Lizard
September 11th 2007, 10:21 PM
As some of you may know by reading the "Is Yahweh a Dragon" threads, that I own a bearded dragaon (a type of lizard), his name is Mike.
Now raising a reptile is much different than raising a cat or dog or hamster or fish (not sure about birds, I never had birds.)
Mike's behavior is recently perplexed me, and I thought I would share (and maybe there is a heptologist [sp?] or two lurking around.)
Mike eats live crickets (and green vegies or he is supposed to, he dosen't take well to them though). We have had Mike for a year, and I had been feeding him 5-10 crickets every other day or so, like the pet shop said.
Well........I have been doing a little research on Bearded Dragons and realized that the instructions were for baby BDs. At a year old they should be eating 1-2 times a day with 20-30 crickets per feeding.
Well, poor Mike is lucky to be alive.
Anyway, I begin to up the feeding gradually, and about the time I get him to eating at the level he should be the stupid cat (and we have more than one, and it was the stupid one that did it) knocked Mike's heat lamp off of his cage.
(An aside: BD's need to have c. 110F basking area and an 65-80F cooling area they alternate back and forth between the two areas to regulate their body temp.)
The force broke the bulb. So I went and got a two pack of bulbs (these are specialized bulbs at $10 a pop). I put in the new bulb, it blows out in about 3 minutes (they are supposed to last 6 months). I put in the second bulb, it last 5 minutes. I can only (and wrongly as I found out tonight) conclude that the cat somehow broke the lamp (it is a very simple thing a plug, and on/off switch and a dome that lays flat on top of the screen mesh covering Mike's cage).
So....I go plop down another 10 dollars on a new lamp and $16 on two more bulbs (the bulbs are cheaper at the pet mega store than the reptile speciality shop but I like to support the spcialty store when I can as they have the best crickets).
The new lamp had a smaller dome but the was rated for the same 75W bulb I was using before. (I also purchased a UVB lamp which my recent research showed was also needed for good BD husbandry, but which Mike had not been getting since we got him).
The first day, no problem. Mike was his typical self.
The next day, I go to feed him, and nothing. Usually he is chasing the crickits like a South Florida Democrat chases chads. But not this time. The crickets are jumping all around, Mike is sitting there as if he were bored. The crickets even crawl on him, and nothing.
I think, well, I fed him more than I ever fed him the last time he ate, so maybe he is full.
The next day, same thing. I am beginning to worry.
So, I post on the DB discussion forum. I break down the situation and ask if the smaller dome could have reduced the temp in the cage (I have a thermometer in the cage but it is not very accurate).
The consensus was that the temperature was not high enough and his body temp was not high enough for him to digest his food so he was still feeling full.
Well, I had spent all my discretionary money (and then some) on four bulbs and two lamps already. I really didn't have the money to buy yet another lamp.
So, I took the old lamp to my brother (the electrician) to see if he could figure out what was wrong. Nothing, he said (after testing it with his hi tech tester stuff). The lamp is putting out exactly what it should.
I get home (this evening) and when I do I see that Mike's lamp was off (it is turned off at night to mimic the naturual cycle of sunlight) I forgot to turn it on (shame on me). He had been home and cold all day long!!! Oh, my. This can't be good! :slinkoff:
So I immedately put the bulb in the old lamp (that I had just picked up from my brother). No sooner did I put the old lamp back, than Mike started eating (I had missed a few crickets from the last time I tried to feed Mike since crickets, when left alive and uneaten tend to bite back so I tried to leave the cage cricket free). Well he found two that I missed.
There was no way it was the heat that was keeping him from eating, since he had been in the cold all day. I have no idea what caused the sudden change.
Well I decided to see if Mike wanted some more. He did. He ate a good 30 more (and later tonight I fed him about 15 more, once I saw that he had er...expelled the earlier meal).
His behavior is contrary to all that I know (which isn't much admittedly) about the way a cold BD should behave.
It may sound strange (it does to me, even though I have always "liked" lizards, it was not my idea to get one for a pet, that was my son's idea). I have grown very fond of Mike.
I just thought I would share.
Now raising a reptile is much different than raising a cat or dog or hamster or fish (not sure about birds, I never had birds.)
Mike's behavior is recently perplexed me, and I thought I would share (and maybe there is a heptologist [sp?] or two lurking around.)
Mike eats live crickets (and green vegies or he is supposed to, he dosen't take well to them though). We have had Mike for a year, and I had been feeding him 5-10 crickets every other day or so, like the pet shop said.
Well........I have been doing a little research on Bearded Dragons and realized that the instructions were for baby BDs. At a year old they should be eating 1-2 times a day with 20-30 crickets per feeding.
Well, poor Mike is lucky to be alive.
Anyway, I begin to up the feeding gradually, and about the time I get him to eating at the level he should be the stupid cat (and we have more than one, and it was the stupid one that did it) knocked Mike's heat lamp off of his cage.
(An aside: BD's need to have c. 110F basking area and an 65-80F cooling area they alternate back and forth between the two areas to regulate their body temp.)
The force broke the bulb. So I went and got a two pack of bulbs (these are specialized bulbs at $10 a pop). I put in the new bulb, it blows out in about 3 minutes (they are supposed to last 6 months). I put in the second bulb, it last 5 minutes. I can only (and wrongly as I found out tonight) conclude that the cat somehow broke the lamp (it is a very simple thing a plug, and on/off switch and a dome that lays flat on top of the screen mesh covering Mike's cage).
So....I go plop down another 10 dollars on a new lamp and $16 on two more bulbs (the bulbs are cheaper at the pet mega store than the reptile speciality shop but I like to support the spcialty store when I can as they have the best crickets).
The new lamp had a smaller dome but the was rated for the same 75W bulb I was using before. (I also purchased a UVB lamp which my recent research showed was also needed for good BD husbandry, but which Mike had not been getting since we got him).
The first day, no problem. Mike was his typical self.
The next day, I go to feed him, and nothing. Usually he is chasing the crickits like a South Florida Democrat chases chads. But not this time. The crickets are jumping all around, Mike is sitting there as if he were bored. The crickets even crawl on him, and nothing.
I think, well, I fed him more than I ever fed him the last time he ate, so maybe he is full.
The next day, same thing. I am beginning to worry.
So, I post on the DB discussion forum. I break down the situation and ask if the smaller dome could have reduced the temp in the cage (I have a thermometer in the cage but it is not very accurate).
The consensus was that the temperature was not high enough and his body temp was not high enough for him to digest his food so he was still feeling full.
Well, I had spent all my discretionary money (and then some) on four bulbs and two lamps already. I really didn't have the money to buy yet another lamp.
So, I took the old lamp to my brother (the electrician) to see if he could figure out what was wrong. Nothing, he said (after testing it with his hi tech tester stuff). The lamp is putting out exactly what it should.
I get home (this evening) and when I do I see that Mike's lamp was off (it is turned off at night to mimic the naturual cycle of sunlight) I forgot to turn it on (shame on me). He had been home and cold all day long!!! Oh, my. This can't be good! :slinkoff:
So I immedately put the bulb in the old lamp (that I had just picked up from my brother). No sooner did I put the old lamp back, than Mike started eating (I had missed a few crickets from the last time I tried to feed Mike since crickets, when left alive and uneaten tend to bite back so I tried to leave the cage cricket free). Well he found two that I missed.
There was no way it was the heat that was keeping him from eating, since he had been in the cold all day. I have no idea what caused the sudden change.
Well I decided to see if Mike wanted some more. He did. He ate a good 30 more (and later tonight I fed him about 15 more, once I saw that he had er...expelled the earlier meal).
His behavior is contrary to all that I know (which isn't much admittedly) about the way a cold BD should behave.
It may sound strange (it does to me, even though I have always "liked" lizards, it was not my idea to get one for a pet, that was my son's idea). I have grown very fond of Mike.
I just thought I would share.