I thought I killed Rango

[MickinMD ★]

In addition to taking care of Goldendoodle Jake while my brother's family is on vacation, I'm taking care of his son's foot-long Bearded Dragon Rango.

After a couple days, I texted my brother and SiL, "Am I supposed to turn Rango's lights off at night?" and the answer was yes.

His terrarium has a non-heating light over most of the cage and a heat lamp on one side - he's usually perched up on that tree-trunk-like ceramic in the background of the first picture, basking under the heat lamp so there was hope he wasn't too bothered by the constant 48 hrs of heat.  I was afraid he had gotten dehydrated as he appeared to be hiding in the little dark tunnel I never saw him go into before. He doesn't have a water bowl because he gets all the moisture he needs from his food so, after I realized I had to turn the lights off, I made sure his food didn't look dry.  The damn lizard barely ever moves so a couple times I wondered if he was alive!

Finally, today, he came out of the tunnel and munched some of his lettuce!  I guess he's fine.

[Further]

Nice pics

[jsharr ★]

Our bearded dragon would stay very sedentary for long periods of time but drop a few crickets in his cage and he would come to life

[Razors Edge ★]

I'm much better taking care of a bearded clam than a bearded dragon, but both seem to have a talent for being standoffish sometimes! 

[bikeman564™]

So those don't drink water? I had no idea.

[MickinMD ★]

15 hours ago, jsharr said:

Our bearded dragon would stay very sedentary for long periods of time but drop a few crickets in his cage and he would come to life

There are a lot of crickets in my back yard, maybe I'll catch a couple and drop them in Rango's cage - after I get a text ok from my brother of SiL who are on vacation until Sat.

[jsharr ★]

3 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

There are a lot of crickets in my back yard, maybe I'll catch a couple and drop them in Rango's cage - after I get a text ok from my brother of SiL who are on vacation until Sat.

We would buy them by the dozen at the pet store and then dust them with some powder that gave the lizard vitamins or nutrients.

He would hunt them down like a dragon.  Pretty cool to watch.

Not sure about feeding back yard, full size crickets.  The ones we bought were small.  Definitely clear it with your brother and maybe think about getting a dozen or so from the pet store when you are out.

We even had a cricket cage, and food and stuff, but they were tiny brownish white crickets.

https://animals.mom.com/dangers-crickets-pose-bearded-dragons-5259.html

[jsharr ★]

 

[MickinMD ★]

13 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

So those don't drink water? I had no idea.

I didn't have a clue about that either until the first time the family went on vacation after getting it and instructed me how to take care of it.

SiL Lori made up small plastic bags of damp lettuce pieces, put them in the fridge and said, "Give him one every two days," but the lettuce looked dried to a crisp the day after they left and I was worried if he was getting enough water - especially since I hadn't remembered if I had to turn the terrarium lights off.

I guess animals that sweat, like us, need more water per pound of body weight than most animals.

I walked Jake three miles today on a hilly trail in very sunny, "feels like 94F" weather.  Around the mid-point, I poured about 8 oz. of cold water in Jake's collapsible dog bowl, and drank about 8 oz. myself - saving a little of it in a 20 oz. Snapple Bottle inside an insulated holder.  Jake left a couple ounces in his bowl and was ready to go!  Dogs don't sweat, they pant away heat.

[MickinMD ★]

15 minutes ago, jsharr said:

We would buy them by the dozen at the pet store and then dust them with some powder that gave the lizard vitamins or nutrients.

He would hunt them down like a dragon.  Pretty cool to watch.

Not sure about feeding back yard, full size crickets.  The ones we bought were small.  Definitely clear it with your brother and maybe think about getting a dozen or so from the pet store when you are out.

We even had a cricket cage, and food and stuff, but they were tiny brownish white crickets.

https://animals.mom.com/dangers-crickets-pose-bearded-dragons-5259.html

The ones mostly seen in my yard are mostly tiny, not full sized, but you're probably right about going to the pet store.

[maddmaxx ★]

He needs a coat to stay warm.

[Razors Edge ★]

We used to stop at a bait shop for cheap crickets for the chickens.  We also would flush them out of the long grass with the hose and drive them towards the pen.