Meet Eliza.

[Mark W]

OK great! I'm looking online so I am going to order some crickets and worms (with dad's help of course lol)

 

[Daeyang]

OK great! I'm looking online so I am going to order some crickets and worms (with dad's help of course lol)

Alright great
Well just read a few of the main posts here on the forum and you'll learn a lot you can do ^^

 

[Germ]

@ Daeyang it may be a good idea for you to read this thread on substrate seeing as how you also made similar comments there ...

@ Mark W - I agree totally with Daeyang on the Chicken, it is very high in phosphorous & is not really a good choice to be feeding your BD, Parsely & Bananas are also poor choices for a staple diet. Pellets should never be fed dry, takes too much of the BDs moisture stores to digest them & can very quickly lead to dehydration. If you are going to feed them, moisten them with water until they swell, then feed them.

Here is a color coded chart on what is good to feed & not so good to feed

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html

You really should start giving that poor girl some live prey.

There is nothing wrong with strained washed play sand for the size of BD that you have, but you have to keep it clean!!!

 

[Mark W]

@ Mark W - I agree totally with Daeyang on the Chicken, it is very high in phosphorous & is not really a good choice to be feeding your BD, Parsely & Bananas are also poor choices for a staple diet. Pellets should never be fed dry, takes too much of the BDs moisture stores to digest them & can very quickly lead to dehydration. If you are going to feed them, moisten them with water until they swell, then feed them.

Here is a color coded chart on what is good to feed & not so good to feed

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html

You really should start giving that poor girl some live prey.

There is nothing wrong with strained washed play sand for the size of BD that you have, but you have to keep it clean!!!

Wow, thanks again Germ! I'm taking a look at them right now. I'm going to do some spring-cleaning of her cage, a total remodeling, etc. I'll take a pic of it.

So, sand is OK to have for Eliza as long as its clean?

 

[Daeyang]

@ Daeyang it may be a good idea for you to read this thread on substrate seeing as how you also made similar comments there ...

There is nothing wrong with strained washed play sand for the size of BD that you have, but you have to keep it clean!!!

Sorry. It didn't look much like play sand to be because in the first image it looks like her leg is in the sand. And theres a lot scattered, it looked more like if he got sand from outside. Sorry for not checking again.

 

[Mark W]

That's OK Daeyang.

I have bad news guys . Dad says we just don't have enough money to get the crickets, and I don't want to get anything from outside because I heard that they can have diseases, pesticides, etc.

Low on funds, if none at all, so what should I do to get a decent, but cheap, meal on the table for Eliza, without having to order stuff from the internet, which can be pricey?

 

[Germ]

Sand

So, sand is OK to have for Eliza as long as its clean?

Children's Washed Play Sand that has been strained to remove any of the larger pebbles is. It can be purchased at most larger hardware stores or garden centers for like $4-$6 for a 50 pound bag. Sand dug up from the outside would contain too many contaminants, bacteria, parasites etc.

 

[Mark W]

Awesome, thank you. I'm going to get those pebbles out, and stuff, and make her tank shine! Spring cleaning commences shortly.

 

[Germ]

You can use Newspaper as a cheap substrate that is easy to change, or paper towel.

 

[Daeyang]

Like I mentioned........

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@Mark I.havent posted anything as of yet to you in regards to Eliza and her enclosure. Reason being that in your initial post you said that the picture was pixelated and I was chaulkin it up to that. Plus you stated that you have had her a long time.

However I will have to agree that Eliza is on the skinny side and having read your details of her diet I am thinking that you could use a little help in gettin the right info on her proper care.

Let me denounce one piece of advice that has already been given to you and that that is your being told that sand is not a good choice for substrate. Eliza at 7 years of age should have no problems having a sand substrate as long as you are using the proper type of sand. And the stuff about impaction risk is exageration when dealing with adult beardies.

ONLY use Washed,,Sifted Premium Childrens Play Sand..It can be found very inexpensive at Lowes, Home Depot, TOYZ R US, etc. I only use the Quikrete Premium Play Sand sold at Lowes.

When you get the sand sift it again thru a fine screen to make sure there arent any pebbles in it ...the.bags at Lowes are very clean...and then pour the sand in a pan and place it in a 200 degree oven for aproximately an hour..then let it cool thoroughly before using it as your substrate...a 2-4 inch base is sufficient and as long as you get the right sand and follow these steps it is perfectly safe for Eliza. Remember Washed, Sifted, Premium Childrens Play Sand. It has been used by breeders and dragon keepers for many many years safely.

Other viable options are reptile carpet, slate or textured ceramic tiles, newspaper..there is a whole host of safe substrates...just stay away from most of the junk.they sell as safe from.pet stores..example calcium sand which actually does pose a signiicant impaction risk.

I would also like to see pictures of Eliza's entire enclosure..reason being that your pics show very little light and I.am.wondering if you have the correct lighting she needs to thrive.

As far as her diet goes she should be getting fresh greens and veggies every day and those should be available to her all day.

There are lists readily available that will tell you what veggies are best..Mungi has a staple of Collard greens, Mustard greens and usually Dandelion greens,Arugula, or Escarole. These are chopped fresh for him each day. He is partial to Strawberries and gets one twice a week. We also add in a few other veggies off the safe list for variety on occassion.

Please do not feed her anymore chicken. Crickets are an inexpensive and redily available good food source and you can gut load them before feeding them to Eliza to enhance thier nutritional value. Waxworms and mealies are good fat source but really shouldnt be fed as a staple diet but rather a treat.
Again using Mungi as an example he gets fed Crickets every other night and usually devours 20-25 or soo each feeding..after that he doesnt want any more. You will have to see how many Eliza will eat in a sittings because her number may or.not be the same..whatever she doesnt eat in 15 minutes remove from her enclosure

Hope this helps Mark and is taken in the frame.it was meant which is the desire to help you make sure Eliza is around for many.many more years;-)

This forum.is the right place to get the right answers...all you have to do.is ask.
Enjoy your even and say Hello to Eliza!



Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Lol...one.of.these.days I.will learn to.type.faster...ninja'd again..lol...see help is readily available here! Its why Mungi chose to make this forum.his home!

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[Mark W]

Thanks Buddha! A goldmine of great info here folks

You asked to see a full picture of her enclosure, however, I just finished remodeling it as part of Eliza's Spring Cleaning/Remodeling project. I'll post a pic of her new enclosure here, though. However, I do not have any of her old one.

I hate to say it, but we don't have a UV bulb for Eliza. I've asked dad to pick one up, but I guess he forgot. Anyway, I'll remind him again to get one so she can get all that extra energy and stuff!

Thanks again Budha. Eliza and I will take a look at Mungi's site and check up on him very soon.

The pic of her new enclosure:

Coming up in just a few minutes.

 

[Mark W]

In front of Eliza, I made a climbing rock and a feeding area, as well as (not pictured) a hidey-hole tunnel similar to Mungi's, which is about 5 inches wide and two-three feet long, offering plenty of room for my lil' girl to hide out.

Not to mention newly filtered sand, which makes Eliza's excavations more fun. Yay for Eliza!

P.S: I'm going to look into that kid's sand at Lowes. Right now, though, I can only use what I have, so I gotta make it as nice as I can for Eliza. However, I think we can all agree that filtering it of the many rocks, pebbles, pieces of food and buried "cah cah" is a good start.

P.S.S: I did not know Eliza buried some of her "cah cah". Yuck.

 

[Mark W]

Did you know that...


Eliza is a three legged beardie? Her front right leg is missing. You may have noticed this before, but some may not have, because due to the poor quality pics, it may be hard to notice that.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Mark...I.understand being tight on.money all too well...the fact of the matter is that properly feeding your dragon is really not any great expense...I am not sure where you live but most pet stores stock crickets so no need to order them..they are usually 5-10 cents a piece...a meal of 20 costing about 2 dollars at most less that 10 dollars per week...and for around 35 dollars plus or minus you can set up to breed your own crikets and in just a short time.have all you need for.free.
As far as a staple diet which consists of veggies part of the diet We but bunches of fresh Collard, Mustard; Dandelion and etc for a cheap $1.49 a bunch which gives enuf fresh greens to last a week if properly refrigerated.
Its truly not a big expense to do things right and provide the creature yall decided to take in as a family what she needs...really cents a day.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[Germ]

If the weather is warm enough, take her out for as much natural sun as you can, until you can get a proper UVB bulb. It must be natural sun, can't be filtered through glass or plastic, nothing between her & that big old 'Bulb' in the sky. That will help her out some to give her a UVB boost. Do the pellets that you feed contain Vit D3 along with the Calcium?

 

[Mark W]

We do have a pet store in town, I'll try to go over there soon and get some. The only problem is that town is ten miles away, I live in the country. Next time I'm in town, though, I'll ask if we can go to the pet store and get Eliza some good eats.

The good news: we go to town at least once a week for church on Sunday, so I can guaranteed get her something in the next few days.

 

[Germ]

Did you know that...


Eliza is a three legged beardie? Her front right leg is missing. You may have noticed this before, but some may not have, because due to the poor quality pics, it may be hard to notice that.

I was wondering about that in the earlier pics, but couldn't be sure because of the pic quality.

The enclosure looks 1000% better

 

[Mark W]

If the weather is warm enough, take her out for as much natural sun as you can, until you can get a proper UVB bulb. It must be natural sun, can't be filtered through glass or plastic, nothing between her & that big old 'Bulb' in the sky. That will help her out some to give her a UVB boost. Do the pellets that you feed contain Vit D3 along with the Calcium?

Well, I'm not sure about D3, but the pellets do have Vitain C as well as Calcium. Tomorrow I'm taking her outside. How long should Eliza spend outside to get a good amount of UV?

does she need sunscreen jk jk