Thane's Recovery

[YoursTruly]

CRAP. I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you about it! Yes, I just got it a few days ago, and Thane still seems unsure about it. She has been playing Houdini and trying to climb the side. She gets to the top part of the canvas and is forced to give up because she can't get any footing, lol. I do like it, though. It's very easy to set up and take down. I'll be getting a clamp lamp and an MVB bulb soon to put in it for daytime basking outside of the tank. Mostly, I'm looking forward to when it starts to warm up here so she can get some natural rays.

Edited to add: Thane is over 400g now!

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Thanks for getting back to me.
:lol: Poor girl. She looks like she's mildly upset by not being able to climb higher.
It's good to know it will support her weight and not cave in, though! It looks super roomy, so I may have to invest in something like this when traveling (my family lives about an hour and a half away, I'd like to be able to take a dragon with me for holidays, etc, and be sure he has his space if he needs alone time.)

I may or may not also build an outdoor enclosure similar to a raised rabbit pen/run/hutch for the backyard. I have no experience with it, but I can't imagine it would be difficult to create a basic enclosure with chicken wire/mesh and beardie safe plywood. I know you mentioned something about having rabbits, do you have experience with their outdoor enclosures? would a rabbit run type pen work for a dragon?

 

[YoursTruly]

No problem! It definitely holds up her fat ass :lol:
And it's very roomy. I like how tall it is so that she can't just hop over it. I am learning just how good she is at jumping!

My parents have one rabbit, Joey, but we never built an outdoor enclosure for him. Actually, she's never been outside. My boyfriend's rabbit got a parasite and died from living outside, so we were terrified of letting Joey outdoors. I would think that you'd need something tighter and with less space in between for a beardie, especially since they can squeeze through just about anything.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Thanks for the info.
I have never built anything like that, but want to learn so I can build Richter's eventual indoor enclosure upgrade, so I figure this may be a good start.

I was looking into mesh or like a chicken wire for the walls, but I'd prefer something a little finer to help with any potential bugs, too. Richter's head is much too wide to fit through much :lol: but I'll definitely look into if/how I plan to make this if I do.

Sorry for turning your thread into outdoor enclosures.

Simon was my little leaper, Richter is pretty chill but can get frantic, and my new little one is a scrappy little girl, so the height of this is very reassuring.

 

[YoursTruly]

No worries! It's still about Thane, technically haha.

Yours sound feisty! I do love how they all have such different personalities. It just makes me want more! My boyfriend said to me yesterday: "I think we should upgrade to a two-bedroom apartment so we can have a reptile room." Just another reason I know he's the one. :lol:

Oh I forgot to mention, I have introduced the magnificent hornworm to Thane... and she LOVED it! I only give her one a week because I know she'll get hooked if I offer more.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I so thought my dragons would love hornworms but alas.. I ordered 25 to try em, figuring I had two dragons and a pacman frog that would eat them and like no one wanted them.
Simon ate a tiny one, Richter ate a few, but as they started to get big, he no longer wanted them, even spitting one out after chewing it all up. About 3 of them were given to my pacman frog to eat. One died on its own, the second got stuck on the glue behind the hygrometer and died, and the third drowned itself in the frog pool.. I can't win! So out of 25, maybe about 18 were actually eaten.. I don't think I'll order them again. It's a shame because though I don't intend to eat bugs, they looked like gummies!

I have a three bedroom house but I have a hard time thinking about putting the animals in rooms I don't frequent. Snake is in the guest room, pacman frog in my bedroom, and 2 dragons in the living room (along with my 10g frog aquarium.) If you have the space and finances for two, I recommend it . Watching them "talk" to each other when one is being held is always enjoyable. My baby one was waving like crazy when she saw Richter out, but he was too distracted looking out the window and was being rude

 

[YoursTruly]

I am lucky enough to have a great reptile shop within 20 minutes of my apartment, so I just grab one hornworm at a time when getting the week's worth of crickets. Sorry yours didn't like them as much!

I would definitely frequent a reptile room if we had one. I actually wish we could keep Thane's viv in the common area, but we are technically not allowed to have her in our apartment (dogs and cats are fine but small pets aren't? ooooookay, leasing office). Unfortunately, we also can't afford to have more than one beardie at the moment, especially since they need separate vivs. Our electric bill is already going to be insane with the coming summer months, lol.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I hear you there. I think my electric bill is up about $20/mo per dragon or so, not to mention the other pet lights.. But they're worth it I don't have AC in my house so my summers are actually much kinder on my electric bill than winter. So excited to finally see it going down.

Initially I was stupid and thought I could put a baby dragon in with an adult and they'd be fine. WOW I was super uneducated in dragons, just months ago. Had to go out and buy all the new enclosure and lights for the baby the next day. Kept him in a little cricket keeper until then And that baby was Richter. Poor buddy. At least I learned before just plopping him in.

My closest pet shop is Petsmart :| or PetCo... Pick your poison.
All my bugs are bought online unless I need crickets in a pinch or for my pacman frog.

 

[YoursTruly]

Those two stores are the worst. It's depressing to even step foot in there. What's owning a Pacman like? Are they friendly and easy to handle?

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

They're definitely not as interactive as a bearded dragon and don't like to be handled, but I love having him. Mine's still just a baby, but he's adorable and pudgy. They need food dusted like dragons do, calcium with D3, and do not require UVB lights as they will burn their skin. Max tank size is a 10g as all they do is plop in one spot most of the time, substrate is moistened eco earth, or ground up coconut shells. Humidity 60% and up, about 83 degrees, no special lighting needed. I just keep him in a 10g fish tank with a plastic lid and run a 25w fish tank bulb for him during the day. Keeps the heat in and moisture in. I spritz the enclosure with a spray bottle once or twice a day and he has a little pool.

Old photo, just a few days after getting him, but the only one I appeared to have uploaded to this forum. He's larger now and his green is more of a dark mossy color. I can upload more when not at work.

I usually just go to petsmart, buy about 10-15 crickets at a time, dust them all, and dump them in with him. They all gather to the warmer spot in the tank and he knows where to find them and will bury himself nearby and watch them. He won't eat when I'm watching :| I only know he's eating because I find frog poopies.

 

[YoursTruly]

He's SO cute! About him not eating while you watch--Thane is that way with greens. If she knows I'm in the room, she assumes crickets or dubias are an option instead of a wretched salad :lol:

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Desperation salad :lol: Like ugh. It's something I guess. That's honestly how I feel about salads, too. I can't blame her.
Richter is good about his greens, and new baby Alucard hasn't even seen greens yet, but something tells me she'll eat it. She has that look about her.

And yes they are super cute, and eventually get about palm sized and are just a ball of frog. Mine's only about.. maybe 2 months old? I'd love to feed him dubia but he won't eat in front of me and the roaches hide if I leave them. Before I got him I was like sweet, I have food covered! ...Nope. Only will secretly eat crickets, and he never touched his hornworms as mentioned earlier. Otherwise they're very low maintenance. Supply food and clean the poops, occasional spritz.

 

[YoursTruly]

Allucard huh? FF fan much?

Lol at "ball of frog"

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Allucard huh? FF fan much?

Lol at "ball of frog"

Actually, all of my dragons have been named after the Castlevania series, but yes, I enjoy FF as well.
Simon Belmont, Richter Belmont, and now Alucard from Castlevania :lol: I grew up on video games, so of course they influence my names.

Not mine, but frog ball.

 

[YoursTruly]

Oh, for some reason I thought Allucard was a FF character. I'll give you a guess where I got the name Thane from!