Morty: Pics update

So I posted his intro thread over in introductions, but I figure I should start one here too

I picked this guy up yesterday at the Edmonton Reptile and Amphibian Society's Show and Sale. Should have changed the name to snake sale, for that's what was there for the most part :? But of course that makes me want to pick up a ball python next show :roll:

Anywho, the vendor told me that the ones that they had there were reds with some German Giant in them, so that's pretty exciting

Bought a scale today, so we could do the measure him up and weigh him in

13 inches and 104 grams. And 4 months old from what I was told. I'm going to see if I can get a hold of the vendors to see if I can get a hatch date and verify the bloodlines, because all this record keeping stuff is fascinating to me

I woke up this morning to him trying to impress the non-present ladies :lol: :roll:

Double sexy leg? :laughhard:

He took some crickets this morning, so that's comforting, knowing that he's in shed and likely going to give me the worries if/when he decides to do the relocation stress thing. :roll: But I guess it's the sort of thing that they are best at :lol: Also gave me a nice poo for me while he soaked. I'm going to try and keep the next one to send it off for parasites and the like, just to make sure he's in good shape I haven't given him greens yet, because daddy was a bit forgetful and nervous and didn't have the greens ready for today At least I picked up some collard, acorn squash and a coleslaw mix that I'll try with him tomorrow

General question: If I dust his feeders, should I dust his salad as well? Dusting regimen is 5 days w/ calcium and 1 with the multivitamin for babies to <1 year?

We're still thinking of names for him, and my mother is insisting we have a contest for names. Even though I sort of have a name picked out I'm thinking Levi, but my sister seems pretty bent on Zeus, which I'm not too terribly fond of :roll:

 

[wingnuts]

:love10: Oooooo...he is a hunka-hunka burnin' love! What a handsome boy. Congrats!!!

Tracy & Stella

 

[sweetiepie9]

Congratulations, what a big boy! He sure has pretty colours!

 

[polardragon]

Tthank you for all the compliments We can't wait to see what the later shed will bring

He seems to be doing okay today. He's still handling well and took 20-25 something crickets this morn. I was able to get him to take a few pieces of collard, and part of a carrot, so we'll see if he'll take any on his own today. Just placed an order for 500 crix that should be here Wed. Good thing too, because I should be home all day, because I don't want them to get here when nobody is home :?

He seems to like it better outside the cage than in. He's mister explorer outside with the creamy white belly, and inside he's the lazy lounger :roll: I sure hope it won't be long before he's romping around in there too

 

[Sadona]

Wow, your beardie is gorgeous!
4 months?! :shock: Geez, hes big. That makes me worry about my Cinder...I got him when he was 6 weeks old (from what I was told) and I have had him for about a month and a week and he is just barley 6 inches long. He also hasn't been eating very well for a baby...only about 2-4 crickets and a few phoenix worms a day with maybe a tad of salad for the past week. He poops daily, and has all the right lights and temps, still active...I don't know why he hasn't grown any.

But anyways...I wouldn't dust his salad, just his feeders once a day. If you know he eats his salad and your feeling lazy, dust the salad instead of the crix. I dust Cinder's crickets with calcium every day and vitamins two days out of the week, but he is still a baby.
Levi is a great name, I like it!

 

[polardragon]

Well I was told 4mths, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's a bit older than that. Maybe 4½ to 5? Course the vendors said that they had a bit of German Giant in them. If so, he could become a real big boy

I figured I wouldn't have to dust anything else than his feeders So 5X a week w/ the calc and 2X with the multivitamins?

Came home from work and tried to offer him some more crix and he wouldn't have any of that :? Poor boy, and he's shedding too, so I'm not too surprised. At least I got something into him this morn. Didn't look like he touched his salad beyond the collard that I hand fed him this morn. His tail looks like it may have some retained shed on it, as the end is quite a bit darker than the rest :? I'll try a soak tomorrow w/ him in the morning before I have to head off to work in the afternoon. I'll see if I can drudge up some aloe vera lotion and put that on it when I come home after light's out :?

So I thought some more about a name for him, and I think we came to the conclusion of Morty. Levi didn't seem to quite fit, but this seems more appropriate I think I've converted my mom. She was sorta opposed at first, but now she wants him moved upstairs and is calling him cute

 

[sweetiepie9]

It's amazing how quickly dragons grab your heart. They are different than any other reptile. We've always had cats & came to be dragon slaves by accident. We adopted Sweetie in aug/06, my son had bought her but couldn't care for her anymore so we had a dragon. We sure learned lots on this forum and Sweetie is 4 yrs old now and really healthy. We adopted Lonzo in Sept/08, so then we had two, he's 7 yrs old. Then we rescued two little babies from the pet shop where my husb worked temporarily in fall/08, so then we had 4 and two of them were sick little babies. We learned and learned and the babies grew & grew. Now they're 19 mo old, they're from diff breeders. Rubio is 21" long & 640g, Issy is our littlest dragon, she lost most of her tale to a hungry tank-mate and has never grown as big as the others. Issy is 7 1/2" from nose-snout and has about 4" of tail. She's really sturdy, though, and loves to climb my husbands big overstuffed living room chair. And last we have Leo, who we adopted from our neighbours next door. He's two, we've had him since Feb 14, he was a nice valentine's present!

I'm so glad your mom is enjoying your Morty (nice name by the way ). I'm glad he's enjoying you, too. If he's not eating well, it's a combination of relocation stress/shedding, poor guy. You'll see how fast he grows and how much he'll start eating over the summer. They're normally mostly full grown by a year old and their colours change all the time. Morty's got alot of orange, yellow, such bright colours! I'll enjoy seeing more pics.

Deb and my dragons

 

[fez09]

He's very handsome and yes, a big boy!!! Does he have a name yet? Did I miss it??

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Awww what a handsome fella.

 

[polardragon]

So it seems that Morty is adjusting well, short of eating his salad. Or maybe he is, but I just don't see him :roll: Although I did find a piece of cabbage that was some place that it shouldn't :roll:

Anyway that isn't what this update is about. Since he's shed his tail, little black marking have appeared on the end of his scales

They are are also on the underside of his tail, but I couldn't get a decent picture. That, and they aren't all over the tail, maybe the last 3-4"

I'm hoping this maybe some 'problem shed' but maybe some of you veterans can help me out. He conveniently gave me a poop that had a fair bit of water in it :? Stool was soft and the urate was quite white. I'll see if there's a vet clinic open tomorrow, so I can get it sent off If not, It'll have to wait until Mon Maybe I can see if they know reptiles, and if so, if I could get him in.

 

[mickeysmomma]

He is gorgeous!

 

[polardragon]

Aww, thanks

He's quite clingy too. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing since I'm getting all scratched up. I'll have to drag out the file one of these days :roll: The back of my right hand is all scratched up and almost worn raw up by my knuckles :shock: Doesn't make washing hands/doing dishes at work any easier.

I should have mentioned in the above post, but I was wanting to get that up before I had to head off to work, that his stool was soft, but not loose. I sorta squished it, and it didn't break up while getting it into a snack baggie and into the fridge. Will it be ok to sit until monday? I might be able to get another stool sample between now and then, so if it doesn't 'keep' I don't think we'll have much of a problem of getting another one. No cricket parts in the poop which made me happy since he got one that was a bit too big for him but he seemed to crush it up pretty good.

 

[sweetiepie9]

You should also post the pic & the question in beardie ER or Heath for a faster answer.

 

[Sadona]

I would take the clingy-ness as a good thing...I personally think its adorable and shows the bond he has with you.
Heres a neat trick that I had learned from owning rats, and it works with beardies too: some rough type of rock basking platform really files down their nails. Rock stairways work well too.
When I had rats, their nails would grow quite long, and it was a pain to trim them, so a type of wooden/rock shelf would wear down their nails. (from what I hear.)
I think the poo would sit well in the fridge as long as the bag doesn't have a lot of air in it. I would have a backup excrement ready (if you can get one) just in case.
It must be appetizing to open up the fridge in the morning to find a baggie of beardie-stool greeting you. :lol:

 

[polardragon]

You should also post the pic & the question in beardie ER or Heath for a faster answer.

Will do.

Here's a neat trick that I had learned from owning rats, and it works with beardies too: some rough type of rock basking platform really files down their nails. Rock stairways work well too.

I actually have rough paving stones in there as well as the tile. The tiles probably aren't as rough as they should be, but the paving stones should be doing the job... didn't get that scratched today, so I guess that's okay.

I think the poo would sit well in the fridge as long as the bag doesn't have a lot of air in it. I would have a backup excrement ready (if you can get one) just in case.
It must be appetizing to open up the fridge in the morning to find a baggie of beardie-stool greeting you. :lol:

Yeah, I tried to get as much air out of it as I could. I'll see if I can get a fresher one tomorrow.

And it's inside a snack baggie which is inside one of those brown plastic lunch bags inside a mini fridge in the basement, so it's not bad at all :lol: