the "All about Dexter!" Thread - (adopted 15/12/2011)

From now on this will be Dexter's thread, of updates, photos, weigh-ins etc.

I figured I would keep it all together, should anyone need to know Dexter's history, I won't have to go trawling through various posts of him, to get a timeline.

Though I have created a file on polaris office (android "office" app) I have a separate spreadsheet for weight, poop, behaviour, live food, veg, bathing/water intake and shedding. I hope to keep these spreadsheets going so I have a full detailed "service history" of my boy, if we ever have to go to the vet.

(my fiancé laughed about this document, and asked if I want him to freeze Dexter's poop, in ice-cube trays, and date each one. Or set up CCTV in his viv, so I can document EXACTLY when he poops, TO THE SECOND, or see how many seconds he eats for and when, etc. etc. - I told him that he'll be the first one to complain he didn't keep a record of his reptiles, if they got sick and he needed to know what they last ate, when they ate, when they had a drink, what their poop had been like etc. he mumbled "I suppose" heheh :lol: )

I adopted Dexter on 15th December 2011. He's guesstimated to be 3 years old, so I have decided to give him a birthdate of 10th December 2008. (I don't like my babies not having an official birthday heheh)

He's 18 inches long. According to his previous owner, he's a "translucent, citrus, micro-scaled leatherback, (poss. Het hypo)" - this means absolutely NOTHING to me! lol

I'll do a new reply, every time I wish to update, so if no-one replies it might be an awful lot of me posting, which I apologise for, but you don't have to come and read it, so if you don't want to witness countless Dexter posts, don't click on the title heheh

Now a nice photo of my Baby boy to start the thread with....

I'll come back a bit later and put some more pics and facts up.

 

[ShannyBeard]

I'm new to this forum and the main draw for me here is to see other people's beardies and hear their stories. I get so many great ideas from other people. Dexter is really handsome!

I laughed about the spreadsheet and the teasing you are getting. I am right there with you - I work in records as my real job, when I am not a beardie slave :lol: and I am a spreadsheet and calendar person. I would totally have spreadsheets for my dragons, but my computer has too many problems and I just know it would dump all of my data at the wrong time, so forget it. I keep a weekly paper calendar for my rescue beardie that I record every single thing on, but he gets a lot of difference supplements and it would be impossible for me to remember them all! My other beardies just get weights, lengths and anything truly vital written on a monthly calendar.

You have found a great online home along with the rest of us beardie-obsessed.

 

[luvmybeardies]

LOL should i be keeping records like that ? LOL i watch them eat and see that they poop. am i a bad mom for not being so detailed? HAHAHA

 

[ShannyBeard]

LOL should i be keeping records like that ? LOL i watch them eat and see that they poop. am i a bad mom for not being so detailed? HAHAHA

HAHA noooo. Enjoy just being a great Mom. We only write weights and lengths on the calendar and if they needed meds, like when Chief had parasites, so we know when the dose was started, when we stopped and when the vet appts were.

My Papa Smurf is a rescue and in case anything goes wrong I will at least have some detail for the vet. We've had some specialty supplements mixed for him and it's a lot to keep track of.

You know how some people do the growth charts on the wall in their homes and mark their kids heights and the date? :lol: The calendar is kinda like that, since it is hard to stand a beardie up against the wall to measure... :laughhard:

 

[Goonie]

(my fiancé laughed about this document, and asked if I want him to freeze Dexter's poop, in ice-cube trays, and date each one. Or set up CCTV in his viv, so I can document EXACTLY when he poops, TO THE SECOND, or see how many seconds he eats for and when, etc. etc. - I told him that he'll be the first one to complain he didn't keep a record of his reptiles, if they got sick and he needed to know what they last ate, when they ate, when they had a drink, what their poop had been like etc. he mumbled "I suppose" heheh :lol: )

I :laughhard: until I nearly choked on lack of air!

Can't wait to see more pics and read more tales of Dexter -- all in one place :wink:

 

[CaptainVimes]

Photos taken of Dexter's first day with me.

All images can be clicked on to enlarge.

 

[CaptainVimes]

LOL should i be keeping records like that ? LOL i watch them eat and see that they poop. am i a bad mom for not being so detailed? HAHAHA

:lol: , no way! I have way too much spare time on my hands!

I have a spreadsheet for my snake and my tarantula too! Oscar (cat) is the only pet of mine that doesn't have a spreadsheet, that is mainly because my fiancé
feeds, waters, does his toilet etc. as it's all downstairs.

Life can get pretty boring in my bedroom, I can't have Dexter out ALL day, as he needs to bask, etc. so the non-Dexter time is spent online, updating my spreadsheets etc, knitting, card making and sleeping :lol:

If I could afford to, I'd rig up UV to cover the whole bedroom, and give him a huge basking spot! Then I could have him free range until bedtime! heheh, Oh what fun that would be! :lol:

He'd love it on my bed if windows didn't block UV rays, my bedroom is South facing, so when the sun is out, it is on the bedroom all day! Dexter would be in his element! heheh

More photos in a bit! :lol:

 

[CaptainVimes]

More random photos

The boy is my 9 year old Son, Euan. The girl is my 12 year old Daughter, Bronny. (Bronwyn)
The "hand" with a blue t-shirt on, is Simon, my fantastic Fiancé (he bought me Dexter for Christmas!)

Again, all images are thumbnails, please click to enlarge.

(I do thumbnails because I like leaving my images full size to zoom in and look at detail, the camera on the Samsung Galaxy SII is fantastic, the only thing stopping me selling my proper camera is that the SII has only digital zoom, whereas my Finepix S5700 has an optical zoom. (ideal for days out at zoo etc.)

 

[CaptainVimes]

ANOTHER batch of random photos heheh,


Click to enlarge.

 

[CaptainVimes]

Dexter's weight checks.

When I first got Dexter, I was advised that he was a little dehydrated, and a little underweight....

He was weighed on:

Sun 20/12/11 weighing in at 281g (first time we weighed him)

Wed 28/12/11 weighing in at 406g, (a whopping 125g increase!)

Tue 03/01/12 weighing in at 415g, (a 9g increase. )

He's still 18" long, I reckon my friend is right that he's reached maximum length. Will keep checking though!

I'm now happy with his weight, he still has wrinkles, but so do all leatherbacks that I have seen since enquiring into his weight/dehydration.

I can't "pinch" any skin from him any more, (well if I REALLY pulled I THINK I could, but I would NEVER do that to my baby) So I'm now happy with his weight and water content.

 

[CaptainVimes]

Going to sleep now, will upload yesterdays photos when I wake up.

"Laters gaters!" :lol:

 

[grendel9]

Dexter's a cutie! I think your spreadsheet is a great idea! And I love how you gave him a birthday ... I did that with all of my adopted pets, too.

 

[ShannyBeard]

What a nice looking dragon. Sure to be a part of your family for years to come. How sweet.

 

[CaptainVimes]

Hi all!

I took Dexter on a "hobble" around the house today, so he could see where he lives. He's been in our bedroom or the bathroom, so he's not seen the other critters around the house.

I tried to put him in my handbag so that he was nice and safe, but he wasn't having that, he ran up my chest and plonked himself on my shoulder instead.

I took it VERY slowly, 1. Because that's the only speed I travel at! :lol: & 2. So he had time to actually focus on things, & 3. So he felt secure.

We went into Bronny's bedroom first, she wasn't impressed, we left and hobbled to Euan's room. In here Dexter enjoyed watching Euan play on his PC, and he had a good look outside too.
(I can't wait for him to be able to explore in the back garden with us! I'm presuming it's a no no, when it's only 10°C (50°F) outside, so I guess we'll have to wait for Summer to do that?)

Then I hobbled down the stairs, this made Dexter hold on tighter and he looked a tad nervous. He met Simon's love birds in the hall. He didn't seem too interested in them, so we hobbled on.

In the lounge Dexter saw Zippy's house, but Zippy was hidden under his dried grass under his basking lamp. We hobbled over to the turtle pond in the dining area, Dexter didn't want to look because of all that water.

He enjoyed looking in the kitchen, though, his beard had gone a silvery-grey, so I decided to retreat back to the bedroom.

On the way past the birds, Dexter was interested enough to look in at them, but I don't think he liked them squawking at him, so we hobbled to the stairs to begin our ascent.

It was VERY slow and painful, because I was trying to make Dexter feel secure by "holding" him with my cheek with him nuzzled into my neck. My neck doesn't like my head to be in ANY other position, other than straight forward and up straight, so I've buggered my neck in a bit, by holding him like that as I had no hands free.

We got back in the bedroom at last, I put my crutches to the side and sat on the bed. He stayed on my shoulder for about 15 minutes, before climbing down to investigate, I really hope I didn't just completely stress him out with that journey?

He had no visible stress marks, and his beard was only very slightly darker than his normal white/cream, so I don't know.

He climbed down and sat on my thigh, surveying the surroundings, then he took a runner over to the shelving unit that absolutely Fascinates him, probably because he's not allowed on it! :lol:

(for his own safety, not because we are nasty and have given him silly boundaries or anything)

He sat next to the shelves, eyes constantly darting everywhere, looking at his surroundings. He sat there for a good 10 minutes, because I was getting really tired from NOT sitting propped up, I placed him gently on me and waddled over to the vivs. I opened his door, and he climbed further up, nearly onto my head, so I could tell he didn't want to go back just yet. But the journey around the house from start, to me being outside his viv took an hour, (simply because of how long it took me to walk around our house, with frequent rest breaks, we don't live in a mansion, my legs just HATE me with a passion! :lol: ) I didn't want him to be out much longer than that, being totally without his light and heat.

I carefully lifted him off me, and guided him into his viv. He didn't like it, I waited for the opportunity to close the door safely without trapping his tail.. Stubborn little monkey was not going to give me that opportunity!

(see photo)

Dexter refusing to budge so I could shut his viv door! :lol:



(white stuff on his floor is calcium or vits that's fallen off feeder bugs - should I be carefully cleaning this away? )

He's back home and basking now, he won't take his eye off me. (apart from keep closing it) He'll have to watch me sleep again in a bit, I've really buggered myself up, going for the tour.

I'll do a separate reply, when I've had a sleep, with new photos taken today.

xxx

 

[CaptainVimes]

Edit, will repay in a tick