So sid is now brumating (and now he's actually sleeping all the time under his cork bark unlike before when he was basking and just not eating or pooping). At first I was worried, but thanks to your help I know not to be worried since he has a clean bill of health (last I checked, which was september or october I believe). So I've been trying to make his enclosure a little more comfortable. I took a nicely sized shoebox from my mom's closet, cut out the bottom and a nice entry hole in the side, as well as a few nice cuts so that the hinged top part can open easily so I can check on him and I put it on the cold side of the tank so he could choose where to snuggle up. So far he hasn't looked at it yet, but he's been sleeping the day away, so in a day or two when I offer him some food he'll probably see it and maybe investigate it. It's kind of cramped in his tank right now, since he has that, plus a nice basking branch with a cork bark hiding spot incorporated into it. I was wondering if there was anything else I could put in to make it more comfy for him. i've already started shortening the amount of daylight.
Since he's started brumating, I've been noticing I've been getting a little bored around the house. I like reading, but I finished the book we were reading in school (To Kill a Mockingbird, a great book), and all the books i have are crappy. Know of any good books? I think I'll probably be doing some more research on reptiles as well, and I'm in the process of writing a very in-depth care sheet for bearded dragons. I am also going to take the time to expand my musical studies (meaning, start actually doing my music theory homework so I can pass the AP exam, and practice my percussion more). Are there any other things I can do? I've been making plans for the spring and summer. I want to build an outdoor cage for sidney so he can sit outside with me and my parents in the summer, but I think I might just use his lizard leash. I've also been making my plan of attack to ween him onto veggies so I can start to get him onto a 80-90% vegetable diet (crickets only a couple times a week, and only if he eats enough greens). Plus I would like to get him one of those water resovoir things (the bowls with the little cup ontop the refills it) and try to teach him to drink out of it (with the ice cube trick). With my luck he won't do it, but I have to try. I'm also thinking I might use shelfliner as a substrate for the spring/summer/fall monthes and just use sand in the winter (so he can burrow), but I would think he would ingest more sand that way because he instinctively licks new substrates and constantly changing them doesn't seem like a good idea.
So besides that many things I've already listed, can you come up with anything?
I can't wait till he comes out of brumation, but I also can't wait till christmas. i'm getting him some new foods to try (various pellets, and other stuff, plus I think sandfire dragon ranch came out with a bunch of great supplements I would like to try), a new food bowl, possibly the resovoir thing I talked about, and whatever else I see that I think might be good for him.
