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 Member  Message

 #2013505


Mxracer
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 A little update

Well my baby ackie made it through the little accident. I named him lucky because he almost got his head crushed and is still alive. His head shakes a little every now and then. Hes probably got a bit of brain damage. Hes a stronge feeder and has grown quite a bit. Well heres some pics.







And heres a new guy I got. He was hatched out by my step brother.





-Terry
05/30/09  10:28am

 #2013517


Monitormayham
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   Message To: Mxracer   In reference to Message Id: 2013505


 A little update

wow your akie is gettin pretty "big"
05/30/09  10:58am

 #2013528


BrandonR
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   Message To: Mxracer   In reference to Message Id: 2013505


 A little update

Do the beardie a favor and take him off dirt.
05/30/09  11:44am

 #2013539


Mxracer
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   Message To: BrandonR   In reference to Message Id: 2013528


 A little update

And what would you think is better, newspaper, paper towel ? How would that be doing him a favor, With dirt he can borruw to help him thermoregulate also helps with humidity. Ill keep taking care of my beardie like a monitor. Does any one else think I should take the beardie of the dirt?

-Terry
05/30/09  11:55am

 #2013540


Reptileboy19
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   Message To: BrandonR   In reference to Message Id: 2013528


 A little update

Whats wrong with keeping a beardie on dirt?

And terry, is that the same ackie that got his head caught in the lattice?
Matt
05/30/09  12:01pm

 #2013542


Mxracer
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   Message To: Reptileboy19   In reference to Message Id: 2013540


 A little update

Yes it is, thats why I named him lucky.
05/30/09  12:09pm

 #2013547


Morgs71
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   Message To: Mxracer   In reference to Message Id: 2013542


 A little update

beardies under 6" should be kept on solids, eg paper towel, newspaper or tile. beardies over that size can be kept on loose substrate. dirt is not a recomended substrate. playsand is tho and as most monitor keepers no, it is cheap and easily availiable.

just a bit of info, take on board if u want, ignore if u want too.
05/30/09  12:26pm

 #2013551


Mxracer
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   Message To: Morgs71   In reference to Message Id: 2013547


 A little update

I use to keep beardies a while ago, but i sold them to my step brother that hatched out these ones. Im going to do a mixture of play sand and dirt. Play sand by its self gets hardend and dry and dusty but when mixed with dirt holds nice borrours helps with humidity and looks nice to. The beardie is about 7 inchs or so.
05/30/09  12:33pm

 #2013555


BrandonR
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   Message To: Mxracer   In reference to Message Id: 2013551


 A little update

As a few people stated beardies under 6-8 inches should be kept on a solid substrate, also beardies do not need that high of humidity, im just suggesting it because i hate to hear people complaining about impaction because they put it on a loose substrate.

-Brandon
05/30/09  12:40pm

 #2013577


Mxracer
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   Message To: BrandonR   In reference to Message Id: 2013555


 A little update

Well ill keep that im mind but I have never had a problem with impaction. I’ve read numerus times that with proper temps and humidity that impaction is not an issue.
05/30/09  02:16pm

 #2013580


BansheeRacer25
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   Message To: Mxracer   In reference to Message Id: 2013577


 A little update

I could feed my beardies dirt and they would not get impacted. If you have high enough basking and ambient temps you dont need to worry about it. Dont listen to them Terry. I raised alot of beardies on dirt. Ask justin what he keeps his beardies on. I guess leos will die being on dirt too?



05/30/09  02:26pm

 #2013582


Mxracer
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   Message To: BansheeRacer25   In reference to Message Id: 2013580


 A little update

Lol well I already know you guys keep them on it so I thought i would do it to and i hd a spare bag of dirt any ways. Ill check the temps right now and tell u guys what they are.
Basking: 121F
warm side:88F
cool side:71F
Im gonna goof around with the cage and try to get a bit better of temps
05/30/09  02:33pm

 #2013593


RepticZ
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   Message To: BansheeRacer25   In reference to Message Id: 2013580


 A little update

I dunno if they will die, but leos are not naturally found on dirt, or sand. they are from the rocky deserts of Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. actual rocks, so when people have them on tile, its not a bad substrate
05/30/09  02:53pm

 #2013606


Sulfurboy1o3
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   Message To: RepticZ   In reference to Message Id: 2013593


 A little update

Paper towel or news paper is only really recommended for animals that are freshly born to really monitor feeding and such.(I use this method) Some baby beardeds are much different then others as to how well they eat right from the get go.

I’d recommend you keep him on the soil Terry, esp if he’s eating and going to bathroom well.



05/30/09  03:08pm

 #2013620


Norf
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   Message To: Sulfurboy1o3   In reference to Message Id: 2013606


 A little update

Very nice Terry.
Good to see you finally updated.
Best of luck with Lucky.

And just so you know, reptiles don’t thermoregulate.
05/30/09  03:34pm

 #2013639


Mxracer
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   Message To: Norf   In reference to Message Id: 2013620


 A little update

Hmm that could make an interesting topic as to weather or not reptiles can or can’t thermoregulate. Hes eating lots and is pooping regularly and his poop is not dry or liquidy so hes got healthy stools. Lucky though can sure put him away when it comes to eating. Lucky eats a ton for such a small guy, I think hes got a hollow leg.

-Terry
05/30/09  04:18pm

 #2013649


Wearentfree420
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   Message To: Mxracer   In reference to Message Id: 2013639


 A little update

Just curious but, How long have you kept a beardie alive on loose substrate?

Alot of people keep them on loose substrate for a while but they don’t get impacted till later after it has built up.
Impaction is greater with this specific specie of reptile because beardies stomachs can’t handle it, they have thinner lining and what not.
And you shouldn’t have humidity with beardies because they can get Yellow Fungus Disease. They need dry air like where they are from.

As in keeping them like monitors i’m assuming the 1 thing you are doing different is providing the proper UVB right?
05/30/09  04:39pm

 #2013654


Mxracer
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   Message To: Wearentfree420   In reference to Message Id: 2013649


 A little update

Well my temps for him are just like monitors, so is his subtrate, His humidity its as high but why should he have such low humidity. Like there from AUS just like ackies. Most people say they don’t ned uvb but i do have a 6% uvb tube light for him that cover the whole cage. Well my first beardie and second and third and now fourth have all been kept on sand mixed with dirt and or cocoa fibre. My first beardie i got around 5 years ago now my brother has him and he has my third beardie. And there still doing good on the same subtrate.
05/30/09  04:57pm

 #2013666


Monitormayham
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   Message To: Mxracer   In reference to Message Id: 2013654


 A little update

you really should take him off dirt i walk around the desert where they live and find them dead of impaction all the time.jk really i beirdies in the wild under 6 inches live in dirt just beckuse he gives his beardie some thing to do i have had beardies on dirt the whole time ive cept them and never had a deth



05/30/09  05:19pm

 #2013681


RepticZ
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   Message To: Mxracer   In reference to Message Id: 2013654


 A little update

Quote:

Well my temps for him are just like monitors, so is his substrate, His humidity its as high but why should he have such low humidity. Like there from AUS just like ackies


I dunno, mostly all the time different herps require different care. your not going to care for your monitor like a leo, or your leo like a monitor. Thats why you dont treat your monitor and bearded dragon alike.

Also i Think ackies are from the northen area of AUS. Inland bearded dragons, or central bearded dragons are from the center of AUS. It says they are native to semi-arid woodland, arid woodland, and rocky desert. semi-arid which is low annual rainfall. whats why your humidity level should be lower, at around 40%
05/30/09  05:38pm

 #2013685


Norf
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   Message To: RepticZ   In reference to Message Id: 2013681


 A little update

Quote:

Hmm that could make an interesting topic as to weather or not reptiles can or can’t thermoregulate.


With the exception of some pythons, thermoreguation is an endothermic trait.
Endotherms being birds and mammals.
05/30/09  05:45pm

 #2013728


Sdslancs
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   Message To: Norf   In reference to Message Id: 2013685


 A little update

Quote:

With the exception of some pythons, thermoreguation is an endothermic trait.



Reptiles thermoregulate behaviorally, by basking in the sun (or under a heat lamp), laying on heated surfaces or warm water, or elevating themselves to higher places, since heat rises. They cool down by retreating to shade, burrows, cool water, whatever’s available in their environment and comes naturally to them.




05/30/09  07:34pm

 #2013729


Mxracer
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   Message To: Norf   In reference to Message Id: 2013685


 A little update

Quote:

I dunno, mostly all the time different herps require different care. your not going to care for your monitor like a leo, or your leo like a monitor. Thats why you dont treat your monitor and bearded dragon alike.



Yes, but some do better with other types of husbandry. I kept leo’s just like monitors. I used a wooden top with lttle vertilation with dirt subtrate but not nearly as high baskign temps. Why not keep an animal the way it thrives in captivity instead of people probably like you who keep them so they just survive. I watch my animals, look to see how they re-act to dif temps humidity things in there cage foods. Im not just another kid on the block with a lizard. These are my pation and could one day be my career.

-Terry
05/30/09  07:38pm

 #2013730


Krusty
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   Message To: Norf   In reference to Message Id: 2013685


 A little update

Wow, there is some serious misinformation being passed around out there - the same old dirt/sand argument. Dragons get impaction from dehydrated and cool temperatures along with eating substrate. Given proper caging, they can eat plastic and crap it out. I’ve hatched, kept and raised a few hundred babies along with adults - one of which is about to be 10 years old. If it makes you feel better keeping them on stone tiles or paper, go for it. But blaming health issues on dirt is hooey - your conditions (temps and humidity) suck and the dirt precipitates the animal’s poor digestive function. That’s like saying if you swallow chewing gum it stays in your stomach for 7 years (yes some people actually believe that old wive’s tale LOL). Dirt doesn’t accumulate unless there is a preexisting blockage such as GI parasites or a stricture or hardened stool that won’t pass (dehydration). My dragons eat some dirt constantly when they drop greens onto the substrate. Telling me "you’ve been lucky" is horsecrap. I’m talking about a nearly 10 yr old and 3 six year old dragons kept exclusively on deep substrate with some humidity and hotter basking than what’s recommended. They absolutely thrive in "monitor-like" caging.

If a lizard hops up on a basking platform, gets it’s body up to nearly 100*F and then opens it’s mouth to pant (cooling effort) or simply leaves the bask - what is that called? Sounds like thermoregulation (therm = temperature, regulate = alter to a desired benefit). They do it by relocating themselves as opposed to internal chemical processes that hold temperatures constant, but it’s still a form or thermoregulation.

Dragons (P. vitticeps) occur naturally in arid eastern AUS just east of the red center deserts but not coastally. They are replaced by a different species coastally in somewhat similar habitats, but less dry and barren. Ackies are from WA coastally across into Queensland taking up about 1/2 of the continent, but not in the southern approx. 1/2 of AUS. I don’t believe their ranges overlap but it’s possible in the southwestern quadrant of QUSLD. Different range maps show different things.
05/30/09  07:39pm

 #2013735


Mxracer
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   Message To: Krusty   In reference to Message Id: 2013730


 A little update

Thank you Justin for chiming in on this little dispute. And thanks for clearing it up as I have a better understanding now of how impaction actually happens.
05/30/09  07:55pm

 #2013737


Sdslancs
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   Message To: Krusty   In reference to Message Id: 2013730


 A little update

Quote:

They do it by relocating themselves as opposed to internal chemical processes that hold temperatures constant, but it’s still a form or thermoregulation.


Like I said, behaviorally.
05/30/09  07:56pm

 #2013745


Krusty
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   Message To: Sdslancs   In reference to Message Id: 2013737


 A little update

Yes Susan, I was still writing my essay and you got your post in before me. We agree. LOL I just saw that two posts got in before I got mine up.
05/30/09  08:10pm

 #2013764


Sdslancs
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   Message To: Krusty   In reference to Message Id: 2013745


 A little update

LoL, I was waiting for you to go off on the Beardie substrate rant!



05/30/09  08:51pm

 #2013771


BansheeRacer25
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   Message To: Sdslancs   In reference to Message Id: 2013764


 A little update

LOL this is the exact reason i did not go off on this post. I know Justin likes to get heated with the substrate subject. Thanks Justin.


Also Repticz, John (3240) has leos breeding in his croc cages. I hathced over 20 babies so far this season from 2 females with over 20 more eggs in the incubator. I guess im doing something wrong?
05/30/09  09:05pm


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