What are your tips that make caring for your dragons easier

[jewl495]

I've seen threads like this before and I love what I learn from them. I'm not a newbie when it comes to caring for dragons but everyones got a shortcut that makes life so much easier so whats yours?

When it comes to food that is probably the most time consuming for me so its much easier to prepare ahead. I've been pretty lax about this but Im getting ready to make some more bird mash for my cockatoo and when I do that I will modify some for Kratos. Basically what I do is get as many different greens and veggies, and fruits...last time I had 28 different veggies/fruits run it through my food processor, bag it in small plastic bags, and freeze it. Then I thaw it out as needed and add to my salad greens, and give it to the feeder insects as well.
Here a website that explains it bird chop/mash. http://parrotnation.com/2010/08/08/chop-shot-by-shot/


I still like to have fresh veggies on hand as well but I don't use half of them for Kratos or my bird. So, I tear up his greens put in a bowl wrapped in paper towel as many of you do. I do this with fresh veggies too and they last about a week. The rest gets blended for my green smoothies, for my dogs, or I freeze it for future slurries.

 

[Lauram63110]

Potty training! Beyond a doubt! I take her for a shower every morning and it saves a lot of in keeping her house clean! Plus, I know she is hydrated and I think it is healthier for her not to be walking thru her poop all day. I love my potty trained beardie!

 

[jewl495]

So true I hate cleaning poo and I'm glad Kratos poos in his bath most days! What bout cleaning the tank? I have slate tiles and sometimes I think they are a pain to clean! I wonder if it would be better to grout them in?

 

[SherryInFL]

I have ceramic tile (textured) and I think we are going to grout them for the same reason. Things get in the cracks and it is a pita to get it out.

 

[Lauram63110]

If the tiles aren't grouted in, though, cant you just lift them out one by one and clean them? You could even run them through the dishwasher (provided there was no poo on them ) that way, and I'm thinking that hot water would do a pretty good job of sanitizing them.

 

[SherryInFL]

I end up every week having to take each tile out and cleaning them plus then I have to clean all the stuff that is under the tiles. It's amazing what get's underneath. I do wipe down a tile with hot water when he poops on one but still I end up having to do it all twice to clean the under the tile crap.

 

[RoscoTheBeardie]

Well I'm a newbie so feeding still is time consuming for me! But, one thing I do is keep my greens and vegies in Tupperware Fridgesmart containers... they make the vegies last sooooo much longer. I really need to find a faster way to feed the crickets! The phoenix worms are slightly time consuming too since I have to wash the medium they live in off of them. The crickets are definitley a pain, I had three excape this morning... ugg!

 

[bunnyrut]

Well I'm a newbie so feeding still is time consuming for me! But, one thing I do is keep my greens and vegies in Tupperware Fridgesmart containers... they make the vegies last sooooo much longer. I really need to find a faster way to feed the crickets! The phoenix worms are slightly time consuming too since I have to wash the medium they live in off of them. The crickets are definitley a pain, I had three excape this morning... ugg!

i have a black tube (a cardboard tube works well too), the crickets will go right into them. i leave it in the tank for 10 minutes and it gets full, if they take a while to run in i blow in the tank lightly and they run for the tube lol.

i then put the tube into an empty Parmesan shaker (got this idea from another user - best idea ever) and shake the tube until i get the right amount in. make sure you get the remaining crickets out of the tube and leave it out of the cricket cage - the crickets will stay in the tubes and not eat or drink for some reason.

with the lid on the parmesan container it is easier to get them into the beardie tank, and you can shake the powder out to save it or just open the bigger flap and let them jump out.

and you don't need to wash the phoenix worms. the medium won't harm your beardie if s/he eats it and the worms wiggle enough to knock the dirt off.

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

Two things... 1. Salad Spinner 2. Food processor

If you don't know what a salad spinner is, look here >>> http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_box_?k=Salad+spinner ...it's like a colander inside a bigger bowl, with a lid and a hand crank on top for spinning. People use them to wash their greens & get the excess water off (extra moisture will cause produce to rot faster). What's most time consuming to me when prepping all my "dragon food" is all the washing! Each leaf one by one - rinse, shake off, pat w/paper towel to dry uggggh :roll: With this things, you can just chop your greens without washing them, then run the chopped greens under water (in a bowl or colander) and then toss them in the salad spinner and spin until dry, only takes about 20-30 seconds! I even store the prepped and ready greens in the salad spinner in the fridge, as any remaining moisture will continually drain from the colander top into the bigger bowl on the bottom.

As for the food processor, all you need is a cheap one with a shredder blade. You can use it to shred all kinds of things... squash (this makes working with butternut squash sooo much easier), carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, cactus pad, mango, papaya, melons, bell peppers, anything you want!

 

[StaceysBuddy]

I don't know if this is any easier or not, but when it comes to cleaning the tile (adhesive) I do it almost everyday.

When I decide to feed buddy crickets/roaches, I take everything out of his tank. Add him plus the bugs. Wait for him to eat. Take him out and bust out the "dust buster". I vaccumm up everything. Gets dirty in there. Then I wipe it out. Put everything back. And I'm done. Seems like a lot of work if you have a lot of stuff in there. I only got big things in his tank so it's not really a hassle. I take everything out to feed him anyway, might as well clean it. And the vaccumm has a nice angled edge =]
He has been pooping a lot more in his tank lately so sometimes I just skip all that to clean up the poop. Just wipe it out.

 

[NoxnGeorgieT]

If you want to get the substrate off Phoenix Worms before you feed them to your beardie, you can just toss them in a small container of warm water--the substrate sinks and the PWs float, so you can just skim 'em off the top. Takes no time at all.

 

[jewl495]

If the tiles aren't grouted in, though, cant you just lift them out one by one and clean them? You could even run them through the dishwasher (provided there was no poo on them ) that way, and I'm thinking that hot water would do a pretty good job of sanitizing them.

Laura, I LOVE the dishwasher idea. I put everything else of his in there, so why not the tile. I do think I'm going to grout the tile in but until then it's the dishwasher.

I end up every week having to take each tile out and cleaning them plus then I have to clean all the stuff that is under the tiles. It's amazing what get's underneath. I do wipe down a tile with hot water when he poops on one but still I end up having to do it all twice to clean the under the tile crap.

Sherry, This is the only downfall to the tile so far, well that and the rare occasion he poops on them. Im usually gone for the day when he poops in the viv and cleaning dry poop off slate isn't any fun. Lucky for me he goes in the bath most days and he now poops in the same area of his viv so I cut up all his old shelf liner that use to be in his viv and put it there. I just run those through the washer to clean them when needed.

Well I'm a newbie so feeding still is time consuming for me! But, one thing I do is keep my greens and vegies in Tupperware Fridgesmart containers... they make the vegies last sooooo much longer. I really need to find a faster way to feed the crickets! The phoenix worms are slightly time consuming too since I have to wash the medium they live in off of them. The crickets are definitley a pain, I had three excape this morning... ugg!

Making salad for he week is a lifesaver! As for crickets there are always going to be escape artist in he bunch but have you tried feeding them in a separate container than in the viv? It really keeps the viv cleaner and helps prevent them from escaping

If you want to get the substrate off Phoenix Worms before you feed them to your beardie, you can just toss them in a small container of warm water--the substrate sinks and the PWs float, so you can just skim 'em off the top. Takes no time at all.

Really? I have always let them crawl around for a bit to separate them from the substrate. Hum