Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend got a MHD about 7 months ago. He's on vacaton for two weeks and i'm taking care of his MHD. I know alot about herps and think he's not taking care of it. He's in a 20gal long tank and held way to much also they only give him 12 crix a week. I've told him that he's not taking care of it very well and he won't listen to me. If it dies it's his money lost but i'd still like to give it a chance. please help!! what should i do??? Katie
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Owner of 3 Leopard Geckos, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 3 Treefrogs,
2 Bahaman Anoles 1 Japanese Fire Belly Newt and 1 Turtle "GOT-A-LUV-UM"

yeah, that doesn't soiund like a good place for him. First off, MHD's need a lot more space than 20 gallons, typically a tank 3 ft wide, 2 ft deep, and 4 ft tall is best for 1 or 2 dragons. I keep 2 dragons in that exact size and I have a 6 ft wide by 4.5 ft tall by 2 ft deep for 5 capra's to roam around with. Also, 12 crickets a weeks is a very slim diet for an MHD. Depending on his size ofcourse, but if he has had him 7 months I assume he is at least juvenile and likely near full grown. My full grown dragons eat 1-2 nightcrawlers a day with occasional mealworms and crickets between meals. My juveniles eat about the same although they are smaller (but they have a heck of an appetite). My A. Armata's I have seen eat 50 mealworms in a sitting and my male has eaten 3 pinky mice in a row. Next thing to look for is to check the temperature and humidity. Temp should be high 70's very low 80's at the highest. My dragons seem to like about 78-80 at the hottest. Humidity needs to be quite high, at least 60% but recomended above 70% most of the day. A UVB bulb is needed for them but they don't usually need any basking light since they live under the forest canopy at home. I guess if you have ready this much of me babbling, it is probably easier to go to www.froggieb.com/MHDCaresheet.html and read Marcia's page on the care of MHD's.

I would also like to add a thank you to you for wanting to help this MHD out. I'm glad you noticed that he wasn't being properly housed and that you are trying to do something about it. Good luck being able to do anything for him since you shouldn't put your money into helping another persons dragon. Anyways, read her website and it has loads of info, and if you have more questions please ask. Good luck!
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

Thanks! It was almost full grown when they got it. I've already given it 35 crix in one week and he's eaten all of them like it's his last day on earth. Do you think i should just tell him the truth? I'm going to look at the website right after i'm done here. Thanks again, Katie
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Owner of 3 Leopard Geckos, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 3 Treefrogs,
2 Bahaman Anoles 1 Japanese Fire Belly Newt and 1 Turtle "GOT-A-LUV-UM"

If I were you I would send him to look at this forum and have him talk to all of us. We will set him straight . But seriously, we would be able to answer questions he has and help him get the MHD into a much nicer home and be much happier. I am glad you have him eating more this week, I am sure he is thankful. Good luck with him. If that link didn't work, look a little on the forum for froggieb's comments, she adds her link on there a lot. It has been a while since I typed the link so she may have changed it or I may have typed it wrong.
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

Well the problem is he's only nine and he's not allowed on forums. Yes, the link did work and it turns out i had just looked at that site before i posted the message. Thanks, Katie
P.S. I think he sould be much older before he sould own a lizard. Do you agree?
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Owner of 3 Leopard Geckos, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 3 Treefrogs,
2 Bahaman Anoles 1 Japanese Fire Belly Newt and 1 Turtle "GOT-A-LUV-UM"

He's had it for 6 to 7 months and it hasn't shed yet. Is this bad? Katie
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Owner of 3 Leopard Geckos, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 3 Treefrogs,
2 Bahaman Anoles 1 Japanese Fire Belly Newt and 1 Turtle "GOT-A-LUV-UM"

hmmm...I dunno for sure about the shedding. It's kind of hard to keep track of how long it takes these guys to shed since I have a total of 7 of them. I know I have had Link for about 2 years now and he has only shed about 3-5 times, so it may just be about time for the shed. As for him being 9, then I would talk to his mother and tell her to come take a look if she wouldn't mind. Maybe she can be the one to help teach him how to take care of the MHD. It's worth a shot right? Well good luck!!
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

Ok i try that but his mom is kinda with him in this. Katie
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Owner of 3 Leopard Geckos, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 3 Treefrogs,
2 Bahaman Anoles 1 Japanese Fire Belly Newt and 1 Turtle "GOT-A-LUV-UM"

you print out my caresheet and have them read it. Then maybe you could print out some of the other info. Chances are it won't matter but you never know. I walked into a small petco where they had a full grown female MHD in a 20 gal tank with nothing to climb and just a small bowl of water.

I was on my way home from a reptile show south of here and happened to have some of my caresheets printed out. I went out to my truck and got a couple of copies and went in and asked to have someone from reptiles meet me in the reptile area. When the young man met me I asked him if he knew that the dragon was set up wrong and he said he knew she wasn't looking too good but that was what he had been told to do. I asked him if he would please read my caresheet and he said he would. I gave him the copies and told him he could give out copies with any MHD they sold.

Well, I was back in that town about a month later and decided to check on them. The female dragon was in a large mesh reptarium with a large bowl of water, a waterfall, and plenty of climbing branches. It seems he must have read the sheet and at least tried to make things right. I don't know what became of the MHD in the end but at least she was given some sort of a chance.

I really think that most people mistreat reptiles out of ignorance, not lack of concern. Of course there are those few that just don't believe what you tell them and they are going to do whatever they want regardless of how it will impact the animal. It never hurts to try though.

I have had sooo many people email me and ask me questions that are clearly answered on my site if they would only take the time to read it instead of just expecting me to type a personal note. I don't have a problem with emails, and really enjoy hearing from some of the writers, but when one person emails me daily for 10 days straight, sometimes quite rudely, asking the same question over and over again it makes you wonder. I have copied and pasted sections from my caresheet into the email and stated that this is an unedited copy directly from my page.

I wish some of them would come here to ask questions and share findings. It seems there are a lot of folk that don't do forums and I try to share what I learn from some of them, like the post a little bit down about the person who had the MHDs for 9 years and just recently lost one of them. That was exciting in my opinion!

Well, nuf rant!

Marcia
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

Yea, I already did that but thanks for the idea. I also have plans for a bigger cage to give them. Then maybe they will get their MHD a bigger cage or make one. I'll keep you posted about what he does. I told him about this forum so all the regulars can help him out. Katie
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Owner of 3 Leopard Geckos, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 3 Treefrogs,
2 Bahaman Anoles 1 Japanese Fire Belly Newt and 1 Turtle "GOT-A-LUV-UM"