Well its time for Lenny to have her own thread =)

Hey everyone! I've been a member on the forum for a few months now, and because of all of you it pushed me to finally buy myself a beardie. On May 21st, 2011 I bit the bullet and finally got one. I bought Lenny from a reptile house in the chicago suburbs for a pretty fair price. She(so I think...hehe) lives in a 40gb on slate tile, a home-made basking platform, reptisun 10.0, 75w basking bulb with temps around 105-110Warm and 80 on the coolside with a CHE for night time. Lenny is my first beardie I have ever had but have dreamed of getting once since I was alot younger. My parents almost bought me one and decided it was too expensive. Well, once I moved away from home to go to college, I decided what better company could I have while I am gone.

Lenny has been nothing but great, EVERYDAY she does something that makes me laugh. I had to move back home recently, and even both parents said they think beardies are ugly and gross etc...they fell in love with Lenny instantly. When I first got Lenny she(thought it was a he) was 6inches and less than 15grams. The reptile house told me she was about one month old when I got her, so I have to go with a guestimate. Early on she battled a high count of protozoa, fixed with panacur, then coccidia but she magically kicked it herself. Since then she has been parasite free, but I will be checking another fecal soon. The vet first told me she was really a he, by looking at the femoral pores, but after looking at so many sexing posts, I've found Lenny is most likely a she lol. Lenny saw the vet 3 times within the first month, and everytime was significantly growing. Since I have gotten Lenny, she has grown from 6in to 16.5, and when I last weighed her, 239grams, at supposedly 4 months old.

Some of these pics have been posted before, but there are some new ones as well

car ride home, first few pictures are within a couple days of me having here, supposedly one month old at the time.

IMG_0362[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0367[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0365[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0369[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0371[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0408[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0411[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0412[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0447[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0481[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0482[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0489[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

looks wayyyy bigger than she is in this one!

IMG_0492[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0483[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0493[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0494[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

still dont think she actually looks this big, could be just me though lol

IMG_0500[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

She was hanging out on my shoulder and as I was walking through the bathroom Lenny took a leap for the towel, needless to say scared the hell out of me.

IMG_0507[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

Everytime she sheds her colors become so much more detail it is amazing!
Ignore the cardboard is was a temporary feeding barrier for the day, but I walked into the room and saw Lenny peeking over the board at a few crickets she had left behind in the morning. :lol:

IMG_0510[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0511[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

A little fun on the deck!

IMG_0512[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

NOM NOM NOM!


IMG_0527[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

Crawling on my bed.

IMG_0533[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

Heres two videos of Lenny going for some worms!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63170020@N02/6051934039/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63170020@N02/6051933833/

Lenny's viv, the plant and hammock are gone now, replaced with a large rock for her to sleep on with a CHE over that side of the tank now. I have plans to be getting a larger viv very soon.

IMG_0376[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr
Sorry for all the pics and if they are poor quality, they are from my iPhone. I always read everyone loves all the pics so, tell me what you think!

 

[jirish617]

Well for those who have looked, here is an update for Lenny. Past month has been pretty rough. I had a confirmation that Lenny has coccidia and is being treated using Sulfa-Trim and I am also giving Bene-bac bird and reptile gel daily as well to help with the good bacteria. Lenny saw a new vet, and she refused to treat Lenny for the coccidia, none the less I was pretty unhappy. I took Lenny back to the Univ. of Illinois Vet School, which was a long haul from my hometown. The vet thought Lenny looked extremely good and was happy to hear of the care I have given. Decided that treating with meds was a definite after running her own fecal and seeing high counts of coccidia. I had this gut feeling something was right, couldn't tell as far as feeding when because Lenny had seen, crickets, hornworms, supers and reptis in a week and half when in transition from crickets to reptis, so I couldn't keep an easy tab of what he was eating was abnormal. I just had this gut feeling so I had the original fecal done. When that vet weighed him he was 218grams. When I had last weighed him prior to, maybe a week or so before, he was 239 grams. I could happily say within the week of the initial vet trip, and then seeing the vet at U of I, he put weight back on. He was actually almost 250g when the second vet saw him which was roughly one week later. I weighed him this morning and he is 296 grams. So he is definitely improving and is starting to eat much better. The Illinois vet was surprised in Lenny's lack of showing clinical signs of illness, seeing her experience with beardies(a beloved beardie owners as well), but wanted me to keep a close eye. Enough of the sad talk, though I would add more pictures!

Oh, and the most recent vet is convinced Lenny is a boy!

2-U. of Illinois Vet School Doctors think Lenny is a boy
1- Vet that refused to treat Lenny thinks girl
1- beardeddragon.org & myself say girl.
Guess I'll know soon enough when eggs come around!


Lenny was on my lap, started crawling so I straightened my leg and rested it on my mother, and he proceeded to end up like this, head tucked away :lol:

IMG_0544[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

On the way to UIUC vet school

IMG_0545[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

"whatchu want!?"

IMG_0546[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

These two pictures crack me up, a good friend stopped by, and when he was leaving I picked up lenny and put him to my chest so I could put him back in his viv, he proceeded to crawl up to my shoulder, but decided my head was more comfy.


IMG_0553[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr


IMG_0558[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

and this was moments ago, shortly after he did his ritual body wiggle to snuggle in comfy


IMG_0566[1] by uncfan617, on Flickr

 

[mikimom07]

Lenny is very cute! Sorry to hear he wasn't feeling well but glad he's on the mend.

I have two beardies, pretty sure they are girls but still too young to tell I think. I take them out daily and hold them but I'm afraid to let them explore on their own....How did you start to do this? I want my girls to explore and snuggle.

Do you live in Illinois? I live in north/northwest Illinois about and hour from chicago.

 

[KcloveAmi]

aww Lennys too cuteeee! glad she's doing better! no more sickiesssss :]]

 

[jirish617]

Lenny is very cute! Sorry to hear he wasn't feeling well but glad he's on the mend.

I have two beardies, pretty sure they are girls but still too young to tell I think. I take them out daily and hold them but I'm afraid to let them explore on their own....How did you start to do this? I want my girls to explore and snuggle.

Do you live in Illinois? I live in north/northwest Illinois about and hour from chicago.

Thanks!

Yep, I'm originally from the south suburbs of Chicago, moved down to UIUC for school but just recently moved back.

As far as exploring, ever since I first got Lenny back in may, I would try to get him out of the tank as much as possible. It was much harder when he was alot smaller, plus in a messy college apartment. Now that I am back at my parents house I give him more freedom but he is quite the pain and loves to hide! He tends to wander to dark shadows, so I just make sure I keep an eye on him. Overall my house is pretty well beardie proofed, but I didn't do anything to prevent things, there just isn't a whole lot to get into. If I am on the couch in the family room I let Lenny wander around unless he seems to try to jump off. If I am in the kitchen I let him wander the floor but still watching him. The most freedom he gets is in my room, I will close my door and just let him wander. It is borderline messy but it isn't anything that could get him into trouble, he likes to try to go under my bed, which I stop just for the sake of inconvienance. He LOVES my bed, always runs all over it till he picks where he chooses to plop down.

Best thing I would tell you is just do it slowly. Even at school I would ALWAYS bring Lenny out when people were around, just to get him acclimated to the commotion, now hardly anything phases him.

There is no point where I just let Lenny wander w/o some sort of supervision. Only way I will walk away for more than a couple mins and not worry is after he has ran around my room for a bit and picks his place to snooze(does this all the time!) Reason being is because he is a crab when he sleeps, and once he gets that first chance to relax out of the tank regardless of how early it is, nothing will make him move voluntarily, so I am less concerned about something happening

 

[jirish617]

aww Lennys too cuteeee! glad she's doing better! no more sickiesssss :]]

Thanks I appreciate it! The meds are still being administered, and will be for a bit longer. A total of 28 days. More importantly is that Lenny is eating again and gaining weight, so I must be doing something right!

 

[herpgirl2510]

What a handsome boy you have his colors are very nice.