the adventures of Herman, Sped, Bruce and Stella

So I decided to condense my seperate posts about all my beardies into one! Here goes....

Herman came first--he is about 2 1/2 months old (going by what the breeder said when I got him (supposedly 2 weeks old), and 12 inches long including his tail. He's a friendly guy, and likes to explore, still won't hold still for much longer than 5 minutes when we hold him! He wants to keep going! Also, he's gonna be a little fatty! He's in the middle of his 3rd shed since we've had him.

first day at home

yesterday


Then came Sped. We rescued her from a home where the parents didn't take care of her, and just dumped the crickets in the tank and didn't help her catch them. She has MBD, and is getting liquid calcium every day. When we first got her, she could hardly climb up onto a flat basking rock, and had to be handfed, and now, she's able to run all over her viv chasing crickets, and even climbs onto her half log to cool off

first day home

yesterday

Even though I told the b.f. that was the end of things...I saw a posting on here for 4 beardies that needed a home....sooooo we picked them up, dropped two with another bd member, and brought two home with us: Bruce and Stella. Bruce is apparently a proven male hypo, and Stella is also a hypo. They are SUPER skinny, and STUNK to high heaven. Their original owner had given them to a friend because he couldn't have them anymore..only the friend didn't take care of them, so the owner got them back, still couldn't keep them, so found them good homes instead. Which is where we come in...they came with vivs, which we thought were nice, but also stunk like no other, so those were out, and two 75 gallon vivs off of craigslist were in. They were to the vet a day or so after we got them, and fecals showed no parasites--x-ray on Stella showed a liquid buildup from being malnourished for so long :-( . That was three weeks ago. Now, Bruce is eating well, including his salad as long as no one is watching, and Stella WAS eating...but isn't feeling well at the moment :-( I think she has a respiratory infection starting, but the vet can't see her til Tuesday morning. I have her temps up a bit more than normal, and am trying to get the humidity down a bit (it's been awful hot here and humid the last week or so in central pa). Anyways! Those are all I'm allowed to get.... (for now ) I'm just hoping these two new beardies can settle in and gain some weight!

Bruce, first day home

Stella (with the spot the vet said was most likely a bad shed...the "owner" said it hadn't shed, so he picked it off :evil: )

yesterday

yesterday (she likes to sit in awkward positions, and the bump on her back sticks out where the bad shed was, so it looks even worse, poor girl!)

more pictures and info coming soon

 

[hermansmama]

Everybody had baths last night, and my brother (who is working on an art project) asked for some close up shots of different parts of the lizzies....

P.S. Herman fell asleep on me for the first time last night

 

[hermansmama]

Bruce and Stella had their checkup at the vet yesterday--they each gained 50 g or so... (Stella lost the liquid in her tummy, so she was the same, at 300 g), and Bruce was also up to 300 g. The vet put Bruce on a dewormer for pinworms for two days on, two weeks off, two days on. Panacur? The ReptiSuns came today so we jazzed up their vivs, and they are enjoying the UVB

 

[Freeie]

Oh your bunch is do dang cute! I always love it when people rescue beardies. Thank you so much for doing so.

 

[Sadona]

Glad to see that Bruce and Stella are doing better. I can tell they have gained some weight!
All of your beardies are wonderful. Good close ups btw!

 

[hermansmama]

Glad to see that Bruce and Stella are doing better. I can tell they have gained some weight!
All of your beardies are wonderful. Good close ups btw!

I'm glad that someone else can see they've gained weight! It's so hard for me to notice since I see them everyday...but at least they are pancakes ALL the time anymore, they actually have something in their bellies!

I was wondering how long I should keep the handling to a minimum, I want to snuggle with them! We've had them for three weeks now, and so far really only handle them to give them meds/supplements, or to take them to get a bath (Every other day)...I'm just wondering if it's time to start getting them more used to us or not.

Bruce is done with this first round of dewormers, and he seems to be fine, he's eating (but ONLY superworms) and picking at his salad when no one is watching. I actually got him to eat a bunch of butternut squash from my hand yesterday, he really liked it.

Stella will eat crickets, but still has no interest in chasing after them, and she'll eat some salad, but once again, only if you hand feed it to her! It almost seems like her toungue isn't as long as it should be? And she has horrible aim, so when she does try to go after one, she always misses. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions as to what I should do about that? I'm going on a vacation in August, and my dad will be taking care of everyone, but I'm not sure with work, if he'll have time to sit there and hand feed her crickets one by one.

We rearranged their vivs yesterday, and I think they are complete now. They have rocks and bricks to bask on, and a hide we made out of an extra piece of tile and bricks holding it up, with a brick staircase....I'll have to get new batteries for my camera and post pictures soon!

Sped on the other hand, has almost finsihed shedding! I was so excited, because she had all these spots of retained shed on her tail, belly and back...it's all gone except for a small piece on her tail She's a personality though that's for sure--I'm wondering when I should cut back on her crickets as well? Since she was undernourished when we got her she was getting small crickets every day, but I didn't know if I should cut back on that now. She's a little drama queen, and is the entertainment of the bunch. The other day she was trying to eat a pea, knocked it out of her dish, and every time she tried to get it, it would roll away from her! She chased it all the way down her viv until FINALLY she got it.

Herman is getting to be a little fatty too, I'm not sure why though, because he just gets mainly crickets and salad! At what point do you start cutting back and only feeding a certain amount of crickets, rather than letting them eat as many as they want?

Also, I'm trying to figure out how to set up our dining room so the lizzies can roam around, any suggestions for a ramp up to the window? Herman definatley needs some exercise!!!

 

[hermansmama]

Things have been crazy lately!

All the beardies are eating salads like crazy I'm super happy about that!

Sped wondering why there aren't any crickets raining down!

Bruce with his new set up. It doesn't look like it, but he's gaining weight!

Stella checking things out

Herman being...Herman! I can't believe how big he's gotten! *sorry about the streaks on the glass, they are on the outside*

And although not a beardie, the newest addition to the family....

Asha

 

[Twobeardieguy]

:love5: :love5:

 

[nair88]

great bunch of dragons you got there! and the puppy is adorable!

 

[hermansmama]

great bunch of dragons you got there! and the puppy is adorable!

thanks! I like 'em too

 

[suemm88]

Your dragons are awesome!

 

[Sadona]

:shock: Sped looks so much better! The before and after pictures...its marvelous. They are all looking better, every time you post new pictures I see lots of improvement!
Speaking of salad eaters...my boy has just started eating his whole salad, it made me so happy, but some days he just wasn't in the mood...like today, he only put a small dent in it. Might try to spice things up a bit with some colorful foods, but I don't want to some how mess his appetite up! :roll: Its great to see they are enjoying their greens.
How are your babies doing at the moment?
Oh, BTW Asha is adorable! :love5: What type of dog is she/he?

 

[hermansmama]

Oh, BTW Asha is adorable! :love5: What type of dog is she/he?

She's a pit bull mix...with mini eskimo, terrier, and who knows what else, but she is a handful already! Our other dog is gradually getting used to her, and they started playing together almost nicely

Sped, or fatty as we call her :lol: had made such a turnaround that even I'm impressed! I really didn't expect to see her actually walk, or be able to hold herself up, but I guess it just goes to show how much a little bit of the right care can do.

As for Bruce and Stella, they are both doing well, Bruce thinks every time you go in his viv that he's getting fed, but they actually have bellies now! When I first got them, they were literally pancakes, and their bellies were concave....now I can't wait until they get their fat deposits back around their tails and their spine disappears. We've been hand feeding Stella, but she has started to chase crickets as well (Bruce will only eat worms :roll: )

Herman is just Herman he keeps growing and he's starting to like to snuggle and fall asleep on my chest before bed time which of course makes me super happy! They haven't met the puppy yet, but Stella has always seemed to like our other dog Sadie. When Sadie goes to check on them (Stella's viv is currently on the floor until we can get a stand made for it) Stella will follow her along the length of her viv and likes to watch her.

Oh, the only thing I'm not sure about is yesterday we noticed a bump on Sped's back that wasn't there before, and I have no idea what it might be...I'll try to get a picture of it and post it, but it's not a sore or anything, it's almost like something is poking up under the skin... :-( it doesn't seem to bother her, and I tried to touch it and she didn't react at all, so I'm not really sure what it is.