The Adventures of Falkor the Great!

Hi!

Since I've already posted once, I thought I'd come over here and introduce myself and my beardie.

Three weeks ago I had no plans on adopting a bearded dragon. However, a family member told me that she had one that she couldn't keep and asked me if I would take it. I love reptiles, so I did some research and ultimately decided I would.

Upon bringing him to me, however, I discovered that she was underfeeding him and feeding him the wrong thing (she was only giving him a couple of mealworms a day and she'd give him large superworms twice a week, when I cleaned out his tank I found five living superworms in there). I learned that his setup was also wrong (coil UVB and this substrate that had glued on rocks that could easily come loose/be ingested). She was also using a red light for him at night. So I quickly worked to get nearly everything replaced. Now he gets to eat crickets (though I'm transitioning away from those), dubias, and very soon calicworms too. I give him the very occasional small piece of waxworm as a treat, too (I cut them up). I dust once a day. He has a reptisun uvb tube, the correct temps in his basking spot, tile substrate, and fresh veggies every day.

He had a little stress after his two moves (to my house, and then to his new viv), but he's now officially eating around 60 bugs a day! I had to order more dubia. I also bought a colony but they aren't breeding fast enough, haha.

He was only 6" when she gave him to me, not sure if it's because he was very young when she bought him, or because he was underfed, or both. I know he's grown over the past two weeks, though, but I haven't had a chance to measure him again yet. He takes food from my hand, but he won't climb on my hand on his own just yet, and occasionally he'll still puff up at me when I approach, but I can tell he's getting more accustomed to my handling.

My favorite activity is giving him water with a dropper...it took him two tries to learn what that was, and now he opens his mouth every time I offer it to him. It's cute.

Here are a couple of pictures...

Sleeping in his original tank:

On our way to his first bath:

Caught eating veggies for the first time:

Fat tummy after his first big meal:

 

[onceblue]

Thought it seemed like a good time for another update...

Most importantly: Falkor's test came back negative for YF and the strange spots on his leg have shed away! I am monitoring him to see if anything else pops up but that is a huge relief for me.

We've been going outside for short periods of time. He doesn't move around much out there, just sits and listens, but he doesn't seem stressed when we're out there. I like to give him a little natural sunlight and I'm hoping early exposure means we'll be able to take him camping/hiking in the future.

He's been so great about letting me put the little makeshift harness on him, but on Saturday when I tried he all of a sudden turned around without warning and bit me. I was going slow and easy, but I guess maybe TOO easy because it caught him off guard. That's the only time he's ever bitten me, and boy did it hurt and leave a mark! He was totally fine thereafter, so I think I just accidentally surprised him. I put it on him again on Sunday and he didn't even so much as flinch.

He loves snuggling into my neck and using my hair as a hide for bed time and naps. It's really cute. He's becoming more and more accustomed to being handled and doesn't hiss at me at all anymore, but sometimes he still shuts his eye at me like he wants me to go away But I'm still seeing a lot of progress and I hope it continues.

I put a little hammock in his tank and it took him a good week to start using it but now he seems to like it. He also likes that it provides an extra hide underneath. He never uses his true hide, but sometimes he goes under the hammock, especially in the mornings when he is slowly warming up.

He likes to climb a lot:

Two exciting pieces of news!

I found out my dubia are breeding:

And I bought Falkor a custom enclosure at Repticon this weekend! I'm taking my time to get it set up but I'm really excited to give him more space. It's a 4X2. It's not very tall, though, so I have to see how the lighting works out, the bulbs with the longer necks stick down a little too close for my comfort. I've ordered a couple with short necks to try those.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm so glad to hear he doesn't have YF and whatever that spot was, it disappeared when he shed. Such a great thing!

Thanks for sharing the pictures, getting him out in the sunshine is great for him, the best UVB.

Camping will be fine but when he's older and you get him a better harness, there are so many for sale, I'll send you a link of an Etsy store of a friend of mine who makes harnesses, even for little ones his size and bigger.

He sure looks like he's doing well and I'm so glad he's snuggling with you, which means he trusts you. I like the new tank, even though it really isn't high enough, but again, the UVB should be inside the tank, that would work well with this one.

Thanks for the update!
Deb

 

[onceblue]

Thanks for the reply! I am so happy it isn't YF, I was very worried.

I would love a link to your friend's store! I was doing the hip harness just temporarily since he is so small right now, and since it doesn't seem to interfere with his walking around. The paracord around his front legs seemed to bother him. But I would definitely love to get him a real harness that he can wear.

As for camping, definitely when he's older! He isn't nearly as skiddish as he used to be but I still want to make sure he's older and a little less overwhelmed by the big world out there.

I do have a fixture in the new viv for the uvb bulb...but do you think it's maybe too short for him to be comfortable? I can't remember the exact height but it's a couple inches short of 18. What do you think? I don't want him to feel cramped!

 

[sweetiepie9]

No there's plenty of room to put the fixtures inside the tank, that way he gets full UVB. It's not the biggest tank but my adults are all in 40 gallon breeders, 3' long by 18' deep by 18' wide. They have plenty of room, too. I just sent a message for her link, I'll pass it along when I hear from her.

 

[onceblue]

Okay, great, thank you! The new enclosure is definitely bigger than what he has now, so I am hoping he likes the change! Once I get everything I need, of course.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Here's the Etsy store link www.vyragoscloset.com

 

[sweetiepie9]

There are others who make harnesses, I'll do more research tonight.

 

[onceblue]

Thank you so much!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I think it will be the weekend before I have the energy to ask around about people who make harnesses, I'm just so tired when I get home from work. With travel time it's an 11 hr day and I'm just not getting younger LOL So I'll have some links for you then, k?

 

[onceblue]

No rush at all! And really, you don't have to worry about it at all! I can do some digging and save you the work

Get some good rest!!

 

[onceblue]

So I've been ordering everything for the new enclosure and I told my husband that the 4x2 is turning out to be a lot smaller than I thought (by which I mean I want to have so many cool things inside of it but I don't want it to be too crammed because I know space is important). :lol: So he told me we could try to build our own! I'm not sure how that will go, as I am not handy at all, but his father is VERY good at building things so we may enlist his help.

I'm thinking a 60 (or even 68) x 24 x 24 would be awesome. Two basking spots to keep temps up and give my beardie a choice of where he'd like to lounge, plus all the viv furniture that I would like to include, and then he'll still have some space. Not sure how this will go, but I figure it'd be fun to try. I have no idea where I would put it on if I went that big, but maybe we could build a base, too.

If it works out, I figure I could re-sell the custom. And if it doesn't, then I'll keep and use that, haha.

I also made a real harness (tried to model it off of the one that you linked, Deb!) and Falkor was great about letting me put it on him, but slipped his front legs right out of it completely effortlessly. So it ended up becoming a hip harness after all of that:

I probably need to just buy a real one.

I love the patterns that are coming out on his face, and the little bits of orange coloring!

He did so great outside, though. It seems like it's still a lot for him to take in, with all the sounds and sights, but he never puffs up or tries to run, so I think he's slowly getting used to it.

I have a half day tomorrow and I have Monday off, so excited for some good quality time with my beardie!

 

[sweetiepie9]

He sure has grown! I'm sure you'll figure out something for his tank. The only think I have to tell you, if you make your own, still have a mesh top with extra ventilation on the sides. That's what I find. The large ones made need to be 2' high and 2' wide, by 5' long. You need the height because of the lights being inside. Some don't have the height so never get the proper ventilation, which is so important for a closed in tank. You should check out the DIY (Do it yourself) forum on here, there are lots of tanks build with lots of advice.

 

[onceblue]

He is getting so big! I need to measure him again, I bet he's close to 10" now, if he hasn't already grown even bigger.

Thank you so much for the tips! I will for sure check out the DIY forum as I start planning it out, and I appreciate the tips for ventilation, too.

 

[onceblue]

I underestimated how big he is...He's just about doubled in size in the two months I've had him!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Wow, over 11" long already, they grow so fast! He's such a cutie & I"m glad he's become a snuggle bug