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Member	Message
#2263210 CWDfwed View Profile	New owner, some concerns Hi Guys, First time posting, but I’ve been doing some reading around the site. Lots of great information here. I’m relatively new with CWDs but have had various reptiles/snakes/amphibians in the past. I’m having some trouble getting the pictures I’ve taken to compress in order to be uploaded at this point, I’ll try to get them added later. My CWD, Fwed (pronounced like a little kid would say Fred) seems to be doing really well, he’s (seems to be he, but we’ll see) about 5 inches long right now, snout to vent, and has been with me since last Friday. He’s pretty sluggish, but moves very quickly when he decides too. We had some issues learning that the glass walls are impassible, but he seems to be getting more and more comfortable. I’m worried because I’m looking at the pictures online and of the beautiful CWDs you guys are posting here, and Fwed is much, much darker. He’s got some vibrant green on his limbs and undersides but is full on brown across his entire back from nose to tail. Is this a characteristic of young CWDs or could my little guy be sick? He’s eating like a champ (5 mealworms sunday, 6 yesterday, and went through all 12 I left for him today) I’ve been dusting the mealworms (he doesn’t seem much interested in crickets) in ReptoCal (at the recommendation of the Petco employee I’ve made friends with). The ReptoCal includes Calcium and D3. I don’t think his coloration is illness related, but I could be wrong. He definitely seems to be more active at night once I turn his day bulb off (not UVB bulb, I am still working on one for him) So...experts, any pointers or advice...or am I overly concerned? I’ll try to get some pics up soon. Thanks in advance!
04/17/12  10:24pm
#2263227 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263210  New owner, some concerns Hey there! Welcome to the forum. I’m Rexx :) So to answer your first question, lil baby dragons have earthy tones (in the wild they would blend in better and not become a tasty snack!) So this is normal :) He could be sluggish because he is not used to his surroundings yet and they do need a little time to adjust. Now, the calcium you are using, i would toss it. Its no good. Here’s why: D3 is toxic in high doses with these guys. They get their natural D3 from UVB bulbs or sunlight. Even though dusting the bugs seems like a small amount it could kill him. I reccomend using Calypso brand calcium, which i now swear by. You can also use regular human calcium tablets that you can pick up at any walgreens or cvs, pharmacy place. Just make sure its pure calcium. Crush it up into a fine powder and you’ll be set :) Be sure to get that UV bulb when you can, lil dragons need it at this age especially! They grow like weeds! The glass dancing is extremly common with water dragons, especially young ones. This can be a problem, and they WILL rub their snout and cause damage. BUT! There are some neat tricks to stop it. -you can cover all sides of the cage with black construction paper, white paper, cardboard, towels, fishtank backgrounds, whatever. He will realize that this is not something he can see through and he will stop! -Cover up about 3-4 inches of the glass. Just enough to where he will have to climb on something or stand all the way up to see out. I would cover the back and both of the sides completley though, and just cover the front up to about 3-4 inches. He will feel less exposed and will adjust much more quickly this way. Your dragon sounds perfectly healthy to me :) I will bump up the post called "How to tame your dragon" for you. Got a great breakdown that i have written out so you can start to bond with your new kid :) Good luck! If you ever have questions or issues, just shout. Im always around ;) Rexx
04/17/12  11:59pm
#2263233 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263227  New owner, some concerns Thanks Rexx, I appreciate the quick response. Sounds like its time to pick up some new calcium powder and a UVB light. I hoping to get him well adjusted before we move at the end of next month! The good news is that once we’re out of the apartment and into the house I’ll have more space to build an enclosure for him as I’m sure he’ll quickly outgrow the 20 gallon long-tank I currently have him in. Have you noticed some dragons being more nocturnal than others or do you think he’s being sneaky? I could definitely understand him being uneasy about all of the changes and moving around more at night.
04/18/12  12:12am
#2263234 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263233  New owner, some concerns Hey no problem! Yeah, some can be kinda sneaky. They are diurnal lizards, meaning they are active during the day, but some lizards will feel safer at night. You can try putting his lights on a fixed schedule. Rexx knows that 7:30am is when his lights come on and he is usually awake by the time they come on, and he puts himself to bed at 8pm at night when the lights go off at 8:30pm. They are smart and will know when schedules start once hey are used to them. Though, lilttle dragons can be like toddlers. When mine was young, i would turn the lights off and hed bounce all around his tank like a kid who didnt wanna go to bed! But they will adjust in time :) Rexx
04/18/12  12:23am
#2263273 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263234  New owner, some concerns Trying to upload a picture of him...let’s see if it works ">
04/18/12  12:58pm
#2263274 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263273  New owner, some concerns any pointers here or why this image is showing up like that?
04/18/12  12:59pm
#2263279 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263274  New owner, some concerns Ahh the photo server may be down. You can create a free photo bucket acoount, upload the pics to taut and then post the image code here and it will show up :) Rexx
04/18/12  01:32pm
#2263287 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263279  New owner, some concerns
04/18/12  02:25pm
#2263288 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263287  New owner, some concerns Here’s (^^) my little man. He came from Petco, so it was a bit of a rescue as much as an adoption. Seems to be in decent physical shape, but is stressed because of the change. He’s almost only eating from his dish when there are no people in the room (I’ve had him take one worm from a tongs) Trying my best to limit handling, but he’s becoming more and more accostomed to me. I’m gone all day so my roommate mists at least once a day. Cage temp is 80-83 during the day on the warm side (with a raised basking spot that provides a warmer spot). I have a cool side set up too.
04/18/12  02:28pm
#2263290 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263288  New owner, some concerns Hes adorable! Great work, he looks very healthy and happy. Sounds like youre doing an awesome job, hes gonna be a beautiful boy when he gets there. He seems to be showing some pretty strong male charachteristics but we will see ;) Nice work, good luck! Rexx
04/18/12  02:36pm
#2263297 Cazicsmom View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263290  New owner, some concerns Since you are misting...what level is your humidity, and how are you measuring it? When I first got Terris, I used the round sticky dial the pet stores sell you. It showed from 60-80%, but she was brown, sluggish, and didn’t care to eat. After 4 days, she had very labored breathing. I went to walmart and got a humidity/temperature digital guage, and found that her humidity was actually about 30%, so I had to run a humidifier. A very gorgeous baby =)
04/18/12  03:43pm
#2263299 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263290  New owner, some concerns Here’s a couple more. You can really see how dark he is, but he’s greened up quite a bit since he came home. He’s very calm and not aggressive when he’s close to his home, and even sits nicely on the table next to me while I prepare his breakfast. When I bring him other places, even across the apartment, he gets nervous. He got away from me once and ran under a baseboard heater, even bit me when I picked him up. He’s stopped testing the glass for now, and I’m thinking about letting him take a bath tonight to let him swim a bit. He does go in his water dish every now and then, but sometimes will stay there until he’s very cold and I move him back under the light. (the water isn’t very cold but does drop his body temp quickly)
04/18/12  03:53pm
#2263303 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263299  New owner, some concerns He’s such a sweetie, how cute! Cazics mom is right, humidity is important. He was quite dark he looks better now. He was awful skinny when you got him, good thing you got him! He’ll fattened up nicley :) they will get nervous when moving around too far too quickly. The world is very big when your that small. Take it slow, he’ll be fine :) if you give him a bath make sure the water is lukewarm, hot water will kill quickly. It should be slightly cool to the touch. Let him sit and swim and he will be happy :) fill it up just enough to where it can cover his whole body but he can still touch the bottom. Good luck! Rexx
04/18/12  04:12pm
#2263308 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263303  New owner, some concerns Sounds good. I just ordered a light timer, a third dome, and a UVB bulb. I currently have a day and night bulb running. I’ll now have a day bulb, a uvb bulb, and a night heating bulb. I’m finding the humidity is very hard to keep constant lately. I mist a few times a day so it spikes around 80%, which over the course of a few hours will drop below 25% as the light burns it off. I’ve started to keep some moss in the corner soaked in water to slowly evaporate over the course of the day and it seems to help keep things more regular. I only have the petco sticky hygrometer (sp) at this point, but will be upgrading once I build him a larger home next month. I’ll end up getting a humidifier, but at this point it would be like using a fire-hose to do dishes in a cage that’s only 30’’x12’’x12".
04/18/12  04:22pm
#2263315 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263308  New owner, some concerns Good plan, you can place the water dish under the heat light part way and that way it will warm the water and help with humidity. That ought to help some. Haha I know what you mean about the humidifier. When you build the larger cage, you can disguise the humidifier all sorts of ways. I have some tips on that if you want when you’re ready :) Rexx
04/18/12  04:34pm
#2263356 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263315  New owner, some concerns One other thing I’m starting to wonder about: I had one other CWD that I just couldn’t leave at Petco any longer. She made it for 10 days and was doing sooo much better before a power outage during the day burnt out her bulb, and she passed before I made it home. I had my roommate switch her night-light on but no luck, the poor girl just couldn’t hold on. She was eating ok, probably 4-5 crickets a day, maybe a couple worms, but nothing like Fwed. I had been putting 5-7 x 1inch long mealworms in his dish every morning (dusted in calcium) and a few more at night. Every time I come back in the room that dish sits empty. There’s no way they can get out of the dish so I’m left to assume that my first CWD was a dainty eater or he’s a total toad. I tried crickets, then crickets with their legs pulled, then crickets from tongs, but no luck, Fwed likes his worms, a lot. In the last few days, Fwed has been going through a dozen+ worms a day, granted they’re only an inch long on average. I’m thinking that I should start to do a scheduled feeding every morning and evening, but my schedule makes it difficult. I’d like to be able to leave food for him, if that’s ok. Is there a risk of him over-eating? He’s pooping plenty (I just got done cleaning his cage) and seems to be adjusting ok. He’s putting on a nice little belly as well. I know that meal worms are rather fatty, but I’d rather have him put some size on before our move next month than go into it weak. I’m going to start mixing in some veggies as well, but any advice is great. You guys have been so great already, so forgive me if I’m asking the same questions you get all the time.
04/18/12  08:43pm
#2263361 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263356  New owner, some concerns Oh man, im so sorry to hear about your little girl, thats so sad.. petco makes me more angry every day. RIP little one :( As for Fwed, they eat alot when they are little! Some of em just dont like to chase to crix or wont even touch em till they are older. They can be rather picky. Its perfectly okay to leave food in as long as they arent able to get out at all. A schedule is a great idea. It will get him to trust that he can see you at the same time every day and that is important in bonding with him. Veggies and fruits are awesome, there is an article on here that has a list of good fruits and veggies in the "Articles" section and it will be under the "reptiles health articles" area. Dont worry too much about over feeding him at this age. Once his tail starts thickening then he’ll be good :) Unless he starts to become extremely obese then you can worry, but for now he will be ok. Mealworms are not actually very fatty they have pretty good nutritional value, they are just high in chitin and too many can be hard to digest, but just keep offering diffeent types of food and he will come around :) Now, your other dragon that passed, were they housed together? if so, you may want to do a REALLY good cleaning just in case. Its always better to be safe than sorry :P Good luck! Hope this helps Rexx
04/18/12  09:22pm
#2263364 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263361  New owner, some concerns Thanks for the pointers. Petco can get aggravating but I’ve befriended one of the guys who works there, he’s actually very helpful. As I type this Fwed is sitting on my keyboard, I’m amazed how much he responds to petting and talking to him. I did clean the cage and got rid of some elements too. I had boiled and baked a small log that I found, but decided that I still didn’t trust it. I’m hoping for better luck with Fwed the Toad.
04/18/12  09:29pm
#2263385 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263364  New owner, some concerns For logs you find outside you can bake in the oven at 250 for about ten minutes and they’ll be fine, I do that with smaller things for my cage. They respond so well to voice its amazing. They know who their people are and they recognize voices and certain words. They are a lot smarter than people give them credit for :) I wish you better luck with little fwed, keep us updated on the little guy :) Rexx
04/18/12  11:43pm
#2263467 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263385  New owner, some concerns Yeah, the log is probably fine, I’d rather be on the careful side. I love being able to handle him and let him get to know his surroundings etc, but I know I should be leaving him well alone for at least for a week or two.
04/19/12  06:05pm
#2263475 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263467  New owner, some concerns Very true, safe is always better than sorry! You may try just leaving him be for just a week and let him settle and that should be plenty enough. :) Rexx
04/19/12  07:05pm
#2263969 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263475  New owner, some concerns So, I thought I’d post some updates as I’ve made some changes for Fwed. I’ve started mixing in some fruit and veggies with his worms (which he’s still going through, albeit less rapidly) I went to pick up a different calcium supplement the other day but was unable to find anything without D3, so instead I bought some Reptaid. I started trying to feed him with the included syringe, but it took a lot of coaxing, and even some very gentle prying at his jaw to get him to take any. Well, 3 days later, and he’s getting much better, I can even feed him without holding or prying at all. This also has the advantage of getting him more acquainted with me. The other new product I picked up was from Amazon.com. I wanted to pick up a UVB bulb for him, and didn’t realize until after I ordered that there were desert bulbs as well as tropical bulbs. I ended up with the Repti-Glo 10.0 UVB bulb from Exo-terra. I’m hoping that this won’t be too powerful for him, but I’ve set up some additional cover for him on the far-side of the tank in case it’s strong. I’m thinking I may be alright because I have the bulb about 1/2 inch over the heavy screen top to his cage (Exo terra mentioned that this can cut the UVB rays by 50%). I can immediately tell the difference with this bulb, as he’s been under it for 30 minutes, and seems energized. As always, any pointers would be great.
04/23/12  09:02pm
#2263971 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263475  New owner, some concerns Some updated pictures Still brown, but getting more and more green. Any concerns with the spotting on his belly?
04/23/12  09:16pm
#2263974 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2263971  New owner, some concerns Wow Fwed is looking great! It sounds like youre doing a wonderful job. The 10.0 should be just fine, dont worry about it being too strong, it will be beneficial for him. The spotting doesnt seem to be anything of concern, i think hes looking great, very healthy for a dragon of that age. :) Nice work, keep it up Rexx
04/23/12  09:21pm
#2264070 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2263974  New owner, some concerns I’ve heard some issues with lighting and wanted to make sure I’m doing ok there too. UVB and Basking Light on, Night light off All three on: I’ve heard that the compact flourescent bulbs are no good because they’re soo bright, but sitting above the screen like this really dims them out. Opinions?
04/24/12  02:23pm
#2264072 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2264070  New owner, some concerns Get rid of the compact as soon as possible. You are correct in hearing that they are bad. You need to buy one of the long flourescnt tube. They emit very harmful rays that cause serious eye issues and will kill the dragon :( You can buy one of the 18’’ flourescent light fixtures at home depot or lowes for around 5 bucks. Use either 5.0, 7.0, or 10.0 flourescent UV lights. You could invest in a mega ray bulb but they are very costly and get really hot. There is some controversy over them as well, i have just stuck with the long tube kinds. Much safer and reliable. :) Rexx
04/24/12  02:31pm
#2264085 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2264072  New owner, some concerns How much do the bulbs run for that? This is temporary until I can move him to his more permanent home in a few weeks...I’d like to be able to use it until then. I can try to suspend it a foot above the cage...what do you think?
04/24/12  04:14pm
#2264087 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2264085  New owner, some concerns The bulbs are around 30 dollars. That’s for the fluorescent tubes. I would just use the heat bulbs until you can put him in the permanent home that way the bulb does not cause further complications. Suspending it further up will not really do much. I know it sucks, trust me haha. You can take him outside for fifteen minutes every day until then to get some real sunlight and that will be sufficient enough. Rexx
04/24/12  04:24pm
#2264091 CWDfwed View Profile	Message To: Rexxaroo   In reference to Message Id: 2264087  New owner, some concerns It seems the trial and error here is getting expensive. You had mentioned to stay away from calcium + D3 because the UVB bulb does what the d3 tries to do, is it worth going back on the ca+d3 in the meantime?
04/24/12  04:52pm
#2264094 Rexxaroo View Profile	Message To: CWDfwed   In reference to Message Id: 2264091  New owner, some concerns No i would not go back to the other calcium. Keep them on what you have and just ditch the bulb. These guys definitley get expensive quick!! But they are very worth it in the end i promise :) Better trial and error than just providing the wrong thing, yes? Haha! Rexx
04/24/12  04:57pm

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