Reptile Health Diary – 01/10/2011

Quite an interesting month just gone.  From Lacey and Bruce both shedding to Lolly laying her first clutch of eggs for the season.  Plenty of fun to be had.

Lolly
Weight: 407 grams (-40)
Length: 48.8 (+3)
Food: Bok Choy, Crickets, Fuzzy Mouse, grapes
Toilet: regular
Behaviour:  Lolly provided us with 29 beautiful eggs this month that are currently incubating and looking plump and viable.  This explains her weight loss.  In the week and a half since she laid them, I have been pumping her with food and she has been ravenous as you would expect.  Given that the weight of the eggs was just over 100 grams, I am not unhappy that she is only 40 grams lighter.  In all likelihood she will lay another clutch in the next 2-3 weeks!  So I have to be sure to keep her food up to ensure she stays in the best of health.

Beau

Weight: 289 grams (+9)

Length: 44 cm (+0)

Food: Bok Choy, Crickets, grapes

Toilet: regular

Behaviour: Beau, having proven himself on the breeding front has settled into a relaxed routine.  He is not the voracious feeder that Lolly is, but, then again, he is not eating for 30... He does eat well and is still putting on mating displays with Lolly.  I have plans in the works that will enable me to separate them once copulation is confirmed.  For now, Lolly has to put up with his amorous advances for a while longer unfortunately.

Lacey

Weight: 78 grams (+17)

Length: 72.5 cm (+6.9)

Food: 1-2 fuzzies per week (10g approx.)

Toilet: regular (weekly)

Behaviour: Lacey has made a smooth transition from pink mice to fuzzies this month.  She had one slightly off week eating just one fuzzy.  This was most likely because she had just shed her skin.  The shed was in one piece this time, which was pleasing.  This week she ate one larger fuzzy weighing in at between 9 and 10 grams.  I wondered if how she would go, but, whilst it took a little longer than usual, it looked like a pretty satisfying meal as it moved down towards her stomach.  She remains a quiet and pleasant handling pet.  I should have got into snakes sooner!

Bruce

Weight: 396 grams (+71 )

Length: 34.5 cm (+ .8)

Food: eggs, dog food, grapes

Toilet: regular

Behaviour: Bruce continues to grow well.  Although it appears to be mostly outwards this month!  I am working on a permanent arrangement to house Bruce as the hospital tank is becoming more inadequate each passing day.  I hope to have something sorted this coming month.  It will be good to have him in a permanent home.  He continues to be somewhat of a grumpy sod, but, in a way that makes you smile rather than anything truly aggressive.  When I went to measure him today, he took a half sleepy attempt to bite my hand.  It wasn't until I lifted up my hand to give him a once over that I even noticed what he was doing.  There was no malice and barely even any intent in it.  I know that if he wanted to he could give it a red hot go and I would know about it, but, deep down I think he is more of a grumpy smurf than a villain.   I tried putting him in with Lolly and then Beau in with him with a view to lessening the stress on Lolly with Beau's mating advances, but, he seemed to be more interesting in annoying the Dragons than anything else.  Out of curiosity no doubt and funny to watch, but, certainly not a long term strategy either way at this stage.

Reptile Health Diary – 01/09/2011

Another month in the books.  Time for the monthly health check for the reptiles.  I have gained a lot of pleasure with all of our animals this month in different ways.  They are a good bunch!


Lolly

Weight: 447 grams (+30)
Length: 45.8 (+3.8)
Food: Bok Choy, Crickets, Super Worms
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly has woken up from her long winter nap full of life.  If you had slept for the better part of 3 months I'm sure you'd be full of beans too!  She is eating well and I think she might be gravid, or at least in the early stages of producing her first clutch for the season.  I had her outside in the garden yesterday getting some natural light.  She always looks better for it and is showing some nice colours.

Beau

Weight: 280 grams (-2)
Length: 44.4 cm (+2.4)
Food: Bok Choy, Crickets, Super Worms
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Our resident stud male Dragon has been in fine form.  He's been head bobbing with a black beard and making sure Lolly is kept in line.  I am thinking that at some stage I will need to get him a second mate so that Lolly doesn't stress out too much.  Having said that, she is a big girl and can look after herself.  I have taken a few photos of Beau lately where he has been displaying some sensational colours.  Of course being weighed and measured does not encourage him to do that as in this photo.  He's very calm to handle now as he usually thinks that being picked up means food time!  We're very happy to have him in our group.

Lacey
Weight: 61 grams (+18)
Length: 65.6 cm (+5.7)
Food: 2 fuzzies per week
Toilet: regular (weekly)
Behaviour: Lacey could not be a more laid back pet.  She is just easy going and easy to care for.  We get her out for a bit of a cruise around a few times a week and she just seems so comfortable with everything.  She has been powering along with her eating, never refusing a feed.  She has put on nearly half her body weight again this month and grown over 5cm in length.  That's a big effort indeed.  I am mindful of the fact that Diamond Pythons are known to over eat if allowed to and can be prone to becoming obese and developing health issues as a result.  Even with that in mind, Lacey is looking good, fit and strong.

Bruce
Weight: 325 grams (+55 grams)
Length: 33.7 cm (+6.9)
Food: eggs, dog food, super worms
Toilet: regular
Behaviour: At the end of the second month that Bruce has been with us, he has again put on an amazing amount of weight.  I am very pleased.  As I have noted before, he didn't come to us in the best of condition, so seeing him going so well is really satisfying.  Even just when picking him up, it is very noticeable that his mass has increased.  He is also continuing to calm down nicely.  I have taken him outside for some natural light this week a couple of times.  The most recent excursion was this afternoon.  I took my camera with the express purpose of getting some pictures of him in a defensive display.  The wide open mouth with his broad tongue displayed is really an impressive sight.  He is so relaxed now that he didn't give me the opportunity.  I took a bunch of photos regardless that I will share at a later date.  There were some pretty good shots in there, but, I was a little disappointed not to get the shot I was after.  Still the kids and I had fun in the process.

Reptile Health Diary – 04/08/2011

It’s been a good month with our reptiles. We’ve enjoyed feeding, handling and just generally caring for our animals. All appear to be going well and are just great to have around. I plan to post up entries in the health diary like this at the start of each month.

Lolly
Lolly is still sleeping at the moment.  I have started providing light, heat and UV during the day for somewhat shorter duration that I would normally because Beau is up and about.  Lolly seems to be un-phased and keeps on sleeping for the most part.  I did not disturb her to take measurements or anything for this entry.  What I have seen of her though suggests that she is in very good physical condition.

Beau
Weight: 282 grams (+2)
Length: 42 cm
Food: Bok Choy, Crickets, Super Worms
Toilet: Yes (after a bath)
Behaviour: Beau has woken up and has made it necessary for me to turn the light and heat back on in the Dragons' Den.  Lolly woke up at one point and was pretty much set upon by Beau with a view to mating.  So he has woken up frisky to say the least.  This is not unexpected as the cooling period sets reptiles like Bearded Dragons up for successful breeding.  So it looks like Beau could well turn out to be the stud male we were hoping him to be!

Lacey
Weight: 43 grams (+5)
Length: 59.9 cm (+2.2)
Food: 2 pinkies per week
Toilet: regular
Behaviour: Lacey continues to be a fantastic pet.  She is eating enthusiastically every time.  She seems to be growing well judging by her weight and length.  I have nothing to gauge this by, other than the fact that both measurements are going up.  The advise that I received when I bought her was that if she stops growing, then she is not eating enough.  So I don't know if this is a fast or slow rate of growth, I am satisfied enough to know that she is growing.

Bruce
Weight: 270 grams (+48 grams)
Length: 26.86 cm
Food: eggs, dog food, super worms
Toilet: regular
Behaviour: WOW!  Bruce has been with us for just under a month now.  In that time he has put on an additional 22% body weight.  That is pleasing to say the least.  He has also settled down a lot.  Handling him does not seem to present any issues any more.  He huffs and puffs a little in some circumstances, but, has not put on and displays or even once attempted to bite.  He seems to be much happier in general from what I can tell.  Today we had him out in the lounge room for a bit of a roam and offered him some super worms.  I had offered him them once before upon his arrival and he had turned his nose up at them.  Today, whilst he would not take them from my hand, he took half a dozen or more of them when they were placed in front of him.  As much as I have been happy seeing him eat eggs and dog food, I was very pleased indeed to see him take some live food.  The next step will be to get him eating his veggies!  Now that he is getting some meat on his bones, I hope that he will take to the greens as well as they form a very important part of the nutritional requirements of Shinglebacks.

Reptile Health Diary–18/07/2011

JT and I cleaned out Lacey's enclosure today as she had pooped.  I took the opportunity to weigh and measure her.  So I'll post this as a catch up to the entry with the other guys.

Weight: 38 grams (+6)
Length: 57.7 cm (+3.4)
Food: Pinkie Mice
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour:  Lacey has been going really well.  We've been taking our time with regards to handling her.  It's important with snakes, particularly young ones, not to stress them.  The first sign of stress is going off their food.  Lacey has eaten everything that we have ever offered her.


We have been feeding Lacey 2 baby 'pinky' mice once a week.  So every Wednesday she gets fed.  By Monday or Tuesday, every time we go near the enclosure she starts scouting us for food, thinking that it is feed time.  She is certainly good on the tooth as it were.


Whilst I am not an expert on growth rates, the fact that Lacey is eating and has put on some size as indicated above is very encouraging.  Diamond Pythons are a slow growing snake and I understand that the health of the snake can suffer if people try to rush their growth through food.  So I am very mindful at this stage to avoid over feeding her and to keep her lean and muscular.


If you click and enlarge the photo above, you will see how I measure Lacey.  You may notice a white line running down her spine and a number up in the top left hand corner.  These are from a program called Snake Measure.  Using this application and a photo with a length to reference (eg a ruler) you can accurately measure the length of a snake, even if it is not straight.  You simply calibrate length by placing two points on the reference marker and defining how far they are apart.  Then you progressively mark dots on the animal's spine that are joined automatically and the distance between them is measured against the scale you input to begin with.  The length is then displayed in the top corner.  Easy as joining the dots!  Best of all it is a free program made available to all at http://www.serpwidgets.com.

Reptile Health Diary–10/07/2011

I’ve renamed weigh in posts from Dragon Diary to Reptile Health Diary, as in the months since the last time I posted one, our reptile family has not only grown in number but in species as well.  We are no longer sharing with only Bearded Dragons, we have a Diamond Python and a Shingleback as well!

Given the events of the past week, I have decided to reinstate weigh in records and general health observations for reference and record keeping.  Probably just monthly at this stage.  I wish I had taken measurements before Lolly and Beau went to sleep for the colder months (mind you it is still the middle of winter), but, I will still have a record of how they fare from here on.  With Bruce joining us and needing to put some weight on, this will be a particularly useful exercise.  Finally, Lacey being so young and along with Bruce a new species to me, I am going to record her progress as well.  Although I do have more detailed records of Lacey’s feeding and health more generally in a spreadsheet that I will look to put up as a page here at some point.

Lolly

Weight: 417 grams
Length: see image
Food: Kingworms
Toilet: not yet
Behaviour:  Lolly seems to have dropped back into her typical bright personality.  She is very keen on food as always and has even coloured up nicely.  I am amazed at her weight.  The last time I weighed her was in what I think was the early stages of being gravid.  Even with a couple of months of no food or water she has put on 80+ grams since then.  So I can only imagine what she weighed before going into brumation.  She had a good drink after I woke her up and had a few kingworms.  No sign of eating any veggies yet or any bowel movement, but, it has only been a couple of days.  I might try giving her a pinkie mouse on the weekend.

Beau

Weight: 280 grams
Length: see image
Food: Kingworms
Toilet: not yet
Behaviour:  Without having any point of reference, my first impressions of Beau are that he is pretty easy going.  Despite having been the one to draw me into waking the Dragons up through his restlessness, he seems to be more happy to laze about.  No veggies for him yet either.  I’ll pop out and pick up some crickets tomorrow if at all possible and see how he goes on them.  He has some good thickness to the base of his tail, but, I am surprised at just how much bigger Lolly is.  That does of course auger well for breeding this year.  I just need to be confident that Beau is in good nick too!

Bruce

Weight: 222 grams
Length: see image (for what it’s worth cheeky)
Food: chicken mince, dog food
Toilet: not yet
Behaviour: Look at the cheecky bugger making it hard to measure him.  It’s also amazing to see his size given that he would be lucky to be half Beau and Lolly’s age.  Bruce is a very nervous little guy.  Although if handled correctly, he seems happy enough.  He put a wonderful display of bluff on after this image was taken.  Mouth open, tongue flared.  Awesome!  When I picked him up shortly after, he was happy enough to be handled again and only plodded rather than rushed away when I returned him to his enclosure.  I have been very very pleased to see evidence without witnessing the act itself, of eating both chicken mince and dog food (the meaty kind).  Both are recommended foods for Shinglebacks, but not as core staple foods.  I need to get Bruce onto his veggies.  I am happy to report he is looking a little brighter already.

Lacey

I will add information about Lacey next month when I can synchronise her weigh and measure schedule.  I have her currently as 32 grams and 54 cms a couple of weeks ago.  She is feeding sensationally well and is actually keen to eat and hunting on the days leading up to when we feed her.  I could not be happier with her progress to this point.

Baby Boom - Issue #2

It's been just over a week since I witnessed the first mating attempts by our Dragons.  I'm still really unsure at to whether or not Lolly is "pregnant".  When a reptile is carrying eggs, she is said to be gravid.  

"the term gravid is used to describe the condition of an animal (most commonly fish or reptiles) when carrying eggs internally." 

From what I understand from reading and speaking to people, Beardies will remain gravid for around 40 days.  At which time, the female will lay up to around 30 eggs.  These can be incubated for about the same time and hopefully hatch successfully.  By the time the eggs are ready to hatch, the female should be ready to lay her second clutch for the season.  I believe that they can lay up to 3 clutches in a single season, from a single mating.  So potentially, Lolly is going to be a busy girl!

I have seen some eggs at the reptile store already this season, so I think Lolly may have missed the boat at having 3 clutches.  There is also debate in what I have read as to the benefits of breeding females in their first year of life.  When Peter from Reptiles Inc came for JT's birthday party, he suggested that Lolly was big enough and would look to mate this season.  Which, is the counter to the age argument.  Many seem to suggest that it is the size of the female that determines whether or not she is ready to breed.  Either way, with only having had the one enclosure, we haven't had a lot of say in the matter :-).

I weighed Lolly this week, she is a whopping 334 grams!  When she came to us, she was no more than 10 grams.  Two months ago, she was 180 grams.  So she has nearly doubled her weight in that time.  I am going to weigh her more regularly in the coming weeks, just so I can try and ascertain if she is indeed gravid.

The photo I have included is of Lolly being weighed.  She didn't seem to mind too much, but, put on a great display at the time.  You can see what they are called Bearded Dragons!  She has pushed out her frill and turned it jet black in beautiful contrast to her yellow patterned skin.  You can also understand why they get called the frilly lizard when you see a photo like that.

Dragon Diary - 04/09/2010

Another great month with the Dragons.  Both are going really well and have cemented themselves as part of the family.

Lolly


Weight: 180 grams (+55)
Length: 34 cm (+2)
Food: crickets, meal worms, veggies
Toilet: Regular
Behaviour: Lolly likes to "prowl" the edges of the Den trying to climb out.  When we open the doors she props herself up on the ledge where the glass doors run and pokes her head out looking like she will go for a leap at any stage.  I have had to catch her a couple of times, which, is getting harder as her claws are getting longer.

Speaking of painful things, Lolly has mistaken my fingers for food a couple of times during feeding sessions.  This has given me a shock more than anything, but small scratches remain on the tip of the finger she latches on to.  Nothing that doesn't disappear in a day or two.

Lolly has put on some good size again this month.  The base of her tail continues to look nice and broad indicating that she is in good health.  She eats very heartily when veggies are on offer and always eats anything by way of live food put in front of her.  I have yet to see her appetite for crickets satisfied!


Booster


Weight: 93 grams (+40)
Length: 28 cm (+2)
Food: crickets, meal worms, veggies
Toilet: Regular
Behaviour: Fantastic growth for Booster this month.  He has nearly doubled in size and it is starting to show.  We make sure that crickets are on offer to both Dragons until Booster is full.  It is one strategy we are using to try and even up their sizes.  While he did not put on as much weight as Lolly, certainly as a proportion of overall size, he outstripped her for the first time ever.

Another interesting thing about Booster this month is that he has been displaying true dominance behaviours.  His head bobbing is of the pronounced kind that adult Dragons display.  It is great to watch and point out to the kids.  Lolly on the other hand shows classic submissive displays of hand waving.  So there appears to be a genuine pecking order established with Booster as the boss!  I guess that old saying about it not being the size of the dog in the fight, but, rather the size of the fight in the dog is ringing true.

Booster has been growing more confident with us.  He too will poke his head out of the enclosure at feeding time.  It's quite amusing to see two little heads peering down at the crickets, massing well below them.  He will consistently take food from our hands.  Unfortunately this confidence saw him give JT a nip on the finger, similar to what has happened to me with Lolly.  She got a big fright and is now very careful when she feeds the Dragons.  To her credit, she has been straight back into the action with both Lolly and Booster and shows no ill effects from the experience.

Overall a great month!

Dragon Diary - 01/08/2010

 As you can see, JT and I had the dragons out for their weigh in over the weekend.  It was a good opportunity to clean out the den as well.  I tried to grab a couple of photos to demonstrate the size difference between to two of them, but, of course, they didn't want to pose for us.

We set up one of the trays with a small desk lamp to keep them comfortable while I busied myself with a touch of a spring clean.  JT stood watch and made sure they were comfortable.

JT's cousins, uncle and aunt and her grandparents came over that night for dinner.  The Dragons were great hosts.  Lolly came out and was happy for everyone to have a cuddle and more than happy to eat food offered by anyone (little guts that she is).  All the kids had a hold and a feed and seemed genuinely thrilled at the opportunity for a close encounter.  Booster stayed in the den.  Whilst he has been improving with contact generally, I didn't want to overwhelm him with so many people at one time.

Lolly
Weight: 125 grams (+25)
Length: 32 cm (approx.)
Food: Meal worms, strawberry, crickets, bok choy, etc
Toilet: Regular
Behaviour: Lolly has been continuing on her merry way.  She eats anything and everything.  We started feeding her some meal worms in the last week or so as a treat.  She ate them straight up.  We also tried strawberries and she ate them as well.  Her favourite is still Bok Choy.  In the photo to the right, she is the one underneath, looking to the bottom.  It's hard to tell from this image, but, she is literally over twice Booster's weight.

She continues to be very comfortable being held.  More recently she has been coming to the front of the den when it looks anything like food might be served.  She would climb out if she could I am sure.  I might have to look at rigging up a way in and out for her.  As much as that might concern the matriarch of the family.


Booster
Weight: 53 grams (+23)
Length: 26 cm
Food: Meal worms, strawberry, crickets, bok choy, etc
Toilet: Regular
Behaviour: Booster has had an incredible weight gain in the last two weeks.  He has been very keen on his food and this has obviously been reflected in his growth.  He's put on nearly half his weight in two weeks!  He is now regularly taking food from our hands when we offer him crickets or meal worms inside the den.  I have been very happy with Booster's eagerness for food and general well being.  Who knows, one day he might even catch up with Lolly.

Dragon Diary - 18/07/2010

Lolly

Weight: 105 grams (+43)

Length: 30 cm

Food: Anything and everything (medium crickets and veggies, including peas)

Toilet:  Regular

Behaviour: Lolly has had an amazing continuation of her growth, now cracking the 100 gram barrier.  That puts here at anything up to 20% of her adult size.  We got a big surprise when we weighed her today.  JT estimated about 40 grams.  I estimated 50.  Amazing to see that more than doubled.  I won't be able to measure her with the ruler any more either.  She cracked the 30 cm mark too.

The best thing to happen this month is that Lolly is now more than just eating from our hands, she now sits in my lap to do so.  It started one night when had her in the feeding tray.  She now knows what is in the other container at feeding time and decided that she couldn't wait.  I didn't know before then, but apparently staying in the container is by choice alone.  I have put carpet on the bottom of it to stop her skidding around like a dog on tiles.  This gave her enough grip to jump up onto the leg of my pants and scamper straight up on to my lap.  Once there, she just sat, waiting dutifully to be fed.  Since then, I haven't bothered putting her in the tray much at all.  She just sits on my lap and gets fed by either JT or me.  Cool hey!

Booster

Weight: 30 grams (+2 grams)

Length: 23 cm

Food: Always eats medium crickets and veggies (just not as much as Lolly)

Toilet: Regular

Behaviour: Booster has taken food from our hands on a few occasions now.  His growth has not been great this month.  He is eating consistently, however, his interest in food drops off much quicker than Lolly, which, is keeping his growth slow.

Booster also ate some peas when offered.  I just took some frozen peas and left them in the fridge overnight to thaw out.  This will make a good food source in case we run short.  Good thing to know.

Handling of Booster has not improved greatly either.  I have tried a few times and he is generally more accepting of the initial approach, but, is still very flighty when being held.  I have bought a heat pack that I can warm in the microwave and sit on my lap or anywhere really that the dragons can stretch out on.  Lolly is ok with it for a while, but, Booster is pretty much just as flighty.  I don't think I have quite got the temperature right yet either.  So more trial an error to come!

Dragon Diary - 07-21/06/2010

Hello....Is this thing on??  It's been a while.  Apologies to anyone that pops by and reads updates on our Dragons.  Although judging by the site statistics, I am about the only person that does :-).

Lolly and Booster have been going along very well in the last couple of weeks.  I'll update you in their individual reports below.

Lolly

Weight: 62 grams (+19)
Length: 26 cm
Food: Everything put in front of her (medium crickets and veggies)
Toilet:  Regular
Behaviour: Lolly is readily accepting food from our hands now.  It's just good fun feeding her as a result.  She'll grab crickets when they are walking on our hands or when we dangle them in front of her.  She has even sat on my lap and eaten them out of my hands.  It's great to watch her poke her little tongue out ready to grab the crickets chameleon like.  Her tongue is nothing like the length of a chameleon's, but, she uses it in a similar way to secure her food.

A big growth again in the last couple of weeks for Lolly.  Just under 20 grams and what looks to me to be about 2 cm in length.  I am a bit iffy on the length as it is not an exact science for me.  Regardless a 50% increase in weight in 2 weeks is fantastic.  It says to me that she is going great guns!


Booster

Weight: 28 grams (+6 grams)
Length: 20 cm
Food: Regularly eating medium crickets and veggies
Toilet: Regular
Behaviour: Booster has been becoming more readily handled in the last few weeks.  He is no longer fleeing at my first attempt to pick him up each time.  If I miss at first attempt or am a little slow he will still try to get away from time to time, but, overall, he is becoming much better at being handled.  I am going to try it more regularly to keep the improvement going.

Very happy with Booster continuing to grow.  After the initial period of not growing at all for weeks, he is now growing consistently every weigh in.  It is difficult to gauge when he is in the same enclosure as Lolly as she is just getting bigger and bigger and it makes it hard to see his growth at all by comparison.  I am very glad that I have been keeping this record now as otherwise, I think I would be very concerned without the empirical evidence to show that he is in fact growing pretty well.

Booster is not eating from my hand yet.  I think he might come around before too long.  He shies away from my hand when dangling crickets in front of him, but, doesn't flee.  He looks a little curious if anything.  So I am hopeful that he will be able to be hand fed some time in the near future.

Dragon Diary - 03-06/06/2010

Weighed our Dragons today.  Both have put on size in the last two weeks which is great!  JT and I have had fun over the last few days feeding the Beardies together.  She has become quite comfortable handling crickets and is very keen to try hand feeding Lolly, which, I have managed to do.  We just need to work on how she handles the crickets and positions them near Lolly to get her interested enough to take one from her hand.  It's a great sign of how comfortable Lolly is with us that she will take food directly from our hands and really makes me feel like she is becoming part of the family.  Hopefully we will be able to get to the same level with Booster as well.

Lolly


Weight: 43 grams (+9)
Length: 24 cm
Food: Always eats what's on offer crickets and veggies
Toilet: Very regular
Behaviour: I've started putting Lolly on my chest/shoulder and walking around the house with her a bit.  I am hoping to get her used to being out and about and comfortable outside the Den.  She is either quite comfortable or just freaked out, because she tends to stay reasonably still and checks everything out.  I had her on my shoulder tonight as I was feeding Booster in the Den.  She was keen to get involved even though I had already given her a huge amount of crickets and started crawling all over my arm trying to get be a part of it.  She was hanging by 3 legs at one stage, head cocked to the side, checking the scene.  I put her back up and then she went straight back down, sized up the situation and jumped delicately to the floor.

She was happy enough to be picked up and placed back in the Den shortly after.  At least they both got a good feed and a little excitement.


Booster


Weight: 22 grams (+5)
Length: 19 cm
Food: Eating almost every day. Certainly having either crickets or veggies every day.
Toilet: Very regular
Behaviour: I am back to trying to measure the Dragons' full length, hence it looks like Booster at least has gotten shorter!  Not the case of course, I wasn't happy with the last technique, so back to how I started.  The good thing to report about the whole process is that Booster was much more comfortable being handled and has been for about the last week or so.  I wouldn't say that he is totally comfortable, but, certainly more than he has ever been before.  The last few times I have gone to pick him up, he has not moved at all, let alone scurry around the Den like he has done previously.

I have also tried Booster on my shoulder a couple of times.  He too is quite still, so I am hoping that this will be a good way to get him more familiar with me in general.  He is getting better at feed times and takes crickets pretty much every time.  Some days more than others.  But, his growth in weight this time suggests that he is eating well enough.  He is still lagging well behind Lolly and is continuing to lose ground.  But, I am happy enough to see him growing!  The latest batch of "medium" crickets I bought seem to be a fraction smaller and he has been accepting them more readily.  I hope the next batch is roughly the same size.

Dragon Diary - 22/05/2010

Weigh in day today.  Both Dragons are looking really good and healthy.  Lolly in particular (of course) is growing out of sight!

I started measuring their size from the base of their tails today.  From what I can see and have read, that is about half their size, so the measurements I put in here will be double the length from the tip of their tails to their base.  Another thing to keep in mind is that the figures are bigger because I didn't get to weigh and measure last week, so we are counting two weeks worth.

Lolly


Weight: 34 grams! (+9)
Length: 25 cm (+4)
Food: 6 medium crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Lolly was enthusiastic about her food as usual.  I am trying to limit her a little to give Booster a chance to catch up.  I am doing this by giving her only as much as Booster gets.  He usually loses interest after a while now we have gone to the larger crickets, so that's how many Lolly gets.  At least she gets that and usually one more as Booster will leave one as he loses interest and Lolly will find it pretty quickly when I put her back in the Den :-).

She was great to handle again today.  I walked around the house a little with her in my hand and on my shirt.  She was quite calm and collected.  She has shed a lot more and has a nice sandy coloured tinge to her on her new skin.


Booster


Weight: 17 grams (+3)
Length: 23 cm
Food: 6 medium crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster was hard to catch for his weigh in today, but, once caught he was the most comfortable being handled that I have ever seen him.  So much so, that I let the girls have a pat while I held him and he remained calm throughout.  He didn't even scurry when I picked him out of the weigh in box.  So I was able to return him to the Den settled and he was ready to feed straight away after Lolly's weigh in.

Interestingly, Booster is not much shorter than Lolly.  At least, not as much as I would have thought.  She certainly has some size on him as can be seen in their weigh in figures.  He is half her weight now.  She put on three times the weight he did in the last two weeks.  It makes me wonder if Booster is the girl and Lolly is the boy, as male Bearded Dragons are known to grow faster.  I am not overly concerned at this stage as Booster is still growing and is now taking food well.  As long as they don't get too disparate in size it should be all good.  If they both turn out to be males, then we will also have a problem.  But, we will cross that bridge if and when we come to it as they say.

Dragon Diary - 08/05/2010

Weigh in day again today.  I'm very happy with the growth of both Dragons this week.  I took the opportunity of having both Beardies out of their den to given it a complete clean out.  I took everything out and gave it all a good going over.  Not a single cricket running around.  Although I didn't expect any as the feeding has been going so well.

After their weigh in, I put both Dragons in one of the feeding trays and put it half in direct sunlight for them to get a bit of natural light for a change.  They both seemed to really enjoy it.  I will have to do it more often.  Booster even seemed to be quite calm in there, which is not often then case where he is concerned.

Lolly


Weight: 25 grams (+4)
Length: 21 cm (+2)
Food: 10 bought crickets, 1 wild cricket, daisy greens
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: We had a great time with Lolly today.  After the feeding, we took her out to hold her, and took the opportunity to put her on the window sill at the bottom of the main window in our living room.  It is a very big window and the sill sits only a few inches above the floor.  There should could lap up the rays of the afternoon sun.  I think she quite enjoyed it.  She didn't move away from the spot for the 10-15 minutes that we sat with her.  She moved on the spot a bit watching us all as we interacted, but, stayed put on the whole.  I am thinking that a nice little bean cushion or something there would be perfect for her.

One other fantastic moment with Lolly today was with a cricket I caught in the back yard.  It was a little bigger than the ones we normally give the Dragons and a different species.  This one could jump amazing distances.  It took me a dozen or more goes to catch it.  Not the same for our Lolly.  I put it into the Den to see how the Beardies would go with a prey slightly more difficult to catch.

When I put it in at first, neither of them took much notice.  From what I understand, movement of such critters is what stimulates the natural predatory instincts.  This is certainly true for Lolly in particular.  So I gave the little cricket a bit of a touch and he jumped half way across the Den!  That caught the eye of the Beardies.

I touched the cricket again and he jumped clear across the Den onto the plan nearest where Lolly and Booster were chillaxing after their main meals.  Both sets of eyes were immediately fixed on this new visitor.  Lolly's tail started to twitch.  She was flicking it in a manner that almost looked like she was saying to Booster..."Hey, check that guy out..." as it hit her Den mate.  Lolly could wait no more, she made her way quickly over until she was right beneath the cricket.  JT and I watched intently as she moved into a position contorting her body in such a way as to maximise her jump at the prey.  What was fascinating to see was her tongue extend out of her mouth almost chameleon like (if much shorter of course) as she snaffled up that cricket at the first attempt as she jumped up off the branch and dropped gracefully to the floor of the Den and quietly chewed on her supper.

JT an I looked at each other with a mixture of amazement, awe and glee to have witnessed such a fantastic display.


Booster


Weight: 14 grams (+3)
Length: TBA
Food: 13 crickets, daisy greens
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster was relatively quiet after the weigh in while in the feeding tray when I let them have some time in the sun.  He was even less jumpy than usual when Danika came close in her 2 year old exuberant way.  Calmer still when I lifted the tray up to my eye line prior to returning them to the Den.  I was able to have a great close up look at the two Dragons side by side.  Seeing the differences in everything from the size of their heads, colouration and patterns.  It looks like Booster may be getting ready to shed from the main part of his torso.  His legs, tail and head have the distinct look of having been shed recently with some colour coming through.  Also, his back has a dullness about it that suggests that it wont be long now.

A great sign today was at feeding time.  I let both Beardies have some time after weigh in to settle themselves before approaching them again to feed.  After getting Lolly out into her tray of crickets, I moved in with the second tray to start feeding Booster.  Normally he waits up on his perch until he sees a cricket on the ground. Checks it out to make sure it is food, then scampers down.  Today he saw the tray, came straight on down before I had even got half way in!  I have been thrilled with the improvement in his eating this week.  It has been reflected in his weight gain, which was as much again as he has put on in the entire time we have had him.  Go Booster!


Crickets

Dragon Diary - 01/05/2010

Weigh in day today.  Both Beardies did well in that they got a little heavier.  JT was very helpful again this week, recording all measurements, food intake and making some estimations of size.  JT and Danika also collected some slaters from the back yard which were a nice treat for Lolly who snapped them up like lollies!

Lolly


Weight: 21 grams (+3)
Length: TBA
Food: 7 slaters, 14 crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Today was the first time we offered Lolly live food other than crickets.  The kids caught some slaters in the back yard as I mentioned and we put them in the feeding tray with Lolly.  She hadn't shown any interest in crickets in the last few days while in the tray, but, went straight for the slaters like they were Everlasting Gobstoppers!

After her weigh in I left her in the tray for a while.  She even ate a cricket while in there.  After making sure that Booster had finished eating crickets in the den, I put her back in and proceeded to feed her crickets as well.  I put between 1 and 3 in at a time and she snapped them up giving them barely enough time for their feet to hit the ground.  So at least she is hungry and eating.  Strange that she has stopped eating in the tray.  I was surprised to see she had put on 3 grams this week as I don't think she has eaten as well as previously and her skin looked a little looser than usual.  Shows what sort of judge I am....still learning :-).


Booster


Weight: 11 grams (+1)
Length: TBA
Food: 7+ crickets
Toilet: Yes
Behaviour: Booster is still very nervous about being handled.  Which makes it quite difficult to measure him.  Never the less, he put on weight for the second week in a row, which, was great.  He is edging closer to only being half Lolly's weight, but, he is still improving.

After putting Booster back in the den, he readily took several crickets before loosing the desire to hunt them down.  It's great to have found at least one way to get him to eat consistently.  Hopefully in the weeks to come he will eat even more and will put on the weight he needs to in order to keep up with his den mate.


Crickets


Another quiet day (not literally of course) in the breeding of crickets exercise.  I checked on them and misted the laying dish.  Another day and I'll remove the laying dish and then....start to wait.  Not sure that there are any eggs, but, we'll see.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Dragon Diary - 26/03/2010

Lizzy Puff

Food:  1:00pm, 5:45pm - none witnessed
Toilet: Unknown
Behaviour:  Lizzy still seems happy enough.  I haven't seen her eat anything in two days, but, I think she must have had something, at least I hope she has.  I rang the reptile shop today to ask some more advice.  They suggested that I take Booster out of the enclosure and attempt to feed Lizzy while he was out of sight in case he has been dominant enough to put Lizzy off eating while he is around.  Lizzy still chose not to eat.

I managed to weigh Lizzy today.  She is only 6 grams.  Mind you, Booster is only 8 grams so there is not that much in it yet really.  I hope I can see her eat tomorrow.

Booster

Food: 1:00pm - 3 crickets, 5:45pm - none.
Toilet: Unknown
Behaviour:  On the advice of the reptile store, I took Booster out of the enclosure while I tried to give Lizzy some room to move and confidence to eat.  I put him in a large plastic tote tray.  You can picture something you might store clothes in under your bed (which is what I used to do with this one).  A bit of newspaper on the bottom and we were in business.  I put a cricket in there with him, just in case he might have a shot at it.

He was very nervous while in the make shift enclosure.  This was not helped by the excitement of offspring number 2 (my other daughter who is 2 years old).  She was happily waving to booster and loudly greeting him "HELLO BOOSTA" about 5 cms from his head and wondering why he kept running away :-).  Needless to say he was not interested in eating any crickets while that was going on.

I had a crack at weighing and measuring Booster.  I put a ruler in the tote tray with him and my best estimate is that he is between 15-16cm.  An adult male Eastern Bearded Dragon will grow up to 60cm.  So he has a way to go yet.  I'm not sure how heavy they get, I'll see what I can dig up on that one, but, at the moment, Booster is 8 grams according to the kitchen scales.