awkwardpossum
Member
Hi guys, it's been a while. I wasn't sure if this topic should go in housing or health or what, but uh. I'd like to pick your brains a bit because something kind of unexpected happened yesterday!
Sssssoooo despite the fact that I've had Dog for nearly 3 years now, yesterday during a vet visit I found out that HE may in fact be a SHE! His current vet (who I consider much more experienced and trustworthy with reptiles than the vet I took him to a few years back that originally insisted that he was male) thinks that she's a girl, and he believes he felt some eggs inside of her abdomen.
SO... this is kind of shocking news for me, but a lot of the abnormal behavior I've noticed in him lately lines up with the possibility of him/her being gravid. Decreased appetite, aggressive glass surfing and restlessness... so now I'm scrambling to try to understand how to properly care for a dragon in a situation that I know next to nothing about. I've read a few topics on these forums but I'm struggling to make sense of all the information and conflicting opinions X_X
Note: There is absolutely 0% chance that the eggs are fertile. Dog hasn't even so much as laid eyes on another beardie since I adopted him.
I'm rambling a bit so I'll cut to the chase and try to break this down into of the different questions I have:
1) Does anyone have a specific brand of potting soil they recommend using for a digging area? My vet told me to use a mixture of organic potting soil and coconut fiber but I'm having trouble tracking down a brand of soil that is organic and doesn't also have like. Plant food or fertilizer mixed in... One I found earlier sounded perfect until I saw it had lime, and I couldn't find anything about how potentially dangerous that might be to a beardie. Specific brand names would be really helpful, or alternate suggestions for materials... I live in a city and have no car so accessing farm/garden supply stores is difficult for me.
2) As a temporary setup, I have a plastic container full of Ace brand topsoil in her tank, but I'm worried it's just going to do more harm than good because it seems to have lots of tiny rocks and sticks mixed in. Should I just not bother until I manage to get my hands on a better substrate? I don't want her to get egg bound but I don't want to risk her eating a rock or something by accident either.
3) Should I keep a smaller dig box in the tank with her or have a bigger separate one set up? I keep finding mixed information on this.
I'll probably think of more to add to this later. Thanks in advance for any advice you guys have, this whole situation has really thrown me for a loop! :shock:
Sssssoooo despite the fact that I've had Dog for nearly 3 years now, yesterday during a vet visit I found out that HE may in fact be a SHE! His current vet (who I consider much more experienced and trustworthy with reptiles than the vet I took him to a few years back that originally insisted that he was male) thinks that she's a girl, and he believes he felt some eggs inside of her abdomen.
SO... this is kind of shocking news for me, but a lot of the abnormal behavior I've noticed in him lately lines up with the possibility of him/her being gravid. Decreased appetite, aggressive glass surfing and restlessness... so now I'm scrambling to try to understand how to properly care for a dragon in a situation that I know next to nothing about. I've read a few topics on these forums but I'm struggling to make sense of all the information and conflicting opinions X_X
Note: There is absolutely 0% chance that the eggs are fertile. Dog hasn't even so much as laid eyes on another beardie since I adopted him.
I'm rambling a bit so I'll cut to the chase and try to break this down into of the different questions I have:
1) Does anyone have a specific brand of potting soil they recommend using for a digging area? My vet told me to use a mixture of organic potting soil and coconut fiber but I'm having trouble tracking down a brand of soil that is organic and doesn't also have like. Plant food or fertilizer mixed in... One I found earlier sounded perfect until I saw it had lime, and I couldn't find anything about how potentially dangerous that might be to a beardie. Specific brand names would be really helpful, or alternate suggestions for materials... I live in a city and have no car so accessing farm/garden supply stores is difficult for me.
2) As a temporary setup, I have a plastic container full of Ace brand topsoil in her tank, but I'm worried it's just going to do more harm than good because it seems to have lots of tiny rocks and sticks mixed in. Should I just not bother until I manage to get my hands on a better substrate? I don't want her to get egg bound but I don't want to risk her eating a rock or something by accident either.
3) Should I keep a smaller dig box in the tank with her or have a bigger separate one set up? I keep finding mixed information on this.
I'll probably think of more to add to this later. Thanks in advance for any advice you guys have, this whole situation has really thrown me for a loop! :shock: