Okay so hi guys, I just posted an intro a little bit ago. Nice to meet you.
Giddeon Info/Setup
My dragon is around 4 years old and his name is Giddeon or as my nana likes to call him Spike. I have had giddeon for almost 2 years now. Truthfully I don’t know the length of him haha. I got him through a family friend who couldn’t have him anymore and in the hopes of me getting a snake we took this guy instead I love him all the same. His substrate is green felt like mats on the bottom of his tank I can take out, clean off and throw in the washer. He does not have a UVB light right now since it broke a bit ago but I do have a heating lamp in place on top on the enclosures lid, above his climbing branch. I do worry sometimes if I don’t catch it in time he will sit there gaping for a while without moving first. Shouldn’t he know to move right away if he was too hot? Why would he stay sitting there? Sometimes I think he’s a little special in the head. The heat lamp is I believe a 50W bulb with a metal dome top. I asked a petco/smart worker to help me with the correct set up. I do not have any way to get a feel of the temps on each side of the tank right now but I’m sure I can find a device the next time I head in for some worms I do not use a heat rock or pad. Is that bad? Giddeon eats Hornworms, waxworms, mealworms and crickets. Along with occasional veggies but he’s become very stubborn lately about them When it’s time for everyone to wake up I get him set up with his heat lamp until he’s up and awake and if it’s been a week or so I’ll check the hornworms sizes and feed him one, try to lure out the remaining crickets hopping around the enclosure and if that’s not enough some wax worms. He normally stops when he knows he’s full. Then it’s outside time/play time. I do let him have free range of the house with the necessary precautions(lesson learned) ofc he’ll take his daily nap and then we’ll play some more pooping time and then everyone eats dinner at around the same time within an hour. Everyone meaning all humans and our dog as well as Giddeon When I get crickets I normally bring home 25-30 at a time and give em a piece of potato and a wet paper towel to eat/drink on.I do use calcium supplements with his meals because I do notice we are starting to deal with MBD.I feel like I know what I am doing but I don’t know how to do it perfect. I’ll get to that in a minute. I use calcium powder when feeding wax worms and meal worms. I either dip them in enough foe him to eat or I’ll shake em around in the powder enough to be lightly dusted for all.
I started to see some good progression for a while a bit ago but unfortunately he’s starting to fall behind again. Giddeon always has a water dish in his enclosure for his convenience and even the crickets will sip on it too sometimes. I try to bathe him 3 times a week at the least in warm/lukewarm water. He just melts right in when I place him in the tub it’s so adorable. I do have to syringe feed him water from time to time as well. I do not have any other dragon, more so no he does not live with another. I also have not gotten him a vet checkup yet in fear of news I would receive.
Backstory/Worry
I would like to apologize for the length of this message. I just don’t know where else to go. Places I call around me have me on lists waiting for months. I just can’t wait. Thank you for listening btw.
Here’s where it gets more serious and I’m worried. When I first got Giddeon he was happier than he is now and would move more freely. Although, he moves just the same but with MBD. He just doesn’t let that get in his way He would shed when the time came and without any problems. I remember cleaning up his awful poop lol every single day and now it’s not so frequent. He would chase after his crickets and eat like 10-13 of them in one go. Just so happy and content. But now and as time went on from that first day having him it hasn’t been great. I think the very first thing I started to notice was his pooping. That being just the first thing to go wrong I kind of pushed it to the side especially being a first time owner. Then the shedding stopped except for certain little spots here and there on his body. Again I thought nothing of it. But when I noticed that his toes started to bend like rubber and more so than normal I started freaking out. I searched and tried to study as much as I could. That’s also when the pooping and shedding issue hit me too. I immediately went to get him bulbs and calcium powder and looked for new worms he’s never had and the right UVB and substrate. Literally the whole shebang and it started to work. But then. There was a point where we were super low on money for a bit he could only rely on veggies we had in the garden but he got so bored and used to them he pretty much refuses now. I’m trying so hard but at the moment he’s almost got a whole meat diet. His toes never got any better. He’s still not shed in I’d say about 3-4 months. We are getting poops so I’m so glad about that! I noticed around 2 weeks ago his nails were getting bad so I had plans to get clippers for him. Well then we got snowed in omg. So one day I’m checking him out putting him back in his enclosure and what do I see. His front left thumb nail is gone. Before I knew or I’m pretty sure Ik what it is, I thought his whole finger just came off. I was terrified. Unfortunately I was not there for when he lost the nail. I finally got a pair now though and we are working on toe boundaries lol. He walks with his ankles bending in supporting his body weight yet still runs like the flash. I don’t understand how that’s not hurting him. I discovered he can develop a respiratory problem if the shed in his nose doesn’t come out properly. Well it definitely seems stuck in there (I noticed 1-2weeks ago) and just tonight I am seeing him gasp for air as he’s breathing and hearing the little pants. And all I can do is sit here and silently cry and tell him it’s gonna be okay. He won’t let me in his nose and is just getting comfortable with his nails. I keep telling myself and my family it’s better if I give him away to people or a business that can take care of him and bring his health back. They tell me I’m crazy and make me feel like I’m just making these problems up and I’m losing my mind really. I really do and am trying to take care of him but when I can’t get him to eat veggies or pick at his nose or nails and he’s not shedding and well yea just everything I said before this. It’s just like every time me and him get somewhere, somehow he just keeps going backwards. I don’t want to have to let him go but I love him so much I can’t let him stay here and eventually rot. I’ve got a lot coming up in life soon and guys I just really don’t know what to do. I will try my hardest to keep on keeping on until I move out in around 4 months but what am I supposed to do after
I heard from a post here baby food is supposed to be good for dragons when they don’t eat veggies normally. Is that really okay for them?
Again my apologies if anyone reads this. Thank you foe taking the time <3
Giddeon Info/Setup
My dragon is around 4 years old and his name is Giddeon or as my nana likes to call him Spike. I have had giddeon for almost 2 years now. Truthfully I don’t know the length of him haha. I got him through a family friend who couldn’t have him anymore and in the hopes of me getting a snake we took this guy instead I love him all the same. His substrate is green felt like mats on the bottom of his tank I can take out, clean off and throw in the washer. He does not have a UVB light right now since it broke a bit ago but I do have a heating lamp in place on top on the enclosures lid, above his climbing branch. I do worry sometimes if I don’t catch it in time he will sit there gaping for a while without moving first. Shouldn’t he know to move right away if he was too hot? Why would he stay sitting there? Sometimes I think he’s a little special in the head. The heat lamp is I believe a 50W bulb with a metal dome top. I asked a petco/smart worker to help me with the correct set up. I do not have any way to get a feel of the temps on each side of the tank right now but I’m sure I can find a device the next time I head in for some worms I do not use a heat rock or pad. Is that bad? Giddeon eats Hornworms, waxworms, mealworms and crickets. Along with occasional veggies but he’s become very stubborn lately about them When it’s time for everyone to wake up I get him set up with his heat lamp until he’s up and awake and if it’s been a week or so I’ll check the hornworms sizes and feed him one, try to lure out the remaining crickets hopping around the enclosure and if that’s not enough some wax worms. He normally stops when he knows he’s full. Then it’s outside time/play time. I do let him have free range of the house with the necessary precautions(lesson learned) ofc he’ll take his daily nap and then we’ll play some more pooping time and then everyone eats dinner at around the same time within an hour. Everyone meaning all humans and our dog as well as Giddeon When I get crickets I normally bring home 25-30 at a time and give em a piece of potato and a wet paper towel to eat/drink on.I do use calcium supplements with his meals because I do notice we are starting to deal with MBD.I feel like I know what I am doing but I don’t know how to do it perfect. I’ll get to that in a minute. I use calcium powder when feeding wax worms and meal worms. I either dip them in enough foe him to eat or I’ll shake em around in the powder enough to be lightly dusted for all.
I started to see some good progression for a while a bit ago but unfortunately he’s starting to fall behind again. Giddeon always has a water dish in his enclosure for his convenience and even the crickets will sip on it too sometimes. I try to bathe him 3 times a week at the least in warm/lukewarm water. He just melts right in when I place him in the tub it’s so adorable. I do have to syringe feed him water from time to time as well. I do not have any other dragon, more so no he does not live with another. I also have not gotten him a vet checkup yet in fear of news I would receive.
Backstory/Worry
I would like to apologize for the length of this message. I just don’t know where else to go. Places I call around me have me on lists waiting for months. I just can’t wait. Thank you for listening btw.
Here’s where it gets more serious and I’m worried. When I first got Giddeon he was happier than he is now and would move more freely. Although, he moves just the same but with MBD. He just doesn’t let that get in his way He would shed when the time came and without any problems. I remember cleaning up his awful poop lol every single day and now it’s not so frequent. He would chase after his crickets and eat like 10-13 of them in one go. Just so happy and content. But now and as time went on from that first day having him it hasn’t been great. I think the very first thing I started to notice was his pooping. That being just the first thing to go wrong I kind of pushed it to the side especially being a first time owner. Then the shedding stopped except for certain little spots here and there on his body. Again I thought nothing of it. But when I noticed that his toes started to bend like rubber and more so than normal I started freaking out. I searched and tried to study as much as I could. That’s also when the pooping and shedding issue hit me too. I immediately went to get him bulbs and calcium powder and looked for new worms he’s never had and the right UVB and substrate. Literally the whole shebang and it started to work. But then. There was a point where we were super low on money for a bit he could only rely on veggies we had in the garden but he got so bored and used to them he pretty much refuses now. I’m trying so hard but at the moment he’s almost got a whole meat diet. His toes never got any better. He’s still not shed in I’d say about 3-4 months. We are getting poops so I’m so glad about that! I noticed around 2 weeks ago his nails were getting bad so I had plans to get clippers for him. Well then we got snowed in omg. So one day I’m checking him out putting him back in his enclosure and what do I see. His front left thumb nail is gone. Before I knew or I’m pretty sure Ik what it is, I thought his whole finger just came off. I was terrified. Unfortunately I was not there for when he lost the nail. I finally got a pair now though and we are working on toe boundaries lol. He walks with his ankles bending in supporting his body weight yet still runs like the flash. I don’t understand how that’s not hurting him. I discovered he can develop a respiratory problem if the shed in his nose doesn’t come out properly. Well it definitely seems stuck in there (I noticed 1-2weeks ago) and just tonight I am seeing him gasp for air as he’s breathing and hearing the little pants. And all I can do is sit here and silently cry and tell him it’s gonna be okay. He won’t let me in his nose and is just getting comfortable with his nails. I keep telling myself and my family it’s better if I give him away to people or a business that can take care of him and bring his health back. They tell me I’m crazy and make me feel like I’m just making these problems up and I’m losing my mind really. I really do and am trying to take care of him but when I can’t get him to eat veggies or pick at his nose or nails and he’s not shedding and well yea just everything I said before this. It’s just like every time me and him get somewhere, somehow he just keeps going backwards. I don’t want to have to let him go but I love him so much I can’t let him stay here and eventually rot. I’ve got a lot coming up in life soon and guys I just really don’t know what to do. I will try my hardest to keep on keeping on until I move out in around 4 months but what am I supposed to do after
I heard from a post here baby food is supposed to be good for dragons when they don’t eat veggies normally. Is that really okay for them?
Again my apologies if anyone reads this. Thank you foe taking the time <3