Instead of posting in 3 different places...

[ubergnomie]

This is me right now :

I haven't been on this site for a long time. Life got a little crazy, lots of issues that need not be discussed here, but everything is settling down now and I have time to ask for help.

Since November I haven't spent much time with my beardies. I feel horrible. They were fairly tame in November, but now I feel as though I've lost all progress, and I'm back at square one, if not square negative one. I'm working on attempting to get them back to the point they were at, but it's been a struggle.

At the same time my mom decided awhile back that my slate tile was not doing the job, so she put sand in their homes while I was at work one day... I wanted to remove it, but after talking to a member of the WI Herpetological Society I decided I'd give it a chance. Well... Rambo absolutely LOVES the sand. I have never seen him(?) so happy... but the risk of impaction makes me paranoid. Twiggy doesn't seem to care as much. I have to admit that the sand's absorbency is really nice, but I don't think I can live with the constant worry of impaction. Would a sand box of sorts for Rambo be a better option?

Then the big problem. Since November I've been leaving a dish of the bearded dragon food pellet things in their homes. Rambo again, LOVES this change of pace. He still eats his salad, he still eats his crickets, no problems, however Twiggy is living up to her name. She has been a picky eater from the start. When I got her she was underweight and mistreated. It took alot to get her back to a healthy weight. She won't touch the food pellets, she's very picky about her salad, and she is not all that interested in crickets. She will eat wax worms and baby food, but not much... not enough for her to gain alot of weight back. I hate myself for letting it get to this point without asking for help.

Now is the time for change. I have to tackle this ASAP. I'm moving their homes into a better suited room in the next week or so, so I really need to figure all this out. I'm lost right now, and I really hope you guys are willing to help me out once again. You have been nothing but helpful in the past! Thanks in advance.
-Heather

 

[Dragoon]

Hi,
Here's my first question: Are Rambo and Twiggy in the same cage?
I think the sand box would be a good idea because you're right, sand can cause impaction.
But make sure Rambo isn't in it all of the time or it'll be just like still having the sand in the tank.
And if Twiggy wants to stay away from the sand, then she has that choice.

Hey, you shouldn't hate yourself! Beardies don't stop loving.
If Twiggy isn't eating very well, I would suggest getting Fluker's Buffet Blend (for Beardies). It includes crickets, mealworms (they're not alive :wink and pellets. Usually Twiggy eats mealworms, right? So if she digs into this, there's a 99.9% chance that she'll get a pellet and/or cricket in her bite.
You don't have to get it, I just think it might be a good idea.

And... I don't really know what you're asking in the last paragraph... :?
But, I hoped this helped somewhat!

 

[ubergnomie]

You have helped already! More than you can imagine, and the last paragraph isn't really asking anything now that I look at it. It's just me kind of rambling on about nothing. I tend to do that in the morning.

They are not in the same cage, I couldn't do that to them. Twiggy was caged with other beardies when I got her, and it was just really sad. Thankfully that stupid pet store no longer breeds reptiles! And Rambo really just likes the sand for sleeping. He digs himself I nice little bed each night. It's too adorable to do away with sand all together for him. I might take all the sand out of Twiggy's tho. She didn't seem to care too much either way, and after all she's been through... I don't want to have to go through any more problems with her.

I'm going to look into the fluker's stuff right now. I'm ready to do just about anything to get her to eat a normal amount.

 

[Dragoon]

OK, I'm glad I helped.

And yes, if Twiggy doesn't show any emotion to the sand, definitely get it out because it can't help her in any way.

 

[ubergnomie]

Yea. Will do!

 

[warnisha]

Hmmm...a sandbox is a good idea! We got out beardie and he was on sand but we don't use sand he is on papertowes which is the easiest thing to clean up in the world! lol! I think your beardies will be find just give them some attention and they will be back to where you had them! They don't stop loving even if they can hold a grudge!!!! HAHA!

 

[BaskingBaby]

I made the mistake of using sand in Kora's cage a while ago. It was fine at first, but ended up being SO dirty and impossible to fully clean it after she pooped. Eventually it would get dried pieces of salad, random dead feeders, etc mixed in which was so hard to clean. I ended up using a shop-vac to get it all out and won't go back. I also tried a sandbox and it worked fairly well but it was also a mess because she would scatter it everywhere. Also feeders would hide behind it so she couldn't get to them.

 

[Dragoon]

I made the mistake of using sand in Kora's cage a while ago. It was fine at first, but ended up being SO dirty and impossible to fully clean it after she pooped. Eventually it would get dried pieces of salad, random dead feeders, etc mixed in which was so hard to clean. I ended up using a shop-vac to get it all out and won't go back. I also tried a sandbox and it worked fairly well but it was also a mess because she would scatter it everywhere. Also feeders would hide behind it so she couldn't get to them.

Hmmm... I never thought of this...

Rambo might fling sand everywhere while making a 'nest' to sleep in...
So I guess you have to consider that.

 

[jeritta]

Have you tried some other feeders for Twiggy that might get her more interested in food? You said she was kinda miss treated before you got her so she was probably underfed too? Maybe she needs something to get her interested in eating. Try some feeders that will attract her with their wiggle and color. Something like silkworms, hornworms, butterworms are all good for this and all good at helping put some weight on too. They are all also good staple feeders. Mealworms are not a great choice just because of the risk of impaction and if you are already having problems with feeding then I would steer away from them.

Hopefully this helps.

http://www.premiumliveworms.com has butterworms pretty cheap
http://www.greatlakeshornworm.com has the best prices and service i have found for hornworms
www.mulberryfarms.com for silkworms

 

[ubergnomie]

I spent all day yesterday cleaning out the room my viv is going to be moved into and lizard proofing it. As soon as that's ready to go, which will probably be tomorrow, the sand is getting removed. I have a good feeling that there will be a huge mess made from a sand box as well, but with as much room as Rambo has... I don't think it should be a huge problem. If he's too messy, maybe I'll just make him a sandbox for when he's out roaming around my room. I'm trying to figure out what would make a good sand box for both in cage and out...

And as well, removing the sand leads me to question what I'm going to put in as a substrate after the move. I want to use some of the slate that's sitting in my closet taking up space, but I don't want the horrendous task of cleaning the slate. I've thought about sealing the tiles, but at the moment I don't have enough well ventilated space to go ahead with that... that would have to wait until the outside world isn't covered in snow and ice. It's going to end up being carpet, paper towels, or the no-stick contact paper for now... considering I have all of that right here right now... has anyone here used carpet before? Pros and cons? My only concern with paper towels is that both Rambo and Twiggy have a tendency to try to destroy paper, and paper towels are kind of weak...

As far as Twiggy's feeders go, she has had gut loaded crickets, wax worms, and meal worms... but those are only on rare occasions, like when the awful petshop in this town is out and I can't get to Madison to get any. (I love how they sell reptiles in the petstore here, but don't have any crickets, or any kind of feeders 80% of the week =/ )
I am going to have to order feeders today. Hopefully that will get her appetite back. Thank you so much for the links!

 

[BaskingBaby]

If you have a 40 gallon breeder, just go to Home Depot/Lowes and grab two 16" tiles and pop them in there. They were like $3 a piece. They should fit snugly...actually my boyfriend might have had to shave off a small sliver on one of the tiles before we put them in I think. They are SO easy to clean, just pick up the poop and flush it, and wipe down the tile with a wipe. If you're the fancy type and want to seal them in there, grab some caulk from the tile section and it's REALLY easy to just squeeze some in the cracks.

An even easier option is the vinyl (I think that's what it was?) linoleum type material that looks EXACTLY like tile and even feels like it. It's bendable and can easily be cut. I've also used this and it's great and extremely easy to put in there because it can be cut to size. I think I bought like 3 pieces of the 10x10" tiles for my baby's 20 gallon.

That's definitely the easiest to clean option. I've used almost every substrate imaginable. Tried Repticarpet which is OK but I wouldn't use again. When they poop on it, it hardens and sticks to it and is impossible to get it all up. I did wash mine in the washing machine and let them air dry so they didnt shrink...but it got old after a while. Having multiple pieces so you can swap it out is good. Feeders do creep under the repticarpet if it isn't held down though.

 

[ubergnomie]

My dad and I built their cages, and we got the measurements a little funky. They're both bigger than 40 gallon breeders tho. I can't remember the exact measurements anymore...

I love the idea of vinyl, it isn't too slippery is it?

I have repticarpet for my leo and I don't think I'd use that for my beardies. I can only imagine the mess it would make...

I do have a ton of leftover carpet from my room tho, and thus far, while letting the beardies run around my room, they haven't gotten their claws caught in it at all. I feel like cleaning that would be even more of a pain though.

I think I'm going to go to the thrift store in town today and see what they have for flooring. There's usually an abundance there... might even end up going to Menards tonight...

I need to get better at making decisions.

 

[warnisha]

I wonder what the best thing would be to help with their claws also??? Hmmm...Oh and how did you build a cage??? I would love to see pics! I have ythought alot about that!

 

[ubergnomie]

I'll share some pics soon. The last couple days have been hectic. My dad based them off of some on here though.

But... I have progress! Went to menards and found a big role of vinyl flooring for $10! Enough to do both cages and then some! It looks like the slate I have too! Cut that to size, but I'm letting them air out because they smell like... vinyl I guess. It's a really strong odor, and I don't want them to have to deal with that...

But... then I took my babies out for a good 2 hours or so. Put them each in their own plastic tote with newspaper and crickets and wax worms and strawberry and kale salad... Twiggy amazingly ate like a fiend. Rambo black bearded... and didn't want to eat. Probably because he was eating all day anyway... he's a piggy lizard.

With the help of my boyfriend and my dad the cage got moved. Then my boyfriend, being super amazing, helped me take all the sand out and sift through some of it, so I don't have to waste all of it. Then he amazingly got Rambo out and was holding him and they were like best friends and I was jealous. Maybe it was just because he was getting chilled. On the brightest of all bright sides all twiggy wanted to do was eat. She cleaned me out of crickets!

Now the babies are back in their homes, I have newspaper on the floors, and their favorite belongings with them. When I'm done with work tomorrow I'll be putting them back in their temporary tote homes and taking a shop vac to the viv to get the rest of the sand out. Then hopefulllllllllly putting in the vinyl flooring, along with some tiles, and more rocks and things. I'm still contemplating how I'm going to make the sand box work... I have an idea but it's going to take quite some time to finish... I might just temporarily go with a shoe box or something though... I don't know right now... I'm exhausted.

I plan to have some pictures to share within the next week. I know this wouldn't have gotten this far this fast without everyone's support here. =)

 

[ocrage]

is the vinyl slick? you dont want anything thats slick that doesn't give them good traction. also do they have some sticky stuff under it? i hear the heat that the lights give off is too much for the certain adhesives and can be bad for beardies.