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ConnieG 87rx7chick ConnieG 87rx7chick ConnieG 87rx7chick ConnieG ConnieG 87rx7chick ConnieG 87rx7chick |
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ConnieG View Profile |
My first frill-couple of questions
The person I got the frill from has some sort of mulch in the tank, as well as several flat river rocks and branches for climbing. He also put in a lot of crickets and just leaves them all in their for days until the frill eats them all. I don’t do this with my beardie, I only give her enough crickets for a feeding and don’t leave any in the tank. Thoughts on this? Should I keep using the much type stuff instead of going to ceramic tile like I have for my bearde, and if so, how do I clean the tank? |
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| 10/11/09 01:34pm |
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87rx7chick View Profile |
Message To: ConnieG In reference to Message Id: 2082775 My first frill-couple of questions
i use coconut husk substrate, its fine enough to not risk impaction, easy enough to sift out poop, and it can hold water for a few days when saturated properly. you need ALOT of climbing branches. and one vertical/diagonal branch leading up to the basking spot. these guys love to be vertical and diagonal. in the wild they cling to trees all day long. heat should be about 85 ambient with cool areas of about 75-80 (only if the frill dragon is not stressed and is eating well) but the whole enclosure should mainly be warm 85. the humidity should never fall under 35%, they have such thin delicate skin, i keep my humidity at 65% with days of less humidity to let the enclosure dry out to reduce mildew and mold and musky smells. once its completely dry i then saturate everything and then let it slowly dry out once again. you souldnt house your frilly on ceramic tile. they are quick moving and jump and they’ll just slip and slide around. bearded dragons are slow and just loaf around. frills love to dash from side to side, jump, climb and jump from branch to branch. my enclosure right now is 4 feet long by 2 feet deep and 3 feet tall. this is an ideal area because its easy to keep warm. anything larger may be harder and harder to keep warm and require more lighting to do so. you also want to include in the enclosure a large water dish, deep enough to come up to their sholders and big enough so they can hop into and splash around in. if he is using the water correctly you’ll see him pooping in it and see it very dirty. thats a good thing!!! please scroll down in this section and read my "sick and suborn frill dragon" post. it has some good information in there. |
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| 10/11/09 01:57pm |
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ConnieG View Profile |
Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2082783 My first frill-couple of questions
I am also going to remove some of the river rocks that are in the tank. They are pretty large, but I think will just get in the way. There is one good climbing apparatus, but I will get a few more. As far as cleaning the substrate, do I just scoop up any fecal material I see, and if so is it necessary to do an entire tank cleaning (as in replace all the substrate) periodically? Just discovered the light fixture the guy gave me doesn’t work (imagine that) It’s a small fixture with a flouescent tube, but I have a feeling it’s not correct either. There is a plastic shield over the tube. I recently replace my beardies repti sun 10 tube light with a mercury vapor, so I’ll use the repti sun on the frill cage for now until I can get a second mercury vapor |
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| 10/11/09 02:50pm |
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87rx7chick View Profile |
Message To: ConnieG In reference to Message Id: 2082801 My first frill-couple of questions
5 months old. oh how cute!!!! 3/4 inch crickets should be OK. 1/2 inch would be best. i usto feed my lil girl 3/4 cuz the smaller crickets were a pain for her to chase and catch. she had no issue eating them. make sure you dust your crickets with that calcium powder too... and make sure you use that flukers cricket food (The powder) for your crickets. and toss in 1/4 of an apple or something to keep them hydrated. feeding starving crickets is no good. gut loading is easy and has alot of benifits.. what i do is i buy zoo med bearded dragon food pellets. and put them into a dish and add water to saturate the pellets. that way the crickets get gut loaded AND hydrated !!!!! be sure to ask as many questions as your heart desires... we’re here to help!!! last lil pointer.... a frill dragon should have a body temp of 95 or so... if your frill isnt basking. if he’s dark in coloration and is on the ground or is on a branch or somthing with its head really low. thats signs of stress and somethings wrong. make sure the lil guy stays warm if you see this |
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| 10/11/09 11:08pm |
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ConnieG View Profile |
Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2082961 My first frill-couple of questions
The frilled is a bit dark in color, but is very active and darts around all over the place. He does get on the upper part of the branch to bask. I have a basking light in addition to the Repti sun 10 (both are on top of the screen cover). My son put in a water dish and the dragon was splashing around all over the place. I have not tried to feed it yet (just brought it home yesterday) but left some very chopped up collards and turnip greens in a dish with it this morning. I will try a few small crickets when I get home. I have an empty plastic tote that I will try to use for feeding the crickets so I don’t have to catch any in the dragon’s enclosure. I know he or she may not eat well due to relocation stress. As far as keeping the humdity up, what is the best way to achieve this? Is using a spray bottle to spray the substrate enough, or should I do something else? And are silk plants and vines ok to use for climbing? I’d like to add a bit of color to the enclosure. |
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| 10/12/09 01:34pm |
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87rx7chick View Profile |
Message To: ConnieG In reference to Message Id: 2083080 My first frill-couple of questions
sometimes if i take my frill out and it freaks out. and i place it into the 20 gallon to eat. they wont eat cuz i just stressed them out. other times they turn into little piggies. do you mind holding crickets? if not you should try hand feeding . just wiggle something infront of him and see if he goes for it. if not then at least you tried. humidity is a toughy sometimes. what is your avarage home humidity? mine is 45% today. cork sheets from hobby stores works great. you can buy the thin roll for 12$ and get alot of it but its thin. or you can buy the 12x12 squares and spend more money. if your going to use cork to line the glass remember super worms will bore into cork bark and turn into beetles. you’ll see cork shavings and holes all over the place! noooooo!!!!!! another trick is to cover up all but 1/3 of the top of the enclosure. using foil works good to keep humidity in ontop of screen. or plexi glass. but remember plexi wont allow uvb threw. but you can place a fluro ontop for added lighting.. see where i am going with this :) your frill seems to be doing fine. activity is a good sign that your frill isnt horribly stressed and shutting down. thats not a good thing!!!! :) |
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| 10/12/09 04:55pm |
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ConnieG View Profile |
Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2083150 My first frill-couple of questions
I tried to offer him a cricket, but no go, so I tried a superworm and no go on that either. I think I’ll leave a couple of crickets in there until I go to bed and see if he eats any. OH, one more thing - sorry for all the questions - do I need to change out the substrate periodically or just scoop up the poop when I see it? I hate to admit, I don’t know what Frill poop looks like! |
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| 10/12/09 07:23pm |
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ConnieG View Profile |
Message To: ConnieG In reference to Message Id: 2083203 My first frill-couple of questions
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| 10/12/09 07:37pm |
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87rx7chick View Profile |
Message To: ConnieG In reference to Message Id: 2083208 My first frill-couple of questions
substrate should be changed out often. if you use coconut husk i found that i only have to change it 1-3 months. i know i know this sounds wierd but, my frills poop in their water, and when they dont, they poop in easy to scoop areas. i never have issue with bad smell or mold because i let stuff dry out. but when you start smelling the hint of poopies. its time to change that!!! coconut husk or eco earth. the brick that you soak. very fine coconut husk. thats my fav :) questions are a good thing. keep em coming! |
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| 10/13/09 12:46am |
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ConnieG View Profile |
Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2083328 My first frill-couple of questions
I need to get some subsrate, I am pretty sure the guy I got him from told me it was coconut mulch. I actually want to switch tanks with my beardie. The beardie’s tank is long, narrow and a bit taller than the tank that came with my frilled. But I will wait a couple of weeks before I do the switch. |
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| 10/13/09 01:35pm |
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87rx7chick View Profile |
Message To: ConnieG In reference to Message Id: 2083433 My first frill-couple of questions
oh and i thought i’d let you know since your close. i am re-homing one of my male frills, theres been a lil bit of stress between the 2 males so i think its best to give one of them a new home. ;P re homing is 100$ only cuz i bought him for 170$ from alamo aquatic 4 months ago and she turned to a he about 3 months ago =X well glad to hear your close to me!! btw are you on south texas reptile forum?... they arnt really helpfull there @_@..... they are kind of absent when it comes to problems and acclimation. i am glad you posted here for help!!! lots of knowledge on this forum |
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| 10/13/09 04:00pm |
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