RIP Sweet Pogo; Welcome Home Happy Go LUCKY

Has anyone used/had problems with the magic mushroom basking ledge? It attaches to the cage with magnets and can be used as a platform for basking.

There is something wrong with my beardie. I have ruled out just about everything, so now I am checking particular cage furniture. Pogo goes back to the vet on Tuesday (and I am surprised I have been able to keep her alive this long). She has serious eating problems and now she has eye problems too. No signs of respiratory infection, though - like no mouth opening, weird breathing, crusties, mucous, etc. (I use a Reptisun 10.0 T8 Tube - not coil, so that should not be the problem.) I actually turned off the UVB today to see if it would help her eyes - it seemed to help at first, but now tonight, they seem worse again. Her temps are right. I have had two reptile vets (and people here) tell me that my husbandry is fine, but I am taking her back to the vet on Tuesday with multiple stool samples to see if maybe parasites just aren't showing up in every poop, but are there. And now the eye problem, which I thought was just shedding at first but seems to be getting worse . . .

 

[PogoLover]

Pogo will definitely always be in my heart. I wear rings a lot when I leave the house and they all represent people who I loved who died (except my wedding ring - my husband is still alive). This morning I realized that my grandma's wedding ring (which represents my grandparents) had a new ghost when I put it on. Now Pogo is part of that ring. (Don't ask me how the ring thing started . . . I have a crazy imagination . . . one day I was getting ready to go out and I felt like my rings were telling me that they wanted to come with me, so all of the sudden they all became people who I miss). I will literally pick different rings to wear depending on which people I think would like to go where I am going at that particular time!

SO, my bizarro imagination aside, I had to work away from the house today, so I left Lucky an assortment of dubia and worms in a bowl for lunch (he had already eaten his breakfast). I also left him a collard green and grated acorn squash salad. He ate 7 out of the 11 bugs I left for him - I could tell whether he ate any of the salad. Then he had a snack of 4 more worms. I am wondering whether he is going to eat dinner later - I don't know where he will fit it.

Yesterday he ate about 20-25 bugs (an assortment of calcium dusted dubia and plain phoenix worms). I am not dusting the phoenix worms with calcium, but he is starting to favor them I think, so maybe I should? I am afraid to give him liquid calcium until he is bigger . . . he is only 20 grams now, and I don't want to do the pry his little mouth open thing unless I have to. My plan was to calcium-dust the dubia every day of the week, and then dust the phoenix worms with Herptivite on the weekends. For now, I am just going to stick with dubia and phoenix worms, because they are easy to get and he likes them.

He hasn't been drinking anything from what I can tell. I leave a VERY shallow tray of water in his viv in case he wants some. I also tried to get him to lick some off his nose, but no luck. I am going to give him his first bath (here) tonight, so maybe he will drink out of the bath - scares the pants off me, of course. The breeder recommended that I feed him before I bathe him, so that way he won't try to satiate his hunger with water (which is one reason they over-drink sometimes). The breeder also gave me a bathtub for him. It's a clear rubbermaid container a little smaller than a shoe box. He has pooped both days he was here with urate, so I guess he is not too dehydrated. I know my way around an eyedropper - so I will resort to forcing that if he won't drink.

I am sure I have more later . . .

 

[sweetiepie9]

You should be giving a daily bath so he won't dehydrate or need to drink water. I give Imp a 15 min bath daily, they get dehydrated just from being under hot lights all day. And only put water in his tank if it's lower than 35% humidity in there. Otherwise he doesn't need water in his tank.

As far as I know you don't have to dust phoenix worms with calcium, they're full of calcium all on their own, but to be on the safe side, give him two meals of phoenix worm and 1 meal dusted dubia, that solves the problem, then you can still dust the phoneix worms with vit/min powder on the weekend.

He looks big in the picture but he's so tiny at 20g and so healthy! He's doing so well with you. Don't worry too much about salad, just a few bits is more than most babies eat. But keep offering it every day. Imp is still on the mix, so no salad or bugs for him yet. I tried to give him a cricket and he started to tremor, so will try again in a week or so, but not crickets. Hate those things, baby dubia, baby super worms and wax worms is what I have.

I'm so glad you're enjoying him so much! I have to update on Imp, but he didn't have one tremor today, jumped around alot and was just in a good mood all day, now he's sleeping on my chest covered with a blanket. And he's gained 3g, he's up to 60! Such a light weight compared to the over 2 lbs of beardies I had sleeping on my shoulders earlier, Gabriel and Castiel are both over 580g each :lol:

 

[PogoLover]

He just sat in his bath yesterday . . . never tried to get out. He would look up at me every now and then, but I finally took him out when the water started getting too cold. I took the water out of his cage yesterday, because I was afraid that he would dirty it and then drink from it.

Yes, he is very small. It's odd because he looks smaller than 20g in real life. He is about 8", but I haven't gotten a good measurement on him yet. His tail is really long, so 8" might be a little deceptive. He is just really muscular - seriously, little guy has quite a grip - it almost scared me at first. His tail is also really strong - he curls it up and my husband was joking that he thought Lucky thinks he is a chameleon. And he means business when he digs himself a bed - last night, he tunneled into my shirt and stuck his head under my bra strap! I had a maze of little scratch marks on me from those needle like little claws. I will have to make him a fleece cave like I made for Pogo. He has pieces of fleece that I tuck him into at night in his viv and he seems happy sleeping in there where he can dig around.

He runs around so much that even though he eats a lot of bugs, he expends a lot of energy too. He is SOOOOOOOO curious. Has to get into everything and run everywhere. LOVES the computer screen. He has already gained weight since he has been here, so I am not worried about his size for now.

My latest issue is trying to get an area that is cold enough for him. His top temps up on the ledges are 105-110, but there is plenty of basking space that is 90-100 too. The cold side ranges from 80-85 during the day. Yesterday after he basked after dinner, he started gaping a bit, and then he finally came down and went to the coldest part of the tank in the shade under a fake plant and hung out there for a while. He doesn't seem to mind the cold - it's weird - it doesn't slow him down. I am sure it would after a while, but when I bring him upstairs for nighttime snuggle, my room is probably about 65-68 F. I normally keep a heating pad on the bed for him to sit on if he gets too cold, and then when it's actual sleep time, he has me and my sweater. But he wants to run all over the bed and explore!!!

He has taken to liking the Phoenix worms more than the dubia. When I first fed him, he didn't even notice the worms - just ate all of the roaches. Now, he will eat the worms first. So, I will try a meal of only dubia and see what happens. I feed my worms moist juvenile beardie pellet food to keep them alive longer. My dubia eat cricket food and salad with an occasional fruit and beardie pellets.

Eventually I will branch out into different worms - like wax and silk. And horn and super when he is bigger.

The breeder said he like mustard greens, so I have to find some of those.

P.S. - Lucky is a grumpy gus in the morning. He hissed and puffed at me this morning! He did that the first day too.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I never asked how old he is. He sure is cute and full of personality. For your roaches you might want to get the chow I found on www.beardeddragon.com. It's $5 for 12 oz and the roaches and supers go nuts for the stuff. I had to reorder just a couple of weeks ago. Then I just give them the greens (collards usually) and an orange cut in quarters. Also I give them water crystals in a dish. That's it.

I can tell you're having fun with Lucky and the temps in the tank are fine, the cool side is just where it's supposed to be for a baby. I'm glad he's enjoying his food and growing, that's what they're supposed to do. You can get baby supers at www.rainbowmealworms.com. Smalls would be good for him when he gets a bit older. And silkworms, hornworms are just great worms but hornworms are like candy to them.

Thanks for sharing your time with Lucky, it's nice to read what a healthy baby is up to. Imp gained 3g this week, so I'm hoping he's going to stay healthy now and not a tremor at all, all day.

 

[PogoLover]

First time I have seen the sexy leg tail hold . . .

 

[sweetiepie9]

Oh my, that is just too cute, haven't seen that either, sexy legging but not the tail hold. He is unique, isn't he

 

[PogoLover]

Well, my husband and son did a great job caring for Lucky while I was gone. He is a total piggy. When we got him (10 days ago), he was 8" and 18g. Now, he is 9" and 28g. WOW! I saw people talking about them growing fast, but I had NO IDEA!

He is still a very grumpy gus in the morning - he will puff up and hiss at me if I try to touch him before his lights have been on at least 1/2 hour. Earlier, his beard had a black stripe (but he wasn't puffy and grumpy) - I took him out for a while and showed him the fireplace, and his black stripe went away. He does glass dance, so I think he likes being out. BUT I NEED A LEASH - he is nutso when he is out - leaping and bounding - he will get hurt! My leash is too big for him . . . but I guess if he keeps growing like this, he will grow into it soon enough!

He is fabulous!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Awww, I'm so glad he's doing so well and he is all boy, I can already tell I'm so glad he's a good eater and yes, healthy babies grow really quickly and their bug consumption goes up as they grow, too. So be prepared to have more bugs handy as his appetite grows I'm so glad he's such a healthy boy. You could always put a ribbon his the upper part of his tail for now, just so you know where he is at all times. They all jump up on things at their age. Even Imp, who wasn't doing so well, LOVES to jump. I just posted some new pics with his adventures yesterday, as if I don't have enough gray hairs :lol:

I just love to read how well Lucky is doing :love5: I'm hoping Imp will be like that one day, too.

 

[PogoLover]

Lucky is still doing well, so I thought I would post some new pics.

Here is excited Lucky with a curly tail:

And here is relaxing Lucky with sexy leg tail hold and dangling arms:

He likes the sexy leg tail hold - he does it all of the time!

 

[sweetiepie9]

So does Imp and he puts his tail up, too, it's so cute. Love the pictures!

 

[PogoLover]

More pictures as I enjoy my new friend ~

I got one just as he was finishing up an explody eye:

I set up a play area by a window sill and he LOVES it:

My husband bought him a small harness - once I get it on him, he actually doesn't seem to mind it - he got to run around a lot more and explore today. But he is still a little bit too small, so he
slipped a leg out!

Also, I gave him a stuffie lizard . . . I found him sleeping with his head burrowed under the stuffie's behind (LOL)!!!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Oh that's wonderful that he was able to explore and check him out looking out at the sunshine. Wait until summer when he'll get sunshine through that screen!

Loved the pictures, he is so colourful!

 

[PogoLover]

Lucky is a little piggie - I have started calling him OINK. He even tasted some salad . . . but was not very impressed.

He is up to 38g and 9.25 inches (started out at 18g and 8" when I got him less than three weeks ago!). I am starting to understand this whole "they grow FAST" thing.

His full body is getting ready to shed and he has turned pink (the OINK works even better now).

More pics:

He lets me scratch him with a soft toothbrush - he must be really itchy right now - the lightening up started with his tail, but is now everywhere, so I have to imagine that he is going to start shedding any day now.

 

[sweetiepie9]

And when he does shed it will be a huge explosion! That's how babies shed. Fun, eh? I'm so glad he an oink! I love his pictures, he looks so PINK :lol:

Imp is starting to eat bugs! I'm so thrilled. He ate way too many on Friday, so threw up the dregs on Saturday but a normal poop. Sunday he ate only mix, guess it was too much for him. But today I controlled what he ate more, 5 med crickets and 2 dubia and 2 ml's of mix 1ml in the am after the bugs and 1ml before I left for work. Another normal poop, which was great to see. And he's up to 67g. So I'm hoping this trend continues. I have crickets, small super worms and dubia for him and I'm thinking of getting some phoenix worms to get sometime soon, see if he'll eat a different bug. I leave small super worms and dubia in his bug dish, just in case he gets hungry during the day. He's grown 1/2" to 11 1/2", too. But I'm sure Lucky will surpass him soon!

 

[PogoLover]

Just some new pictures of Lucky - he's growing fast and has gorgeous colors - photos don't do him justice:

About to jump~

Exploring ~

Doing laps around the room so fast that this is all I caught on film (a tail and a foot)~

My pretty boy~

He is getting to trust me now. He will explore and then come running back, and then go exploring more. I love this creature