possumpeg
Member
Greetings Beardie Gurus! I purchased a baby beardie about 3 weeks ago, and have learned sooooooooooo much from reading your forums and articles!! Thank you so very much. I finally feel like I can introduce my buddy Chip without embarrassing myself for lack of knowledge. First of all, all of our pets are named for food. In 30 years of pet ownership, I have tragically lost two beloved pets who were NOT named for food, so its a family superstition. Anyway, I can tell you I did absolutely everything wrong when I purchased Chip.
Got the fancy reptile aquarium with all the fancy useless junk and only 10g tank. Didn't have a uvb light. Purchased the big fat crickets. Honestly, its a wonder the little guy has survived this long. But as I have continued to lurk on this site, I have changed just about everything, and realized how much money I wasted by not doing my research in advance. So I don't know how old he was when I got him, but he was about 6" long. He's a handsome grey and is now about 10" long. He is also more disc shaped than he was when I got him. I have him in a 100g screen cage now, with newspaper substrate and an aquarium rock, driftwood and some plastic foliage (i put that in when he started shedding) He is not opposed to being held, but he's not a fan of getting picked up. So, I try to sit next to his enclosure when I handle him which seems to make him a bit more comfortable. I have not attempted bathing him or turning him loose. I think he's still small enough to get in the floor vents and that is an adventure I can do without.
I have started ordering my crickets in 3/8 size from Fluker's (which now inhabit the 10g aquarium) although I'm loosing about 1/4 of my delivery before they arrive. I am chalking that up to the colder temperatures. He gets about 7-8 dusted crickets 3xdaily and fresh kale, mustard greens, bell peppers, carrots, and blueberries-occasionally. He did have some bloating with the big crickets, but a few drops of olive oil and water on his veggies, and he is looking much better. There's a lot to having a beardie that i wasn't expecting, but when I consider all the love I give my dogs Honey and Miss Tea, cat Skittles, and bunny Snowball, he's really not that much trouble at all. Now I will see if I can figure out how to download his pictures. Please enjoy laughing at my expense.