This was kind of thrust upon me...

[still_crimson]

Well sachi has a few jagged gray stripes on her underside but they have been there since I got her and I don't know if that's part of her normal pattern or not. The stripes on her back have gotten darker since yesterday too, but I'm hoping that's just her coloring up better now that she's being taken care of. And yea, he occasionally jumps on top of my 29 gal! gives me a heart attack every time too.

 

[still_crimson]

I just googled stress marks on a bearded dragon and the pics look exactly like the markings on her underside. Should I not handle her for a couple of days?

 

[PatsyB]

I just googled stress marks on a bearded dragon and the pics look exactly like the markings on her underside. Should I not handle her for a couple of days?

Yeah give her a few days to settle in. Oh, and cover 3 sides of the tank. She could be stressed out too with so much going on all around her.

 

[still_crimson]

Ok. Her beard isn't black and she hasn't puffed up on me at all, so I guess it could be worse lol.

 

[diegothediggy]

Just a little pit for ur salad. I dnt dust my beardies salad theu tend to eat more of it if i dnt dust it. And i spray it with water aswel to keep it fresher and it hydrates them aswel. As for the little bug. Unless ur.viv crawping with them i wudnt worry to much. Just keep ur eye on it. N the stress lines on the belly will go Boris was really dark fpr the first wekk we had him. They get streesed wen moving or with change so just give her chamce to settle. The lines will go both of mine got stress lines wen we first got them but also they can b like that first thing in rhe mornin b4 they have got up the temps.
This was Diegos belly wen we first got him

And this his belly normally

As u can c its nice n.white with no lines.
So just give the little 1 time n like patsy said cover 3 sides too much goin on will stress her out aswel.
Wen we first got Boris his colour was completely different he was black bearded n brown bodied for a while

After he settle his colours changed loads hes now orange.

 

[still_crimson]

What a gorgeous dragon! Thanks. Yea I figured maybe that's why she didn't eat any from yesterday morning, so I gave her fresh last night without the dust on it and I tried dripping a bit of water on it to keep it moist but she didn't seem interested. I just fed her the remainder of the crickets though and she gobbled every one of them up. There were five maybe six. Would have been more but 3 got away and are now loose in my house somewhere. I really hope my cat catches them... I don't like crickets. lol. Anyway the pet shop doesn't open up until for another hour and a half or so, so I've been reading up on how many crickets these babies will eat in one setting. I'm not sure I can afford it if I buy from a pet shop all the time but I'm not sure I'm ready to give her up yet. Was thinking of ordering online? Kind of freaked out about keeping that many crickets... how in the world would you clean a cricket cage? I can't afford a new tank right now and my friend said he couldn't find his old ten gallon. I was thinking about buying a big sterilite or rubbermaid container, cutting a huge square out of the lid, and hot gluing some screen down for ventilation. Any tips would be appreciated. Not sure how many I should order at once and I'm not entirely sure of the size of these ones. I will ask the lady at the pet shop when I go in today to pick up some more. If anyone had any tips on a good reliable online store for ordering crickets that would really be appreciated.

 

[PatsyB]

I hate bugs of all kinds but you kinda get over the fear when you realize that your animals won't survive without them! I still hate spiders and centipedes though! If you can get a hold of some gloves to wear while handling the crickets that helps to get used to them. I'm to the point now that it's just easier to pick the crickets up with my bare hands rather than try to grab them with tongs. I still won't touch the worms though with my hands, have to wear gloves for those!

Lots of people do that with a sterilite container. Also, Petco always has dollar a gallon tank sales so you can easily get a 5 gallon for 5 bucks and then the metal screen for a a 5 gallon I think is around $7-8.

Buying lots of crickets from the pet store can get expensive. Plus, they aren't always willing to sell 100's of crickets at a time, they still have to feed the animals they have there. I've ordered from Ghann's cricket farm in GA, they are pretty good. Lately I've been getting mine from a place called Josh's Frogs in MI (but they ship there crickets from another company in IL). They are easy for me because I can order in the morning and get them the following morning without having to pay anything extra. I buy 2/3" for Luci, but he could easily eat something a little bigger than that. When I buy them I figure out how many times a day he is eating and how many he is eating at a time. Then multiply that by the number of days I want to have crickets before I have to order new ones. I usually order crickets once a month. I would maybe try to start with 250 crickets and see how you can handle them and then move up to 500.

As far as keeping the cricket cage clean, you just have to get over the fear of having a cricket jump on you! I check mine daily to make sure that they have enough food and get rid of any old food or dead crickets. I will flip over my egg crates just to knock out any poop and dried food that settled in. Then when the poop and dead crickets look like it's really building up I will just go in with a moist paper towel and wipe it all up. The crickets like to hide so usually when you start sticking your hands in their tank they move out of the way. When all the crickets are eaten I take the tank and clean it real good with vinegar and water or bleach and water and get it ready for the next batch of crickets.

 

[still_crimson]

I was just thinking about the bucket thing. I have a couple five gallons. I am gonna sterilize one and cut a home in the lid and hot glue some aluminum screen over the hole for ventilation. My mayo concern was being able to clean it and get crickets out without them escaping because I would have to take off the whole lid. Want sure if they could jump that high and if have hundreds of crickets everywhere.

 

[PatsyB]

I think you should be fine they shouldn't be able to jump out especially if they are smaller crickets. One thing I thought of, you might have to google it, I'm not sure if they can climb the walls of a rubbermaid or sterilite container. I feel like they might be able to, but maybe not because it goes straight up.

 

[still_crimson]

Yea I have a pretty tall 5 gallon. She ate crickets real good again today but came down from her basking spot before lights out to wedge half between the water bowl and glass awkwardly on the other side of the tank. She had her eyes closed. I have not see her go to sleep early before. Anyways I haven't taken her out today because I've been trying not to handle her too much, but I couldn't see her breathing so I went to gently pet her to make sure she was still alive. She puffed up, hissed at me, and opened her mouth like she wanted to bite me. She ate real well the crickets again today like I said, but was not nearly as active as yesterday. Also her stress marks on her belly have been real light grey and thin until today. Now her underside looms like the picture you showed me of your beardie. I am confused because I have been taking care of her and she has been getting fed everyday, and I've not taken her out today. But she seems more stressed and upset than she was the first two days I had her.

 

[still_crimson]

Also I am rearranging my room to make a spit for her in there where there's less activity and the cat won't mess with her, and so I don't have to worry about him knocking off the lamps. My cat isn't allowed in my room. I have some furniture to build still and so it probably won't be for another couple of days or so. By the the guinea pigs will be in there, and while she might not be able to see them, she will hear them when they whistle. So I don't know what to do because I don't want to stress her out more, but my cat is constantly near the tank. What should I do?

 

[still_crimson]

Oh and plain white paper on sides of tank, as white is all I have.

 

[still_crimson]

Oh and I forgot. The good thing is she had her first normal poo today and I see the white urate you're talking about.

 

[shanghaibeardie]

She could have more energy to be angry I've had mine a few months and he still puffs up sometimes. Just don't be scared, he hasn't bitten me yet haha. Mine is maybe 6 months old.

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

Try putting your hand in the cage on the other side for a minute or so, come back later and do it closer until you are right next to her. This should remove any previous misconduct the last owner did as she will recognize that you aren't there to hurt her. She was probably better at first because she was hungry and you were always bringing food, I had to do the same thing with Meteor and Comet because I got them from the same person (real jerk). Welcome to thr forums also.

 

[still_crimson]

Thanks guys. And Yea I was wondering that maybe her personality is coming out more now that she's actually eating, but at the same time she seemed less active today. Maybe I'm just paranoid. It's scary because she's so little and I find myself getting attached rather quickly.

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

She has you with her mind control, stop resisting and join the rest of us. Beardies are great and can do no wrong. Lol

 

[PatsyB]

There are some other threads around here where we all talk about how we tamed our dragon. Like EDL said....stop resisting. Don't show her that you are afraid of her and she will eventually back down with her aggression. I wouldn't worry too much about the the guinea pigs or the cat bothering her for that matter. They eventually get used to all the noise and attention.

They will sleep in the strangest spots and positions so don't worry. Wedging between the food bowl and the glass seems like a perfectly normal place to sleep in her head!

 

[PatsyB]

BTW, Good luck with the guinea pigs today!

 

[still_crimson]

OK. Thanks everyone. I will check out the taming thread. I'm horrible at go don't stuff on forums but I'll get the hang of it! Just out of curiosity, when you guys tien the day lights on does it take a while for your dragons to go bask, or do they normally go right up there?