6 weeks - time for new digs!

Yes, it's been 6 weeks since Hiss came home with me from the pet store.  He's nearly doubled in size, eats like a horse, and is completing his second shed.  Every time I look at him, he's bigger!

Today was a big day.  We went from the modified half-size terrarium, to a full-size luxury condo.  A little confused at first, he's now loving the extra running room.

Here are some before and after shots.

This week he finally started eating his salad.  My routine is to chop his salad in the morning and give it to him after he eats his morning crickets.  He eats the salad during the day when nobody is home and he gets hungry.  Then more crickets for dinner.

Here are a few other pictures to share.  In the first he is displaying some of his beard.  The second is a lizard point of view.

Doing Okay

I went to a Reptile Expo in Portland yesterday.  Wasn't looking to buy anything, but did want to see dragons of varying ages, and wanted to discuss some concerns I had with people who know about such things.

First, the Expo itself.  I was expecting an abundance of tattoo's and piercings.  Is that terrible that I thought that?  Something about the pet snake culture that leads me to that image.  Turned out, as these things almost always do, that it wasn't as 'odd' as I'd imagined.  Well, except for the large woman walking around with a snake draped on her shoulders.

What was unexpected was the number of snakes that were for sale.  Snakes by far outnumbered any other type of reptile.  Next behind snakes were crested gecko's.  Bearded Dragons were hard to find.  While it's an easy first reptile, it's not a big deal for most experienced reptile owners. 

There were enough dragons of different ages/sizes for me to be able to compare my little guy.  I found a really personable vendor who talked to me about some of my concerns.  Turns out we are doing just fine, and maybe better than a lot of new owners because I have done so much research.

I came away from the expo feeling good about how I'm raising my little Hiss.

Here's a few pictures to show the change in his size over the past 5 weeks.

A second shed, and a big scare!

Yes, I had a bit of a scare today.  I walked into Hiss's room this afternoon, and something seemed wrong.  For some reason, he looked agitated, irritated ...

He was opening and closing his mouth rapidly, and puffing out his throat.  At first I thought maybe I had startled him, and he was exhibiting defensive behavior.  So I started talking to him.  That didn't make a difference. 

Then his body started to expand, like it was being filled with air.  This is when I came close to 'pet panic'.  His body deflated, but he still seemed upset.  Then the freakiest thing happened.  He closed his eyes, and his head started to expand.  His eyes bulged and he looked like he was a balloon! 

A few minutes later he started rubbing his head on his basking tree.  Then it happened - a big piece of skin came loose.  His neck, chin, and top of his head was shedding.

I missed the shedding process last time.  Came home and the skin was all over the terrarium.  Now that I've seen what he goes through, I think I'd like to miss the next shed.  Freaky!!

Couple of weeks ago I saw an item advertised called a reptile hammock.  I looked for pictures of one, and when I saw how it was used, I decided to make my own.  Here is Hiss enjoying his hammock.



Hiss - 3 week update

Well, it's been 3 weeks since Hiss moved in.  I've increased his food portions, and he's certainly accepted the increase!   Here are 'first day' and '3 week' pictures.  See that gut?!?  His back legs are getting thicker/stronger, and his tail is thicker and longer.

Sir Hiss - December 18, 2010

Sir Hiss - January 8, 2011

We continue to bond.  I gave him a bath this morning to get rid of the rest of the shed skin.  He didn't try to leave after only a few minutes like he has been.   Speaking of 'the shed', I expected to see big sheets of skin ... but it was like his skin exploded!  I came home one night and there were bits of shed skin everywhere!   The picture below shows all the skin bits in the background. 

Hiss, with his shed skin all over the carpet

He continues to enjoy kale, along with his crickets and mealworms.  Tomorrow I'm going to try baby peas.

Cricket Update

Well, the bulk shipment didn’t go so well this first time out.  

I called on the same day I placed the order and had them hold the shipment because we were having an unexpected cold snap.  Somehow, someone at the cricket supplier thought that the weather broke a bit and they shipped the crickets on Monday, without any confirmation with me.   The weather did get warmer, but only for a day.  When I got home last night, after UPS had delivered the package, about 2/3 of the crickets were dead.  

I e:mailed them last night, and called again this morning.   They checked and agreed that the order should NOT have been sent.  They will wait for the weather to break again and send another shipment, no additional charge to me.  

Fortunately, there were about 100-150 crickets that survived.  I’ve put them in my DIY cricket container, with food and ‘water’.  There should be enough to get through the next week or so.  

This morning I gave Hiss 12 crickets for breakfast – double what he is used to getting from me.  He ate every single one and looked fat and happy!

Oh, by the way, he shed the rest of his body skin yesterday.  When I got home last night, there were little pieces of skin everywhere!  Fortunately his coloring hasn’t changed much with this first shed.  I’m hoping that some of his orange coloring will stay into adulthood.

 

The crickets are coming!

Yes, the temperature finally warmed enough that the cricket supplier in Georgia could ship my box of 500 crickets. 

In preparation, I bought a 50 qt. rubbermaid container, and have collected egg cartons and toilet paper rolls from around the house and garbage.  These are good as it gives all the crickets a place to stand, instead of standing on each other. 

This morning I found the soldering iron in the garage and used it to melt a bunch of small holes in the lid of the container.  The crickets will be safely contained, but won't sufficate.  I already had cricket food and 'cricket water'.  You shouldn't give them real water, as they will drown.  Cricket water is a gel that satisfies their needs, without risk of drowning. 

I guess I'm ready for the crickets to arrive, and Hiss will have a feast tonight!

Hiss update

I didn't realize how long it has been since I last posted.  Hiss has been with me for almost 3 weeks now. 

This has been a fascinating time of discovery for me.  I've read every book the library had on the care of Bearded Dragons. 

Hiss is doing very well, at least it seems that way.  He's eating good, pooping as he should, sleeping like the baby that he is, and starting to grow!  His shed the skin from the top of his head last week, and shed his tail over the weekend.  I'm expecting to see the body skin come off anytime now.  Shedding is a good thing - it means growth.  On the weekends, I give him a "bath" in the sink, with a small amount of warm water.   It helps to keep him clean, and also helps with the shedding process.  Some dragons even enjoy the bath.  At this point, I don't think he cares about water.  He stands there while I splash him, then after a couple of minutes he scrambles to get out of the sink.

Young Dragons should be eating about 80% protein (live crickets/mealworms) and 20% salad (most fruits and dark greens).  I've tried broccoli, apple, carrot, parsley and kale.  He accepted the parsley, but he really liked the kale I brought him yesterday. 

Buying and maintaining live food has been a learning process all it's own.  Until this week, I've been buying the crickets at the local pet supply store, 50 at a time.  Mind you, these aren't the big crickets you see around your house, these are baby "pinhead" crickets - so 50 isn't as bad as it sounds.  As Hiss grows, so does his appetite.  I started him with 6-7 crickets a day, but he'll easily eat up to 15 if I offer them.  I think I'm averaging about 10 right now, in two feedings during the day.  Because of his appetite, and the price the local supplier charges, I'm trying mail-order bulk crickets.  I know - ick.  My husband was more than a little shocked when I told him that 500 crickets would be showing up at the door tomorrow.   But again, these are pinhead size crickets ...

Here are a few pictures of Hiss that I took last week.  This weekend I'm going to shoot some video of him enjoying his breakfast, and eating salad if I can capture that.  It's harder to predict when he's going to eat his greens.  He surprised me last night when he jumped off his perch, ran to his food bowl, and wolfed down a 1/2" piece of kale.