Here, There be Dragons

[NEROtheMONSTER]

He has grown so big already,since the first pics on here :shock: .
He is so cute!

 

[littlebirdy]

Any name ideas for the new beardie? S/he's pending shed looks like long white stockings and gloves, teehee!

 

[fresnowitte]

Apparently #4 has no loss of appetite. He is a bottomless pit for crickets this evening and eventually I stopped feeding him when it looked like he was about to explode. He ate about 40+ medium crickets in 5-10 minutes. At least I don’t have to worry about a hunger strike due to relocation stress. He seems to be finding his way around his Viv and was checking out the basking stop when I came home.

That's what I'm talkin' about! :headbang: :mrgreen:


Morning Tristan!

How are those boys doing today?

Is #4 eating his salads for you...like a good boy?

 

[earthandsky]

Sammy is doing fine and now likes to stare up at #4's Viv when he is out just in case he can get a glimpse of #4. If and when he does, he blackbeards, but hasn't done much head-bobbing yet.

After the first day of of gorging himself on crickets, I haven't seen #4 eat again yet. When I get near his Viv or offer up crickets, he plays the part of a Statue. I also haven't seen him touch his salad yet, but I haven't looked too closely at it to see if he has nibbled on it at some point.

Hopefully his appetite picks up here in the next day, or I might have to see about offering up baby food with a syringe.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Tristan

 

[fresnowitte]

Seriously I do not think you will have to resort to baby food. :wink:
I suggest you try what I do...
Turn lights on once #4 has warmed up offer the salad. If you doesn't cock his little head and look at it then offer him a bite by hand so he's fully aware that you gave him food. I suggest offering a piece of curly mustard greens. Because he should at least lick the moisture off it. Which in return gives him a taste. Then if he eats it great, if not, I'd let him see you place it back in the salad dish and walk away. I do not offer bugs until they have had their salads. He gorged pretty good that first day and you will probably have a little relocation stress so he may not eat for a day or two. I find that relocation stress doesn't really set in until about 3 days. Also for now I might offer his salad in a flat dish....like the lid to a sour cream container or something like that even a folded paper towel or paper plate...I do not use deep dishes so he could be concerned and even afraid of approaching that dish.
I'm sure in a minute you will be impressed by the amount of salad he will put away in a day. :mrgreen:

 

[earthandsky]

I have my lights set to a digital timer for 7am every day. I usually get up at 7am and have their salad ready by 7:15am and placed it inside their Viv between 7:15 and 7:30am. Crickets are given out around 8:15am. I'm usually out the door by 8:30am and don't have much leeway with the time, unless I want to get up earlier than that. Crickets are given again when I get home between 5:30 and 6:30pm. Light go out at 9pm every evening.

Update on #4:
He didn't eat any crickets this morning, but did go over to his salad and ate a bite, but I happened to walk into the room right when he did and he froze solid again and stopped eating. When I came home from work this afternoon, most of the salad was gone and there was still a little bit in the dish and a little outside of it as well. I tried giving him crickets again, but it was a no-go. I have seen crickets walk right in front of him, but he wont go for them. I don't know if its because I'm in the same room and am watching, or if its something else.

The salad dish I am using is about a quarter inch, or maybe a tad bit more than that, but its really shallow. He watches me in the morning as I place the dish in his Viv and I lifted a couple pieces in front of him. He didnt go for it then, but went after it later, after I returned the pieces back to his dish. He definitly knows where it is now and has eaten out of it. Now I just need to get him to eat some crickets.

#4 gave me a poop today, the first one since he has taken up residence here. It was a small dark green pile with a lot of water. I didn't see any urate. It looked like it was mostly vegetable matter.


Sammy is doing well and is eating like there is no tomorrow, but I have noticed that when I come home from work, he spends most of his time basking at the bottom of his tree and not the top. The top is around 105. I dont know if he is just content to stay at the bottom, or he is starting to dislike the higher temperatures at the top (Temperatures check with temp-gun). He goes up to the top of his tree in the morning, but I'm guessing he likes to be cooler in the evening before he heads off to be, under the tree.

I swear if anything happened to Sammy's tree, it would break his heart. He spends night and day in or around his tree.


Tristan

 

[fresnowitte]

Tristan do you dust your crickets?
I'm sure he'll start chowing for you soon. It's good to hear that you noticed salad missing from his dish.
He was a great eater here so I'm sure in time he will settle in and eat great for you too.

 

[earthandsky]

Yes, I dust my crickets with calcium w/ D3 (no phosphate) during the weekdays and I dust them with multivitamin during the weekend.

I keep offering crickets during the normal feeding times, but he currently doesn't seem interested. He is making good progress on the salad front, but never in front of me.

On the plus side, he does tend to explore all over his new home quite often, which is a good sign. Hopefully he will take up eating with the same interest soon.

Tristan

 

[fresnowitte]

If he doesn't take to the crickets soon you might try some small worms. Just a thought!
I don't know why but I find that most beardies do not like you to see them eat their salads. :roll:

 

[earthandsky]

I thought about getting some phoenix worms, but now that you mention them, I'll put in an order right away. Hopefully if I put them in a shallow container and point them out to him, he will go for them when I'm not looking. I can only hope...

I do find it funny that they don't like to have someone watching them while they eat their salad. But Sammy makes up for it by rushing down his tree and pacing in the front of his Viv when he sees me going for the crickets. He will also aggressively eat the first few right out of the feeding tweezers, like I never have fed him in his whole life.

Tristan

 

[fresnowitte]

I grow my own super worms so I have from very small to adult sizes. I have been giving them a few of the one's about this big <=======> they have done great digesting them. You might give them a try. If you order Phoenix worms make sure to get large ones cuz even the large is quite small.

 

[earthandsky]

Yes, I ordered the large ones, as they are only about the size of a penny. Hopefully it will be enough to stimulate his appetite. If not, I'll try the supers next.

Tristan

 

[sweetiepie9]

Glad #4 got to you in good shape Tristan, he'll be eating shortly, it's always relocation stress, like Barbara said, but won't last very long. I think the worms are a good idea, too, they're full of calcium, too, which is great.

Any ideas for a name yet? I'll try to think of a few for you.

I just love Sammy's tree, too, and you might be right, as they get older they like their basking temps to go down a bit, you might want to try 102& if that doesn't work, try 100F. And his tree is shrinking, at least in his eyes, he's is such a cutie & so healthy! You have 2 great looking beardies now!
Deb

 

[diamc]

Hi, thought I would check in too. #4's brother arrived here today, he's doing well. Hopefully your baby will start eating tomorrow, a good sign that he ate some greens. Loki sure likes the small supers, he ate 4 today and also loved baby dubia roaches so something else for you to think about getting. Here's the link to Loki's thread if you'd like it: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=171245

We have to come up with a name for your little one, are you (or Barb) sure he's a boy?

 

[earthandsky]

Relocation stress should be called "Breaking in the new slave with worry and stress." #4 finally ate 3 crickets from the tweezers today! I have been leaving in 4-6 in the Viv during the day in case he wants to eat them, but most as still running around when I get home. Salads are doing well, but he didn’t eat as much today as he did yesterday.
Hopefully with the phoenix worms, he will do better.

So far no name yet. I figure that I'll wait for #4 to settle and and show off his true personality before I settle on anything. At the moment, playing statue doesn’t give me too many idea... :lol:

I'll mess around with Sammy's lighting this upcoming weekend when I have time to make sure the temp stay in the comfortable range for him. I'll see about getting some more photos uploaded soon as well, to keep up with the theme of Photo Expressions.

Tristan