So Beebz finally got his vet visit today. He was supposed to go last week but I got sick the day he was scheduled. All and all, things went pretty well. He has a small sore on his head that i was advised to keep an eye on. His back and head are about to shed so hopefully it will resolve itself when the skin comes off. He weighed in at 280g, and while we didn't get a length measurement i think he's over 16" long enough.
The Vet said he was big for his age but his weight was appropriate for his length, and that he was very strong. He decided to prove that by struggling then hissing (never heard him make that or
any noise before), and puffing up when she was examining him. After his ordeal he got back in his carrier and pooped which saved me having to bring back a fecal sample another time.
There was no bloodwork done or anything like that. He got a physical examine and they took the fecal so i should get the results for that sometime tomorrow. It was a little more expensive than i anticipated ($300) considering the lack of bloodwork, but we live in CT where everything is expensive so i'm not super suprised.
Overall it was a good experience. Other than his protests at the physical, Beebz traveled very well. I like
his carrier a lot. I bought it for the vet visit, but it also folds out to give him some more space if I want to set it in the yard to give him some sun and fresh air. It's supposedly 19.5" long, which makes me want to try and get another measurement of Beebz as when he stretched out he was pretty close to taking up the entire length.
The Vet seemed knowledgeable. I tried not to cringe too much when i got the "
Bathe him so he can absorb water through his skin" lecture, but other than that the advice i got sounded like it all meshed with what I understand to be true based on my research.
Here is Beebz back home telling me what a horrible person I am for letting the Vet touch him:
He refused to get down and eat, so I figured he earned delivery today despite my resolution to try and make him exercise for his meals:
He made sure I knew that doesn't make up for the indignities he was made to endure:
Feeding has been a little more challenging this week. Beebz has decided that Roaches are not his favorite, preferring crickets, BSFL, mealworms, superworms, and the ever treasured hornworms. I like that he gets a variety but I did prefer him happily gobbling roaches as they are the easiest for me to keep alive and healthy! My order of 1000 BSFL started smelling heavily of ammonia so i stopped feeding them, that was frustrating. The cup they came in wasn't much bigger than the 500 counts, so i think there are just too many in there. I need to look into a better setup to transfer them to if i order that many in the future.
We are down to just a few mealworms and superworms left as far as feeders go. I finally got him to eat the rest of the Dubia so I can easily clean out the bin and get it ready for a new order. I'll pick up some crickets today to tide him over until the next shipment from Dubia.com arrives. I went down a size and ordered 1000 of the 5/8 roaches. Mealworms i went the other way and got 200 large, as the mediums look tiny now. He also get some more supers and hornworms. I'm holding off on getting more BSFL until I have a bin ready to transfer them into.
I'm a little worried about Beebz getting enough exercise. He is a lazy dude, and spends most of his time in the enclosure laying around. Amusingly he was apparently more active than normal at the vets, the tech asked the vet: "So is that what an angry one looks like? Normally they just freeze when we take them out of the carrier" His carrier should be good for getting him a little outside time, but even expanded he really can't run around. He walks around a bit when we let him into his playpen, and he'll run for food he deems valuable enough (hornworms, superworms, crickets) but that's about it.
I'll add some pictures from my phone shortly.