The REAL Slim Shady! (Anniversry Edition!!)

Hey all! I just got my beardie, Slim, a few days ago. My dad called him Slim Shady as a joke and it stuck!

I thought I'd keep a diary-type thing here like many of you seem to do. Every day I get so excited about him, I want to keep some kind of log of his growth. I also want to eventually post a picture of the underside of his tail to get some help sexing him.

Day 1, 11/24/12: Taking him home in a Kritter Keeper. I wanted him to come around on his own, so I put the box he came in in the Keeper and let him come out gradually during the car ride.

He's so adorable, and a little rascal, too! Here are some other pics of him during our first week together:

Cuddling with mommy!

Like the poster child for cuteness.

Sleepy time!

"Check out my sexy curves!"

Loving his new hammock.

The first day he didn't eat much, being new to his environment and all. It took a few days, but by day two or three he was wolfing down crickets like it was his day job. He's still warming up to me, very very slowly, but today I saw lots of progress! I dipped a few mealworms in some baby food (I know mealworms aren't ideal, but the store is out of crickets and I'm waiting on a shipment still) and fed them to him, then actually got him to lick some off my finger! He loves Gerber's organic squash baby food... it's just organic squash and water.

He's still not entirely trusting of me... unless I have food in my hands, of course. But hopefully this thread evolves to include more good news about him coming around. :love5:

 

[Dreamwritten]

Okay, thanks, the ankle seems to be a bit swollen too. You think it should be okay if I just scrub it daily in the bath, rub it a bit, and put some vaseline or bacitracin on?

i'd be careful scrubbing on it, it could irritate his little scales. id use a qtip and rub it on there when you bathe him and then put a little bit of vaseline on. make sure he's not trying to lick around his foot though when you put it on

Yeah I haven't seen him licking anything so that's good. I have a soft bristled tooth brush but I'll stick to the q tip if that's better. Thankfully he doesn't seem to be in any kind of excruciating pain; he lets me play with his toes and his arms and only flinches away when he starts getting annoyed. He doesn't seem to be hurting when I touch them.

Thanks so much for putting my mind at ease! I've read horror stories about retained shed so I'm a little nervous. First time jitters

 

[chastityx]

Okay, thanks, the ankle seems to be a bit swollen too. You think it should be okay if I just scrub it daily in the bath, rub it a bit, and put some vaseline or bacitracin on?

i'd be careful scrubbing on it, it could irritate his little scales. id use a qtip and rub it on there when you bathe him and then put a little bit of vaseline on. make sure he's not trying to lick around his foot though when you put it on

Yeah I haven't seen him licking anything so that's good. I have a soft bristled tooth brush but I'll stick to the q tip if that's better. Thankfully he doesn't seem to be in any kind of excruciating pain; he lets me play with his toes and his arms and only flinches away when he starts getting annoyed. He doesn't seem to be hurting when I touch them.

Thanks so much for putting my mind at ease! I've read horror stories about retained shed so I'm a little nervous. First time jitters

honestly, even though it sucked for my mittens to lose her toes, she didn't seem to be in pain. and she lives perfectly fine with her little nubs so even if worse comes to worse he'll just be missing toe tips. then you can tell war stories about how he was in a vicious beardie fighting ring and you rescued him. LOOOL

 

[Dreamwritten]

LOL that'd be funny! I just want him to live the most complete and healthy life he can. I'm not so much worried about lost toes as I am him chewing on them, bleeding, or infection/gangrene/necrosis/rot.

Thankfully, there hasn't been any chewing that I've seen.

Thanks for dealing with my newbie worries

If it counts for anything, he doesn't seem to be stressing over anything. He's eating like the little slob he usually is and has a nice, fat, creamy white belly. :love5:

 

[chastityx]

LOL that'd be funny! I just want him to live the most complete and healthy life he can. I'm not so much worried about lost toes as I am him chewing on them, bleeding, or infection/gangrene/necrosis/rot.

Thankfully, there hasn't been any chewing that I've seen.

Thanks for dealing with my newbie worries

If it counts for anything, he doesn't seem to be stressing over anything. He's eating like the little slob he usually is and has a nice, fat, creamy white belly. :love5:

lmao he should be fine. just keep an eye on them

 

[Dreamwritten]

LOL that'd be funny! I just want him to live the most complete and healthy life he can. I'm not so much worried about lost toes as I am him chewing on them, bleeding, or infection/gangrene/necrosis/rot.

Thankfully, there hasn't been any chewing that I've seen.

Thanks for dealing with my newbie worries

If it counts for anything, he doesn't seem to be stressing over anything. He's eating like the little slob he usually is and has a nice, fat, creamy white belly. :love5:

lmao he should be fine. just keep an eye on them

Thanks!

I'll continue daily bathing and moisturizing, and trying to rub some circulation into them when he lets me.

I'll post on his progress as it... progresses!

 

[ohmybandit]

Aw, thanks guys!

I'm still a bit worried about possible retained shedding on his right foot. Can you guys take a look at this and give me your input? I'm going to post an updated picture once he stays still for me:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=182301

I still think those toes were bitten into. Bandit's toe looked just like that when she was little. I was scared it was retained shed and the vet she saw told me it was going to lose circulation and fall off but that it looked like a bite... Guess who was wrong on it falling off

Here's Bandit's foot today,

Just keep an eye on it during the next shed and if the tips of the toes are going darker go to a vet.

Relax, don't stress yourself. I know it's hard to, haha I've been there too (http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=173953 I also thought she was a boy for a while )

 

[Dreamwritten]

Aww, thank you B, I feel much better now

I'm just moisturizing/bathing/rubbing it etc., it can't do any harm right? At the very least he'll get a nice foot massage :lol:

You guys are the best!

 

[Dreamwritten]

"Ma, I need some protein!"

So Slim did the cutest thing this morning. Now that he's getting more used to me, I don't have to put him in a little keeper to feed him; I simply put him on my chest and he hangs out there as I hand- or tweezer-feed him crickets and worms. This morning, I guess he decided he was too hungry to wait as I chased around crickets in the bin. I felt something tugging at my hair... looked down... and sure enough, he was chewing on the end of it! It was the cutest thing in the world! :laughhard:

 

[ohmybandit]

Haha yeah at least your definitely keeping circulation going to his feet.

 

[Dreamwritten]

my method seems to be working. the tip of his tail is still dark, but his little paw is seemingly getting better. i took the time to gently scrub and massage it in the bath yesterday and applied bacitracin, and it looked less swollen today. hopefully itll get even better once he sheds that arm, which looks like itll be soon!

what should the humidity in his tank be to provide an optimum shedding environment? should i continue to bathe him daily until his shed finishes?

 

[Dreamwritten]

First time exploring...

...and this is where he winds up! :lol:

 

[jezwolf175]

Lol that is too cute. Fafnir's first time exploring ended up with him underneath the couch. :shock:

 

[ohmybandit]

Lol too cute.



Also I read that the optimal humidity is below like 40%. I may be wrong but they don't do well in high humidity. Just make sure you bath him everyday and that'll help loosen shed. I feel like they just like the heat so it can dry out and crack off basically cause the shed as is when fresh is fairly moist

 

[Dreamwritten]

His foot looks so much better! I managed to scrub off some of the retained shed in the bath today (gently of course, and with a q tip, so I wouldn't rip off any premature shedding). His toes look much better and his paw looks a lot less constricted. I'll try to get a picture up later. Thanks for all your advice!

 

[chastityx]

NEED MORE PICTURES. I GET MY FILL OF BEARDIES FROM YOU GUYS AND YOU'RE SLACKING!