Tenants left behind their VERY thin girl... HELP!

[jamiedennis]

So to answer your questions about earthworms, dew worms, not good for beardies, but butterworms are. So are supers. I know silkworms are expensive, I know you've gotten them before and hornworms are just as expensive. Did you find a source for crickets in bulk?

Please don't listen to ANY info given out by pet shops, they are usually wrong. I can't get over the mis-information that's given out. My hubby used to work in a petshop part-time and had care sheets for the beardies and geckos he took care of, and was always in fights with the manager as he always wanted to do the wrong things & not feed the baby dragons what they needed. The pet shop I've been going to for 6 years has recently started listening to me, it's just that it costs them $ to give the beardies the right lights, etc, so they don't. I just get so upset about it all, I just do what I can. I wish there was a way to get these shops to care for their reptiles the way they're supposed to and I really don't know where they get all these bad ideas from. Sorry for venting, it's a sore point!

I havent really looked into the bulk crix yet as I still have an ant problem to deal with - In the course of an evening I lost almost all of my last purchase of 150 crix to Pharaoh ants. So I cant commit to a larger supply of them yet until I get that issue resolved.

Petsmart had HUGE horn worms this week and I bought 10 of them and they squirted everywhere!!! They were soooo big the dragons had to eat them length wise instead of chomping them in half or eating them in one bite. They ate them the way snakes eat their food... It was awesome!

Ya, I figured the info about the earth worms and such was wrong - I recall reading something about the slime they coat themselves in being 'icky' for the dragons - sort of like humans drinking unclean water from a stream or something... Glad I was right and didnt jump the gun on that!!! hahahaha

Thanks for the info - and vent away - I dont mind hearing a spirited tirade about beardies. Its nice to hear some one elses passion for them is like mine.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hornwills are yucky that way but very good for your dragons. There is a place about 20 min away that I keep saying I'll get to, just to buy one each to see if they'll like them but still haven't gotten there. I'll need to do that one day!

How do you get rid of Pharoah ants, they sound aggressive and to get into your cricket bin, drag. I can understand how frustrated you are about that!

Yes, I'm very passionate about bad care of beardies, if I was rich and had a bit house, it would be full to the top with rescues beardies from petshops! It would be awesome, but so far I've only rescued 3 from pet shops as babies, Rubio was free, Issy was $50 and Gabriel was $150, all well worth the cost. Rubio is my huge beardie, Issy passed away from an virus when she was only 19 mo and Gabriel is hale and hearty at 500g, he's my 2 yr old brat, he gets into everything and I'm constantly rescueing him from this or that. He's hilarious!

 

[jamiedennis]

Hornwills are yucky that way but very good for your dragons. There is a place about 20 min away that I keep saying I'll get to, just to buy one each to see if they'll like them but still haven't gotten there. I'll need to do that one day!

How do you get rid of Pharoah ants, they sound aggressive and to get into your cricket bin, drag. I can understand how frustrated you are about that!

Yes, I'm very passionate about bad care of beardies, if I was rich and had a bit house, it would be full to the top with rescues beardies from petshops! It would be awesome, but so far I've only rescued 3 from pet shops as babies, Rubio was free, Issy was $50 and Gabriel was $150, all well worth the cost. Rubio is my huge beardie, Issy passed away from an virus when she was only 19 mo and Gabriel is hale and hearty at 500g, he's my 2 yr old brat, he gets into everything and I'm constantly rescueing him from this or that. He's hilarious!

I love feeding them horn worms!!! My dragons love them!!! My cousin who has a beardie as well - she doesnt like the worms, so he doesnt buy them for her any more...

Pharoah ants are tiny, 1/8" long ants that are hard as hell to get rid of! If you stress out the colony too much they will branch off and make another colony - And each colony can consist of 70, 000 to 250, 000 ants... Sooo If you squish a bunch of them, the colony will get stressed and make another. So its a pain to get rid of them. I need to get my hands on boric acid (the dry formula in soap) and I can dry them out cause its a drying agent so if I get it I can make the ants dry out too fast and they wont get in my crix box. I think my current method will work for now - I sprayed the outside of the box with RAID MAX crawling insect killer. It works on contact to kill ants, crix, roaches, etc. So, its my fall too method for killing the ants if I find a HUGE trail of them.

Thats good to hear about your beardies and your desire to help them. This morning, when I cleaned up Jades droppings I closed up the viv and such and left with the kids and my dad for a bit and when we got home (I had to fix a leak in the building) my daughter found Jade sitting on the floor in front of her cage looking around... She screamed!!! hahaha My dad put Jade back in and when I got home so I have to figure out how she escaped. hahaha

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well, well, the escaping has started and don't try to figure it out, you never will. Gabriel can also escape, he escapes from the living room and this am I found him under my computer, on the other side of the partition that they can't climb, or so I thought. So had to re-do that. now that she knows how to escape, expect more, she sure is alot stronger!

 

[jamiedennis]

Well, well, the escaping has started and don't try to figure it out, you never will. Gabriel can also escape, he escapes from the living room and this am I found him under my computer, on the other side of the partition that they can't climb, or so I thought. So had to re-do that. now that she knows how to escape, expect more, she sure is alot stronger!

Ive decided Im going to rebuild her home... Make it wider, but otherwise the same size... And put in proper doors so it locks better and seals her in... hahahaha

sorry for the delayed reply - I went on a Caribbean cruise with my wife, in-laws and her brother... But ya, She hasnt escaped since the first incident... thankfully!!!

Although today, she scratched her back like a dog does, and POOF! shes split her back open and she shed about a quarter of her back, and a small portion of the underside of her tail... So, Im happy!!!

She can literally eat 60+ crix a day... EVERY DAY!!! She can devour about 6-8 Horns before shes full, and I havent found her limit on silkies yet (not available right now) sooo shes a PIGGIE!

hahaha

Golly is still lethargic - he sits on his climbing log/tree on his cold side and doesnt do anything but watch us, and occasionally he will go into his cave to sleep... but usually he just sits on his log and sleeps and such there... hahaha

Well, for the time being - thats all. Im gonna try and get some new pics of Jade posted tomorrow for people to see her progress.*waves*

 

[sweetiepie9]

She's so lucky you found her, I love the fact that she escaped and that she's shedding a bit one this time, it's wonderful news!

 

[jamiedennis]

Jade sitting pretty on her cave that she NEVER goes in!!!

Close up of her on it - see her pretty colours!!!

I love how her colors are showing through all the time now! Shes almost never dark except in the morning and just before lights off... Makes me feel good knowing I got her back to 'normal' - still want her to pack on the pounds, but its only been 5 months, so I cant complain about her progress! nope nope nope!!!

Are you going to feed me now??? You know I will eat any time!!! hahaha

Me using my cricket duster contraption - she knows when this comes out its food time! and will literally dive inside it to get at the crix - I was trying to snap a shot of her inside it with the feeding frenzy but she ate them too fast for me to get the camera out and the set up... :evil:

Her left eye is 'watery' looking... not sure why exactly - I just noticed this now, and it wasnt like that yesterday when I fed her - kind of worried about it...

 

[sweetiepie9]

Could she have gotten some calcium in her eye, or a bit of retained shed? I can see a bit of white on the bottom of her eye socket, you might want to check that out a bit closer.

 

[sweetiepie9]

And I forgot to add that the pics are wonderful and she doesn't look like she ever had any type of issue, she's so cute. You've done a great job with her!

 

[jamiedennis]

Could she have gotten some calcium in her eye, or a bit of retained shed? I can see a bit of white on the bottom of her eye socket, you might want to check that out a bit closer.

It was a bit of calcium from when she dove into the cricket duster I think - I bather her again after my post and she has been fine since then, and all I did was drip water on her face a bit - trying to get it on the lid with out getting it in her eye...

Im posting some more pics of her - she did a BIG feed the other day and I was able to catch some good shots of her.

 

[jamiedennis]

She looks like shes having a good laugh

She usually does this cause the crix like to try and hide inside the duster I made so they dont get chomped...

Sleepy time!!! We played for a while and she had a great time hanging out with me - didnt spaz when I picked her up or touched her - My kids were even able to pet her a bit with out issues! After 3hrs out with me she decided to go to sleep.

Heres with the flash on... Doesnt work as well... BUT she was bright as hell the whole time I was playing with her!

All in all, I think shes back to either full health or almost full health! Shes still really tiny compared to Golly - to which I hope she wasnt stunted by her previous owners... Can they be stunted??? I have never known that answer... hahaha

Oh well, hope you guys enjoy the pics!

 

[jamiedennis]

I forgot to mention - the white under her eye is her natural colors... her eyes have a weird orange/red, white, orange/red, white pattern around her eyes... The undersides are the same way but in a splash pattern.

As Ive done these posts, shes been happily sitting on my lap while I type out everything!!! A HUGE improvement from when I first got her and she was spazzing all the time when ever we touched her, or tried to touch her!

Im very happy with her progress!!!

 

[Esther19]

As well you should be. You've done a remarkable job with her, and she is very fortunate you came along to save her.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Have you measured her lately? How long is she & how much does she weigh. Every beardie is different, but starving a beardie can cause them not to grow as much as they might if well taken care of. Didi, my little orange beardie is 7 yrs old, 17" long and 420g. That's the biggest he'll ever get. And he was well taken care of before I fostered him & now that his owner is in Japan full time, he's with me permanently, for which I'm grateful, as I just love my feisty little guy!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

She is so pretty & looks healthy. I wouldn't worry if she is not as big as she should be, as she is doing so well now.
The eye looks like there could be some retained shed possibly.
You have done a phenomenal job with her, that is superb! She is SO lucky.


Tracie