Aaaah! new skin! 

Caspi's first shed!

I woke up this morning and wow! he was shedding skin...most of his tail is shed, only a few patches left, which should be gone by the end of the day.

we also had our first escapee crix. when they were delivered this morning, I tried to move them into their cage without using the bag...bad idea.

never, ever try to do this. to prevent escapees, you must use a bag -- you use a bigger bag than their containter, put it in there, open the container, then empty the crix into the bag...THEN transfer them to the cage from the bag.

otherwise, you spend the next few weeks chasing them off the walls of the house -- yuck!

the wonders of the activeUV bulb...

okay.  so I bought what is probably the most expensive light bulb out there, but already two days in, I'm convinced it was the best investment ever.

Caspi immediately responded to the added light, began running around, eating more, being in a much better mood.  After only two days, I can see some color coming out.  its almost yellow, but more like tanish green. 

I'm not too worried about the heat under the light.  it probably is waaay too hot (115 degrees) directly beneath the light, but I've positioned his basking site so he isn't directly beneath it.  all in all, I'm pleased.

I'm concerned now because I've been dusting the crix with reptocal and a tiny pinch of dragon dust--growth formula.  since he isn't up to eating an entire salad yet, I figured it was best to get it on the crix since he eats about 2 dozen a day.

today I hand fed cilantro, which has become a morning routine.  his lights come on at 6a, and I feed him around 8a.  first the cilantro, then put out the salad and later the crix.  today he had a special treat, a bit of rose petal.  he ate a small bite, but I'm not sure whether he liked it.  I think I'll try violets or hibiscus next.

I'm already trying to plan for the larger tank he will need in only a few months.  I think a 60 gallon is adequate.  I'll put the UVheat lamp on the basking side, and the florescent reptile bulb on the cool side.  I think I'll switch to grapevine because it is easy to move and clean, and I can rearrange it from time to time.  the tree has a lot of crevices which make good hiding spots for crix and make it really hard to clean (especially because of the coccidia and other direct cycle parasites that often are found in bearded dragons). 

the little guy is sleeping peacefully and has gotten used to my routine.  my tap-tap-tap on the computer at 10pm doesn't phase him.
  

happy birthday to Caspi...

he's now officially 1 month old.

s/he got a birthday present of sani-chips substrate.  I was sad because the Caspi had no traction on the bare tank bottom when s/he went hunting.

so I put a very thin layer of sani chips down.  I was going to wait until s/he was 2 months, but I think he's big enough now.  the crickets can't burrow and the sani chips will pass through if s/he eats them accidentally.

s/he's also going to get a mercury vapor spotlight when I get a chance to go to the store. 

Caspi the magic dragon...

so I decided Caspi was the best name, it was the only one that elicited any response from the li'l guy.

today's big adventure was going outside for the first time.  I put Caspi into a plastic tub on the balcony, and set his water dish in there.  he gaped for just a second, sought out some shade for a few minutes, then took a little swim in his water dish.  then he made a little poop in there (water does that!). 

I noticed when he was outside that he started to change color a bit, some yellows came out.  This is a good sign that if he gets enough sun, he will develop some color when he gets older.  I want to give him at least a 1/2 hour or so every few days.  This helps with D3 and makes sure he absorbs all the calcium he needs. 

I'm also thinking of switching his "sun" from a red heat lamp to a mercury vapor UV spotlight.  I think he needs more light to be sure he doesn't develop calcium deficiency.   

baby names

I still don't know what to call him [or her].  not knowing the gender is problematic, because I have to pick a name that is neutral, in case he turns out to be a she.

nominations so far:
caspi = after our favorite rabbi
wizzer = after wizzer white, the supreme court justice who defined porn as "I can't tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it."
charles = after the lizardoid master of LGF
zulu = charles' 'alter ego' -- in case charles turns out a girl

the li'l jumper had a 2 poop day today.  I was so proud.
he posed for pictures and was such a good sport.

I got two essentials yesterday: 
a timer for the florescent light -- now I can be sure that his lights go on and off at the right time, even if I'm not here.
a spritzer bottle -- now it "rains" about twice in the afternoon.  I made sure the water is filtered and I add "Calcimize" to eliminate chlorine and add calcium.   I'm sure he's figured out that I'm the one doing it [bearded dragons are very bright].  but I need to be sure he's hydrated.  I don't think he minds it too much -- I hope he finds it refreshing.

well, the li'l guy will be going to bed soon.  and I promised not to keep him up too late with my studying.   

but, as you can see from this photo, he's still pretty small.  

baby pictures as promised. this is little jumper as he approaches his 1 month birthday. I tried to catch him munching the cilantro, but he got scared. as you can see he's getting big. 

let's just call him "l'il jumper"

well the little guy has gotten big in the last couple of days.  I finally figured out how to get him to eat crickets.

when I first put him in there, I cleaned the tank after bonnie and clyde left, and threw out their substrate [to stave off any parasitic infection threat] and changed to paper towels.  the reason being that the crickets can burrow into the sawdust [not really sawdust, but like the stuff that you use with hampsters] and then munch on the little guy at night.  and, its easier to replace every day which also keeps things nice and clean.

well, the damn crickets would hide under the paper towels and the little guy couldn't see them to eat them.  and, the paper towels being white and the crickets being dusted with calcium powder made it doubly worse. 

so I decided that during the day, after he's had some salad and [hopefully] taken a poop, I can pull the towels out and leave the bare bottom of the tank for the day.  that way, the little crickets don't have too many places to hide.  then, every evening before bedtime, I catch all the uneaten crickets, wipe out the bottom of the tank with a moist paper towel, and replace the paper towels.  When he gets big enough and has developed his eye-mouth coordination, then he'll get a different substrate.  When he's an adult, he's only going to get crickets once a week, but I'm more inclined to give them up altogether and do worms or pinkies instead because of the parasitic danger.  crickets aren't the cleanest food option.

the bare tank seems to be working.  he's eaten about 2 dozen crickets a day.  and he is getting bigger around the middle.  he still does his munching on the sly, however.  as long as I'm not looking, he'll go a hunting.  but if I even glance in there, he notices and gets a little skittish. 

we still have afternoon olympic high jump practice with the thermometer.  there's a little piece of silicone that is on the edge of the tank at the top -- I'm pretty sure he's doing this because he thinks its something to eat.  I would remove it, but the jumping practice is good exercise and good to develop his reflexes.  he'll probably figure it out and get bored.

he's sleeping on the high branch again tonight.  last night, I was up until 2am hammering out my final exam on the computer, and I kept waking the little guy up.  I want him to get used to me working after lights out, though, because that is my life.  I usually hit the sack between 11p and midnight, so I hope he gets used to "twilight" from 8 till then.  just glad I got him young, so he'll just think of it as normal [I hope].

promising pictures soon, but the camera is malfunctioning.  maybe its from hitting it on the rocks in joshua tree, but the focus is all wrong and the digital capture is off from what is in the viewfinder.

 

baby beardie: day 1

well the little guy [or girl] has had an interesting day. 

the first thing the little guy did yesterday was take a long soak in his water dish.  I was thinking maybe he thought he was a water dragon.  so this morning, I gave him a little dip just to keep him hydrated.

fresh crickets were delivered this morning...they are 2 weeks, which are a bit larger than I feel comfortable feeding him, but I'm getting a new shipment of 5 days tomorrow, so I need to find someone who wants 200 small crickets [I've heard there is another lizard owner in my building].

but I fed them to him anyway, and he ate a few.  I've discovered that the paper towel substrate provides good cover for them and my baby can't see them.  but somehow he managed to eat a few.

the little guy doesn't seem to like being watched while he eats...but I'm sure it's just because he is getting used to his new environment.

the most interesting thing today is that the little guy has started working out for the Olympic high jump.  it's the funniest thing, but it scares the hell out of me.  his afternoon routine which has been going constantly since 1pm is to climb his tree, bask around a bit, and then JUMP onto the thermometer which is stuck on the inside of the tank at the top.  he tries to hang on as long as he can and then drop to the floor (which is 13").  every time he tries, he hits the glass with a big THUD.  the noise makes me jump out of my seat.  then I get worried he's going to break a leg. 

but I'm relieved that he is active and a jumper.  this is a good sign he is healthy and enjoying himself.  I'm trying to think of a better jumping spot than the thermometer.  maybe I can suspend something from the screen?  I think I might need a jungle gym with good leaping distances.

he'll be going to bed soon, and maybe I'll actually get some work done.  the little guy can be such a fun distraction!   

bye bye bonnie and clyde...
 
I'm so terribly upset right now.  both bonnie and clyde have pinworms and coccidia.  clyde stopped eating altogether and his poops were all wrong.  so I called the breeder who offered to take them back and trade me for one of the new hatchlings [which I really wanted].
 
so bonnie and clyde are gone and I'm sad because we had already bonded.  but my new baby [no name yet] is swimming around in his water dish and seems to be happy, healthy, and hopefully will adjust well.
 
pictures forthcoming.
 
baby's birthday:  6-27-2004

Bonnie and Clyde's first bath...
 
yep, they got their first bath this morning.  they both really liked it and splashed around for a few minutes and both took good poops.
 
then I took their poops to the vet for a parasite screening...results are pending.
 
I'm a bit worried about Clyde, because the poops are too soft and too lightly colored.  But Bonnie's are really good [I hope]. 
 
the great thing is that the vet will board my babies if we go on vacation.  probably not cheap, but it is better than leaving them in the hands of friends who don't know what they are doing. 

bonnie and clyde:  night three
 
clyde went to bed early tonight, dug himself in at 7pm.  Didn't want to eat any crickets at 5pm either, which I thought was odd.  good thing bonnie munched them all.
bonnie is sleeping in the tree with her head hanging off the end of the branch.
tomorrow we are planning our first bath.  I think clyde needs to poop really bad, so the warm bath, I'm told, does the trick.
 
 

Bonnie and Clyde, the new adventure...
 
yes, its a new adventure in petkeeping for the kipodim.  while mr. kipod has been travelling this summer, mrs. kipod got lonely and decided that bearded dragons would make great new companions.  mr. kipod doesn't know yet (but he'll figure it out when he smells their poop! phew!)
 
why I chose bearded dragons: 
 
well, I had been thinking for a long time about getting a frog, but when I looked at the maintenance requirements and the fact that you really can't cuddle with them, the frog thing started to look less and less appealing. 
 
then I thought about an iquana.  but they get to be 5 feet long and really beasty.  basically, it came down to: if it is bigger than me when it stands up, it is not an appropriate house pet.  especially if it has attitude (and iquanas do).  I also remember my friends who have one and how much work it was, how often the not-so-little guy would run off and hide somewhere in the house.  so the iquana was out. 
 
but then I saw the bearded dragons.  they were sooooo cute (cause they are babies).  they don't mind handling, they are mostly vegetarian (but for all those yummy crickets), and they only get to be about a foot long.  most importantly, they are desert lizards, so there is no "misting" requirement and that helps keep the cage cleaner and cuts down on salmonella chances.
 
so I decided to get two babies.  I had been looking at 4 week olds, but they were running $50 each.  I found someone who had 8 week olds for 39.00.  Most of them had their tails munched, so I had a hard time deciding whether to spend the extra $ for the younger ones.  but I kept looking and finally saw bonnie.
 
bonnie and clyde: together again
 
bonnie:  bonnie was sitting on the cage to the heat lamp at the top of the tank.  she was almost entirely white and was "gaping" (they do this when they get too hot to cool down).  I asked, "what is this little one doing?"  we picked her up and she cooled down and began to change back to her normally very light color.  She had a tiny bit of her tail munched, but it was in pretty good shape, so she was in.
 
clyde:  clyde was being the all-too-cool ladies' man.  He had about four ladies piled on top of him and was sitting and being really chill.  He was a good size, and had a complete tail (maybe the only one in the bunch?).   we put them together and they were okay, so he was in.
 
now you really can't tell the sexes of the dragons at this age, but I think in my case it is pretty obvious watching their behaviors.
 
clyde is your typical alpha male:  he is the first and fastest at eating crickets.  he's got a little bit of attitude.  already he has puffed his beard at me for disturbing his afternoon basking.  he basically likes to lie around undisturbed until the crickets come.  and when 9:00pm rolls around -- he gets mad if I don't turn the lights out.  he has taken to sleeping on the floor -- he makes himself a little depression in the substrate, curls up, and boom! out like a light a 9pm! 
 
I know clyde is a boy because mr. kipod is also out like a light at 9pm and I've decided its a guy thing.  oh, and I did the vent check and I think I see the two nodules that mean "boy."
 
bonnie is a nutty girl:  you can just tell.  she is just a tiny bit smaller than clyde right now, but you can see that she is developing a girl face.  she runs around all over the place, and she really likes the heat.  she goes absolutely nuts when she sees a gnat flying in the room (gnats are very common where we live now, but annoying as hell).   she is the most interested in what I am doing and she is the most personable of the two.  she loves to be picked up, she loves to eat her salad, and she loves to sleep under the black light up in the tree. 
 
and on bonnie's vent check, her vent is a little smaller and I can see one nodule developing in the center -- which means "girl."
 
I think I will need to be sure to bathe bonnie often because she is such a heat-freak.  I can't wait to teach them how to "jet ski."  I did some googling and discovered about the warm water bath routine.
 
when you take your beardie out for some family time, you want to first put the little guy into a warm water bath no more than shoulder deep.  A small plastic wash tub should work for this.  the warm water encourages pooping as well as cleans them and rehydrates them.  after they have pooped, they should be good to go for some family time without having any embarrassing and smelly "accidents."
 
one site mentioned playing "jet ski" -- where the beardie hangs on to your finger with his front legs and you pull him around the bath.  sounds like fun!  I'm going to wait a few weeks more before I take them out of their tanks for extended periods.  right now, I pick them up in the morning for a little "hello" time, and in the evening for a little "good night" time.  they are pretty used to me handling them and they don't seem afraid.  bonnie is much more enthusiastic about being picked up so right now she is getting a little more attention.   
 
I've got to learn how to keep crickets -- it was a little disasterous the first time.  I bought 7 dozen, thinking this would last a week, they lasted a day.  I didn't have much trouble transferring them to the corral (I only lost two).  but inside the corral, they got too wet and I lost about a dozen due to drowning because they got under the sponge.  and believe it or not, bonnie and clyde ate the rest of them all up! 
 
so it is looking like they will eat probably a dozen each at a sitting -- and if I feed them 3x a day, that is 6 dozen a day.   its a good thing crickets are cheap!
 
I was thinking about not feeding them so many crickets, but it is important when they are babies to feed them a lot of crickets so they get enough calcium for their growing bones.  when they are full grown, they will only get crickets once or twice a week, if at all.  but for now, I'm going to have to get used to the "shake n' bake" routine.
 
I hope mr. kipod is pleasantly surprised by our new babies -- and lets me keep them, 'cause I've grown quite attached already. 

and this is her buddy, Clyde. 

Say hello to Bonnie the bearded dragon.