LG ~ The Handi-Capable Bearded Dragon

[Jiffy]

he means all the world to me and theres nothing i'd trade him for, except for two of him. .

Aww, I have never heard that expression before, but that is so sweet!

 

[beardie osk]

Hello Jason,

I have just read through this site, and had a number of emotions............... angry, sad, disgusted, and happy................................ I think you've done a wonderful job in saving this babies life.......... with your tender loving care. As I read, I took some notes to make sure all your questions were answered, and if I may, I'd like to make a few comments as well. (please forgive me that some of these areas have already been touched upon)

BD's are a very solitare animal in the wild, but it's interesting how social they are and want to be with humans. I know you have a concern about how delicate they seem to be, but please don't be afraid to hold him, you have saved his life, and he knows that, you have been his physician, caretaker, feeder, and most of all his friend. I would hold him on your chest and let him feel your warmth from within, it's a great bonding time for both of you................. and it's a great expression of love.

You had mentioned the shedding process, please be very careful not to pull on the loose shed. If pulled off prematurely, it can damage his scales. When a piece is bothering me, I very carefully cut it off, not too close to where it's attached, though.

Because he eats frequently, always make sure he has 2 hours basking after his last snack, for digestion, before going into his hut. Sometimes its good to take out the feeding dish when you know bedtime is coming up.

Licking is very common, they test their enviroment with their tongue so that is normal; I'm glad you have removed the sand, maybe a small section of playsand when he's an adult will be fun for him then.

Unfortunatley, Butterworms, phoenix worms, etc, tend to be expensive with hungry beardies, but since your baby is eating fewer than the normal, it may be cost effective. I get mine from Mullberry farms, in Ca. Have you thought of raising roaches? Dubia roaches are easy care, and after you get your original breeders, you won't have any further cost.(it takes a while, though) Crickets are cheap, but can cause parasites, unpleasant for the beardie, and expensive for you.

I loves the stones in the viv that you had at first, maybe your ramp can just be those stones (bigger if you think he'd swallow them) Tiles that are used for tanks are best if they are rough, to normally sand down their nails, I'd use smooth tile in your case since you don't have to worry about that, but you've done a very thoughtful re-decorating process in what you have now.

As we all know here, a Vet would have been the ideal situation for amputation, HOWEVER, YOU NEED TO BE COMMENDED FOR THE WONDERFUL JOB YOU DID, AND CARE YOU GAVE POST-OP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (diluted betadine is best, as stated) I felt like I was reading a story, deep in the jungles of Africa, with life saving physicians giving much care needed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :notworthy:

Keep up the good work, Jason, I know when you have a job you'll have Trooper (oops, did I call him that,lol) seen by a vet for his wellness physical, and they should marvel at the wonderful care you've been giving to him.

Best wishes,

 

[fresnowitte]

BD's are a very solitare animal in the wild, but it's interesting how social they are and want to be with humans. I know you have a concern about how delicate they seem to be, but please don't be afraid to hold him, you have saved his life, and he knows that, you have been his physician, caretaker, feeder, and most of all his friend. I would hold him on your chest and let him feel your warmth from within, it's a great bonding time for both of you................. and it's a great expression of love.

beardie osk I couldn't have said that better! I have been more interactive with Z&W than I'd normally be with my beardies(due to their handicap) sense their very beggining. I feel that the loving bond that we have, helped to give them the will to live. I also believe that they truely appeciate it. Having to give that special care, with them completely depending on us. The reward of being loved an appreciated by any beardie is awesome, but with a special needs beardie it is out of this world. :love5:

Unfortunatley, Butterworms, phoenix worms, etc, tend to be expensive with hungry beardies, but since your baby is eating fewer than the normal, it may be cost effective. I get mine from Mullberry farms, in Ca. Have you thought of raising roaches? roaches are easy care, and after you get your original breeders, you won't have any further cost.(it takes a while, though) Crickets are cheap, but can cause parasites, unpleasant for the beardie, and expensive for you.

I too order from http://www.mulberryfarms.com/ I feed my beardies a variety of feeders an I can order all of the worms from there.
I agree totally with comment about crickets an roaches. Nasty little crickets! Will cost you hundreds of dollars in vet bills and med's. Not to mention drive you insane with their noise.
Roaches are very easy to raise. And do not give you the parasite headaches.

Of course you will probably have to do like I do with Z&W, slightly smoosh the head of the roach and hand feed with hemostats or tweezers. Though I found for me that the Blatta Lateralis (rusty reds) work much better as they don't get as big as the Dubias. So even full grown they will never be to big for my smallest beardie Junior who's 5 months. Yet big enough to feed to my big beardies.

:wink: beardie osk I think of the name Trooper when I think of this amazing little guy too. :love5:

Jason you have done such an awesome job with him. Do realize that your his best friend for his life.

Barbara

 

[beardie osk]

Thank-you Barbara, you too have done amazing with your boys, Z+W................. I too have two boys with AV, so I've had to do some things a little different than having healthy beardie's........... but with all that..................................... here, here,to Jason and his baby.................

 

[fresnowitte]

That's right! You have special needs babies too.
It can be so heart wrenching, challenging, and frustrating, yet rewarding trying to give them the best care possible.
But hard to imagine life without them.
But your right hip... hip... hooray for Jason and his little Trooper! Whoops did I capitalize that? :wink:

Barbara

 

[beardie osk]

Our little secret :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

[Jasper's Mom]

I agree with beardieosk... I think it would do him a world of good to be held. You can see in the photos, in the way that he looks up at you, that he trusts you and knows you won't harm him. I bet he would love to snuggle up under your chin for a nap. He is so unbelievably cute.

 

[jscott]

i will try the beardie burrito tonight, i think he might like that.

ok well this is what i've done with his tank today:

since he isnt able to climb i needed to build him a ramp. it took me about an hour; i used boxes for the platform and ramp.

i made a ladder out of wood dowels and beads, thats what you see on the ramp.

i placed him under the basking spot. he seemed to enjoy it.

*EDIT* i am going to edit my designs as follows:

as it is now (too steep)

as it will be. easier grade and better lighting too

he was about 17" away from the reptisun at the bottom before the adjustment. after the adjustments he will be about 12" away at the lowest end, and 6-8" at the highest end.

 

[fresnowitte]

Excellent handicap ramp!

Barbara

 

[Drache613]

Hello Jason,

Wow that is looking really good now. Great job on that. He is a lucky little dude.
Has he had a pretty easy time of getting up there?
I have to say you have got an incredible heart caring for him in this manner. I am extremely impressed.

Tracie

 

[rsciw]

so happy you have him and are taking such a good care of him.
He really perked up and is happy, as visible on the photos, really glad that he's with you.

 

[lizardgrrl]

I REALLY like your ramp! good to see he's doing so well and your creativity on his behalf is wonderful!

 

[diamc]

Hi Jason, I think the re-vamped ramp will be perfect. Good job. Everytime I see a picture of him, I just want to pick him up & give him cuddles. I think the beardie burrito would be enjoyed by him and by you. I agree that when he is looking at you taking pictures, it is totally obvious that he has complete trust in you. I think it's time for you to start holding & cuddling him more, it's almost like he's begging for it.

 

[athenacp]

I have to agree with Diane, he has that "please-pick-me-up-and-hold-me-close-to-your-heart" look in his eyes :love10: (and I want to hold him too!!!! :love10

 

[jscott]

ok, so i tried the "beardie burrito", it was delicious :twisted: ...

KIDDING! sorry ive been waiting to slip that in somewhere, why not on my thread huh? but seriously i did try it tonight. i don't know if he's too small to be on my chest, but i think my heart beat was a little rough for him :shock: . every time my heart would beat he popped up a little with it :roll: . that paired with my chest moving up and down in between breathes wasnt too relaxing i imagine. he didn't try to scramble away but about 3 minutes in he started wiggling around. i didn't know if he was uncomfortable so i took the top flap of the towell off. we sat their for another 10 minutes with no signs of sleepiness.

i put him back in his tank and gave him back his Habba-Hut(i take it during the day, otherwise he'd sleep 24/7 :roll: ) he promptly wiggled inside and then turned around to face me. he boobed his head once or twice as if to say "good-night" :mrgreen:

i will try again tommorow, maybe in near darkness this time.