LG ~ The Handi-Capable Bearded Dragon

[jscott]

fresnowhitte, thank you for your kind words. i love him more than anything else in my life, and i try to show him that. i joined this site because no one in my neighborhood knew/cared about bearded dragons. since i've joined, i've learned so much! he is a happier healthier dragon because of this website .

i have heard of your little miracle(s) zak n' weezie, they are adorable . how do they react to each other, do they head-bob? i stumbled across your thread and couldnt believe my eyes :shock: . i watched them grow up picture by picture, and was touched. they are very special.


MissT, i had the kricket keeper there to remind me to buy more crix yesterday. i don't leave it there when it's occupied other than to gauge his appetite. if he runs toward it, i take it away and feed him. you are correct, he gets distracted if the keeper is near. he can't focus on the one in his cage so i keep it out of view.

your right about the reptisun too! right after i plugged it in he showed a big improvment. before i got the reptisun his only UV source was the window he was near(so no UV right, glass filters it?) and the couple of hours we sit in the sun each day. i felt so guilty for not being able to aford a proper light(only a heat lamp at first) so i saved and saved until i could finally order one online. he used to show his dark colors only outdoors in the sun. now, he's that color all the time 8), i couldn't be happier.

!UPDATE! i changed the posistion of his light this morning:

i now have the reptisun suspended UNDER the screen top, so he's getting %100 of its rays. i'd say he's about 12-14" from the tube so i still need to build that wide ramp to get him higher levels of UVB and heat.

the next item on my list is a temp gun. i have my eye on a $25 one at http://www.tempgun.com/main.html, is this an accurate one?

well, thats about it for now. thanks again for all the kind words, everyone. i love bearded dragons so much... i plan to rescue another once i can afford another setup. i've got my eye on this one with a club foot, i really want to take him home every time i see him.

 

[fresnowitte]

fresnowhitte, thank you for your kind words. i love him more than anything else in my life, and i try to show him that. i joined this site because no one in my neighborhood knew/cared about bearded dragons. since i've joined, i've learned so much! he is a happier healthier dragon because of this website .

i have heard of your little miracle(s) zak n' weezie, they are adorable . how do they react to each other, do they head-bob? i stumbled across your thread and couldnt believe my eyes :shock: . i watched them grow up picture by picture, and was touched. they are very special.

i love bearded dragons so much... i plan to rescue another once i can afford another setup. i've got my eye on this one with a club foot, i really want to take him home every time i see him.

This is a wonderful site I too have learned so much from it's nice members.

:laughing6: Oh, Jason you better watch out they are like Pringles you can't have just one! :lol:

Thank-you!
Z&W will bob at each other once in awhile but not that often.
They really do get along quite well all considering...
They do most of their bobbing at other beardies, which they can only see when I bath the
others in the kitchen sink.
Or occassionally I forget and walk into the other room where all of the other beadies
are housed, with them on my shoulder. whoops!

Again Great Job!

Barbara

 

[jscott]

i recently bought an X-Large Habba-Hut for my bearide. the first day he wouldnt even go in it, but for the last two days he's been spending most of the day in there. he'll poke his head out to take a cricket or greens but for the most part he stays in there.

i recently mounted the reptisun 10.0 UNDER the screen as suggested and im wondering if he doesnt like it there... the first day i installed the reptisun he spent the afternoon propped up basking.

i am wondering if he liked the light better when it was a little further away. i still havent gotten a proper thermometer but his warm side is about 95(too low right?) and he doesnt seem to like the heat there. he always stays on the cool side of his tank (though this is the position of his OLD enclosure). is he just afraid to go over to the "new side" of the tank? it does seem like he spends most of his time in the "foot-print" of his old smaller enclosure.

any help would be great, im not worried yet but im getting there!

 

[kirby]

i say just keep propering him over on his basking spot. he shouldget used to it..

some dragons really dont like change..

 

[Denise Bushnell (RIP)]

Jason,

If I were you, I think I'd set his new tank up so its as similar to his old one as possible, as far as where his basking site is, and which is the warmer side and which is the cool side. Most beardies really don't like any change in their environment, and it tends to stress them out. Because he has a handicap, he may get even more stressed than a normal beardie would.

I would also mount his Repti-Sun 10.0 Fixture on the outside of the tank, as you had it in the first place. Now that its in a much lower position, if may be too warm for him directly below it, or the brightness of the light may be hurting his eyes. I've always had all 3 of mine mounted on the outside of my tanks, and all of mine have always been just fine with them like that. Although he has a handicap, I don't think his UVB requirements would be any greater than that of a normal beardie, so his light should be fine that way.

The Habba Hut is fine for him, but if he's spending too much time in there, I think that I would remove it from the tank for at least a part of the day, in order to make sure that he's spending enough time under the lights basking. Try putting in back in toward evening, then leave it in there so he can sleep in there if he wants, and then remove it again in the morning after he's up and moving around.

They can be little stinkers about your moving things around in their environment, so its not too surprising that he's a bit upset about the changes you've made, even though they are for his own good. If you want to leave things the way they are, he will probably get used to it in a week or two. However, I would remount his light on the outside of his tank, and take out the Habba Hut for part of the day, as I mentioned above, as both of those things can affect his health and his comfort, as far as his being too warm and not absorbing enough UVB.

Just my opinion.....

 

[Drache613]

Hello Jason,

I agree with Denise, they tend not to like change, for the most part.
Definitely try to put the UVB back on top & see how he likes that since that is how it was before, correct?
Have you gotten the basking temps up just slightly? It should be just a little warmer, say 98-100 if possible.
Try those changes & see how he does. This is basically almost like a relocation type of stress for him.

Let us know how he does. Is he eating right now?

Tracie

 

[jscott]

i changed the set-up back to the original configuration. the reptisun is back on top of the screen, heres an overhead diagram of his current set-up:

hopefully tommorow he'll be ok with my taking out the X-Large Habba-Hut for a few hours to bask... he feels pretty safe around that piece of driftwood, it's been with him longer than anything else i think . that is what he uses to prop himself up on so ill put in near the heat lamp/UV combo area.

in reguards to eating, he is a little pig. he doesnt eat as many crickets as other people's dragons but every day he has healthy appetite, which im happy to satisfy . he eats about 10 crickets a day now and about 1.5 square-inches of greens too! i know this is no-where near the norm but i think he just consumes a little less because of his special situation(less cells to feed perhaps, not burning any calories), he lives a pretty layed back life :sleepy2:

 

[jscott]

i hope to rescue this guy from a local pet store. he came from the same clutch as MY dragon and probably helped contributed to my beardies awfull wounds. as you can see, he suffered some wounds early on as well. never the less, i still want him:

i absolutely adore him! :mrgreen: , though he's not as happy as he could be(with me).

im hoping to negotiate a reduced price(not because of HIS missing toes, but because of MY missing funds, lol). i would gladly pay $60-100 for him if i had that kind of money... im hoping he will give me a better deal if he sees im trying to give the animal a better home.

he is the next one on my list... all i need now is the several hundered dollars, hahaha :roll:

 

[Drache613]

Hello Jason,

Oh geez, you are kidding me? So does he have any fingers or toes left?
What IS UP with that petstore? You need to call the animal welfare group or something on him. They should not have to live like that there, that is just not right.

So you think you are going to take him then? You should tell him to GIVE him to you or you are calling the animal welfare group on him & see what he says!

You have a big heart, Jason.

Tracie

 

[kirby]

awwww.. does he even have lights?


poor thing, look at those stress marks.. and those little nubbly hands...

 

[Dave94]

awwww.. does he even have lights?


poor thing, look at those stress marks.. and those little nubbly hands...

What do you reckon made those stress marks? *sorry if this is offtopic*

 

[kirby]

i dunno, maybe getting his hands bitten off...


other dragons, no heat, crickets in his cage.. ?

 

[jscott]

tracie, yes he does need a good rattle.

i think he's starting to realize i pop in just to make sure the animals are ok... i dont know how he feels about that but then i don't care either so :roll: ...

the little guy still has all the digits on his other feet, just that one hand was hurt(long healed, same time as mine).

on a happier note, PICTURES :mrgreen: :

as you can see his terrarium is brite(though the camera is overexposing), but he loves his Habba-Hut..."wake up little guy, veggies!"

"bring them to me, it's too brite out there..."

"so close, yet so far!"

come on, push em closer to me, please?!

***is he getting too fat around his jaw? i felt it today, im pretty sure its fat :mrgreen: , its soft with an easy give(like his throat should be)... i dont think he has any health problems in that area(i hope :| )***

"if i could just...err, stretch my toungue... a little farther..."

"come to me greens..."

hehehe. i caved in and moved the dish closer(i'm a push over :roll: ) he ate almost all of it during the course of the day, as well as another ten or twelve crickets... i know thats sounds like so few but im telling you, two meals of 5 or 6 crickets a day and he's stuffed. he crawles into the nearest corner and sleeps. to remedy this problem ive been taking his Habba-Hut out during the day ! i leave his driftwood in because its good for a little shade(not dark though), and it's what he props up on to bask. i think im going to start propping him up about an hour after i turn on the UV in the morning. he uses his chin to climb up first then he can get his arms up onto something, otherwise he cant reach anything! if i set him like that and he doesnt like it, he can simply shift his weight and slump over onto the towell... conversely, if he chooses he wants up it's difficult to do on his own. i'll try it tommorow and tell you how he liked it. :wink:

 

[kirby]

AWWWWW

his beard isn't too fat.. yet, trust me.. he's got a baby beardie beard..

SO adorable.. loving all the pics !!

 

[Dave94]

Oh wow! That is so cute! How he is sitting there waiting!