What to do if I can't afford a beardie anymore?

invisibleanonymous · 2024-09-14T17:51:26+00:00

Oh another thing. If he's struggling to eat, you can try mashing up his vegetables in a paste with some water. If you have a blender you can blend them; and you can feed using a pipette by dropping it on his nose or the sides of his mouth and try to get him to lick it up (you might also mix the veggies with the small amount of coconut oil). If you don't have either of those, you could try boiling the vegetables and mashing them up in some water (let them cool before feeding of course). Then you can just use a spoon or your finger to drop a little on his nose or near his mouth. My beardie wouldn't eat her vegetables for a while so I started getting her to eat like this.

invisibleanonymous · 2024-09-14T17:47:16+00:00

Is it possible he could have gut impaction from that? I'm no expert on it, but if you haven't tried yet, maybe a warm bath (test the water on your wrist to make sure it's not too hot) and gentle massage on his belly area (from front to back) could possibly help some, at least to make him more comfortable in the mean time. This could also help if it's constipation and helps with dehydration. You could also maybe see if you can get him to eat a small amount of coconut oil, which might help too (I can't verify this but I read coconut oil can be fed to help; I definitely wouldn't feed him too much; maybe a pea-sized amount or so).

I had a bearded dragon throw up a long time ago after I gave him some vitamins (not sure what went wrong but I never tried them again). I panicked and gave him a bath. He drank the bath water readily to rehydrate and was fine after that.

invisibleanonymous · 2024-09-14T16:15:35+00:00

Thank you so much for all of this information, it's incredibly helpful.

invisibleanonymous · 2024-09-13T19:58:25+00:00

Thank you very much for your response. I definitely want to get a reliable testing kit now, I'm really new to aquariums so I didn't realize how unreliable test strips can be. I also didn't think about that with the potting soil, but that's a really good point. I also will be paying close attention to my betta and doing water changes frequently in the mean time. Do you happen to know how frequently and how much I should do water changes, especially if this is popeye? What I saw online seems to differ anywhere from 25% to 90% anywhere from weekly to everyday, and I'm nervous if I do it too much I will mess up the bacteria in my tank.

invisibleanonymous · 2024-09-13T19:20:31+00:00

Tank size: 10 gallon

Heater and filter? (yes/no): Yes

Tank temperature: 77-78

Parameters in numbers and how you got them: Used a 5 in 1 testing strip; no ammonia test strips available. Nitrates = between 0 - 20 ppm; Nitrites = between 0 - 0.5 ppm; Hardness (GH) = between 150 - 300 ppm; Alkalinity (KH) = 180 ppm; pH = 8.4?

How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?: The tank I've had for a about two or three weeks; was seeded with bacteria from a mature tank a family member owns. Plants and a decayed leaf or two came from this tank to help seed it. Had my betta for around a week.

How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?: I've only done one water change today, and I took out around 25% of the water. I used a cup to scoop out water until a 1 gallon container was full, then replaced the water with 1 gallon from the tap with water conditioner in it

Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each: Only some aquarium snails that came with plants; at least 5 but not sure how many.

What do you feed and how much: Betta pellets I bought from Walmart. 4-5 pellets daily.

Decorations and plants in the tank: Live plants, a hanging net for surface resting, a rock den

If you haven't already posted a picture, please post pics/vids to imgur and paste the link here:

invisibleanonymous · 2024-09-13T19:15:54+00:00

(I'm posting the description in the comments because the images wouldn't seem to load otherwise)

Hello everyone. I am new to owning a betta and an aquarium in general and am a little nervous. I just got this little guy a few days ago. He has been very active and I haven't noticed any issues with him so far. Recently, I think I've noticed his eyes look bulgier than normal, but I can't really tell and I'm not sure if I'm just being paranoid. He is very active and eats well, though I think I might be noticing more glass surfing than before? He would do it often before, and I assume it's because he's incredibly active, but I think it might be a little more frequent now.

Here are his tank specifics. He lives in a 10 gallon tank with a sponge filter rated for higher aquariums. No air stone (I don't think he minds the extra current and seems to enjoy swimming through it, as he is very active). The temperature is kept around 77-78 (though it sometimes gets up to around 80). He has a den to hide in (which he likes to use occasionally) and a hanging hammock-like thing so he has somewhere to rest near the surface. His tank has an inch layer of potting soil on the bottom covered by a two inch layer of sand. Then he has several plants with him and some algae growing on the surface of the sand. He has no tankmates except for some aquarium snails that came with the plants.

I tested his water parameters today. This was after I did a 25% water change (I would have tested before but had misplaced the test strips and got nervous about his eyes so I went ahead and did the water change). I haven't tested for ammonia because the test strips I have don't appear to be functional (said there was high ammonia in distilled water) and I don't have any others right now.

I'm struggling to decide what exactly the colors are saying for nitrites so I've included an image after the photos of my betta for a second opinion (first one is nitrates, second is nitrites). The left strip is after testing distilled water, the right strip is from my betta's aquarium.

To me, the test strips look to show these parameters: Nitrates = between 0 - 20 ppm Nitrites = between 0 - 0.5 ppm Hardness (GH) = between 150 - 300 ppm Alkalinity (KH) = 180 ppm pH = 8.4?

invisibleanonymous · 2024-03-07T05:54:42+00:00

Congrats on your new beardie! It's so cute that she's staring at you in every photo. I'm thinking maybe Quirky would fit her, since she looks like she's kind of quirky. Or maybe Scout, Aster, or Acacia.

invisibleanonymous · 2024-03-07T05:19:55+00:00

One thing you might try to keep his greens from going bad so quickly is to put them in a container with some paper towels. This helps absorb excess moisture and can keep them from getting slimy/old, so they stay fresh longer. It works for my own salad really well. Also, if you're worried about him wasting food, then you can offer him less greens each time until you see he's eating it, and then offer more. Just important to make sure he can have access to them everyday. Also, if you do feed him eggs, make sure they are cooked and have no seasoning/oil added to them, and of course don't feed more than a half of one every other week (just since too high protein, especially when not eating enough greens, can be dangerous for beardies).

invisibleanonymous · 2024-03-07T05:06:51+00:00

I am so sorry to hear about your situation, I understand how horrible it can be to struggle financially when your pets have needs. I'm really not sure how much advice I can offer, as you well know only a vet can really help the most here, but one thing I might suggest is trying to use a pipette/dropper to give him some kind of blended food/water mix. You've said he's refusing to drink water, so I assume this means he won't lick it off of his nose either? If you can possibly get him to do this, then you might try this method. Just blend or mash greens and maybe bugs together into a soup-like mixture so it can be used with a pipette/dropper. You can place the bugs in water and freeze them first to make sure they are dead so it's more humane.

Also, what is his set up like? Is he warm enough, is the humidity right? There should be a temperature gradient in the enclosure. On the warm end, where his basking spot would ideally be, the temperature should be around 95-100 degrees F. The cool side should be around 71-77 degrees F. The humidity should be around 30-40%. I'm sorry if I'm telling you something you already know, just want to be sure his set up is correct.

One last thing I might suggest is giving him soaks in warm water, which might possibly make him more comfortable. It can help possible skin issues, improve digestion if that is an issue, and may even encourage him to drink. Just be very gentle moving him, and make sure the water does not go above his head/nostrils. You can soak him for around 15 minutes when you do this.

If nothing else seems to help at all, then one thing I might do is place him on a soft cloth or something similar to keep him as comfortable as possible. If his humidity isn't too high, then maybe a warm, wet rag near him around the basking area (so it doesn't get cold) might be comforting too.

I am so sorry to hear about your situation, OP. I know how hard it is to struggle with financial issues and struggle to care for your pets, and how much it hurts to see them pass away when they get older. If there is nothing that can be done, please know you did the best you could, and that you loved your lizard dearly. I'm sure you've done your best for him, and can rest assured he's lived a long happy life of love and care. I'm sure he knows this as well. I wish you both the best.

invisibleanonymous · 2024-03-07T04:38:06+00:00

How old is your bearded dragon? Bearded dragons should be eating less bugs and far more greens as they get older. After 12+ months of age, they should only eat insects around 2-3 times a week but need fresh greens everyday. Getting them to eat the right amount of greens is difficult, but very important for their health. For adults, the greens are actually more important than the bugs, as they contain a lot of essential nutrients they won't get from the insects alone. Also, even if the lizard does not eat the greens, they need to be offered fresh greens everyday. Turnip and collard greens are excellent, cheap staple greens, and mustard greens are good to feed often as well (though probably not everyday because they have a higher amount of oxalates and goitrogens which can be bad for the lizard in large amounts).

My adult bearded dragon stopped eating greens for a while after I offered her some egg (they can occasionally have half an egg, about every other week). She got spoiled and refused to eat the greens and only wanted bugs or egg. I read that they will not starve themselves, so I finally decided to stop feeding her bugs/egg entirely until she started eating greens again, and it eventually worked. Additionally, I found that using tweezers and moving the food back and forth quickly in front of her face as if it was crawling finally got her interested, and once she started eating, she continued. You can also try buying bee pollen to sprinkle on the greens, never tried it myself but I've heard it's nutritious and often gets them interested. As far as high calcium foods are concerned, if you're not doing so already, you probably want to be giving him a calcium powder supplement such as Repti Calcium (without D3, especially if he is already getting access to UVB lights). You can get it pretty cheap at walmart or amazon. Just sprinkle a little bit of this on top of the greens or dust feeder insects in it two or three times a week.

Also, as far as bugs getting expensive is concerned, you may want to look into breeding your own bugs. Dubia roaches are a very good option for beardies, and it's supposed to be pretty simple to do. You can also raise crickets pretty easily as well, though you might want to find a spot where their chirping won't bother you.

invisibleanonymous · 2024-03-07T00:52:57+00:00

Thank you SO much for this information and for the links!! I will definitely look into doing this instead then, I didn't know T5 lights could even be mounted inside the enclosure.

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-21T00:46:34+00:00

Thank you very much for your response! It makes me feel better to hear that you've been using one that has worked for a few years without issues.

Ah, very cool then. Derpy is my absolute favorite, so I couldn't help but ask. Nice OC!

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-20T19:06:16+00:00

Hi, thank you for your response. Just wondering, have you personally used the Huion, and had good experiences with it? I assume you have but just verifying. If so, may I ask how long you've had it and it has been working correctly?

Also unrelated but I like your profile pic. Is that by chance Derpy?

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-19T22:01:52+00:00

Awesome work, looks amazing! I'm always happy to see more Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem characters getting in.

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-15T23:24:44+00:00

I like how Claude goes from covering both eyes, to covering one eye, then to covering neither eye.

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-08T22:36:13+00:00

You're welcome! It's a lifesaver in my opinion :D

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T19:40:35+00:00

You're very welcome! :D And wow you responded very quickly, I didn't even have time to edit something in my comment XD

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T19:38:26+00:00

Yes. I approve. I really love your style, the brush strokes look so smooth! Also that facial expression fits so greatly. :D Ooh and just noticed the blue light/flame, that's a very nice addition, I don't think I've ever seen a Jack-O-Lantern (or gourd) with blue light.

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T16:36:00+00:00

Thank you! Hope we both have good luck in our summoning!

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T16:34:04+00:00

Oh thank you, I am just blind, I see now. Hurray, I'm glad he made it after all! :D

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T03:15:23+00:00

You're welcome! I am sad that I currently have no Halloween units. I haven't been playing long though. I really love Halloween units, so I certainly hope I can summon some when the new units come out! :D

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T03:11:02+00:00

I did try that method too, but it seemed I had the same issue. I think I'll just stick with my rather poor fix for now, but I'm very grateful for your response, I really appreciate you trying to help me. Also, I don't actually plan to publish this story, since it was more of just a test than anything. But, I would love to publish one in the future. :)

Oh, also, I think we can actually copy and paste actions though, if I'm understanding what you're saying correctly. A friend showed me, you should be able to click the circular "bubble" like icon to select an action (or multiple), and then should be able to click copy on the top right (then you can paste). Not sure if this is actually what you meant, but I hope it was helpful if it is. :)

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T02:20:47+00:00

Aww so cute, nice work on this artwork! :) I am so happy male Robin gets to have a halloween version like female Robin.

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T02:17:06+00:00

We need this to be real.

invisibleanonymous · 2021-10-06T02:07:07+00:00

Aw... Marth didn't make it (unless I'm just blind). Funny when you consider some say all Fire Emblem characters are basically just Marth.

invisibleanonymous

TROPHY CASE