Lolly
Food: 13-15 crickets
Toilet: Not sure
Behaviour: Lolly was not interested in eating in the feeding tray again today. She's still happy enough being handled, which I did a few times today to reinforce the concept for her. However, I popped her back in the den and promptly put a few crickets in front of her. She then proceeded to eat everything I dropped in! Later on I also saw literally hunting down a stray cricket. It was fantastic to watch. She looked almost like a big cat stalking its prey.
Nothing from the salad bar appears to have been eaten again today.
Booster
Food: 6-10 crickets
Toilet: Not sure
Booster: Good to see Booster eating crickets again today. No salad bar action, but it's still the time of a young Beardie's life where they should be smashing down as many little insects as possible. So a good day food wise.
Booster and Lolly seem to be getting on quite well. Booster in particular has taken to lying most of the day in the mid section of the den half way up the log. Probably in defference to Lolly having the prime position a little further up. But Lolly was hand waving today, so it is still not decided who is the top dog as it were.
Crickets
Breeding colony is chirping away and the heat mat appears to be keeping things fairly warm. I think I saw some eggs in the nesting bowl, but, time will tell for sure. I will leave the initial bowl in there for three days before replacing it. From there it will be probably 3 weeks before anything hatches, assuming anything does!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Dragon Diary - 29/04/2010
I set the crickets loose a breeding today (well yesterday now, I didn't get around to posting last night). They are happily chirping away in the laundry. I was going to put them out in the garage, but they don't appear to be as noisy as first anticipated. So now, we wait for a couple of days before removing the first laying dish. Three weeks after that I might see some 'pinheads'. Which is the term I have come to understand to be the word for itty bitty baby crickets. I can only assume it is because of their size. Given that crickets only live for a month or two I can only imagine how fast they grow.
Lolly
Food: 1 cricket witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was quite off her food today. She is shedding on her head and by the looks of it her tail won't be too far behind as well as maybe one of her legs. She's bee rubbing up against thing to try and remove the skin. I can only assume that it is annoying enough to put her off her food.
When I took her out of the den to feed her, she was not interested in the crickets at all and doesn't look to have visited the salad bar at all. I saw her eat one cricket when I put her back in the den. She was quite placid to the point on inactivity. I am putting it down to the shedding, but, will only do so for a day or two before I look into it more deeply.
Booster
Food: 5-10 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster happily took crickets in the den. There was no interest in the salad bar from him either. I have refrained from handling him again as I as still just happy to see him eating regularly. Who knows, maybe he will even grow a little this week!
Lolly
Food: 1 cricket witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was quite off her food today. She is shedding on her head and by the looks of it her tail won't be too far behind as well as maybe one of her legs. She's bee rubbing up against thing to try and remove the skin. I can only assume that it is annoying enough to put her off her food.
When I took her out of the den to feed her, she was not interested in the crickets at all and doesn't look to have visited the salad bar at all. I saw her eat one cricket when I put her back in the den. She was quite placid to the point on inactivity. I am putting it down to the shedding, but, will only do so for a day or two before I look into it more deeply.
Booster
Food: 5-10 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster happily took crickets in the den. There was no interest in the salad bar from him either. I have refrained from handling him again as I as still just happy to see him eating regularly. Who knows, maybe he will even grow a little this week!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Dragon Diary - 28/04/2010
Spent more time working on the cricket breeding setup today. I finished the fitout of the tubs with fly screen windows. I also bought some peat moss for egg laying and a heat mat to put under the breeding colony tub to stimulate laying. I picked up some adult crickets as well. Tomorrow I will make the final adjustment and let nature start taking its course.
Lolly
Food: 8 crickets (dusted)
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly ate a good number of cricket but nothing from the salad bar today. She was happy enough to be handled again which is becoming very convenient and fun at the same time. Nothing terribly exciting to be honest. Just a standard day for Lolly who continues to be a breeze to look after.
Booster
Food: 8-10 crickets (dusted)
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster was keen to eat crickets today and I was keen to let him. He came straight down to where I was putting the crickets in and ate every one that I gave him. I put some more in after the first lot that Lolly hadn't polished off and he ate them too! A good day indeed!
I saw Booster hand waving again today. He seems to just get out of Lolly's way in general without being pushed around or attacked or anything. They still bask together fine, It's just that Lolly tends to get the 'best spot'.
Lolly
Food: 8 crickets (dusted)
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly ate a good number of cricket but nothing from the salad bar today. She was happy enough to be handled again which is becoming very convenient and fun at the same time. Nothing terribly exciting to be honest. Just a standard day for Lolly who continues to be a breeze to look after.
Booster
Food: 8-10 crickets (dusted)
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster was keen to eat crickets today and I was keen to let him. He came straight down to where I was putting the crickets in and ate every one that I gave him. I put some more in after the first lot that Lolly hadn't polished off and he ate them too! A good day indeed!
I saw Booster hand waving again today. He seems to just get out of Lolly's way in general without being pushed around or attacked or anything. They still bask together fine, It's just that Lolly tends to get the 'best spot'.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Dragon Diary - 27/04/2010
I started my cricket breeding project today. I am going to give it a go. I bought a few plastic tubs with lids and have started making holes in the lids and attaching fly screen for ventilation. I have taken some photos of the process and will do up a page on what is going on with it all soon. Stage 1 is nearly complete.
Lolly
Food: 10+ Crickets, Pumpkin
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly went straight for the pumpkin I put in the salad bar today. First up success! She is becoming very comfortable with being handled when I take her out for feeding and then some time interacting afterwards. She made her way through about 10 crickets in the tub this afternoon. She also found one in the enclosure later on that somehow managed to be found on the couch an hour or so after the feeding session. She hunted it down on the rocky backdrop and snapped it up!
Booster
Food: 5-7 crickets, maybe some pumpkin
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster got quite a few crickets today. I saw him take 2 before he started watching me more than the crickets and I left. There were no crickets visible a short time later, so I think he got all that I put in.
I tried handling him today. He is still as flighty as ever. He wouldn't sit still for a second and jumped onto the floor at one stage. I had to sped a few minutes cornering him under the coffee table while holding of our youngest who didn't know he was there and was placing her feet far to casually for the situation.....the thought of a squishy Dragon did not appeal to much. I think the handling will be put off for a little while yet. I'll see if I can get some size on him first.
Lolly
Food: 10+ Crickets, Pumpkin
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly went straight for the pumpkin I put in the salad bar today. First up success! She is becoming very comfortable with being handled when I take her out for feeding and then some time interacting afterwards. She made her way through about 10 crickets in the tub this afternoon. She also found one in the enclosure later on that somehow managed to be found on the couch an hour or so after the feeding session. She hunted it down on the rocky backdrop and snapped it up!
Booster
Food: 5-7 crickets, maybe some pumpkin
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster got quite a few crickets today. I saw him take 2 before he started watching me more than the crickets and I left. There were no crickets visible a short time later, so I think he got all that I put in.
I tried handling him today. He is still as flighty as ever. He wouldn't sit still for a second and jumped onto the floor at one stage. I had to sped a few minutes cornering him under the coffee table while holding of our youngest who didn't know he was there and was placing her feet far to casually for the situation.....the thought of a squishy Dragon did not appeal to much. I think the handling will be put off for a little while yet. I'll see if I can get some size on him first.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Dragon Diary - 26/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 10+ crickets (dusted), carrot
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Saw Lolly digging into some carrot today. Not sure if she had some bok choy as well, but, it did look pushed around the dish if nothing else. I am thinking of trying some pumpkin tomorrow. I'll confirm that it is ok to give them, but, I am pretty sure it is all good.
She was happy to be handled by everyone again today. Louise, my lovely wife, almost had a hold today. We're all working on her. At least she lets them live in the house with us, even if she has not totally embraced the passion as it were.
The top of Lolly's head and most of her tail are looking dull. I think she may be preparing to shed her skin again. I guess we'll see in the next little while.
Booster
Food: Crickets (dusted) - not sure how many. Veggies maybe
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I am confident that Booster managed to get a few crickets at feeding time. I have gone back to putting them in the enclosure while Lolly is in the feeding tray out of sight and letting him hunt them down for now. He may not get as many and I don't know how many he is getting, but, at least I know he is getting some. He may have wandered over to the salad bar today and grabbed either some carrot and/or bok choy, but, I cannot be 100% sure. It will be interesting to see how he goes on the pumpkin tomorrow.
I need to bite the bullet and start to handle him soon. Just worried that he will stress out and stop eating.
Food: 10+ crickets (dusted), carrot
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Saw Lolly digging into some carrot today. Not sure if she had some bok choy as well, but, it did look pushed around the dish if nothing else. I am thinking of trying some pumpkin tomorrow. I'll confirm that it is ok to give them, but, I am pretty sure it is all good.
She was happy to be handled by everyone again today. Louise, my lovely wife, almost had a hold today. We're all working on her. At least she lets them live in the house with us, even if she has not totally embraced the passion as it were.
The top of Lolly's head and most of her tail are looking dull. I think she may be preparing to shed her skin again. I guess we'll see in the next little while.
Booster
Food: Crickets (dusted) - not sure how many. Veggies maybe
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I am confident that Booster managed to get a few crickets at feeding time. I have gone back to putting them in the enclosure while Lolly is in the feeding tray out of sight and letting him hunt them down for now. He may not get as many and I don't know how many he is getting, but, at least I know he is getting some. He may have wandered over to the salad bar today and grabbed either some carrot and/or bok choy, but, I cannot be 100% sure. It will be interesting to see how he goes on the pumpkin tomorrow.
I need to bite the bullet and start to handle him soon. Just worried that he will stress out and stop eating.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Dragon Diary - 25/04/2010
We had visitors over today. It was great to be able to share with them our Beardies and how we look after them. It was particularly nice to have my God Daughter involved in the feeding and to have a chance to hold Lolly. They even all got to witness a very rare event...Booster eating a cricket!
Lolly
Food: 7-10 crickets, no veggies witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was able to eat her crickets in amongst the extra people and noise around today. She didn't have as many as usual, but, was still eating in the midst of it all. Very encouraging too was her willingness to be held by all the kids who I have to say were really great. They did nothing to excite or stress Lolly at all.
Booster
Food: At least 1 cricket, Carrot and maybe bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I put some carrot in today and actually saw Booster eating it. He doesn't seem to like anyone watching him eat, but, still took a nibble or two while JT and I tried to watch. If nothing else, I know he likes his greens! Or oranges in this case. Still, it does mean that he will continue to grow more slowly than Lolly which is a potential problem.
I read a thread on a reptile community site about the passing of a Bearded Dragon owned by a fellow enthusiast. They had two Beardies in a similar situation to us (ie most likely from the same clutch). One of them fed and grew very well, the other did not. To the point where the size different between the two was nothing short of boggling. I don't usually post images other than my own, but, This really astounded me. The image below is of a brother and sister effectively. This would look to me to be an extreme example, but, it certainly demonstrates what can happen when on Beardie is eating more consistently that the other. Sadly, the smaller Dragon in this picture died recently after hanging on for several months.
Lolly
Food: 7-10 crickets, no veggies witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was able to eat her crickets in amongst the extra people and noise around today. She didn't have as many as usual, but, was still eating in the midst of it all. Very encouraging too was her willingness to be held by all the kids who I have to say were really great. They did nothing to excite or stress Lolly at all.
Booster
Food: At least 1 cricket, Carrot and maybe bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I put some carrot in today and actually saw Booster eating it. He doesn't seem to like anyone watching him eat, but, still took a nibble or two while JT and I tried to watch. If nothing else, I know he likes his greens! Or oranges in this case. Still, it does mean that he will continue to grow more slowly than Lolly which is a potential problem.
I read a thread on a reptile community site about the passing of a Bearded Dragon owned by a fellow enthusiast. They had two Beardies in a similar situation to us (ie most likely from the same clutch). One of them fed and grew very well, the other did not. To the point where the size different between the two was nothing short of boggling. I don't usually post images other than my own, but, This really astounded me. The image below is of a brother and sister effectively. This would look to me to be an extreme example, but, it certainly demonstrates what can happen when on Beardie is eating more consistently that the other. Sadly, the smaller Dragon in this picture died recently after hanging on for several months.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Dragon Diary - 24/04/2010
Weigh in day today. JT and I went through the routine of estimating the Beardies' size and then measuring them. We then had a good hold of Lolly who is starting to get very comfortable with me in particular. If she is being held by the kids, when she has had enough she tends to come over to me. Today she lay out flat and was going to sleep in my hand she was that comfortable.
The big news is that Booster had put on weight! But more on that later. I have also changed the layout of the site a bit. The main reason was that I wanted to add a slideshow of some of my favourite images. You can click on them to view them in my picasa album. I'll also update the My Dragon Images page soon to include them.
Lolly
Weight: 18 grams (+1)
Length: 19 cm
Food: 10+ crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly wasn't too interested in eating in her tray today after her weigh in. Most likely because Danika was quite vocal and bumping the tray quite a bit. However, when I put her back in the enclosure she tracked down enough to take her tally up to over 10. As I said, she is getting really comfortable being handled. She didn't blink when I picked her up to be fed and was calm throughout the whole experience.
She has gotten a little bigger this week. She missed getting crickets yesterday because I was working, but, judging by her toilet activities today she chowed down on the bok choy instead. I took some good photos today that make up the bulk of the images in the new slideshow. Lolly certainly didn't seem to mind having a camera lense in her face as today was the first time I took photos from inside the enclosure and not through glass.
Booster
Weight: 10 grams (+2)
Length: TBA
Food: 1-2 crickets witnessed, bok choy
Toilet: yes
Behaviour: I actually saw Booster eating bok choy today for the first time. I am confident that he has done so previously, but never witnessed it. I also saw him take 1 cricket and I think he got another as well. This was loose in the enclosure, so I think I might have to go back to that way of feeding him for now.
Biggest thing was that he put on weight for the first time. He is still much smaller than Lolly, but, an improvement none the less. I might see if I can start handling him again this week.
The big news is that Booster had put on weight! But more on that later. I have also changed the layout of the site a bit. The main reason was that I wanted to add a slideshow of some of my favourite images. You can click on them to view them in my picasa album. I'll also update the My Dragon Images page soon to include them.
Lolly
Weight: 18 grams (+1)
Length: 19 cm
Food: 10+ crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly wasn't too interested in eating in her tray today after her weigh in. Most likely because Danika was quite vocal and bumping the tray quite a bit. However, when I put her back in the enclosure she tracked down enough to take her tally up to over 10. As I said, she is getting really comfortable being handled. She didn't blink when I picked her up to be fed and was calm throughout the whole experience.
She has gotten a little bigger this week. She missed getting crickets yesterday because I was working, but, judging by her toilet activities today she chowed down on the bok choy instead. I took some good photos today that make up the bulk of the images in the new slideshow. Lolly certainly didn't seem to mind having a camera lense in her face as today was the first time I took photos from inside the enclosure and not through glass.
Booster
Weight: 10 grams (+2)
Length: TBA
Food: 1-2 crickets witnessed, bok choy
Toilet: yes
Behaviour: I actually saw Booster eating bok choy today for the first time. I am confident that he has done so previously, but never witnessed it. I also saw him take 1 cricket and I think he got another as well. This was loose in the enclosure, so I think I might have to go back to that way of feeding him for now.
Biggest thing was that he put on weight for the first time. He is still much smaller than Lolly, but, an improvement none the less. I might see if I can start handling him again this week.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Dragon Diary - 22/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 10+ crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was great again today. Straight into her feeding tray and ate anything and everything that looked like food. She then had some time with me where she was calm and inquisitive and just seemed really comfortable. Both the kids had a hold and just love having the opportunity to interact with her. It's looking really good for when she is older and able to spend more time out of the enclosure. At the moment while she is small I'm still worried that she might get startled and run under something so I keep a close eye on her and don't let her stray too far.
Booster
Food: Maybe some bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I tried putting a tray full of crickets into the enclosure tonight so it was just under where Booster was perched. Within a minute he had hopped in. Unfortunately he didn't like not being able to get out and didn't eat a thing. There was plenty of bok choy gone, so I am hoping he had some of that. He's definately interested in the crickets, so hopefully I can get him to eat some again soon.
Food: 10+ crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was great again today. Straight into her feeding tray and ate anything and everything that looked like food. She then had some time with me where she was calm and inquisitive and just seemed really comfortable. Both the kids had a hold and just love having the opportunity to interact with her. It's looking really good for when she is older and able to spend more time out of the enclosure. At the moment while she is small I'm still worried that she might get startled and run under something so I keep a close eye on her and don't let her stray too far.
Booster
Food: Maybe some bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I tried putting a tray full of crickets into the enclosure tonight so it was just under where Booster was perched. Within a minute he had hopped in. Unfortunately he didn't like not being able to get out and didn't eat a thing. There was plenty of bok choy gone, so I am hoping he had some of that. He's definately interested in the crickets, so hopefully I can get him to eat some again soon.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Dragon Diary - 21/04/2010
Not much time to spend with the Beardies today. Had to rush out to work in the morning and worked a bit late before rushing out to basketball. Basically they had a quick feed and a misting with water. Good thing the enclosure is set up to manage their temperature automatically and so easy to clean up after them each day. Makes them very easy care pets.
Lolly
Food: About 12 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: So easy going. With time at a premium today, she was straight into her feeding tray and damn near jumping into the container with the crickets in it. I don't think it will be long before she does jump in there with them!
She was very calm when I handled her today. Even tried to eat some of the small yellow letters on my t-shirt. So funny. Maybe she was giving me some kisses ;-).
Booster
Food: None
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Thought we had it yesterday with the tray in the enclosure. Today he just didn't want to know about the crickets in there. I'll try again tomorrow, but, so disappointed that we didn't get a repeat performance. Next time Gadget....Next time!
Lolly
Food: About 12 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: So easy going. With time at a premium today, she was straight into her feeding tray and damn near jumping into the container with the crickets in it. I don't think it will be long before she does jump in there with them!
She was very calm when I handled her today. Even tried to eat some of the small yellow letters on my t-shirt. So funny. Maybe she was giving me some kisses ;-).
Booster
Food: None
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Thought we had it yesterday with the tray in the enclosure. Today he just didn't want to know about the crickets in there. I'll try again tomorrow, but, so disappointed that we didn't get a repeat performance. Next time Gadget....Next time!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Dragon Diary - 20/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 10-13 crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was her usual easy going self today. Ate well in the new feeding tray. I had to put her in the slightly smaller one because of what we tried with Booster today. She looked a little cramped, but, still went at everything moving and edible in there with her.
JT had a good hold of her today. I went to get my camera to take some quick photos and JT had managed to quietly and safely retake control of Lolly when she darted off for a little look around. I was none the wiser until she told me about it. It is giving me great pleasure to see her so sensible and enjoying our new pets.
Booster
Food: 11 (yes that's right 11) crickets, bok choy
Toilet: yes
Behaviour: A red letter day! I am hoping that we have got it sorted with regards to Booster's feeding now. I caught him and placed him in one of the new feeding trays. Then I put the whole tray inside the enclosure and dropped in some crickets. We then went to feed Lolly and left Booster to his own devices.
Upon returning a couple of minutes later, the 5 crickets that were in with him were gone! I quickly put 6 more in and just had to take a sneaky peak. Within a few seconds he was hunting them all down. The bottom of the tray is a little slippery and he had to have a few goes to get a couple of them as a result, but, he ate every single one of them. Go Booster!
Thanks once again to the advice from Reptiles inc. I am hoping that we have Booster on track to start matching Lolly's growth. Feeding him in a tray inside the enclosure was something that they suggested a while ago that I have left until today to try. Today it worked! Let's hope it does again tomorrow.
Food: 10-13 crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was her usual easy going self today. Ate well in the new feeding tray. I had to put her in the slightly smaller one because of what we tried with Booster today. She looked a little cramped, but, still went at everything moving and edible in there with her.
JT had a good hold of her today. I went to get my camera to take some quick photos and JT had managed to quietly and safely retake control of Lolly when she darted off for a little look around. I was none the wiser until she told me about it. It is giving me great pleasure to see her so sensible and enjoying our new pets.
Booster
Food: 11 (yes that's right 11) crickets, bok choy
Toilet: yes
Behaviour: A red letter day! I am hoping that we have got it sorted with regards to Booster's feeding now. I caught him and placed him in one of the new feeding trays. Then I put the whole tray inside the enclosure and dropped in some crickets. We then went to feed Lolly and left Booster to his own devices.
Upon returning a couple of minutes later, the 5 crickets that were in with him were gone! I quickly put 6 more in and just had to take a sneaky peak. Within a few seconds he was hunting them all down. The bottom of the tray is a little slippery and he had to have a few goes to get a couple of them as a result, but, he ate every single one of them. Go Booster!
Thanks once again to the advice from Reptiles inc. I am hoping that we have Booster on track to start matching Lolly's growth. Feeding him in a tray inside the enclosure was something that they suggested a while ago that I have left until today to try. Today it worked! Let's hope it does again tomorrow.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Dragon Diary - 19/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 9 crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I tried Lolly in a smaller feeding container today. She was a little surprised at first, but as soon as the crickets came in, she was soon settled into the business of eating everything in sight! I'm not putting news paper into this one so no crickets can hide. The sides of the container is a little higher too, so I am not so worried about either Dragon or crickets climbing out. The overall size is smaller so the container itself is more manageable too. Win win!
I put in a fair bit of bok choy this morning and all but a couple of pieces were gone when I got home from work today. Awesome! I am going to look at getting some other greens this week to see how they go.
Booster
Food: Some bok choy maybe.
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster is looking a little thin again today. I am pretty sure he must have had some bok choy as I don't think Lolly could have possible eaten all that was consumed from the food dish.
I tried feeding Booster in the smaller tray today with no luck. I am thinking of trying putting the tray inside the enclosure and putting crickets in it then to see if that will help. I bought two slightly different sized containers for feeding so both can be in use at the same time. I've read that it is one way to accustomise Beardies to feeding outside their enclosure. So we'll see how it goes.
Food: 9 crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I tried Lolly in a smaller feeding container today. She was a little surprised at first, but as soon as the crickets came in, she was soon settled into the business of eating everything in sight! I'm not putting news paper into this one so no crickets can hide. The sides of the container is a little higher too, so I am not so worried about either Dragon or crickets climbing out. The overall size is smaller so the container itself is more manageable too. Win win!
I put in a fair bit of bok choy this morning and all but a couple of pieces were gone when I got home from work today. Awesome! I am going to look at getting some other greens this week to see how they go.
Booster
Food: Some bok choy maybe.
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster is looking a little thin again today. I am pretty sure he must have had some bok choy as I don't think Lolly could have possible eaten all that was consumed from the food dish.
I tried feeding Booster in the smaller tray today with no luck. I am thinking of trying putting the tray inside the enclosure and putting crickets in it then to see if that will help. I bought two slightly different sized containers for feeding so both can be in use at the same time. I've read that it is one way to accustomise Beardies to feeding outside their enclosure. So we'll see how it goes.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Dragon Diary - 18/04/2010
No major news today. Just make sure you check out the Dragon's Den and JT's Update #2 if you missed them yesterday.
Lolly
Food: About 10 crickets and maybe some bok choy
Toilet: Yes (in the food dish again!)
Behaviour: Standard Lolly day. Eat, sleep and poo in the food dish. I'm not sure why she does it, but, invariably she seems to wander over to the food dish to grab some greens just when she wants to relieve herself. I'm not sure of the health implications, but, I always clean out the 'waste', where ever it lands pretty much as soon as I see it. Our Beardies seem to go at least once a day when they are going well.
I started taking the food dish out in the early evening as of today. The veggies tend to be dried out by then anyway. may as well get them out and not risk any health issues from the favourite toilet location.
Booster
Food: No crickets witnessed, but, confident of some bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster looks like he also had a go at a toilet break in the food dish. He managed to go just to one side and not in the dish, so at least that is something. I think that he went for some greens in his diet today and suspect some carrot in the last few days as well. So even if he didn't take any crickets, at least he is eating. His tummy still has a nice full look to it.
It is more important that he eats crickets when he is so young as they will add to his size the best. But, as long as I know he is eating something, I am not overly concerned.
Lolly
Food: About 10 crickets and maybe some bok choy
Toilet: Yes (in the food dish again!)
Behaviour: Standard Lolly day. Eat, sleep and poo in the food dish. I'm not sure why she does it, but, invariably she seems to wander over to the food dish to grab some greens just when she wants to relieve herself. I'm not sure of the health implications, but, I always clean out the 'waste', where ever it lands pretty much as soon as I see it. Our Beardies seem to go at least once a day when they are going well.
I started taking the food dish out in the early evening as of today. The veggies tend to be dried out by then anyway. may as well get them out and not risk any health issues from the favourite toilet location.
Booster
Food: No crickets witnessed, but, confident of some bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster looks like he also had a go at a toilet break in the food dish. He managed to go just to one side and not in the dish, so at least that is something. I think that he went for some greens in his diet today and suspect some carrot in the last few days as well. So even if he didn't take any crickets, at least he is eating. His tummy still has a nice full look to it.
It is more important that he eats crickets when he is so young as they will add to his size the best. But, as long as I know he is eating something, I am not overly concerned.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Dragon Diary - 17/04/2010
Weigh in day again today. Lolly grew again and Booster seems to be just hanging in there. No issues with it quite yet, but, at least he has a full belly from what we can tell.
In case you missed it, JT gave her latest update directly below with a great photo of her and Danika, her sister. You can also click on this link to view it and leave a comment - JT's Update #2
Also, I have completed a new page for the site outlining the enclosure that we have our Dragons in. I think it has some good information in it and makes a good permanent addition to the site. I have changed the way you can access the other pages that make up this site, they appear as tabs just under the title image at the top of this page. The new page added today is called the Dragon's Den! You can click on the tab above or here - Dragon's Den.
Lolly
Weight: 17 grams (+3)
Length: 18-20cm
Food: 8 crickets witnessed, possibly some bok choy
Toilet: Probably
Behaviour: Lolly is almost keen to jump into the tote tray now. She is starting to recognise it as meaning dinner. When I put the container of crickets in and start tilting it to let them out, she is all but ready to jump in!
She ate well today. I think she grabbed some bok choy as well. One of them played with it at least as there was a bit strewn here and there. Lolly has also started gaping. By that I mean that she sits with her mouth slightly open. From what I have read this is to help regulate her temperature when she gets a bit hot. Funny thing is, she does it right up in the warmest part of the enclosure. Why not just move to a cooler spot? Maybe there is more to it. I'll keep an eye on when and where she does it and see if I can get a good photo as well. Very interesting to watch.
Booster
Weight: 8 grams (+/- 0)
Food: Unsure, maybe some crickets and/or bok choy
Toilet: don't think so
Behaviour: Weighed Booster in again today. He is the same weight as pretty much since he came to us. About the best thing about it is that he is not losing weight. There are signs that he has been eating this week so it's still been positive from that perspective. He was in the right area to have eaten a few crickets tonight too so hopefully it is a pattern that will continue and he will put on some size.
In case you missed it, JT gave her latest update directly below with a great photo of her and Danika, her sister. You can also click on this link to view it and leave a comment - JT's Update #2
Also, I have completed a new page for the site outlining the enclosure that we have our Dragons in. I think it has some good information in it and makes a good permanent addition to the site. I have changed the way you can access the other pages that make up this site, they appear as tabs just under the title image at the top of this page. The new page added today is called the Dragon's Den! You can click on the tab above or here - Dragon's Den.
Lolly
Weight: 17 grams (+3)
Length: 18-20cm
Food: 8 crickets witnessed, possibly some bok choy
Toilet: Probably
Behaviour: Lolly is almost keen to jump into the tote tray now. She is starting to recognise it as meaning dinner. When I put the container of crickets in and start tilting it to let them out, she is all but ready to jump in!
She ate well today. I think she grabbed some bok choy as well. One of them played with it at least as there was a bit strewn here and there. Lolly has also started gaping. By that I mean that she sits with her mouth slightly open. From what I have read this is to help regulate her temperature when she gets a bit hot. Funny thing is, she does it right up in the warmest part of the enclosure. Why not just move to a cooler spot? Maybe there is more to it. I'll keep an eye on when and where she does it and see if I can get a good photo as well. Very interesting to watch.
Booster
Weight: 8 grams (+/- 0)
Food: Unsure, maybe some crickets and/or bok choy
Toilet: don't think so
Behaviour: Weighed Booster in again today. He is the same weight as pretty much since he came to us. About the best thing about it is that he is not losing weight. There are signs that he has been eating this week so it's still been positive from that perspective. He was in the right area to have eaten a few crickets tonight too so hopefully it is a pattern that will continue and he will put on some size.
JT's Update #2
My sister Danika has had a go at holding Lolly, which is sweet. She likes to tell my Dad about Lolly's eyes. I get to hold Lolly too.
Booster has been eating a little bit too. Lolly has been eating carrot and bok choy.
Here is a picture of Danika and me holding and touching Lolly.
Dragon Diary - 16/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 7-8 crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was good again today. She ate a number of crickets and I caught her later on eating every last bit of bok choy in the food dish. She even sniffed (or licked as the case may be) around until she found the bits she had knocked out earlier in the day. Really happy to see her tucking into greens.
I held her for a while today. While I sat on the couch and hold her, I let her wander a little across the couch while my wife and I were chatting. Just keeping an eye so that she didn't toddle off too far. When she is bigger, I won't be as worried about it, but, for now, if she decided to go under things, it would be a reasonably stressful exercise for everyone concerned retrieving her.
Man she is getting big quickly. Looking forward to measuring her growth this week.
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster didn't seem to fussed with food or anything else today. My only real concern for him at the moment is that Lolly is growing well and he seems to be just staying the same. The weigh in this weekend will be interesting as I think he might have grown a bit, it just looks like he hasn't because Lolly is out stripping him. Otherwise, he seems fine.
Food: 7-8 crickets, bok choy
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was good again today. She ate a number of crickets and I caught her later on eating every last bit of bok choy in the food dish. She even sniffed (or licked as the case may be) around until she found the bits she had knocked out earlier in the day. Really happy to see her tucking into greens.
I held her for a while today. While I sat on the couch and hold her, I let her wander a little across the couch while my wife and I were chatting. Just keeping an eye so that she didn't toddle off too far. When she is bigger, I won't be as worried about it, but, for now, if she decided to go under things, it would be a reasonably stressful exercise for everyone concerned retrieving her.
Man she is getting big quickly. Looking forward to measuring her growth this week.
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster didn't seem to fussed with food or anything else today. My only real concern for him at the moment is that Lolly is growing well and he seems to be just staying the same. The weigh in this weekend will be interesting as I think he might have grown a bit, it just looks like he hasn't because Lolly is out stripping him. Otherwise, he seems fine.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Dragon Diary - 15/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 13 crickets and some bok choy (Holy cow!)
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: WOW, is this a Dragon or a pig? Lolly ate every cricket that she saw tonight. I saw her eat 11 crickets in the tote tray at first go. Then she snapped up another one when she thought we weren't looking. Finally she found one that I had left in the enclosure for Booster that was trying to hide. In between crickets, I saw her have some bok choy that I put in for them to try for the first time today. I don't think that I cut it up finely enough, so I will cut it smaller tomorrow.
Both our girls had a hold of Lolly tonight. It's great to see them excited to be involved. JT is good at handling Lolly. I think Danika got a little bit of a surprise when it was her turn and Lolly decided to go for a walk up her arm! I then sat her on my lap and helped her a little to make sure Lolly was nice and still. I have been very pleased with how sensible they are both being and Lolly is getting much more used to being handled and does not appear to be stressed about things at all. It is all very pleasing.
Booster
Food: Crickets (not sure how many)
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Leaving Booster in the enclosure without handling him still seems to be working as far as feeding is concerned. I am yet to actually witness him eat because it seems to work best when no one is in sight. However, from what I can see he is straight down to where the crickets are when we are out of sight. Maybe I will have to set up a secret camera to catch him in the act! His belly is definitely looking fuller.
Over the weekend I might see if he will take to being handled again. I want him to get used to it. I have read a bit about handling Dragons. It appears to be quite important when you handle a flighty Dragon to keep them out of their enclosure until they are calm. If you put them back while they are still unsettled, they can learn to associate 'freaking out' with being put back in their safe home. Whereas it is much better to have them think that being calm will speed up the return as it were. I'm pretty happy that Booster is back eating, not as much as I would like perhaps, but, enough to think that it might be time to get him more used to us again.
Food: 13 crickets and some bok choy (Holy cow!)
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: WOW, is this a Dragon or a pig? Lolly ate every cricket that she saw tonight. I saw her eat 11 crickets in the tote tray at first go. Then she snapped up another one when she thought we weren't looking. Finally she found one that I had left in the enclosure for Booster that was trying to hide. In between crickets, I saw her have some bok choy that I put in for them to try for the first time today. I don't think that I cut it up finely enough, so I will cut it smaller tomorrow.
Both our girls had a hold of Lolly tonight. It's great to see them excited to be involved. JT is good at handling Lolly. I think Danika got a little bit of a surprise when it was her turn and Lolly decided to go for a walk up her arm! I then sat her on my lap and helped her a little to make sure Lolly was nice and still. I have been very pleased with how sensible they are both being and Lolly is getting much more used to being handled and does not appear to be stressed about things at all. It is all very pleasing.
Booster
Food: Crickets (not sure how many)
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Leaving Booster in the enclosure without handling him still seems to be working as far as feeding is concerned. I am yet to actually witness him eat because it seems to work best when no one is in sight. However, from what I can see he is straight down to where the crickets are when we are out of sight. Maybe I will have to set up a secret camera to catch him in the act! His belly is definitely looking fuller.
Over the weekend I might see if he will take to being handled again. I want him to get used to it. I have read a bit about handling Dragons. It appears to be quite important when you handle a flighty Dragon to keep them out of their enclosure until they are calm. If you put them back while they are still unsettled, they can learn to associate 'freaking out' with being put back in their safe home. Whereas it is much better to have them think that being calm will speed up the return as it were. I'm pretty happy that Booster is back eating, not as much as I would like perhaps, but, enough to think that it might be time to get him more used to us again.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Dragon Diary - 14/04/2010
The night heat lamp seems to have done the trick. It came on as scheduled last night and the temp was several degrees higher when I got up this morning at around 6.30am. I adjusted the thermostat to run it a little higher tonight as I would like it to sit between 18-20C. I'll take a look in the morning to see how it goes. Best thing of all is that my install did not burn the house down. Go me!
Lolly
Food: 12 crickets...(new record), I think some carrot too.
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Did she go wild for the crickets tonight or what. 1 day without due to the heat lamp install and she was right into them. I fed her in the tote tray and only had 12 crickets that got snapped up before any had a chance to get too comfortable at all! By the looks of things, she or Booster had taken a bit of the carrot I laid out for them this morning as well. She took well to the spray of water this morning. So funny watching her lick the water drops off her face :-).
Booster
Food: 1-5 crickets, maybe some carrot
Toilet: didn't spot any
Behaviour: I was very happy to note that as I glanced over my shoulder getting ready to put Lolly back in the enclosure, Booster had come down and was right where I had dropped in 5 crickets for him. The system of feeding Lolly outside in the tote tray while leaving Booster on his own in the enclosure with some crickets seems to be working well. My only issue is that I don't get to see how many he gets. The angle of his head when I caught a glimpse of him certainly suggested that he had been hunting and eating the crickets. Plus, his tummy is looking lots better and like it has some food in it. So things are on the up.
I took Lolly for a walk to visit the kids in the bath until Booster was back basking to be sure he had every opportunity to get his fill. They seem like curious critters and she looked like she enjoyed the tour of the house.
Lolly
Food: 12 crickets...(new record), I think some carrot too.
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Did she go wild for the crickets tonight or what. 1 day without due to the heat lamp install and she was right into them. I fed her in the tote tray and only had 12 crickets that got snapped up before any had a chance to get too comfortable at all! By the looks of things, she or Booster had taken a bit of the carrot I laid out for them this morning as well. She took well to the spray of water this morning. So funny watching her lick the water drops off her face :-).
Booster
Food: 1-5 crickets, maybe some carrot
Toilet: didn't spot any
Behaviour: I was very happy to note that as I glanced over my shoulder getting ready to put Lolly back in the enclosure, Booster had come down and was right where I had dropped in 5 crickets for him. The system of feeding Lolly outside in the tote tray while leaving Booster on his own in the enclosure with some crickets seems to be working well. My only issue is that I don't get to see how many he gets. The angle of his head when I caught a glimpse of him certainly suggested that he had been hunting and eating the crickets. Plus, his tummy is looking lots better and like it has some food in it. So things are on the up.
I took Lolly for a walk to visit the kids in the bath until Booster was back basking to be sure he had every opportunity to get his fill. They seem like curious critters and she looked like she enjoyed the tour of the house.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Dragon Diary - 13/04/2010
Well I hit the ground running with my winter heating plans today. On the way home from work, I ducked into Reptiles inc. and bought myself a new light fitting to add to the existing one. So now there are two light fittings side by side. One has the standard light bulb to emit heat and light for the day time. The second one now has the ceramic bulb in it. This bulb emits no light, just heat. So it is great for the night time when the Dragons are sleeping. It is important to maintain a day night cycle for the Dragons, so this option will keep the enclosure warm enough through the cold Canberra nights, without disturbing their sleep. Win win!
As part of the installation, I put Lolly and Booster into the tote tray together and set JT to supervise them in another room. We got away with only a short excursion onto the computer desk and a nice time for JT to hold Lolly after that :-). It also meant that I took absolutely everything out of the enclosure and gave it all a good going over. The whole thing looks better now. Particularly as there was a fair bit of Lolly's sloughed skin around. By the time I had finished all this, it was too late to feed the Dragons and they were a little cool and stressed to eat anyway I feel. I am getting up early tomorrow so will put in some veggies and spray them then. Also, I will make sure there are plenty of crickets available. Interestingly, when I was cleaning out the enclosure, there was only 1 cricket (alive) in there. I put several in every day for Booster while Lolly is getting fed in the tote tray. There were no dead ones either. So someone has been sneaking in a few crickets on the side ;-).
Lolly
Food: none
Toilet: I think so
Behaviour: Seemed her usual happy self. Surprisingly she is showing submissive displays of hand waving to Booster despite being quite a bit bigger at the moment. I saw her rubbing the sides of her head on things tonight. She must be trying to shed some skin from those areas. I have been watching her feet and cannot see any skin loose or sticking, so that's good.
Booster
Food: None
Toilet: not sure
Behaviour: Booster looks like he has been eating as his tummy is looking fuller than it has in the last week or so. Given that there was only 1 cricket alive or dead in the enclosure when I cleaned it out today I am taking it that he has been doing well on crickets that have passed him by.
Very interestingly, he has been sending dominant signals to Lolly and even had a bit of a go at her tonight. He is considerably smaller in weight at least. Yet, he is definitely top dog as it were at the moment. It is still very early in their lives and it should not present too big an issue unless they are both males and not until they are 12-18 months old. Quite fascinating to watch it all unfold though.
As part of the installation, I put Lolly and Booster into the tote tray together and set JT to supervise them in another room. We got away with only a short excursion onto the computer desk and a nice time for JT to hold Lolly after that :-). It also meant that I took absolutely everything out of the enclosure and gave it all a good going over. The whole thing looks better now. Particularly as there was a fair bit of Lolly's sloughed skin around. By the time I had finished all this, it was too late to feed the Dragons and they were a little cool and stressed to eat anyway I feel. I am getting up early tomorrow so will put in some veggies and spray them then. Also, I will make sure there are plenty of crickets available. Interestingly, when I was cleaning out the enclosure, there was only 1 cricket (alive) in there. I put several in every day for Booster while Lolly is getting fed in the tote tray. There were no dead ones either. So someone has been sneaking in a few crickets on the side ;-).
Lolly
Food: none
Toilet: I think so
Behaviour: Seemed her usual happy self. Surprisingly she is showing submissive displays of hand waving to Booster despite being quite a bit bigger at the moment. I saw her rubbing the sides of her head on things tonight. She must be trying to shed some skin from those areas. I have been watching her feet and cannot see any skin loose or sticking, so that's good.
Booster
Food: None
Toilet: not sure
Behaviour: Booster looks like he has been eating as his tummy is looking fuller than it has in the last week or so. Given that there was only 1 cricket alive or dead in the enclosure when I cleaned it out today I am taking it that he has been doing well on crickets that have passed him by.
Very interestingly, he has been sending dominant signals to Lolly and even had a bit of a go at her tonight. He is considerably smaller in weight at least. Yet, he is definitely top dog as it were at the moment. It is still very early in their lives and it should not present too big an issue unless they are both males and not until they are 12-18 months old. Quite fascinating to watch it all unfold though.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Dragon Diary - 12/04/2010
I am starting to think about winter overnight temperature management. This morning the enclosure was only about 15C when we got up. I have been advised that anything down to about 10C is ok, but, given that it is only really a little into Autumn, I think it is time to take action. I am looking at either getting another fitting into the enclosure to house a ceramic bulb (ie one that emits heat and no light) or seeing how effective a heat mat under the enclosure will be.
Lolly
Food: Only saw 2 dusted crickets get eaten, might have had a go at some carrot
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was not so eager at the crickets this evening. It was cold this morning, which might have slowed her down. More likely, the crickets were not so active and she only really goes for them when they are moving. She did grab a couple so that was good.
JT and her sister both had a hold today. It was the first time for our littlest who was very good and still. I think she enjoyed the experience very much. I've never seem her so still for so long at one time!
Booster
Food: None witnessed. Might have gone some carrot...
Toilet: Not sure
Behaviour: Not interested in food today that I saw. There were some crickets floating around so he might have gotten one of those. I left him in the enclosure again while I fed Lolly. He was nice and calmly chillaxing in a bush. When I spayed water mist he was actively licking it up off the leaves, so that is encouraging.
Lolly
Food: Only saw 2 dusted crickets get eaten, might have had a go at some carrot
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was not so eager at the crickets this evening. It was cold this morning, which might have slowed her down. More likely, the crickets were not so active and she only really goes for them when they are moving. She did grab a couple so that was good.
JT and her sister both had a hold today. It was the first time for our littlest who was very good and still. I think she enjoyed the experience very much. I've never seem her so still for so long at one time!
Booster
Food: None witnessed. Might have gone some carrot...
Toilet: Not sure
Behaviour: Not interested in food today that I saw. There were some crickets floating around so he might have gotten one of those. I left him in the enclosure again while I fed Lolly. He was nice and calmly chillaxing in a bush. When I spayed water mist he was actively licking it up off the leaves, so that is encouraging.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Dragon Diary - 11/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 6-7 dusted crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly weighed in at 14 grams today. A big increase from last week. Not surprising I guess as she has been eating heaps. From what I can tell, she is still probably around 17cm.
JT and I weighed and fed her together which was fun. We also got to have a good hold of her. She seems to be a lot more comfortable with being handled. Our youngest, is also very keen to be handling the Dragons, but, I am introducing her to it all gradually. She is only 2 and still learning to go at things slowly. I let her touch Lolly gently which she enjoys.
Lolly shed a lot of skin today. Most of her back and belly looks to have gone now. Her legs are starting now. From what I understand you have to be very careful with their limbs shedding. Sometimes the skin around their toes can not come off properly and lead to it constricting them. This can at worst lead to the toes losing circulation and dropping off. So we will be watching closely over the next few days.
Booster
Food: Not sure, but, maybe a cricket or two
Toilet: Not sure, don't think so
Behaviour: Quite and encouraging day today. While Booster only weighed in at 8 grams again this week, I am pretty confident that he is looking to eat again. I have been letting a few crickets out while feeding Lolly in the tote tray and not even touching Booster at the time. Today, we went to put Lolly back in the enclosure, Booster was right where the crickets had been, looking like he had been hunting. Also, his tummy certainly looked fuller than it has in the past few days.
In addition to what I hope was some food, Booster was head bobbing and waving today. Some very exaggerated head bobbing and waving of both hands. I haven't seen him do either for ages, so I hope this is a good sign that he is feeling better!
Food: 6-7 dusted crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly weighed in at 14 grams today. A big increase from last week. Not surprising I guess as she has been eating heaps. From what I can tell, she is still probably around 17cm.
JT and I weighed and fed her together which was fun. We also got to have a good hold of her. She seems to be a lot more comfortable with being handled. Our youngest, is also very keen to be handling the Dragons, but, I am introducing her to it all gradually. She is only 2 and still learning to go at things slowly. I let her touch Lolly gently which she enjoys.
Lolly shed a lot of skin today. Most of her back and belly looks to have gone now. Her legs are starting now. From what I understand you have to be very careful with their limbs shedding. Sometimes the skin around their toes can not come off properly and lead to it constricting them. This can at worst lead to the toes losing circulation and dropping off. So we will be watching closely over the next few days.
Booster
Food: Not sure, but, maybe a cricket or two
Toilet: Not sure, don't think so
Behaviour: Quite and encouraging day today. While Booster only weighed in at 8 grams again this week, I am pretty confident that he is looking to eat again. I have been letting a few crickets out while feeding Lolly in the tote tray and not even touching Booster at the time. Today, we went to put Lolly back in the enclosure, Booster was right where the crickets had been, looking like he had been hunting. Also, his tummy certainly looked fuller than it has in the past few days.
In addition to what I hope was some food, Booster was head bobbing and waving today. Some very exaggerated head bobbing and waving of both hands. I haven't seen him do either for ages, so I hope this is a good sign that he is feeling better!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Dragon Diary - 10/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 8-9 crickets, grated carrot!
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Well what an interesting start to the day. I was going to clean out the enclosure and weigh the dragons today, but, we were flat out with JT's first estedford for dance. Instead I gave the enclosure a quick once over for poo and put in some fresh carrot. I've never seen either of the Dragons eat any of the carrot until today. I gave them a squirt of water straight after putting the carrot in. To my surprise Lolly not only ran away from the misty water, but ran straight over to the food dish and started eating the carrot! Awesome!
This evening, Lolly also snapped up 8 or 9 crickets in the tote tray. I handled her for a few minutes before putting her back in the enclosure which was nice. She was quite settled. I read that it is best to approach them with your hand as low as possible. Inately, Dragons are conditioned to expect to be preyed upon from above. So a big hand swooping down on them from on high is something they don't tend to react well to.... Today, I tried bringing my hand in from a lower angle to pick up Lolly and she seemed far more receptive and calm in general while I was handling her. Lesson learned.
Booster
Food: Not sure.
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: An encouraging sign was that while I was feeding Lolly in the tote tray, Booster came down from his perch and was moving around the bottom of the enclosure. I had let a few crickets out and hoped like usual that Booster might eat some while Lolly and I were away. While I didn't see him eat any, it was encouraging that he was out and about while food was on offer. I saw him a few times in different places today, so maybe he got some food. Even if it was just some carrots, it would be great to see him eat something.
Food: 8-9 crickets, grated carrot!
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Well what an interesting start to the day. I was going to clean out the enclosure and weigh the dragons today, but, we were flat out with JT's first estedford for dance. Instead I gave the enclosure a quick once over for poo and put in some fresh carrot. I've never seen either of the Dragons eat any of the carrot until today. I gave them a squirt of water straight after putting the carrot in. To my surprise Lolly not only ran away from the misty water, but ran straight over to the food dish and started eating the carrot! Awesome!
This evening, Lolly also snapped up 8 or 9 crickets in the tote tray. I handled her for a few minutes before putting her back in the enclosure which was nice. She was quite settled. I read that it is best to approach them with your hand as low as possible. Inately, Dragons are conditioned to expect to be preyed upon from above. So a big hand swooping down on them from on high is something they don't tend to react well to.... Today, I tried bringing my hand in from a lower angle to pick up Lolly and she seemed far more receptive and calm in general while I was handling her. Lesson learned.
Booster
Food: Not sure.
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: An encouraging sign was that while I was feeding Lolly in the tote tray, Booster came down from his perch and was moving around the bottom of the enclosure. I had let a few crickets out and hoped like usual that Booster might eat some while Lolly and I were away. While I didn't see him eat any, it was encouraging that he was out and about while food was on offer. I saw him a few times in different places today, so maybe he got some food. Even if it was just some carrots, it would be great to see him eat something.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Dragon Diary - 09/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 5-6 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Only had a few minutes to spend with the Dragons today. Quickly put Lolly in the tote tray when I got home from work and threw in a heap of crickets. It took me a few goes to catch Lolly before putting her in so she was puffing from the exertion and probably still a bit stressed when I put her in so she took a while before going for her food. She still managed about half a dozen crickets from what I saw. She might have grabbed more when I put her back in with Booster and his feed. She's still proving to be an easy care pet.
Booster
Food: Maybe....
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: I saw Booster on the floor of the enclousre not long after I put crickets in for him, so I am hopeful that he might have grabbed at least 1. other than that, he is still looking thin, but, social enough with Lolly when the light went out tonight. They were both lying in each others company in one of the bushes :-).
Food: 5-6 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Only had a few minutes to spend with the Dragons today. Quickly put Lolly in the tote tray when I got home from work and threw in a heap of crickets. It took me a few goes to catch Lolly before putting her in so she was puffing from the exertion and probably still a bit stressed when I put her in so she took a while before going for her food. She still managed about half a dozen crickets from what I saw. She might have grabbed more when I put her back in with Booster and his feed. She's still proving to be an easy care pet.
Booster
Food: Maybe....
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: I saw Booster on the floor of the enclousre not long after I put crickets in for him, so I am hopeful that he might have grabbed at least 1. other than that, he is still looking thin, but, social enough with Lolly when the light went out tonight. They were both lying in each others company in one of the bushes :-).
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Dragon Diary - 08/04/2010
Lolly
Food: 4 crickets witnessed (see video)
Toilet: Yes.
Behaviour: I took some video that you can see here of Lolly eating in the tote tray this afternoon. You can see me putting the crickets in at the start. Then Lolly dashes over to the other side to grab her first cricket. From there she has it easy. 3 more crickets stroll right by her and get snaffled up.
You may also notice that it looks like there is something hanging off Lolly's tail about half way down. That's because there is! She is shedding her skin at the moment. Reptiles shed their skin periodically. This is called sloughing. Bearded Dragons shed their skins in bits and pieces. You might be able to see a slight difference in colour between the top and end of Lolly's tail. The tip to the middle of her tail is a little duller while the outer skin is shedding.
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: Booster is starting to look very thin. He didn't eat again today from what I saw. It's pretty frustrating. His colour is still pretty light. From what I understand this is a good sign. Eating would be a better sign. Nothing really positive to report.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Dragon Diary - 07/04/2010
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: More of the same today from Booster. He is not wanting to eat. I tried him in the enclosure and in the tote tray today. Neither way is he happy to eat. I think he is going the way that Lizzy went. This time, I think I will have to stick it out. If he goes he goes. We'll keep trying our best and see if we can get him going again. He's starting to look a little thin now. I imagine at this week's weigh in he will be down on weight if anything....
Lolly
I snapped this picture of her after dinner, perched half way up the branch catching some rays and having a bit of a kip. Her belly looked nice and full as you would expect after such a healthy helping of food. I am guessing that she will have put on some weight at this weeks weight in. It sounds like we are running a reverse Biggest Loser!
I'm very happy with how Lolly is going. JT had another hold of her tonight and she seems to be settling down a bit. I think she is starting to recognise that the tote tray means dinner and is a lot more calm when I put her in now. It's so nice and easy just to be able to put her in, chuck in some crickets and watch the action. I'll see what I can do about taking some video and posting it up.
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: More of the same today from Booster. He is not wanting to eat. I tried him in the enclosure and in the tote tray today. Neither way is he happy to eat. I think he is going the way that Lizzy went. This time, I think I will have to stick it out. If he goes he goes. We'll keep trying our best and see if we can get him going again. He's starting to look a little thin now. I imagine at this week's weigh in he will be down on weight if anything....
 |
| Lolly catching some rays |
Food: 9-11 crickets
Toilet: Couldn't find any
Behaviour: Lolly gutsed herself on crickets tonight. I saw her take 8 in the tote tray and a massive one when I put her back in the enclosure. Not sure how such a big cricket got in with the small ones that I bought. I guess they are wiley little critters. I think Lolly might have found another one after that, but, am not 100% sure.I snapped this picture of her after dinner, perched half way up the branch catching some rays and having a bit of a kip. Her belly looked nice and full as you would expect after such a healthy helping of food. I am guessing that she will have put on some weight at this weeks weight in. It sounds like we are running a reverse Biggest Loser!
I'm very happy with how Lolly is going. JT had another hold of her tonight and she seems to be settling down a bit. I think she is starting to recognise that the tote tray means dinner and is a lot more calm when I put her in now. It's so nice and easy just to be able to put her in, chuck in some crickets and watch the action. I'll see what I can do about taking some video and posting it up.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Dragon Diary - 06/04/2010
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Maybe
Behaviour: Kind of more of the same from Booster today. Didn't witness him eat anything. He still has the energy to scoot around the enclosure when I go to handle him, but, just climbs back up out of the way when food is on offer. I think he might have gone to the toilet today, but, maybe only a small movement. I have a familiar feeling about the path this is taking.
There is a guy at my work who keeps Green Tree Frogs. I asked him about feeding them as they eat crickets too and I imagine that they are somewhat different to Dragons. He said that he drops the crickets in the tank and let's "God sort it out". I kind of like the idea concept, if not the touch of blasphemy. I guess it is a little bit like the saying "you can lead a horse to water, but, you can't make him drink". I figure that I have the enclosure set up pretty well. Lolly is certainly happy enough to eat well. If Booster wants to eat, he will. I am not going to stress too much over it. Not that I won't do everything I can to help him. I'm just not going to stress about it :-).
Lolly
Food: 7-8 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Snapped up 7 crickets in the tote tray today. I bought a new bucket of crickets today. They were smaller than the ones I have been feeding the Dragons as they are obviously younger. From what I have read, crickets only live about 4 weeks, so you would expect them to grow pretty quickly.
Lolly has started to sun herself a bit more on the "rock" I have place underneath the heat lamp. It is a lot lower down than the usual branch, but, it offers more room to spread out. I will eventually do something about getting a better basking "rock" or branch when the Dragons get bigger. For now, the branch I have is ample to suit their needs. With the light now sorted as far as heat goes, Lolly in particular has been lying in different places as her temperature changes, rather than just sitting under the light the whole time.
Lizzy Puff
When I bought the new supply of crickets today, I also took the opportunity to catch up with Lizzy Puff. Sarah from Reptiles inc. brought her out to show me and she looks pretty much as I left her. She is eating from time to time, but not overly fussed with it all.
I made the final decision today to make the permanent swap of Lolly for Lizzy Puff. As an outright beginner in the keeping of Dragons, I think it is better for everyone that we have the fittest ones available, and Lizzy Puff will need better care than we can offer her.
So we bid Lizzy Puff a very fond farewell. This will be her last Journal entry. I will leave her image up on the site banner for now. She is actually the Dragon closest to the centre of the image I used for the title of this page. So she will be part of this site for a while yet. Until I get my next creative rush at least. Thanks for spending time with us Lizzy Puff. We wish you all the best!
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Maybe
Behaviour: Kind of more of the same from Booster today. Didn't witness him eat anything. He still has the energy to scoot around the enclosure when I go to handle him, but, just climbs back up out of the way when food is on offer. I think he might have gone to the toilet today, but, maybe only a small movement. I have a familiar feeling about the path this is taking.
There is a guy at my work who keeps Green Tree Frogs. I asked him about feeding them as they eat crickets too and I imagine that they are somewhat different to Dragons. He said that he drops the crickets in the tank and let's "God sort it out". I kind of like the idea concept, if not the touch of blasphemy. I guess it is a little bit like the saying "you can lead a horse to water, but, you can't make him drink". I figure that I have the enclosure set up pretty well. Lolly is certainly happy enough to eat well. If Booster wants to eat, he will. I am not going to stress too much over it. Not that I won't do everything I can to help him. I'm just not going to stress about it :-).
Lolly
Food: 7-8 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Snapped up 7 crickets in the tote tray today. I bought a new bucket of crickets today. They were smaller than the ones I have been feeding the Dragons as they are obviously younger. From what I have read, crickets only live about 4 weeks, so you would expect them to grow pretty quickly.
Lolly has started to sun herself a bit more on the "rock" I have place underneath the heat lamp. It is a lot lower down than the usual branch, but, it offers more room to spread out. I will eventually do something about getting a better basking "rock" or branch when the Dragons get bigger. For now, the branch I have is ample to suit their needs. With the light now sorted as far as heat goes, Lolly in particular has been lying in different places as her temperature changes, rather than just sitting under the light the whole time.
Lizzy Puff
When I bought the new supply of crickets today, I also took the opportunity to catch up with Lizzy Puff. Sarah from Reptiles inc. brought her out to show me and she looks pretty much as I left her. She is eating from time to time, but not overly fussed with it all.
I made the final decision today to make the permanent swap of Lolly for Lizzy Puff. As an outright beginner in the keeping of Dragons, I think it is better for everyone that we have the fittest ones available, and Lizzy Puff will need better care than we can offer her.
So we bid Lizzy Puff a very fond farewell. This will be her last Journal entry. I will leave her image up on the site banner for now. She is actually the Dragon closest to the centre of the image I used for the title of this page. So she will be part of this site for a while yet. Until I get my next creative rush at least. Thanks for spending time with us Lizzy Puff. We wish you all the best!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Dragon Diary - 05/04/2010
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: Didn't see Booster eat again today. I don't think he went to the toilet either. He could be sneaking crickets when we aren't looking. He is still frisky enough when I attempt to handle him, so I am still hopeful that he is eating, without being massively confident
Lolly
Food: 5 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I fed Lolly in the tote tray again today. I only put 5 crickets in at first go and she snapped them up straight away. I only wish I had put a couple more in at the start. When I put some more in, she was already done for the day. I think missing the toilet yesterday meant the extra sizeable effort today was due. It's interesting that their waste appears to consist of two distinct parts. A white and a dark. From what I have read, the white part is actually the equivalent of urine and comes out solid and dry. I can only assume this is to conserve fluid as Dragons can live in quite arid areas.
Lizzy Puff
Lizzy is still at Reptiles inc. I'll give an update next time I speak with them. I'm going to head in and get some more crickets tomorrow, so I will get an update then.
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: Didn't see Booster eat again today. I don't think he went to the toilet either. He could be sneaking crickets when we aren't looking. He is still frisky enough when I attempt to handle him, so I am still hopeful that he is eating, without being massively confident
Lolly
Food: 5 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I fed Lolly in the tote tray again today. I only put 5 crickets in at first go and she snapped them up straight away. I only wish I had put a couple more in at the start. When I put some more in, she was already done for the day. I think missing the toilet yesterday meant the extra sizeable effort today was due. It's interesting that their waste appears to consist of two distinct parts. A white and a dark. From what I have read, the white part is actually the equivalent of urine and comes out solid and dry. I can only assume this is to conserve fluid as Dragons can live in quite arid areas.
Lizzy Puff
Lizzy is still at Reptiles inc. I'll give an update next time I speak with them. I'm going to head in and get some more crickets tomorrow, so I will get an update then.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Dragon Diary - 04/04/2010
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: I left Booster pretty much to himself today. Only handled him once to put him on the base of the enclosure and drop some crickets in before walking away to leave him to it. He seems to nervous to eat in front of me, so I have to trust that he is eating. We'll see by his weight next weekend how that is going. I saw no evidence that either one of them went to the toilet today. We'll see what tomorrow turns up as it were.
Lolly
Food: 2 crickets witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: I fed Lolly in the tote tray again today. She ate 2 crickets in there. I left a pretty slow moving cricket in the enclosure just before we went to Easter lunch and it was gone when we got back. When I say slow moving, I mean pretty much hamstrung. I assume Lolly ate it, but, hope that Booster took a shot really. I know that if there are any stray crickets wandering around and Lolly is hungry, she will go them. I have to trust that Booster is at least getting that opportunity as well.
Lizzy Puff
Lizzy is still at Reptiles inc. I'll give an update next time I speak with them.
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: I left Booster pretty much to himself today. Only handled him once to put him on the base of the enclosure and drop some crickets in before walking away to leave him to it. He seems to nervous to eat in front of me, so I have to trust that he is eating. We'll see by his weight next weekend how that is going. I saw no evidence that either one of them went to the toilet today. We'll see what tomorrow turns up as it were.
Lolly
Food: 2 crickets witnessed
Toilet: Don't think so
Behaviour: I fed Lolly in the tote tray again today. She ate 2 crickets in there. I left a pretty slow moving cricket in the enclosure just before we went to Easter lunch and it was gone when we got back. When I say slow moving, I mean pretty much hamstrung. I assume Lolly ate it, but, hope that Booster took a shot really. I know that if there are any stray crickets wandering around and Lolly is hungry, she will go them. I have to trust that Booster is at least getting that opportunity as well.
Lizzy Puff
Lizzy is still at Reptiles inc. I'll give an update next time I speak with them.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Dragon Diary - 03/04/2010
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Not sure
Behaviour: Booster was pretty much the same today. He seems to get around the enclosure during the day a fair bit. Still likes to bask a lot too. I tried leaving him in the enclosure to feed while taking Lolly out. I then left him out of sight with a few crickets in there with him. I am not confident that he had any, but, you never know.
Lolly
Food: 2 crickets witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I imagine Lolly is still a bit full from yesterday. I fed her in the tote tray with JT again today. She snaffled 1 cricket up before seeming a little disinterested. She took a snap at another that walked up to her, but, it got away and she didn't seem fussed at all. Later on I saw her leap half way accross the rock backdrop in the enclosure to snaffle up a stray cricket, so she is definately interested enough when she wants to be! Otherwise, she is going really well.
Lizzy Puff
Lizzy is still at Reptiles inc. I'll give an update next time I speak with them.
At this stage, if she is just plodding along, we may just stick with Lolly and Booster. In the wild, Bearded Dragons are fairly prolific breeders with a view to a quantity over quality. From what I have learned, the mothers can have up to 30 eggs 3 times in one season. As a result the mother puts all her energy into as many of them as possible, while they are inside her. However, some just miss out on what they need. In captivity, more of these undernourished young survive, but, they are more difficult to own. Sarah from Reptiles inc. told me that last season, they had a batch of baby Dragons where some of them were born without livers! All part of nature, but weird none the less.
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Not sure
Behaviour: Booster was pretty much the same today. He seems to get around the enclosure during the day a fair bit. Still likes to bask a lot too. I tried leaving him in the enclosure to feed while taking Lolly out. I then left him out of sight with a few crickets in there with him. I am not confident that he had any, but, you never know.
Lolly
Food: 2 crickets witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: I imagine Lolly is still a bit full from yesterday. I fed her in the tote tray with JT again today. She snaffled 1 cricket up before seeming a little disinterested. She took a snap at another that walked up to her, but, it got away and she didn't seem fussed at all. Later on I saw her leap half way accross the rock backdrop in the enclosure to snaffle up a stray cricket, so she is definately interested enough when she wants to be! Otherwise, she is going really well.
Lizzy Puff
Lizzy is still at Reptiles inc. I'll give an update next time I speak with them.
At this stage, if she is just plodding along, we may just stick with Lolly and Booster. In the wild, Bearded Dragons are fairly prolific breeders with a view to a quantity over quality. From what I have learned, the mothers can have up to 30 eggs 3 times in one season. As a result the mother puts all her energy into as many of them as possible, while they are inside her. However, some just miss out on what they need. In captivity, more of these undernourished young survive, but, they are more difficult to own. Sarah from Reptiles inc. told me that last season, they had a batch of baby Dragons where some of them were born without livers! All part of nature, but weird none the less.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Dragon Diary - 02/04/2010
Booster
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Probably
Behaviour: Didn't see Booster eat anything again today. Tried tote tray feeding and then feeding him without Lolly in the enclosure with no luck, at least that we witnessed anyway. I have also added carrot and some juvenile Dragon pellets. I still think that Booster might be eating on the side, but, am becoming less confident as each day goes by. I weighed him again today and he was the same weight as last week, 8 grams. It's interesting to think that from what I understand adults can get up to between 600-700 grams!
Lolly
Food: 7 crickets (dusted) witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was happy to eat in the tote tray again today. She snapped up 7 crickets dusted with vitamins and calcium powder before losing interest. The crickets we have at the moment have been with us for a couple of weeks now. They are starting to get quite big. We are not meant to feed Dragons anything wider than the distance between their eyes.....it's getting pretty close now with the crickets getting so big.
Lolly also weighed in at 8 grams. Although I suspect that she will be bigger next week if she keeps eating this way. JT had a great time holding her after the feeding and we took some good photos. I will put a selection of them up soon.
Lizzy Puff
Lizzy is still at Reptiles inc. I'll give an update next time I speak with them.
Food: None witnessed
Toilet: Probably
Behaviour: Didn't see Booster eat anything again today. Tried tote tray feeding and then feeding him without Lolly in the enclosure with no luck, at least that we witnessed anyway. I have also added carrot and some juvenile Dragon pellets. I still think that Booster might be eating on the side, but, am becoming less confident as each day goes by. I weighed him again today and he was the same weight as last week, 8 grams. It's interesting to think that from what I understand adults can get up to between 600-700 grams!
Lolly
Food: 7 crickets (dusted) witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was happy to eat in the tote tray again today. She snapped up 7 crickets dusted with vitamins and calcium powder before losing interest. The crickets we have at the moment have been with us for a couple of weeks now. They are starting to get quite big. We are not meant to feed Dragons anything wider than the distance between their eyes.....it's getting pretty close now with the crickets getting so big.
Lolly also weighed in at 8 grams. Although I suspect that she will be bigger next week if she keeps eating this way. JT had a great time holding her after the feeding and we took some good photos. I will put a selection of them up soon.
Lizzy Puff
Lizzy is still at Reptiles inc. I'll give an update next time I speak with them.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Who's who in the zoo
From what I have read so far, there are 7 species for the Genus Pogona (Bearded Dragons). They each have their own traits that mark them different from each other. Although my Biology teacher at school said that a key indicator for a species was that when mated they could produce fertile offspring. I haven't read anything one way or the other, so it will be an interesting thing to read if I can find it.
If you look at the photo here, you can see a bit of what I mean about the differences in the two dragons we have. On the left is Booster. You can see he is more patterned on his back and lighter in colour. On the right is Lolly. You can see that the sides of her back are without patterned markings and she is darker.
So I am wondering if Booster is a Central (or Inland) Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps) and Lolly is an Eastern Bearded Dragon (Pogona barbata). From what I understand, the Central Beardies don't grow quite as big and are more sandy in colour that the Eastern Beardies. I am sure it is way too early to tell, but, it will be interesting to see. It's probably nothing more exciting that some different variation in the young of the same species. But it's fun to ponder.
Dragon Diary - 01/04/2010
Lizzy Puff
Food: NA
Toilet: NA
Behaviour: I rang and checked up on Lizzy today. From what Sarah and Reptiles inc. told me, she has eaten on at least one of the days that she has been there. She is still pretty much as we left her, no better, no worse. I am going to check back in early next week.
Booster
Food: None seen
Toilet: probably
Behaviour: I tried feeding Booster in the tote tray today. He wasn't interested, so I popped him back into the enclosure and let a few crickets out for him to chase down when he is ready. I haven't seen him eat for a couple of days, which, is always a little bit of a concern. He seems energetic and happy, so I will go with the positive thinking approach and guess that he is eating on the sly :-).
Lolly
Food: 4-5 crickets witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly is proving to be a great addition to our Dragons. She is as energetic as Booster, but, much easier to manage in terms of feeding etc. I popped her in the tote tray to feed. She snaffled up 4 or 5 crickets in quick time. Couldn't ask for more. If I can get Booster feeding in the same way, I won't have to worry about crickets loose in the enclosure or how much each of them are eating. Perfect!
Food: NA
Toilet: NA
Behaviour: I rang and checked up on Lizzy today. From what Sarah and Reptiles inc. told me, she has eaten on at least one of the days that she has been there. She is still pretty much as we left her, no better, no worse. I am going to check back in early next week.
Booster
Food: None seen
Toilet: probably
Behaviour: I tried feeding Booster in the tote tray today. He wasn't interested, so I popped him back into the enclosure and let a few crickets out for him to chase down when he is ready. I haven't seen him eat for a couple of days, which, is always a little bit of a concern. He seems energetic and happy, so I will go with the positive thinking approach and guess that he is eating on the sly :-).
Lolly
Food: 4-5 crickets witnessed
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly is proving to be a great addition to our Dragons. She is as energetic as Booster, but, much easier to manage in terms of feeding etc. I popped her in the tote tray to feed. She snaffled up 4 or 5 crickets in quick time. Couldn't ask for more. If I can get Booster feeding in the same way, I won't have to worry about crickets loose in the enclosure or how much each of them are eating. Perfect!
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