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baby monitor keeps cutting out image
Q. I might get one, so I need to learn about them :) I mean things like plants, heater, food bowl, substrate exc.
Answer
First, visit http://www.beardeddragon.org Their caresheets and forums will make it all easier to understand. And there's lots of pics of many different people's setups!
Second, don't ask the pet store for advice. They are notorious for knowing next to nothing about reptile care, and what they DO know is often wrong and even dangerous.
A Tank: For a baby, you can start with a 20 gallon, but an adult needs at least a 40 gallon breeder, so be prepared to upgrade.
If you start with a bigger tank, use a divider, as a large tank can be intimidating to a baby, and make it harder for them to catch their food. You'll also want a screen lid for your tank.
UVB: ReptiSUN 10.0 or ReptiGLO 8.0 are the best bulbs on the market. Avoid Reptiglo 10.0 and ANY compact coil UVB's. They are DANGEROUS for your beardie's eyes. Use the fluorescent tube types. You can buy a fluorescent tube fixture at Lowes or Home Depot for the length that will fit your tank. Make sure the length covers at least half the tank.
Heat: Also from Lowes, you can get a utility or work light fixture...it's a silver metal dome and is rated for 150watts. Your bulb can be a regular household bulb or halogen bulb. Depending on many factors (tank size, type of bulb, your house's ambient temps, amount of ventilation), you might need a 75watt to 100watt bulb. You may even need 2 heat bulbs and fixtures. You just have to play around with what combination makes the right temps in your tank.
Thermometer: This is important and often overlooked. You need a digital indoor/outdoor therm with a probe end. The probe end should lie directly on the basking site. This will be the "outdoor" temp on the monitor. Your basking temp should be 100-110 and the cooler side of your tank should be around 80. Proper temps are very important for digestion. The stick on dial and strip thermometers are useless, often off up to 20degrees, and no way to measure directly on the basking site.
Substrate: Avoid anything that has particles, like sand (ESPECIALLY calci-sand or repti-sand), crushed walnut shells, any type of bark or pellets or anything like that. They will try to sell you this stuffin pet stores but it has a high risk of impaction.
You CAN use: Non-adhesive shelf liner, slate tiles or textured ceramic tiles (as long as they aren't slick) or even paper towels. Tiles are super easy to clean and disinfect and also aid in keeping beardie's nails filed down. A popular favorite amongst experienced keepers.
Other: You need a log or two for climbing and basking. Fake plants, rocks, etc. Just decorate to suit your tastes. Beardie's are terrestrial so they like floor space, so don't clutter it up too much. But they do like to climb a little, so a few things to climb around on is good.
A water dish is not really necessary. Beardies don't recognize standing water as something they should drink unless they've been trained to do so. They get their hydration through fresh veggies, daily misting and a bath every few days. So a cheap spray bottle is good to have, too.
Feeders: A young dragon can eat up to and over 50 crickets a day. For a young dragon that eats a lot, it's much easier to bulk order your crickets online (you can get 1000 crix delivered for around $16). You'll need something to keep them in. A 50-60 qt. rubbermaid or sterilite container works great. You can cut a big square in the lid and glue down a piece of screen (Lowes).
If you don't want to use crickets, you could also use: silk worms, horn worms, phoenix worms, one of several types of roaches, and superworms when your dragon is over 16".
Fresh veggies should be available at all times, even though a young dragon won't show much interest at first. Avoid any type of lettuce. Collard, turnip or mustard greens are great. Any type of squash is good. Here is a great resource for which foods you should and should not feed your beardie:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.co...
Supplements: You need to dust your feeders with supplements once a day. Calcium w/ D3 5 times a week, and a multivitamin the other two days.
I believe that is the essential list. I know it can be overwhelming at first, but once you get it set up and get a routine going, it gets easier and is sooo rewarding.
Remember to have your setup at home and stabilized before you bring home your dragon.
Good luck!
First, visit http://www.beardeddragon.org Their caresheets and forums will make it all easier to understand. And there's lots of pics of many different people's setups!
Second, don't ask the pet store for advice. They are notorious for knowing next to nothing about reptile care, and what they DO know is often wrong and even dangerous.
A Tank: For a baby, you can start with a 20 gallon, but an adult needs at least a 40 gallon breeder, so be prepared to upgrade.
If you start with a bigger tank, use a divider, as a large tank can be intimidating to a baby, and make it harder for them to catch their food. You'll also want a screen lid for your tank.
UVB: ReptiSUN 10.0 or ReptiGLO 8.0 are the best bulbs on the market. Avoid Reptiglo 10.0 and ANY compact coil UVB's. They are DANGEROUS for your beardie's eyes. Use the fluorescent tube types. You can buy a fluorescent tube fixture at Lowes or Home Depot for the length that will fit your tank. Make sure the length covers at least half the tank.
Heat: Also from Lowes, you can get a utility or work light fixture...it's a silver metal dome and is rated for 150watts. Your bulb can be a regular household bulb or halogen bulb. Depending on many factors (tank size, type of bulb, your house's ambient temps, amount of ventilation), you might need a 75watt to 100watt bulb. You may even need 2 heat bulbs and fixtures. You just have to play around with what combination makes the right temps in your tank.
Thermometer: This is important and often overlooked. You need a digital indoor/outdoor therm with a probe end. The probe end should lie directly on the basking site. This will be the "outdoor" temp on the monitor. Your basking temp should be 100-110 and the cooler side of your tank should be around 80. Proper temps are very important for digestion. The stick on dial and strip thermometers are useless, often off up to 20degrees, and no way to measure directly on the basking site.
Substrate: Avoid anything that has particles, like sand (ESPECIALLY calci-sand or repti-sand), crushed walnut shells, any type of bark or pellets or anything like that. They will try to sell you this stuffin pet stores but it has a high risk of impaction.
You CAN use: Non-adhesive shelf liner, slate tiles or textured ceramic tiles (as long as they aren't slick) or even paper towels. Tiles are super easy to clean and disinfect and also aid in keeping beardie's nails filed down. A popular favorite amongst experienced keepers.
Other: You need a log or two for climbing and basking. Fake plants, rocks, etc. Just decorate to suit your tastes. Beardie's are terrestrial so they like floor space, so don't clutter it up too much. But they do like to climb a little, so a few things to climb around on is good.
A water dish is not really necessary. Beardies don't recognize standing water as something they should drink unless they've been trained to do so. They get their hydration through fresh veggies, daily misting and a bath every few days. So a cheap spray bottle is good to have, too.
Feeders: A young dragon can eat up to and over 50 crickets a day. For a young dragon that eats a lot, it's much easier to bulk order your crickets online (you can get 1000 crix delivered for around $16). You'll need something to keep them in. A 50-60 qt. rubbermaid or sterilite container works great. You can cut a big square in the lid and glue down a piece of screen (Lowes).
If you don't want to use crickets, you could also use: silk worms, horn worms, phoenix worms, one of several types of roaches, and superworms when your dragon is over 16".
Fresh veggies should be available at all times, even though a young dragon won't show much interest at first. Avoid any type of lettuce. Collard, turnip or mustard greens are great. Any type of squash is good. Here is a great resource for which foods you should and should not feed your beardie:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.co...
Supplements: You need to dust your feeders with supplements once a day. Calcium w/ D3 5 times a week, and a multivitamin the other two days.
I believe that is the essential list. I know it can be overwhelming at first, but once you get it set up and get a routine going, it gets easier and is sooo rewarding.
Remember to have your setup at home and stabilized before you bring home your dragon.
Good luck!
How to stop my Guinea pig from biting me?
Animallove
I got a guinea pig baby from my friend who did not know her guinea was pregnant. She gave one to me and i had it for awhile and it keeps biting my me and every one by it we try say no bite but it did work and tap his noise but nothing work. (i am a first time owner w/ a guines pig)
Also i got him when he was 3 weeks and now he about 8 weeks old. I never start pick him up till a wee but i talk to him and gave him lot of treats so he know i am a friend not an enmey.
Answer
DO NOT do anything physical to the guinea pig to "punish" it like tapping it on the nose-that is animal abuse. When your guinea pig learns to love and trust you (which comes with good quality care) the guinea pig will not bite you. Here is general information you NEED to know.
1.) Change their water daily...regardless of how much they have had to drink.
2.) Clean the cage at least 1x a week...more often if smaller cage
3.) Traditional pet store cages are not acceptable for adult guinea pigs. There are tons of websites that explain "C&C" cages that are fun and easy to build.
4.) Shavings must be aspen or carefresh (recycled paper) to prevent allergies or upper respiratory infection
5.) The primary food source should be hay. Alfalfa hay for young guinea pigs and timothy hay for adults (6months+). Food should be alfalfa based for 6 months and younger, and timothy based for older than 6 months.
6.) The ideal food is Oxbow brand. If not possible to get this, try Kleenmama or Kaytee Timothy Complete (this Kaytee brand can be found at Petco). Do not give seeds or other pellets as they have little nutritional value.
7.) Give lots of floor time but always monitor them. They will chew anything and everything--avoid giving them anything with plastic that can be ingested.
8.) They need their nails cut every month or so (2 person job; if their nails are black or if you feel uncomfortable, a vet can do it for $10 or less.)
9.) Find a vet who sees "exotics" or "pocket pets" in case you ever had a medical emergency.
10.) Educate yourself by looking at the guinealynx website (www.guinealynx.com) and their forums. This is a priceless resource for all types of questions.
11.) Give fresh veggies daily. Fruit may cause loose stool and upset stomachs. Guinea lynx has great charts discussing how much and what is okay...e.g. kale and spinach have lots of calcium which may lead to serious health problems....green or red leaf lettuce and cilantro are examples of safe food. If you give things like celery (or others that are stringy) be sure to cut it up in tiny pieces to avoid the strings posing hazards to the digestive system.
DO NOT do anything physical to the guinea pig to "punish" it like tapping it on the nose-that is animal abuse. When your guinea pig learns to love and trust you (which comes with good quality care) the guinea pig will not bite you. Here is general information you NEED to know.
1.) Change their water daily...regardless of how much they have had to drink.
2.) Clean the cage at least 1x a week...more often if smaller cage
3.) Traditional pet store cages are not acceptable for adult guinea pigs. There are tons of websites that explain "C&C" cages that are fun and easy to build.
4.) Shavings must be aspen or carefresh (recycled paper) to prevent allergies or upper respiratory infection
5.) The primary food source should be hay. Alfalfa hay for young guinea pigs and timothy hay for adults (6months+). Food should be alfalfa based for 6 months and younger, and timothy based for older than 6 months.
6.) The ideal food is Oxbow brand. If not possible to get this, try Kleenmama or Kaytee Timothy Complete (this Kaytee brand can be found at Petco). Do not give seeds or other pellets as they have little nutritional value.
7.) Give lots of floor time but always monitor them. They will chew anything and everything--avoid giving them anything with plastic that can be ingested.
8.) They need their nails cut every month or so (2 person job; if their nails are black or if you feel uncomfortable, a vet can do it for $10 or less.)
9.) Find a vet who sees "exotics" or "pocket pets" in case you ever had a medical emergency.
10.) Educate yourself by looking at the guinealynx website (www.guinealynx.com) and their forums. This is a priceless resource for all types of questions.
11.) Give fresh veggies daily. Fruit may cause loose stool and upset stomachs. Guinea lynx has great charts discussing how much and what is okay...e.g. kale and spinach have lots of calcium which may lead to serious health problems....green or red leaf lettuce and cilantro are examples of safe food. If you give things like celery (or others that are stringy) be sure to cut it up in tiny pieces to avoid the strings posing hazards to the digestive system.
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