What's best for Blazer

[dna14]

Hi Randi! Yes soft-bodied worms are good. I have a feeling Blazer will like them. Have you read the nutrition chart? I know it's like 5 pages.... Phoenix Worms are what we feed in addition to crix n salad. We get them from http://www.phoenixworm.com and free shipping which is good. They do not need to be fed or dusted which we love plus lotsa calcium in them. We have also used butterworms, which are an excellent treat but not a staple, waxworms, same deal, both fattening, and silkworms. Silkworms have something in them that helps beardies process the calcium they get from all their diets. You don't have to feed waxworms or butterworms but butters need to be kept cool. If you read the feeders thread you'll get lots more options just giving you what I feed. Never mealworms k? You can get all kinds of worms at http://www.mulberryfarms.com but if you are only going with Phoenix then might as well go w/ the first site as mulberry gets them from there anyway so they come a bit fresher. Silkworms generally come with some food and my kids' 2nd grade classroom raised them all year and gave me the eggs at the end of the year I was so excited free food for beardies but I could never get them to hatch. I hear they're pretty easy to raise so I'm a failure. Blazer is def looking like he(she) omg such gender crisis is feeling some love

 

[Drache613]

Hello Randi,

Blazer looks sweet. It is hard to tell from the pics the sex but it looks like there may be a pore or two.
Great that he did lick some of the greens slurry for you that is awesome. Hopefully he liked it!
It sounds like he is getting a little bit of energy now, so hopefully all of the nutrition will really help him out.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[Embee]

Randi,

Thank you so much for keeping us updated on Blazer... the dear thing. It sounds like he is responding very well to all your loving care.

I would second the phoenix worms as someone suggested. They are small, so an easy mouthful, and also filled with lots of natural calcium, so can be wonderful for a dragon who could use a bit of a lift.

Lots of support to you! :

Em

 

[randisjoy]

I am so sorry I've been away so long.
I've made a decision, which, I am wondering if it's a good one. I just bought 12 crickets and I was REALLY hoping Blazer would go after them but no
I'm thinking I should just put one in her mouth? It'll be a challange for me to even hold the cricket in my fingers, let alone get it in her mouth lol. But love is love.What's the best way for me to get her mouth open and do this with the least amount of stress for her? Is this a good idea?
Thanks!

 

[fresnowitte]

Randi you could try putting one in the frig for a few seconds until the crickets slows down then you will beable to hold on to it easier. Rub it on the sides of Blazer's mouth along the lips this might entice him to open his mouth.

Good luck dear!

 

[randisjoy]

Thank you, Barbara!! Nice to hear from you! I've been away too long. I think I will try in the morning since it's so late. I'll just need to figure out what to put them in to keep them alive till morning. I should of gotten a little cricket keeper! darn.

 

[vickson420]

Barbara is correct the fridge will slow them down.Also and I know its gross but you can pull the back legs off of them so that Blazer can catch them.I read you are doing the squash but are you going to add a protien babyfood as well like chicken or turkey?If so start slow when adding the protien since Blazer is underweight you dont want to send his body into shock.I would mix a little with the squask and increase it slowly over time.As with anything too much of a good thing isnt a good thing :wink: You are doing great so just go slow and dont rush it.It is obvious Blazer is in great hands so if anyone is going to restore him 100% then its going to be you

 

[dna14]

Twitch got really sick and I got advice from all the moderators and lotsa members. My beardie-sitter when we are on vaca told us she feeds crix w/ tongs. I have developed this technique and it worked well for me when Twitch was recovering... *dust, throw into a water bowl* scoop out of the water bowl and present to beardie. The crick is stunned and barely moves but a touch more hydration for beardie! 'course it prob washes all the dust off but a bit extra hydration? it worked for us... as did cooling the crix as afore-mentioned

 

[randisjoy]

Tongs?! Water dip?! I am trying that tomorrow! That is a perfect idea for me! I was just going to let them go in the morning if she didnt eat any. It was such a pain getting them out of her tank! (actually, I am going to officially start calling her----him! I really think Blazer is a boy now!)
Thank you!

And thank you, Vickson420, for your wonderful words of encouragement. It helps to hear that!

 

[randisjoy]

Blazer ate a cricket!! Hooray
I took some pictures and got sad when he didn't look as good as I thought he would in them. I know he doesn't look "healthy" yet but he's getting better. Right? :roll: Does anybody have any feedback on what they see in these pictures? Ay sign of obvious illness I'm missing?? He has some very dark body parts still that don't look good to me and there is a whiteness or chalkiness on his head. Thank everybody I really appreciate all of you SO much!
It did make me happy when I saw he looked better in his "bath" picture.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Better and better ! Keep up the great work !
Janie.

 

[dna14]

Randi, it looks like Blazer will pull thru! To me he looks like he's black in spots trying to get as much heat as he can, and his head looks like it's starting to shed good sign! How active is he? I'm glad he ate a crick. Try cooling them off AND tongs or putting them in a bowl or on your hand and presenting them. I hand-feed crix every day and D does when I can't. It pisses my daughter off so bad "they are not hand-fed in the wild!" :roll: whatever. I say, 'you won't be my baby so they are' lol What else is he eating? Is he graduated from baby food to real veggies yet?

 

[randisjoy]

LOl. I have a teenage daughter and you just made me laught out loud for real :lol:
Well, he's still doing the Fluker's Repta-Aid and squash Although today, he was SOOOO stubborn and I didn't get much in him with his forst feeding. I did get most of the Repta-Aid in. I really think this stuff is working good!!
I offer him fresh greens 1-2 times a day. No luck so far. I am going to have to go buy a blender and get a green slurry going. I am also holding out some hope for the Pheonix worms that I ordered yesterday. I know they are high in calcium with good phosphurus ratios but I was really torn on getting silk worms or those. Silk worms have that special "chemical" that helps them process the calcium?? I wish they sold smaller quantities of them so it would of made more sense to get both but I knew that if I got both, a lot of them may of gone to waste.

 

[dna14]

another good thing about silkworms is you can feed them so they stay alive longer. Last year my 2nd grade son's class raised silkworms through 2 cycles. My son wouldn't let me take his class's 'pets' so I got another teacher's eggs. :roll: I'm a failure. I heard it was so easy. They never hatched. But if you were to have the inclination to study :study: and try, buy a big batch and good luck free food is always good. We bought silkworms several times but the last time they didn't get eaten fast enuf and some died and it was nasty. They poo alot. I like PW's like 100% better personally. No care needed. 'Course once my beardies went on a boycott (You know the look and the voice, ('you KNOW I DON'T LIKE THAT MOM :evil: ') on something they've always liked. And a week later we had flies in the container :shock: I just heard from Sheila at phoenixworm.com that the beardies like to eat the flies too! Who woulda thought? :shock: SO if it ever happens again I'll try the flies on Hermes. Twitch is too big and fat (compliments to a beardie right? lol) to leap for flies but Hermes thinks he's superbeardie

Can't wait to hear if Blazer likes his PW's ! They're super wiggly. We have fed them by hand and dropped them right into the tank but the way I have settled on for the agreeable beardie is a small clear pyrex dish I put them in. They can't climb up the sides and beardies can see them wiggle from all directions... As soon as I pull the dish out Hermes goes wild! Spoiled Princess Twitch won't eat them unless I present them to her on the lid from the container, that works too. Here's a video of her eating her worms and squash... in case you're interested
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQHIA-d12l8

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Remember to breath and relax. This is a marathon not a sprint :wink: