Jolie, my bearded dragon...a bit of a progression thread (LOTS of photos!)

[Cegninedorf]

Some of you have seen my bearded dragon, Jolie, grow up over the past almost 2 years now...Jolie was 4 weeks old when I got her for my 30th bday in Sept '06 (I picked her out, she wasn't just dumped on me!)...

And here she is as she grew into the beauty that she is...

Along with my absolute favorite photo of her...

Fast forward to this weekend:

Sunning herself (a bit stressed from the planes flying overhead; she seems to think that they're enormous birds which are out to get her! The regular birds flying around don't faze her in the least...)

Taking time to smell the peonies...

Bathtime!

Sitting her 521 g-behind on my lap...

Hanging out on the back of my computer chair...

Thanks! :wavey:

 

[torsten]

very beautiful and sweet!!

 

[strawberry_bunny]

awwww so cute, i do love beardies they have so much character, i must weigh mine. Shes got gorgeous colours

 

[Nanci]

She's so beautiful! I blame you for my purchase of Isabel!

 

[daneale777]

She is adorable, and obviously doted upon!! What a lucky girl!!
Can I ask you a couple questions about dragons? You see, I'm a corn snake girl, so don't know too much about them, except that they're cute. My whole neighborhood always seems to come to me with questions about their animals because they think I must know all about every animal. Ha ha. I do fine with the cat questions etc., but when it comes to my neighbors dragon, I'm usually guessing.
Here's the thing; my neighbor has a dragon who's about six or seven (named Lizzy). I don't know that she's taking very good care of it because she keeps thinking it's not going to make it overnight lately. She'll call me up in the middle of the night saying "What do I do?, The kids will be up in the morning and I don't know what I'll say if she doesn't make it through the night." Duh. She's had her for at least six years. You would think she would have a clue by now.
So two quick questions since you obviously have a happy little girl there. Don't they need UV light (she doesn't have it)? And how long do they generally live?
The other reason I'm asking is because her daughter (of almost 13 and much more responsible than her mother) really wants one of my corns when they pip here soon. The daughter actually begs me to help on feeding days with my corns around here, and does an excellent job!! The problem seems to be the mom. Obviously if she can't take care of her dragon, I don't want one of my babies in the house!
Thanks so much, in advance, for your help. Lizzy, the lizard (as they call her) thanks you too!

 

[Cegninedorf]

very beautiful and sweet!!

awwww so cute, i do love beardies they have so much character, i must weigh mine. Shes got gorgeous colours

She's so beautiful! I blame you for my purchase of Isabel!

Thank you! Nanci, I'm willing to take the blame for you getting Isabel any day... Isabel is just as much of a character & beauty as Jolie! :cheers:

She is adorable, and obviously doted upon!! What a lucky girl!!
Can I ask you a couple questions about dragons? You see, I'm a corn snake girl, so don't know too much about them, except that they're cute. My whole neighborhood always seems to come to me with questions about their animals because they think I must know all about every animal. Ha ha. I do fine with the cat questions etc., but when it comes to my neighbors dragon, I'm usually guessing.
Here's the thing; my neighbor has a dragon who's about six or seven (named Lizzy). I don't know that she's taking very good care of it because she keeps thinking it's not going to make it overnight lately. She'll call me up in the middle of the night saying "What do I do?, The kids will be up in the morning and I don't know what I'll say if she doesn't make it through the night." Duh. She's had her for at least six years. You would think she would have a clue by now.
So two quick questions since you obviously have a happy little girl there. Don't they need UV light (she doesn't have it)? And how long do they generally live?
The other reason I'm asking is because her daughter (of almost 13 and much more responsible than her mother) really wants one of my corns when they pip here soon. The daughter actually begs me to help on feeding days with my corns around here, and does an excellent job!! The problem seems to be the mom. Obviously if she can't take care of her dragon, I don't want one of my babies in the house!
Thanks so much, in advance, for your help. Lizzy, the lizard (as they call her) thanks you too!

Bearded dragons definitely do need UV light! They also need two supplements: Calcium with D3 sprinkled on their food (I usually just sprinkle it on Jolie's roaches.) and Herpitivite (about once a week). The UV helps their bodies be able to process the calcium, otherwise, without the the UV & Calcium, the bearded dragon will suffer from MBD (metabolic bone disease), which means that the dragon's bones will get mushy...along with, I'm sure, a host of other disorders. Bearded dragons need at least 12 hours of UV light a day (or, at least 15 minutes of outdoor direct sunshine), and the UV bulb should be replaced every 6 mos, minimum. (I currently use a ReptiSun 10.0 long bulb.)

In captivity, bearded dragons live about 12 years, if taken care of...

It sounds like Lizzy needs to see a vet *stat* and/or be removed from the mom's house. I agree with you: I wouldn't give one of my snakes to the daughter regardless of her higher level of maturity because it's the mom's house that she lives in...sadly enough.

Poor Lizzy...I hope that they get some proper care for her soon. Maybe buy her a book or...offer to take the bearded dragon off of her hands as a sort of hospice care? :shrugs:

Feel free to ask away, though!

 

[Dave123]

Aww she is looking great! Thanks for the update on Jolie!

 

[Cegninedorf]

Aww she is looking great! Thanks for the update on Jolie!

Thanks! :cheers:

Jolie is soooooooooooooooooo much better than she was this time last year, eating lots more & far more active. I think that she finally "passed" whatever it was that was blocking her internally & giving her such problems last end-of-summer/fall. She seems to have settled into all of our (that includes the snakes, the cats, the leopard geckos & me!) new home quite well, finally. Jolie is a fun one! :wavey:

 

[daneale777]

Thank you! Nanci, I'm willing to take the blame for you getting Isabel any day... Isabel is just as much of a character & beauty as Jolie! :cheers:



Bearded dragons definitely do need UV light! They also need two supplements: Calcium with D3 sprinkled on their food (I usually just sprinkle it on Jolie's roaches.) and Herpitivite (about once a week). The UV helps their bodies be able to process the calcium, otherwise, without the the UV & Calcium, the bearded dragon will suffer from MBD (metabolic bone disease), which means that the dragon's bones will get mushy...along with, I'm sure, a host of other disorders. Bearded dragons need at least 12 hours of UV light a day (or, at least 15 minutes of outdoor direct sunshine), and the UV bulb should be replaced every 6 mos, minimum. (I currently use a ReptiSun 10.0 long bulb.)

In captivity, bearded dragons live about 12 years, if taken care of...

It sounds like Lizzy needs to see a vet *stat* and/or be removed from the mom's house. I agree with you: I wouldn't give one of my snakes to the daughter regardless of her higher level of maturity because it's the mom's house that she lives in...sadly enough.

Poor Lizzy...I hope that they get some proper care for her soon. Maybe buy her a book or...offer to take the bearded dragon off of her hands as a sort of hospice care? :shrugs:

Feel free to ask away, though!

Thank you so much!!!
I do know of Nanci's Isabel. Too cute also. I remember the pics from a while ago that she posted with her snuggling in a blanket. How funny!
I've been pondering over Lizzy and the thought of the daughter having one of my pippies for weeks now......... You've helped a lot.
Sadly enough, I had an eguana when I was a teenager. I loved him to death, but didn't know all the right things to do to take care of him. I listened to the, (at least then) reputable reptile store I bought him from about everything, including, and not limited to peeling grapes for him. My poor little Baton Rouge (his name) actually died after about two years from what I now know was lack of calcium. I was utterly broken hearted, even having a funeral for him! It still makes me sad all these years later.
I will definately mention to this neighbor that I'd be happy to take Lizzy, though I don't think she'll go for it. She doesn't seem to care much about her, but somehow pretends like the kids do. Actually, I feel like she uses this poor dragon to make herself feel better for being such an inadequate parent, which is a sad state of affairs.
Okay, I know about the calcium supplement from my daughter's frogs, but what is Herpitivite? I'll make sure that I give her some calcium supplement and harass her about it. Heck, I'll go feed her when the kids are home alone if I have to (another sorry state).
She has her in a (I think) forty gallon, which seems to be big enough for her, but what do I know? But she's been using a regular light bulb for basking for months that I know of. She actually went walking around the neighborhood asking for any kind of a little lamp because Lizzy had nothing since hers broke. I told her that I was quite certain that she needed UV, but she did nothing about it. I did give her one of my heat lamps, thinking it would be okay "overnight" as she stated, but she still hasn't done anything to correct it. How utterly frustrating!!!:headbang:

Her's a pic of poor, sweet Lizzy. I'm sure I'm the only one who has pics, though..... It's when I gave her a heat lamp and she finally started moving after many hours, just to get to the heat. She also only had a stick on thermometer, so I gave her a new one or two of mine. Oh, one more thing: what do they need for humidity? Is it supposed to be really dry? Sorry for asking so many questions, but I trust people with animals the most who have corns. Ha ha. And thank you again!!

 

[Maize411]

Beautiful shots! I love her :0)

 

[Cegninedorf]

Thank you so much!!!
I do know of Nanci's Isabel. Too cute also. I remember the pics from a while ago that she posted with her snuggling in a blanket. How funny!
I've been pondering over Lizzy and the thought of the daughter having one of my pippies for weeks now......... You've helped a lot.
Sadly enough, I had an eguana when I was a teenager. I loved him to death, but didn't know all the right things to do to take care of him. I listened to the, (at least then) reputable reptile store I bought him from about everything, including, and not limited to peeling grapes for him. My poor little Baton Rouge (his name) actually died after about two years from what I now know was lack of calcium. I was utterly broken hearted, even having a funeral for him! It still makes me sad all these years later.
I will definately mention to this neighbor that I'd be happy to take Lizzy, though I don't think she'll go for it. She doesn't seem to care much about her, but somehow pretends like the kids do. Actually, I feel like she uses this poor dragon to make herself feel better for being such an inadequate parent, which is a sad state of affairs.
Okay, I know about the calcium supplement from my daughter's frogs, but what is Herpitivite? I'll make sure that I give her some calcium supplement and harass her about it. Heck, I'll go feed her when the kids are home alone if I have to (another sorry state).
She has her in a (I think) forty gallon, which seems to be big enough for her, but what do I know? But she's been using a regular light bulb for basking for months that I know of. She actually went walking around the neighborhood asking for any kind of a little lamp because Lizzy had nothing since hers broke. I told her that I was quite certain that she needed UV, but she did nothing about it. I did give her one of my heat lamps, thinking it would be okay "overnight" as she stated, but she still hasn't done anything to correct it. How utterly frustrating!!!:headbang:

Her's a pic of poor, sweet Lizzy. I'm sure I'm the only one who has pics, though..... It's when I gave her a heat lamp and she finally started moving after many hours, just to get to the heat. She also only had a stick on thermometer, so I gave her a new one or two of mine. Oh, one more thing: what do they need for humidity? Is it supposed to be really dry? Sorry for asking so many questions, but I trust people with animals the most who have corns. Ha ha. And thank you again!!

Ok, to start...

Bearded dragon care sheet: http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/
I skimmed through this, and it has everything & more than I could tell you in how to care for a beardie.

Herptivite: http://www.repcal.com/supp.htm It's a multi-vitamin for reptiles...

Tucking a beardie in at night: Nanci got the idea from me... (Which I got from another forum!)

Jolie's life in a nutshell:
*40-gallon tank
*substrate: tiles
*hot side: 105*F, cool side: generally 80*F to room temp
*food & vitamins: dubia blaptica (cockroaches) dusted with calcium/D3 & Herpitivite weekly; greens daily (usually the greens mentioned in the caresheet, like mustard or dandelion greens), fruit once a week (no citrus or grapes!)
*light timer: 12 on/12 off of ReptiSun 10.0 UV light; basking light -- regular household light bulb (temp guage to monitor temp)
*no water bowl -- she gets some of her water from the greens & once or twice a week, I soak her in a "bath" & drip water from my finger to her snout
*I also like to take Jolie outside for 15 mins a day (at least) to get her some extra, genuine UV.

Perhaps print out the care sheet & highlight the vitamins and UV parts and tell your neighbor that those two issues may be the reason why Lizzy is floundering and that you've talked to other beardie owners who swear by the necessity of these things...or, tell her that you'll call the ASPCA for animal abuse. I'm sure one of the two ways will work...

If she doesn't want to do the necessary care-taking, convince her that you'll take Lizzy just to "rehabilitate" her & who knows? Maybe she'll simply forget about Lizzy, as she seems to forget about everything else, and all will be well...*fingers crossed*!

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out...

 

[Cegninedorf]

Beautiful shots! I love her :0)

Thank you! Jolie loves all of her fans, too...

 

[patm1313]

If I ever get a non-snake reptile, it will definitely get a beardie. They have such interesting personalities.

 

[Cegninedorf]

If I ever get a non-snake reptile, it will definitely get a beardie. They have such interesting personalities.

Don't they?! My vet's beardie, Brando, just hangs out all day & gets his energy boost at night. Jolie, my beardie, is ready to go as soon as her light comes on...she crawls out from beneath her "blankie" and finds her warm side, if she isn't already at it, and then proceeds to run around like a mad woman lately. Other days, it's as if the world doesn't exist & she'll stay tucked away or she'll hide herself. She hasn't yet decided to jump out of her tank, like Nanci's Isabel, but I'm just waiting for the day that she gets that bright idea...! Jolie does enjoy running around the house, though, and she's come to peace with my cats -- they follow her around, so I always know where she is, though neither attacks the other. She also likes to head outside to the backyard (the postage stamp that it is!) and watch the "big silver birds" come down to try to attack her, at which she'll cower as deeply as she can into the grass...she'll even cower when she hears the engine noise inside the house, on occasion! She also knows how to get down from furniture, because she'll start out on my lap & then scurry on off...today, one of her favorite spots was to go behind the cats' litter boxes (next to each other). She also went down the hallway, into the kitchen, took a tour, and then came promptly back down the hallway and into my computer room, where she started out from... Hilarious lil'mademoiselle, she is...

 

[Rich in KY]

She is a beautiful girl!

Beardies are at the top of my want list

 

[daneale777]

Ok, to start...

Bearded dragon care sheet: http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/
I skimmed through this, and it has everything & more than I could tell you in how to care for a beardie.

Herptivite: http://www.repcal.com/supp.htm It's a multi-vitamin for reptiles...

Tucking a beardie in at night: Nanci got the idea from me... (Which I got from another forum!)

Jolie's life in a nutshell:
*40-gallon tank
*substrate: tiles
*hot side: 105*F, cool side: generally 80*F to room temp
*food & vitamins: dubia blaptica (cockroaches) dusted with calcium/D3 & Herpitivite weekly; greens daily (usually the greens mentioned in the caresheet, like mustard or dandelion greens), fruit once a week (no citrus or grapes!)
*light timer: 12 on/12 off of ReptiSun 10.0 UV light; basking light -- regular household light bulb (temp guage to monitor temp)
*no water bowl -- she gets some of her water from the greens & once or twice a week, I soak her in a "bath" & drip water from my finger to her snout
*I also like to take Jolie outside for 15 mins a day (at least) to get her some extra, genuine UV.

Perhaps print out the care sheet & highlight the vitamins and UV parts and tell your neighbor that those two issues may be the reason why Lizzy is floundering and that you've talked to other beardie owners who swear by the necessity of these things...or, tell her that you'll call the ASPCA for animal abuse. I'm sure one of the two ways will work...

If she doesn't want to do the necessary care-taking, convince her that you'll take Lizzy just to "rehabilitate" her & who knows? Maybe she'll simply forget about Lizzy, as she seems to forget about everything else, and all will be well...*fingers crossed*!

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out...

Excellent advice!! Thank you again. I'm printing up the care sheet right now, and have two different colored highlighters ready! If I don't see her today, and sometime soon, I'll just leave the highlighted paper work in her door. Maybe I'll even address it to the older daughter to make sure it gets read.
I would be just fine with "rehabilitating" Lizzy. I will definately try and coax her into it.
Now my daughter tells me this morning that she wants a gecko! Corn snakes are so much easier, in my opinion. And so are cats! My fish get taken care of, generally, by my boyfriend and daughter.
Boy has it turned out to be sort of a blessing in disguise that I was rear ended and can't even volunteer anymore, so am home most of the time (at least for my daughter and my animales). Well, they are my joy, so that's good.
Thank you for ALL your help today. I'll let you know what happens with the Lizzy saga.

 

[daneale777]

P.S. I forgot that Nanci had gotten that tucking in idea from someone, but remember now. And it was you!! Too funny.

 

[daneale777]

Ha ha. I just read the end of the five page care sheet (thank you for all the details) and I just love how it says at the end in bold, "You are responsible for the life of your pets. If they are sick, get them to a vet. If they are hungry, feed them. Animal abuse is a felony in many states and you should remember that."
Amen to that!!!

 

[strawberry_bunny]

Found out recently (had my beardie at the vets shes got worms) that their diet should be 80-90% veg as an adult (i always thought it was 60 to 70%). Yes UV is needed and should be changed every 6 months to ensure the correct levels of UVB and UVA is maintained. They are great little creatures

 

[Cegninedorf]

She is a beautiful girl!

Beardies are at the top of my want list

Isn't she cute?! She certainly turned out pretty! A total character, but lots of fun through it all...my students absolutely adore her, too.

Ha ha. I just read the end of the five page care sheet (thank you for all the details) and I just love how it says at the end in bold, "You are responsible for the life of your pets. If they are sick, get them to a vet. If they are hungry, feed them. Animal abuse is a felony in many states and you should remember that."
Amen to that!!!

Make sure you highlight that part -- and underline it, for good measure!

I hope that all works out with Lizzy...*fingers crossed*

By the way...leopard geckos are wildly easy to care for & don't have sticky feet, so they can't climb the walls. I've had my two girls for 2 years now, and they've been super-easy to care for...such pretty girls, too!

I mean, look at that face!

The above is Flaca, who used to be emaciated when I adopted her (talk about not taking care of your pets...!), thus the name "skinny" in Spanish...now she's not-so-skinny, so she's been amended to Flaca la Bonita bien Gordita (Skinny, the Pretty Very Fatty... ).

Below is Rosa, who I named as such ("pink" in Spanish) because of her rosy belly...

Soooooooooooooooooo cute! I'm ALL about the easy reptiles!