My Adventure with Riley, Phantom and Quill

Okay so I am starting a new thread to put all of my soon to come memories with me new little beardie!! I am also creating a blog if anyone is interested (I have never blogged before so we will see how it turns out :mrgreen: ) I know I have a few people who wanted me to start a new thread for this so here it is!!


I will start out by sharing Parker's old tank that is cleaned and ready for its new friend!


Here also is a link to my new friend that should be arriving in the next few days!
http://beardeddragons.co/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=205

Anyone have any name suggestions?? I was thinking about the name Riley but I will have to see if the personality fits lol.

 

[getgab92]

Thanks Deb! Yes Riley is a very happy dragon. Phantom definitely has the attitude that I am not sure how to break. I get scared sometimes cause he will flatten out at me and open his mouth sometimes. I also separated their cages so they are both on the same wall but on opposite ends and my dresser with my tv on it is in between them. Somehow Riley still manages to head bob at Phantom. Even when the lights first come on in the morning and the sheet is still covering Riley's cage I can still hear him head bobbing and he cant even see Phantom!! :lol:

Still talking with Tracie about all the meds and getting them figured out. I need to get them started on them soon though.

 

[sweetiepie9]

They can smell each other, so will always bob, it's just the way males are! As for Phantom, just keep calm, they can smell when we're nervous. And handle him alot. If you can, lie down with him and stroke him when he's getting sleepy, that always worked for me. Good luck with him!
Don't forget, he's a juvie, so more a teenager, plus going through puberty!

 

[getgab92]

Tracie has been great. I received the meds about 2 days ago and started them. Like I said before my vet prescribed the Albon for the coccidia but I took Taterbugs advice and got the toltrazuril (ponzuril) and hopefully it will knock it out this time.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Fingers crossed it all works. Tracie is wonderful and very knowledgable, glad you got in touch with her. Keep me posted, k?

 

[getgab92]

Oh I will. Fi gers crossed here too! Hoping this will be it

 

[getgab92]

So they have both gotten their last dose of toltrazuril and tomorrow will be the last dose of panacur. Phantom's poo still had a strong sMell. I'm wondering if he still has giardia but it just want in the sample I have the vet. I have noticed Riley's appetite is improving greatly. He stayed eating dubia again. I feed him about 6-7 from the tongs the other day and then a day or 2 layer he ate some more. He is also eating his collards ALMOST daily. Still not a good pooper for me though lol. I will have to give him some pumpkin when I have time.

Anyway that's just a little update for you guys. I sure hope I get some more people posting in her eventually lol. *hugs* none the less!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi, I"m glad those nasty meds are done. So do you wait a month before you take them in to make sure they're clear? That's what I've been doing. My vet said it takes some time to get everything back to normal after the meds are done.

I'm glad Riley is eating more, that's a good sign, too. And his greens almost every day, that's awesome. Wish I could say the same for me!

And yes, Pumpkin for pooping has always worked for my crew.

How are the wedding plans going so far, I know it's a ways away, but there's always alot to do, right?

Is Phantom eating well, too?

I have re-named Ariel to Cierra, as that name kept coming out when I said her name. She's doing very well, considering she's only been with me for 2 weeks. She's eating tons of bugs and her greens every day, too, and from her dishes, not by hand! It's wonderful to see. Here's a picture of her on her piggy.

Puff has laid 26 eggs over the last 2 weeks, that's how she does it, and is very skinny, so I've been hand feeding her as much as I can. She still eats her greens from her dish, but not her bugs, so that's been interesting to say the least!

Gabriel and Nathaniel spend most of their days with black beards, they are right in the Spring Fever time of year :lol:

Leo is as laid back as ever, he's in sunshine right now, it's a beautiful day over here, sunny and warm. So I'm taking advantage and opening up the balcony door so they can each have time in the sunshine.

 

[getgab92]

Aww what a great picture Deb! Thank you so much for sharing.

My vet didn't tell me anything about retesting but I'm assuming that I retest after a month since I should know now from fighting this so long.

Riley hasn't eaten in a few days but he also still hadn't pooped. I gave him a good amount of pumpkin about 2 days ago and still nothing. I think thats why he's not eating right now.

Phantom eats like the monster I'm sure he will become lol. Eats his greens and bugs. He will even eat his greens in the morning when they are crunchy and dried out lol. I can't image why he likes them like that

The wedding plans are going well. We have been done for a while now. Just have the little details to work out. We will be sending our save the dates out this summer our biggest thing right now is if we are gonna buy a house or get an apartment first. We don't have that much saved up but we will figure it out.

It's great that Cierra is eating well and on her own. I like that name too. And poor puff must be so tired from laying all those eggs! How do the girls get along?

I'm glad u are having better weather than here. It's snowing today.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Snowing again? Drag!

So Riley's not eating & you gave him pumpkin? Have you been massaging his belly downwards when he's in the bath? What I've done is make baths hotter, that usually works for my reluctant poopers. I have 2 of those, too, it's probably a hard urate, it always is with mine. Gabriel's is getting softer, but he's on daily baths. So is Cierra and Nathaniel, their urates were hard a week ago, so daily baths for them, too. Cierra poops well but that urate has to be softer and that's the only thing I've noticed in the years I've had beardies, hotter baths can bring on poop and if urates are hard, daily baths for a week or two will soften them up. I've never found anything else that works for softening hard urates (that's when they're like chalk) , except pumpkin. So try the hotter bath for a couple of days, see if that helps. The pumpkin should work but it doesn't always. I've heard mineral oil & also unsweetened applesauce can also work.

Puff laid 27 eggs altogether & I hope she's done. I'll be so glad to get her spayed in the summer (that's when I can afford another vet bill). Can't come soon enough. That's over 150 eggs since Jan/14 :shock:

Cierra is a real cricket vacuum cleaner again today. She must have eaten 100 or more. She does this every 2 or 3 days, worms in between. So I'm getting another 500 on the weekend, should last a couple of weeks, I hope.

 

[getgab92]

Hey everyone! Wow I know it's been so long since I posted last. Things have gotten a little hectic with work and wedding plans.

Just wanted to give a little update. My poor Phantom is still battling parasites. Working with my vet to knock em out for good. Riley is doing great. Very active baby and going to the bathroom and eating regularly.

Considering getting a new friend soon. There is this eyelash crested gecko at work that has been there for at least 2 and a half years. He is marked 50% off of $19.95. He is grumpy because no one ever handles him and he has only known a little 6×10 cage. I already have all the stuff he needs I would just need to but substrate and a uvb bulb.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Poor Phanton, I'm sorry he's still battling parasites. They can be stubborn. I have a new dragon, Castiel, a gift from my friend Sabrina in Louisiana. It took him 2 days to get her, shipped through Reptile Express. He's a beauty, 10 mo old, 19" long and 470g already. He also has parasites, had a fecal & wellness check done at my vet yesterday, so I'm hoping one round of panacur will do the trick. My vet always gives the same amount. 3x per week for 4 weeks and I've always found that it works well.

You don't need UVB for a crested, they're nocturnal. They sleep all day. So lots of hiding spaces, She's fine with just light in the living room. I don't use substrate at all, just leave plain glass at the bottom. I couldn't find a substrate that suited them (I also have a golden gecko). They both love it as they can get around much better on the glass than anything else. Plus my living room is always warm (heated for them in the winter, very warm in the summer). So the golden has a heating pad on the back of his tank, plus a black 40W light on the top of his tank and my crested has the 40W light on the top, too, as she needs to be lower temps in her tank than he does. I've never had a negative comment about no substrate and it sure makes cleaning up their tanks easier. I also found out that the walls of their tanks need to be cleaned regularly, too, (just with hot water) as the glass accumulates dust and they'll not be able to climb. My Bunny has a hide, a bathtub (water dish always full of fresh water as they like to take baths) and a stick that came with her that goes across the tank. She uses it to jump off and on. The she has a long strip of silk leaves that she hides behind to sleep. That's all she likes in her tank. She has a 24" tall, by 12" deep by 12" wide tank and that seems to be enough for her. Rocco, my golden, has an 18" by 18" by 18" because he flies around alot. I think he thinks he has wings LOL. He also has a live fig tree in his tank that I mist often as they both need their tanks misted a couple of times a day.

Good luck! You'll love having a gecko. And you'll find that a bit of TLC will make him less grumpy.

 

[getgab92]

Well in my store he is in a cage that has that coconut fiber soil in it and it's nice because it holds the moisture after misting. My room temps varies often as I have a ac unit in my window since the dragon cages make my room very hit but uncomfortable to me.

Okay so no UVB bulb needed just a black 40w it is. He is apprentice not very friendly since no one bothers him other than to feed him. I feel so bad for him cause it seems no one wants him. I think I might take him home this week. I have a tall tank that I used to house a tree frog in that I think will make a perfect home for him.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Coco fibres are fine, just alot of bother to change out. You should order some Pangea (I get the watermelon/mango). Mine will only eat crickets, won't eat the pangea but I dust her crickets with it so she gets her fruit and supplements. Maybe yours will eat it, it's great for them. I get it from www.thegeckobox.com I've found they have the best prices, you'll have to check out their site.

I like having geckos, they keep me company at night before bedtime.

 

[getgab92]

Aww yeah I'll have to check that out. I have a whole bunch of new research to do now. I couldn't find the 40w bulb but I had a 60w incandescent heat bulb that's blue in color but I'm gonna switch it out for a black night time one instead. Do u think he needs any light for during the day?

 

[sweetiepie9]

No light needed at all during the day. The 40W black lights are long narrow tube like lights that fit in a small dome. They don't give off alot of heat. Cresties like their tanks to be about 73-74F, not any higher than that. So no under the tank heater either. They're from an island off New Zealand and aren't needing alot of heat. So the 60W will be too hot for them. They don't need any heat at all if wherever your tank is, is in a warm room.