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 #1708672


Whiskeygirl
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 Help I’m worried about my new MHD

We got a MHD for my son for his birthday i have cared for other types of lizards over the yrs and figure this one would be better for them as a starter lizard. we have had him/her for almost 2 weeks and it has been fairly active and seems to like sitting on my head up until early this week when it started trying to bite me. After our little who’s bigger match it would always just crawl right up my arm and sit on my shoulder.

Yesterday it didn’t move much and wouldn’t come anywhere near me so i left him/her alone. but tonight I noticed that its color was fading and it hadn’t moved at all since this morning. and is very cold to the touch. i picked it up with no issues today and it just layed there in my hand. I’m very worried about it there’s no vets here that know anything about lizards seeing as the info the vet gave me went against over half the stuff i have read on here as well as other research i have done.

I placed it in the bowl portion of the waterfall and after a couple of hours its color started coming back and i have been able to get 3 drops of pedialite into it as well. How do I know whats going on I’m really worried about him/her. Any advice would be appreciated.
Here are a few picture of him/her.



04/19/08  12:49am

 #1708957


Dizzyliciouss
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   Message To: Whiskeygirl   In reference to Message Id: 1708672


 Help I’m worried about my new MHD

hey bebe...hehe fancy meeting you here lmao
hope some people out there can give you some good info



04/19/08  11:36am

 #1708990


Whiskeygirl
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   Message To: Dizzyliciouss   In reference to Message Id: 1708957


 Help I’m worried about my new MHD

Hey Bebe, thanks. I’ve got alot more info from here then from the vet how sad is that. Gojiras doing better this morning I was up until 6 am checking on her every 20 min or so. Gonna head my trusty feed store and get some night crawlers for her. I’m starting to really think Gogira’s a she after going through all the other posts lol.

Thanks for sending me the link here having a blast and nice to know i’m not the only one who gets really freaked when a pet is sick lol
04/19/08  12:21pm

 #1709304


Dericka
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   Message To: Whiskeygirl   In reference to Message Id: 1708990


 Help I’m worried about my new MHD

Well from the pics it definatley looks female to me. You did the right thing by putting her in water, it sounds like maybe she was a little dehydrated?
Some more info that may be helpful would be temps and humidity, substrate, and how much she is eating. Such a behavior change definatley indicates somethings going on with her. She looks healthy in the pics, plump and good color...if she was cold to the touch in the morning, that isn’t abnormal, it’s usually cooler at night, then they warm back up during the day when the lights are on and the temp goes up...How warm/cool does her cage get? if she eats nightcrawlers that is a great sign, and I’d say just give her a few days to relax in her cage before holding her much...

deri



04/19/08  06:23pm

 #1709460


Whiskeygirl
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   Message To: Dericka   In reference to Message Id: 1709304


 Help I’m worried about my new MHD

the tank temp is at 75-78 during the day and by morning is cooled to 70 - 72. humidity is around 60 in the morning but is between 75 and 85 % during the day she loves being misted which i do 4 or 5 times a day and will scramble across the tank when she sees the water bottle come out lol. i have a coconut bark substrate a large waterfall as well as a large pool for her to bath in. I also have a basking light that i put on for 6 - 8 hrs/day every second day she sits under it I have a vine along the tank and she hides behind it but seems to like the light. She eats 3 - 4 crickets a day and a superworm every second day . I gave her a silk worm today and she went nuts lol fist time i ever actually saw her eat something i dangled it in front of her nose and that was enough for her it was gone.

she has her one little pooping corner in the tank and poops there daily and they are firm and white no blood spots or black spots in them. I ordered night crawlers form my local pet store who has been a great source of information not like a major chain its a home grown business and they have always given good information on the rest of my pets however they have never carried mhd or had anyone there that has had them in their home so I’m the guinea pig for them yet again lol

I also noticed today as she had her belly pressed against the glass that it is getting much larger and its getting quite firm as well not sure if its due to the large silk worm she devoured or if i could be expecting babies. I’m not really sure what to look for when it comes to that. I do know she was in a case with 6 others and two of them had damage to their horns so i’m assuming they were males.

I’m glad to see her going back to her cheeky self again but i still think there may be something going on. here’s a couple of pics of her belly i took today their not great pics but i didn’t want to stress her out by trying to pick her up so its belly against the glass.



04/19/08  08:45pm

 #1709839


Serenity
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   Message To: Whiskeygirl   In reference to Message Id: 1709460


 Help I’m worried about my new MHD

Well, i’m no expert on this kind of thing... but he appears to be a she, and she appears to be gravid. do you have a place where she can dig a nest and lay eggs?
04/20/08  07:22am

 #1710061


Dericka
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   Message To: Serenity   In reference to Message Id: 1709839


 Help I’m worried about my new MHD

Well you sure are doing great with her:) Everything sounds perfect in regards to her environment. So, she does look gravid to me as well. I kind of had that thought when I saw the first pictures, she’s definatley plump, but I couldn’t remember how long into the year they lay eggs, I think they lay two to three clutches every two to three months, starting in late October, so that would make this time for her last clutch. There’s a good chance they will be fertile if she was in with males, so like serinity said, it’s important she have a place to dig and lay. I use coconut bark in my MHD cages, and add a few extra inches of it when it’s egg laying time. It is normal for some of them to stop eating for a few days before they lay egs, where some of them will still eat up until it’s time...I assume she’ wild caught, and has had quite a bit of stress in the last few weeks being moved from place to place, so I’d avoid holding her until after she lays, assuming she really is gravid, which I think is a good assumption, and don’t be alarmed at how much skinnier and smaller she looks after she lays eggs. I start offering mine food the day after they lay eggs, make sure she gets lots of calcium, nightcrawlers are great for that and will fatten her back up in no time! It would be a very good idea to get her de-wormed after she lays eggs, if the pet store didn’t do it, which most do not.
I hope that helps. I got all my info about what to do with the eggs from here and Marcia’s froggieb site, but if you have any more questions or concerns, ask away!

deri
04/20/08  01:11pm

 #1710107


Whiskeygirl
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   Message To: Dericka   In reference to Message Id: 1710061


 Help I’m worried about my new MHD

I’m glad to know I’m doing it right and not the only one who thinks shes gravid :) ... I’m really exited never thought i would have bought a gravid female, my husband is freaking out hes not into creepy crawlies as he calls them but m and my boys love them it took 6 months to convince him to get this one and he said it would be the only one ... funny hes not laughing now but everyone that knows us are.

I’ll add more coconut bark to the tank today and I should have the night crawlers next week i ordered 150 of them and decided to start a worm farm easier than ordering them in all the time. I put 4 crickets in there last night and they were all gone by morning and fixed the top of the tank so they wouldn’t end up all over my house so I’m sure she ate them. And she digested the silk worm very well. Shes not moving around much but is definitely getting plump every day i see a difference. the pics on my first post are over 2 weeks old so i will try to take a few more in the next couple of days.

Thanks again for your comments its good to know I’m on the right track ... now to research having babies:)



04/20/08  02:12pm


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