch is what has me worried.

i want you apionion on tanks these are the 2 i am looking at or if you have another one that i should be looking at

http://www.petsmart.com/reptile/supplies/habitats-and-decor/exo-terra-natural-desert-reptile-and-amphibian-low-terrarium-14957.html?cgid=500009

http://www.petsmart.com/reptile/supplies/habitats-and-decor/zoo-medandtrade-reptihabitat-bearded-dragon-40-gallon-terrarium-kit-15027.html?cgid=500009

 

[Gormagon]

You would be better off buying a 75 gallon aquarium off of craigslist, most of the things in those kits will wind up being tossed in the trash because it is detrimental to their health.
It has these bad things:
Reptisand "causes impaction" you need a solid substrate
Coil uvb "not good for them at all"
Stick on thermometer "can be off as much as 20°+/-”

Just have a look around in the health section and lighting section on the board, you will see what I mean.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

You will probably spend less money as well by assembling some of the items yourself.

Substrate - I use newspaper as it's easy to clean and free. You can use tile, or non adhesive shelf liner. Expensive sand or matts etc are not needed. You can also upgrade to tile at a later date.

Lights - This is the most important purchase and where most of your money will/should go. You'll need 2. One UVB and one for heat. The basking light you can get for less than $10 by using a 100w halogen flood light from a hardware store or walmart/target. The UVB is more particular. The reptisun 10.0 is a great light and will give the little guy the proper uvb to be able to digest calcium.
https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Rept...845974&sr=1-1&keywords=reptisun+10.0+uvb+bulb
You don't need one of those expensive reptile fixtures either. Here's an example of one you can get for $10 at Walmart.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Good-Ear...lug-In-Fixture-Wht-UC1043-WHG-18T81G/47713183

Tanks - I looked on cragislist and found a range of 40 gallon breeders from $30-$100

Thermometer - a probe thermometer will be more accurate https://www.amazon.com/CNZ-Thermome...&qid=1477846199&sr=1-43&keywords=reptile+tank

Decoration - For a hide you can use a variety of things. I use a basket that I had on hand. It allows for height and something to climb as well as a place to hide. You can even use a kleenex box.

So instead of spending $250 on a petsmart kit you could actually spend:
substrate - $0
Lights - $50
Tank $50
Thermometer - $5
Decoration - $20
Total - $125 (ballpark)

Some of those things can also be picked up as you go. The Lights are the most important piece.

 

[Star69]

i was not saying that i was going to use all the stuff in the kit i was just looking for a good tank size for her and better lighting

 

[Star69]

okay so i know it has only bee like 30 min but i have an up date. i gave her a bath she pooped :-D and i have been doing research all morning :study: and if poop does not have red specks she no eat sand right? and i did not see any wiggle worms or anything so she has no bugs in her right? it was a normal poop just like the others she gave me. after she went i offered her some food and no dice.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Star69]

she ate 3 crickets tonight woo hoo!!!!!
but still no greens.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Good job Kaiju

 

[Star69]

kai is now in full shed. she is still not eating well but she had greens tonight i got her a bigger cage and new lights she is doing much better thank you for all your help

 

[Star69]

kai is eatint now she is doing much better since i got her her new light cage and all