Here, There be Dragons

[diamc]

That's great that he ate 3 crickets today, perhaps tomorrow he will at least double that amount. When you think about all the changes he's gone through, I think we would be stressed out too.

Breaking in the new slave with worry and stress.

ha ha

 

[beardie parents]

They are both soo adorable! I understand the worry and stress comment regarding relocation stress. They seem to enjoy making us worry.

 

[fresnowitte]

It's good to hear he's still eating his salad and that he ate a few crickets for you yesterday.
Baby steps! :wink:

"Breaking in the new slave with worry and stress."

I agree...they love to make us worry...
I think it is their way of figuring out if you really love them or not.

 

[earthandsky]

Yay! up to 10 crickets tonight. Progress in eating seems to be going well. Hopefully in the next couple of days, his eating will be going at full capacity. I'll see if I can get a few pictures uploaded tomorrow , including one of #4 trying to hide in some of the hanging vines.

Tristan

 

[diamc]

That's GREAT news, must make you feel so much better. Can't wait to see the new pictures.

 

[fresnowitte]

That's good new!
I know that must have made you very happy to see him eat his buggies.
Good luck on more buggies today!

Tristan have you been bathing him? He's use to a bath every day...babies dehydrate easily and dehydration can affect the appetite. Just throwing that out there in case you were not aware. :wink:

 

[earthandsky]

I came home this afternoon to a horrendous mess in #4's viv... I'm was pretty amazed at not only the destruction, but also the giant mess left behind after #4 went to the bathroom in his viv. There was a huge green splotch in his Viv! I found a little urate, but it looked like most of it was vegetable matter and water, though the water had mostly dried out by time I got home.

I took out his tree and bleached (20%) it, as well as soaking a rag in bleach (20%) and wiping down his viv. I manage to clean up everything and did another wipe down, but there is now a permanent green stain there.... On the bright side, the shelf liner is easily replaced and I'll get a new one this weekend.

While I was cleaning #4's Viv, he was taking a nice bath to get all the rest of the poop off of him. The bath was sitting 2 feet behind me, so I was able to keep an eye on him at all times, and he was able to keep an eye on me while I was messing with all of his stuff!

It took him a while to get into the groove of thing while in the water. For the beginning, he just stood there and watched me, but after a while, he started swimming around.

After we spent some quality time in a beardie burrito, and after he puffed at me a few times, #4 was place back in his Viv. like this...

Literally he was like one of those ridged dolls that you could pose... he actually started on two leg in an upright position where I set him down, but managed to get on all four before I grabbed my camera again. The position of his fingers looks painful to me, but from what I hear they are very flexible. (still... looks painful)

After the long day of the poop drama and the exciting bath, #4 was pooped out... figuratively and literally.

What an adventure. Sammy on the other hand was trying to learn how to fly...

*****

So far no crickets this morning or evening. I think he was too tired to eat crickets after his bath. I took him strait there and cleaned his Viv as soon as I got home, so no crickets so far. I'll try in a few minutes after post, but on the plus side, my worms should be here tomorrow and I bet those will do it! Today was the first bath I had given #4 (though now that you mentioned it, i should have done it sooner and more often). I was hoping to give him time to settle in more before I started touching him and moving him all about. After the fact, though, I should have done it from the start. #4 seem to live up quite a bit when I put him in the bath. I'll see if I can make this a daily routine for him, and hopefully brighten up his spirit!


Tristan.

 

[diamc]

They are both so cute Tristan. I agree that baths make a big difference. Loki hasn't pooped in his tank yet and it is so much easier having him go in his bath so he's been getting 2 daily since he arrived on Tuesday, that will probably change when I go back to work next wk so he will only get one then more than likely. He loves baths and was actually jumping back into the water tonight from my hand. He also has been pooping in the water twice a day too which is typical for a 3 month old to go twice a day. I'll bet his appetite will pick up tomorrow, hope he enjoys his worms. If he seems calm, I wouldn't worry too much about handling him, they love that and it also helps with the bonding. Tell him that his brother Loki says :wave:

 

[fresnowitte]

Funny Diane that you said something about handling and bonding. I had just posted something about this in your thread.
I have never believed in that rule of letting them settle in first before handling. I feel they adjust quicker the quicker you bond with them.

Very glad to hear that #4 seemed to feel better after the bath Tristan. Sounds like the bath did him good hopefully that's what he was needing. Babies dehydrate so quickly when they are not eating normal. Plus they love the extra attention. :wink:

Well with a poop that big at least you know he hasn't been starving the past few days. :laughing6:
Once he decides where his spot is that he prefers to poop you could place a square of tile in that area it would help make messes left during the day while you are at work much easier to clean up. Just a thought this is something I do for those days I don't get them bathed in time.

Hope the wormies are a hit! Heck maybe by tomorrow he will feel like being the eating machine he's capable of.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I also agree with handling right away. I've had 3 babies, most others adults, but handling started always from day 1 & it made it easier to bond. So hope that works better for you two! The pics of the bath were so cute, you can see his back legs flying. And he's already shedding off his legs, good for him. He's such a pretty (handsome) beardie & so is Sammy. So how are Sammy's flying lessons going :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[earthandsky]

Sammy is a character. He must have been practicing all day, because after I took that picture, he went to sleep under his tree and missed all the excitement with bath time. Either that or he knew bath time was coming an hid. :lol: That’s ok, I'll get him tomorrow!

I think I'm going to change up tactics and handle and bath him every day, despite any protests that may incur. It seems my original ploy of letting him settle in and get use to his surroundings wasn’t as helpful as I first though. On the bright side, Sammy will get to see his new neighbor more often. I can only imaging the fun that will be. So far, since #4's Viv is on the top, Sammy hasn’t gotten a good look yet. Also Sammy has perfectly timed missing out on seeing #4 a few times.

Right after his bath last night, I got to see a little of his personality when he was in a good mood and full of energy. With that inkling of personally showing, I started to formulate a few names, but you all will have to wait a bit longer, just to make sure I got it right!

*****Update*****
No crickets last night but 17 crickets this morning!

Tristan

 

[fresnowitte]

WooHoo!

 

[diamc]

That's great that he ate 17 crickets. That must have made you feel SO much better. Handling & bathing him daily is a good idea, I'll bet you won't get any protest at all. :wink: Both of them may react a little when they get a good look at each other so if you notice either of them seeming uncomfortable, would be a good idea to try to prevent it as much as possible. Angie and Loki have not seen each other yet although I suspect they both know the other is here.

What kind of worms did you get for them?

 

[earthandsky]

Yeah, I was definitely relieved when he ate this morning, and 17 crickets to boot!

Today was pretty good overall. I gave #4 his bath and handled him for a bit. He had a nice and relaxing warm bath and even went potty in the bath! After I got him all cleaned up, we sat together for a bit, with him in a Beardie Burrito. Sammy was watching the whole time, but was trying to play the "uninterested" jealous dragon. Every time that I pointed out that he was watching #4 in the bath, Sammy would close his eyes and pretend to be asleep. :lol:
#4 also got some exploration time while I set up the next bath for Sammy, and of course Sammy watched over him the whole time.

With #4 safely returned to his Viv, Sammy was up next. Needless to say, Sammy was not happy. But I kept reminding him how well #4 did and Sammy finally settled down for a bit. However, Sammy did do something I have never seen before. He was tail whipping the water a few times. I don’t know if it was in anger toward being in the water, or if he was just trying something new. It definitely wasny him trying to swim either, it was definitely a single tail whip here and there, but that was it. After he settled in, he swam around for a bit, and took his second poop of the day. (the first one being in his food dish )
After Sammy finished his bath and was dried off, he went off exploring, and interesting enough, followed the exact rout that #4 took earlier. More than likely he was being the nosy bigger brother and seeing what #4 got into.

After a good bath and the an entertaining view of Sammy in the bath, #4 ate 12 crickets. Two feedings in one day! I'm very happy with his progress. Hopefully he will chow down on the phoenix worms tomorrow (which finally arrived late today).


I do have a question for anyone willing to impart some wisdom. How do you keep your crickets alive, and what am I doing wrong?
My current cricket setup is much like I have for my roaches, minus the heat. They are in a 30 Gallon blue tub with a lid that has an 8"x6" cut out with a screen. I washed out the tub and bleach it between every new shipment of crickets, and then rinse it good before letting it dry. The crickets are stored in there with 2-3 egg crates stacked on top of each other. They are fed with Flukers high calcium cricket mix on a daily basis. They are also given a generous portion of water crystals every day as well. Both food and water are placed on separate plastic lids from used cream-cheese containers. They sit at room temperatures which is around 77-80 degrees.
Two weeks ago I ordered 2000 crickets and I have had about 1000 of those died of in the last 4 days. I don’t know what I'm doing wrong there. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Tristan

 

[beardie parents]

When we had crickets we had the majority of them in a 10 gallon reptile tank. I do know that too much heat and to cold is a problem with them. Try to keep the temps between 70 and 80 (if I remember correctly) You can feed them the same greens you attempt to get your beardies to eat. I say attempt because even tho the greens you get for them are good for them sometimes they still won't eat them but if you feed them to the crickets they will get into your beardies somehow. You also need to clean the cricket container ever day or every other day. You can have two containers for crickets and when you clean out their cage, just put the crickets into the clean cage and clean out the old one.