Long time no talk!

It's been quite a while since I've been on! I've been super busy with school and work. And I realized I promised pics of Howie but never followed through..lol.
ANYWAYS!
Baby Cobie is not such a baby anymore! He is getting huge I can barely keep up with him! I'm spending $20-$30 a week on crix alone, just for him! Is this normal?! He gets veggies and recently, meal worms and wax worms, almost daily. Along with several crix. And he still acts hungry...he's like a teenage boy honestly! Never ending stomach! lol.

For the longest time I didn't have a lid on Cobie's cage, he was too small to be able to get out, and the sound of opening and closing the lid multiple times a day scared the crap out of him! Well one night (luckily I was home when he figured it out!) I heard scratching against wood, and looked up to find Cobie had gotten out of his tank and hanging on for dear life on the side of the entertainment center his tank is sitting on. I didn't get to the camera in time, but it was kinda funny

Kinda blurry, but oh well!


I'm probably going to get yelled at for this one... :/ Yes, I am keeping both Cobie and Howie on Sand now...It's so much easier to clean, and doesn't smell when they go to the bathroom...I got washed play sand and I clean the tank totally out at least once a month to help prevent parasites and bacteria... Yikes, I'll probably regret posting this for everyone to see, lol. But working 35-40 hours and then going to school full time was killing me and it got to the point I rarely cleaned the poo out of their cages. But with the sand I can scoop it rather quickly, just like a cat box. Be nice! They both have done really well on the sand, and they have been on the sand since January with no problems!
Cobie found a comfy spot to show off his creativeness, and his huge tummy!


Cobie went for his first car ride (besides bring him home from the store the night I got him) He had major stress marks, but found a comfortable spot right on top of my steering wheel!


Howie is doing pretty good as well, she has been eating more and more veggies, which is great! But not so great for her poo, lol. TMI! I've been trying to get her to eat more crix and worms, which seems to be helping. She still has major deformities though, and it makes me sad every time I look at her. I feel like I should have been able to "fix" her, if I was doing things right. And I feel like she's suffering...I've actually thought about having her put down, just because I have no idea what she's feeling. She has trouble swallowing, and keeps her eyes shut a majority of the time. I don't know..I just feel like she would be happier in lizard heaven But anyways, here's just a couple pictures of her!

SeeJay and Howie, taken a few months ago, I don't think I ever posted this particular one...(even though all the ones with SeeJay all look the same..lol)


And this was taken just a few minutes ago, she looks so much different than a few months ago..I think anyways. Her eyes look more..."droopy"...right? I don't know


I'm going to try and get on more often, and once I find my camera charger I will take more pics

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Sara, welcome back, that sounds like a grueling schedule you have there. We raised Sweetie most of her first 2 yrs on sand, didn't realize that newspaper works well, but then my hubby is retired and home all the time, so instant changing makes a difference. With your schedule I can't blame you for using the easiest substrate & it's not calci-sand so impaction isn't an issue.

What's wrong with Howie? I don't think I ever saw your previous posts. I work full-time, so I find it hard to keep up with all the threads as much as I'd like to. We had some trouble with eye shutting with Rubio, we had a dud for a power sun and if Tracie hadn't just published a thread about them I would never have caught on. So he was back to normal after we got the power sun replaced. We had a rescue, Angel, that had never had UVB for 1 1/2 yrs before we rescued her, she improved greating with good UVB. Could that be the issue?

That's so funny that your juvie Cobie, got out of his tank, we don't put tops on any of our tanks, we just leave their wood, etc, really low. Only Rubio, who' 22" long, got out of his 40 gallon breeder, now he's in a 75 gallon 2' tall tank, so can't get out, even though he tries daily. It's totally normal for juvies to eat so much, that's they're biggest growing period. Do you buy crickets in bulk? We went through tons of crickets, we were grateful when Rubio got to be over 16" long so we could feed him supers. I'd keep away from mealies, as they're more shell than meat & can cause impaction. A few for a treat won't do any harm, especially if he's digesting them well. Sweetie used to love them, but again we were glad when she was 16" long, then we switched her to supers, more meat than shell.

The pics of Cobie & Howie are so cute, Cobie with his huge tummy and Howie with your kitty. They sure looked relaxed together. Thanks for sharing.

Deb

 

[Momto3boys]

Hi Sara

I was actually wondering about your crew the other day when I came across an older post. I can't believe how big Cobie got :love5: And I would have loved to see him hanging from the entertainment center.

Howie is still a gorgeous lady.....awwwwww she will let you know when it's time for her to cross

And don't sweat the sand.......I would just use a seperate feeding bin just in case. I have always fed Moose in a rubbermaid container besides his veggies. The other day Moose actually feel off his log and hit his mouth on the hard ceramic time, he licked his mouth quite a few times and blinked alot so I know the fall hurt...I have considered switching to sand since then, that ceramic is HARD.

With proper precautions sand is OK....some people still might not agree with it but if it works for you and your beardies then go with it.

 

[SARBEAR]

What's wrong with Howie? I don't think I ever saw your previous posts. I work full-time, so I find it hard to keep up with all the threads as much as I'd like to. We had some trouble with eye shutting with Rubio, we had a dud for a power sun and if Tracie hadn't just published a thread about them I would never have caught on. So he was back to normal after we got the power sun replaced. We had a rescue, Angel, that had never had UVB for 1 1/2 yrs before we rescued her, she improved greating with good UVB. Could that be the issue?

In my signature is the link to Howie and Cobie's old threads, you can check those out if you want . I work at Petsmart, and adopted Howie from some customers that no longer wanted her. They gave me everything for free, 40 gallon tank, and her, along with decorations and lights. They fed her crix like once a week, and veggies every now and then. So there were times she went at least a day, if not more, with no food at all. I have a reptisun 10.0 on her now, and I have noticed a big difference. She does have a major back deformity, where the back of her neck slopes down, and her entire body looks flat. The vet said that the back deformity is causing her to not be able to swallow her food like a normal dragon. A lot of times when she gapes after eating I can see all the food she had just consumed sitting in the back of her throat. I've actually pulled a worm from the back of her mouth that had been sitting in there for hours once. I'm just really worried and I feel like she may be suffering, but I have no way of knowing!

That's so funny that your juvie Cobie, got out of his tank, we don't put tops on any of our tanks, we just leave their wood, etc, really low. Only Rubio, who' 22" long, got out of his 40 gallon breeder, now he's in a 75 gallon 2' tall tank, so can't get out, even though he tries daily. It's totally normal for juvies to eat so much, that's they're biggest growing period. Do you buy crickets in bulk? We went through tons of crickets, we were grateful when Rubio got to be over 16" long so we could feed him supers. I'd keep away from mealies, as they're more shell than meat & can cause impaction. A few for a treat won't do any harm, especially if he's digesting them well. Sweetie used to love them, but again we were glad when she was 16" long, then we switched her to supers, more meat than shell.

Yes, he is definitely a handful! When he's not eating, he's pooping, and when he's not doing either of those, he is glass dancing trying to get my attention because he's hungry again! lol.
No I don't buy crix in bulk, I have no where to store them (I live with my parents and my mom would freak if I tried to keep a container with 1,000+ crix in it! And I live in AZ so it would be way too extremely hot to keep them outside) I just recently started giving Cobie meal worms. His diet before that was just veggies and crix. He hasn't had any problem with the mealies yet, he poo's normally. I'll keep a close eye on him though, to make sure! I picked it up at my work one day as something extra for him to eat so I don't go through so many crix, lol. When he gets to be 16'' I'll switch him to supers, I'm sure he won't have any trouble downing those!
He's like a garbage disposal I swear! He eats everything! There are some things he doesn't like though, but he's willing to try everything at least once! He actually took a bite out of my ice cream popsicle one day! He was sitting on my chest and I was holding it in one hand, and not paying attention because I was texting, and he took a huge bite! I thought it was hilarious, although I was a little mad at first cause I didn't want to eat anymore of it, the thought of crix, mealies and wax worm guts grossed me out lol. But he enjoyed it, he tried to go in for another bite, and would have taken one if I had let him!

The pics of Cobie & Howie are so cute, Cobie with his huge tummy and Howie with your kitty. They sure looked relaxed together. Thanks for sharing. Deb

Thank you Howie and SeeJay get along very nicely, surprisingly. I think Howie just thinks of him as a huge heating pad, lol.
Thanks for taking a look at my thread

Hi Sara

I was actually wondering about your crew the other day when I came across an older post. I can't believe how big Cobie got :love5: And I would have loved to see him hanging from the entertainment center.

What a coincidence! How is your crew doing? Yes it would have made a great picture for sure! I was pretty bummed I didn't get a picture, but I did find my camera charger while I was cleaning today, so I will take more pictures soon

Howie is still a gorgeous lady.....awwwwww she will let you know when it's time for her to cross

Thank you I think I'm being a little dramatic, but I just hate not knowing how she's feeling. She sure looks like she could be in pain. I just hope she isn't :'(

And don't sweat the sand.......I would just use a seperate feeding bin just in case. I have always fed Moose in a rubbermaid container besides his veggies. The other day Moose actually feel off his log and hit his mouth on the hard ceramic time, he licked his mouth quite a few times and blinked alot so I know the fall hurt...I have considered switching to sand since then, that ceramic is HARD.

Yeah that is a good idea! I'll have to go buy one big enough that Cobie won't get out, haha.
Yikes :/ Poor thing!! I actually ditched the tiles because the poo started to stain the tiles and it looked disgusting! Working all day I come home to poo that had been sitting there for hours, which was a pain to get cleaned up! It's nice to hear from you again

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Sara, I just finished Howie's thread and I just loved all the pics! Howie sure looks great, it's just wonderful how well your cat gets along with her. It sad that sometimes they just don't get over the original poor husbandry, but Howie loves you, she'll let you know if it's time. I know how upsetting it is to bring a dragon home, love them so much & watch them get sick. It's hard to tell if a dragon's in pain, I think Howie just loves the care you give her. Just hang in there. You've given her a great life, I can tell just by the pics that she's so well taken care of.

I haven't had a chance to check out Cobie's thread, I'll do that tomorrow. I'm glad you're back on the forum, you sure are a great photographer. I try with my digital camera, but they sure don't turn out as well & as bright as your pics.

Take care,
Deb