Omega Ridley! New Beginnings!

Is Noodle something I can put in a bowl and laugh at? No she is just a sweet bearded dragon that I instantly have fallen in love with. MY story of how I got to Noodle is a long one but I'll try to make it short just for pictures! Anyway most of you know how I first got introduced in to beardies. And for those who don't I'll tell you my happy tale, so sit around my campfire kids and roast some marshmallows its Story Time!

I first encountered bearded dragons when I went to my first Repticon back in 2006 with my step dad, my friend's dad, my friend, and me. While I was there looking at all the cool animals I noticed upon a type of lizard. What got me about this lizard was it had SPIKES!. I was instantly confused, Are the spikes pokey and do they hurt? Are they more for show than dangerous? Are they both for show and dangerous? I just kept looking at the lizard in utter aw. Well it was time to go and before we left I found out the name of the lizard was a bearded dragon. And after that all I did for years was look on the computer at them, watch videos of them, read books about them, and dreamed about them! Anyway fast forward to today and I finally have a place I can call home for my future bearded dragon and myself for now. :lol:

Now here is the story about how Noodle came to become mine. After knowing for sometime that I was going to move to my mom's house. I started talking her into a bearded dragon. At first she kept saying NO! but with much persistent I budged her a little to say that she will think about it. Well one day I was browsing the For Free section of this forum for fun like I normally do. And I saw a post where a lady, Michele, was looking for a good home for her 2 year old baby, Noodle. I instantly posted because she said she was located in Atlanta and with me moving to Woodstock she was only a 30 minute drive. Me and her started transferring emails about Noodle. Michele told me all about Noodle and I knew I wanted her. We talked on the phone and decided that the 13 of April I could come visit Noodle. (Wish I got pictures of my visit but my phone was dead ) Anyway I told her about my situation of moving because school was almost over for me and about me moving campuses. She told me that if I was really serious into taking Noodle she would give me her entire setup and hold Noodle until May when I decide a good date after I move to come and get her. My mom was surprised about her giving me Noodle's setup because I'm not gonna lie I was too she told me they spend $200 on her tank and all she wanted was for Noodle to go to a good home so she was willing to give me everything.

Well thats my and Noodle's story. IT has only began but we have a huge journey ahead of us. For now Pictures!

 

[Oki05]

lol so her lights went off at 8 I gave her a 10 min bath to help her shedding and it did most of her arm came all off. And after that cuddle time on the couch she started climbing my shoulder and then on my face :lol: anyway I petted the top of her head and under her beard put her underneath her log hide for the night and she kept trying to climb back up my arm while I was putting her in. I got her in the log hide and now she is sound asleep. Also she is a lot smaller than I thought I measured her and she is a little over 18 inches. Please let it be sunny tomorrow she needs her UVB

 

[zandi202]

18" is a good adult length. I'm hoping Jace and Zy don't get bigger than that, but I think Zy might. She's bigger than Jace was at this age.
Noodle reminds me so much of Zy. When I try to put Zy back in her viv I have to make sure I have both hands free because she will climb up my arm faster than a monkey.

 

[Oki05]

Yeah I feel that once everything is calm and she trusts me more she will be doing that all the time

 

[zandi202]

And then it gets frustrating :lol: Just kidding. It makes me happy to know she'd rather be with me.

 

[Oki05]

Yeah well I'm happy I am still surprised that she ate as much as she did with stress she might have and her shedding. Anyway her bath helped her shed so much alot that all of her shed on her right arm is all off except for a peice attached to her claw

 

[Oki05]

Noodle has been giving me heart attacks I know the temp is 69-70 F but when I look at her tank she looks to not be breathing and is cold so I always feel that she died

 

[sweetiepie9]

I just saw your new entry, it's normal for beardies to cool off at night, they need to be cool to sleep well. It's also normal for their breathing to slow down, just like ours does at night. So you can stop worrying about this, you're going to give yourself stress for no reason. Only if the temps go below 65F does she need a bit of extra heat. You can take my word for it, I've been raising dragons for 7 years, k? Honest!

As Liz said, she'll be fine for a couple of weeks without UVB, and I'm sure it will stop raining soon so you can get her outside, but don't worry about that. The glass dancing is a normal thing, as if they could be outside all the time snuggling with you, they would. And snuggling really gives you two a good bond that is important for her. As long as she basks for 2 hours after she eats, you can take her out as often as you want.

As for the poops, still going through relocation stress, so worry about it two weeks from now if they haven't gotten a bit better. A lot of the liquid is extra water from being well hydrated. So no concerns there. And dragons poop smell, just like ours do, the smell re: parasites is eye watering and you can really smell it from across the house, never mind your room :lol: I went through it with Titan, it was awful, I haven't had any such smell in the house since I brought Gabriel home over a year ago :lol: So when you're working and you have some $ to spare, you can check for a good vet in your area and get a fecal done, just to be on the safe side. If you can't afford a vet, you can mail a sample to Cheryl at http://www.beardeddragon.co and she'll do the test and send the meds to you. She's done it for many people that I know who couldn't really afford a vet at the time. She's a very knowledgeable person, is a breeder and really knows her stuff. So you always have that option. I think she charges $5, but you can check by emailing her (the contact list is on the store site).

And the licking is their way of checking their environment. She might be in the same tank, but the substrate is different and she's in a different home. My guys lick everything, too, even though they've had the same home for up to 5 years! Especially if I've cleaned out their tank from a poop or I've changed the newspaper, they lick everything to make sure I haven't made a mistake putting everything back.

So I've decided to leave Titan in Didi's tank and set up the new tank for Didi. I'm going to give Titan everything but Didi's basking brick, which I took out before Titan got home. Didi will get the new hide and I'll find something for him to climb up on, too. I just don't want to have to clean everything for Didi and as he's on the ramp more than he's in his tank, I think he'll do fine on the dining room table. I might not even block off the end so he can make fun of Rubio...we'll see how that pans out. When I'm not home, Didi's the one on the ramp anyway, so I can always check to see what the reaction is between the two of them. Should be fun to watch :lol: I'm such a mean mama :mrgreen:

I'm glad you two are getting along, you were so worried about it and now that she's home with you, she's giving you all sorts of new things to worry about. It's what dragons do best, after all :lol:

 

[Oki05]

Thanks sweetiepie Ive told my mom all about my stress over her to make sure everything is perfect and she said that she just seems high maintenance :lol: I told that she is my baby and I have to do everything to keep her healthy and happy. Ok so yeah I woke up at 8 to make sure her lights came on moved her from her sleeping spot to her basking area, waited until 10:30 then made her a salad, she ate and after that gave her a bath, put her back to bask around 1:30 to help her digestion then left until around 5-5:30, came home and brought her out for exercise, put her back in the tank so I could eat dinner, gave her another bath to help shedding, and after that snuggle time then at 8 pm lights off and sleep time. Anyway I need new pictures for you guys I'll take some today and post them. I'm suprised she hasn't stressed over anything yet.

 

[Oki05]

So this is why I never go off of my local weather or national weather because my local weather says its suppose to be cloudy all day today with maybe some rain by the afternoon and the National weather The Weather Channel says its suppose to be partly cloudy from 10-5 but that mmeans that there will be some sunshine today for Noodle but who is right?

 

[sweetiepie9]

Guess you'll find out tomorrow. I rarely check the weather channel or any other channel as they're mostly wrong. I check my dragons instead, as they seem to know instinctively when it's going to be a bad weather day.

I'm glad you're getting into a routine, the high maintenance will stop after awhile, as you get used to each other & how Noodle likes her life to be. It really gets easier as you get less stressed and more used to her routine. It's all worth it and we all like to make sure our babies are the most comfy that they can be!

 

[Oki05]

Yeah I figured that once me and her get to know each other everything will be ok I just woke up to make sure her lights came on and put her on her basking spot uggh her lights havent come on their own

 

[Oki05]

So she finally ate some more salad more squash then leaves but its a start i gave her 5 crickets 3 were calcium dusted, she didnt want anymore after 5. If I calcium dust her crickets is that bad since she doesn't have a UVB? Also I took some pictures of her eating


"What is dis thing on my headz?"

"Daddy I am trying to eatz breakfest in peace"

 

[sweetiepie9]

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllS

Rubio's just saying hi to Noodle, he says she's a very nice lady, when is she going to visit? Maybe she would go out on a date?

 

[Heather85]

lol I could see it now both in harnesses next to eachother eating wild dandelions during a sunset hehehe

 

[Oki05]

Aw looks like Noodle has a secret admirer :lol:. I'm going to show her pics of Rubio and see what she does. Anyway so her basking spot is officially 105 F yay. I went out and bought her some tiles but I didnt buy enough so I need to go back and buy more. I took her outside around 2:45 because it was finally sunny and she just looked all over the place I put her in the grass and she didn't move at all. I brought her back in and put her in the living room and she has moved into the kitchen. I decided to give her a few more crickets for being a good girl. Also during breakfast I gave her a couple of crickets that were calcium dusted with vitamin D3 so I say she has had quite the day.