Lets Talk About skin Care, Beauty And Health Tips

Q.

Answer
His problem could be keeping the beard clean and groomed.
that affects the skin under it.

Give him beard cleaning products first to see if that "cleans" up the problem.

If that's not his problem, forgive me for mentioning it.
Some guys with bad acne scars grow beards just to cover the bad skin.
And some guys get ingrown hairs when shaving and so grow a beard to stop that...

How should I care for a bearded dragon?

Yesterday I rescued a bearded dragon from a home that had been vacated - his previous owners had left him to die. They left his dry food, tank with sand and rocks, three lamps, and a thermometer for his tank. It looks like the tip of his tail and some of his fingertips are nubs. He's shedding some skin. I cleaned his tank up and gave him fresh food and water, but what else does he need? I turned on one of his lamps which had a bright red hue and he seemed to get more active after that. How often should I leave his lamp on? Why does he have 3 different ones? What is the best thing to feed him? What should I look for to make sure he is healthy? I'd appreciate any help I can get as I have fallen in love with him, but know absolutely NOTHING about reptiles. Thanks.

I tried to look up some information online, but most websites seem to inform as though you already know how to take care of a bearded dragon - but I have never had a reptile of any kind, nor have I ever known anyone who has.

Answer
do some research .google it

Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ has come about in response to the many emails we receive asking similar questions. If you have a question not listed or answered here, please email us. This F.A.Q. was last updated 05/26/07.


PLEASE NOTE -
All information in this FAQ/care sheet has come from our personal experience and/or research. We are working on adding links to useful information and places for further research - so please be patient. :) Many 'opinions', in many areas of care, vary from one person to another and can be controversial.... Please remember though, these are all opinions... and contained here are ours. Sources we found extremely useful when beginning our collection of Bearded dragons are - "The General Care and Maintenance of Bearded Dragons", written by Phillippe de Vosjoli and Robert Mailloux 1993.... In addition, many, many knowledgeable people willing to share their personal experiences.



General Description -
The Inland, or Central Bearded Dragon certainly inherited their name in all honesty... it was derived from the way they can enlarge or 'blow out' a flap of skin under their lower jaw when upset or disturbed. Aside from blowing their beard out, they may also darken the color there to almost black which creates a bearded display. The Bearded Dragon is native to many different habitats and regions of Australia.
They thrive in deserts, grasslands and woodlands... in both unpopulated and populated areas. It is said by many herpetologists who have come across Beardies in the wild, that one can walk right up to one and the little guy would not mind... and possibly even pick it up with little or no fuss being raised by the animal. Their temperament is extremely docile and trusting, therefore making it an excellent pet - even for children and beginners. The adults can reach up to approximately 2ft in length, with the average being 18 - 20 inches. Hatchlings are approximately 3 to 4 inches in length (head to tail) and should be 5-6 inches at the end of their first month. By the end of their second month, they should be at least 6-7 inches in length with considerable more body weight. We have found that with proper care and a little luck, dragons can reach 9 inches within 2 months, with the average being 8 inches. From 2 - 6 months, we have found the average growth rate to be approximately 1/2 inch a week, with some weeks being 1 inch or more to 1/4 inch or less.


General Care -
Bearded Dragons need little care, beyond daily maintenance, once they are established in/acclimated to their new environment. Care should certainly be taken to emulate their natural setting to reduce stress to the animal... As should a schedule be developed for lighting and feeding for the same purposes.


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Selection -
Selecting the animal to be your new pet is one of the most important steps toward success in maintaining bearded dragons. When purchasing a dragon online, it is basically done through an 'honor system'. The animal you receive should be robust appearing with ample fat stores at the base of its tail (generally, it is possible to determine the overall health of all lizards by examining the base of the tail for fat stores). Beware of protruding bones at the base of the tail. Take notice to the dragons eyes in particular - are they noticeably recessed? If so, it is possible that the dragon is becoming dehydrated. A healthy dragon should appear alert with both eyes wide open and attentive to its environment.


Housing -
A hatchling up to 12 inches (ideally), should be kept in a 15 gallon tank. This will allow the lizard enough room to run around and exercise... and yet not have to run too far to catch its dinner. As the Dragon grows, so should its enclosure. I would recommend no smaller than a 55 gallon tank for one or two adult Bearded Dragons (M/F). This will allow each Bearded Dragon 'living-room', minimizing squabbles - yet encouraging their natural displays and interactions. I use a 4 ft (w) X 2 ft (d) X 2 ft (h) cage (eight sq.ft) for housing up to three adult dragons. Any additional dragons should be allowed approximately four sq.ft. of floor space per dragon.
**NOTE - All cage accessories that are collected from outdoors must be parasite free before introducing them to your collection. You can either soak them in 10% bleach / 90% water solution... or bake them in your oven for approximately 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Both of these methods will assure the death of parasites/bugs and their eggs.


Substrates -
Most shops also provide a selection of reptile bedding and sand. (We suggest following the 'prey size rule' when selecting a substrate.)
Reptile Bark/Bedding -
This is definitely not a good idea. Crickets can hide under the bark, resulting in the dragon not getting its full meal and the possibility of the crickets coming out at night and bothering the dragon. Another major reason is that the dragon could accidentally ingest a piece of bark, which would result in terminal ingestion.
Children's Play Sand -
We have found this to be an economically affordable and low maintenance substrate for dragons. Simply 'scoop' the poop and replace the sand, as it is visually needed. For hatchlings, be sure to run the sand through a window screen to eliminate any tiny pebbles that they may decide to taste. (If you do not sift and your dragon ingests a pebble, it will most likely result in terminal ingestion) There are many types of sand available in different grain sizes. We use fine grain childrenâs sterilized play sand in our cages. Be sure that there are no silica warnings on the bag before purchasing it.
Reptile Carpet -
This works well and looks nice. It is fairly easy to clean also - even easier if you have more than 1 piece cut to fit in the cage. The only downfall is that dragons normally pass a bowel movement every day - requiring the cleaning and replacement of the carpet and decorations on a daily basis.
Newspaper/Paper -
This is a good idea if you are concerned about ease of cleaning and cost. It is not the 'prettiest' set-up for your tank, but it works well. *The ink in the newspaper will NOT harm your dragon - its non-toxic. It may give them dirty-looking feet, but that is about all. Be aware that crickets will hide under the newspaper.


Cage Accessories -
Rocks -
We choose to use River Rocks for basking areas in our enclosures. They are smooth for easy cleaning and when placed under a basking light, get very warm and provide heat to the beardies underbelly, which aids in digestion. This way they receive heat from the top - via a basking light, and from the bottom - via the heated rock.
Branches -
These make beautiful additions to a cages set-up. A few things to keep in mind when choosing to add branches to the environment is that the branch will not conduct/absorb heat as well as a rock. You will need to monitor the temperature to be sure it is adequate for your dragon to digest its food. Branches also make a great hiding place for small crickets. Crickets will crawl into any split or peeling bark that they can find... so be sure to shake out the branch in the evening to avoid excess crickets running around when the lights go out.
Hide Boxes -
This is a no-no for small dragons. The dragon may decide to hide instead of bask and therefore will not eat well and grow properly. This is also the favorite place for crickets to hide. Its cool and dark, which makes for a perfect gathering place... so, unless you like to chase crickets around before the lights go out, hide boxes are something to avoid.

Lighting and Heating -
Proper lighting is also very important to the well-being of a Bearded Dragon. A good split of day/night is 14/10. This can easily be regulated by a timer, which can be found at almost any hardware store. ((not only is it better for the Dragon... its much easier on the caregiver. :)) A basking spot is also a must for a Beardie. The Dragons body temperatures are important for digestion and fighting off illness.
A low watt bulb, placed in a reflector dome at one end of the cage, will concentrate the bulbs heat to that one side of the cage. The top basking area on one side of the cage (closest to the light) should peek between 100 - 105 degrees for adults and 100 - 110 for babies - with the ambient cage temperature on the other side of the cage being significantly cooler - approximately 80-85 degrees. This basking temperature may seem high, but these temperatures are common of the ground surface when air temperatures are over 85 degrees. Remember though, this is a peek temperature and not a constant temperature. The trick is to slowly bring the temperature of the basking area up, allow it to level off for a short period of time and then drop slowly once again. (Yes, this can be tricky... but that is where cage accessories come in handy.)
The nighttime temperature of your cage can drop into the 60's without worry. If your house gets cooler than that, you may need to invest in a red bulb for nighttime temperature maintenance. This will emit the heat needed to keep the temperature up, but not the light that will interrupt the dragons sleep pattern. WARNING - Do not use an electrical reptile heat rock or heating pad as a heat source for your Bearded Dragons. These products have the potential to fatally burn the dragon's belly, as many lizards do not feel a 'localized' temperature... but an overall body temperature. (See Thermal Burns below)
The need for a full spectrum florescent reptile light is among those topics being disputed between Hobbyists at the moment. Dragons DO need a source of UVB light to naturally produce vitamin D3, (which helps to absorb calcium) and without a steady supply of it, are more sub

I get my gf every once in a while but its totally random, what are some tips, what works for you.

Answer
Okay, here are a few secrets most guys don't know but should:

1) We have to be relaxed, warm and comfortable. If that means doing it under the covers, do it! Even if you're going down on her and you feel like you're smothering.

2) We have to be in a good place with you. Meaning we have to be happy with you, that you care about the relationship and you're committed to us at least a little (even for a one-night stand)! That's very important--as important as how you look or how you act! If you just had an argument with us we're not going to be as expressive or uninhibited, meaning it's harder to have an orgasm.

3) You have to be willing to do anything if you want us to come. That means cunnilingus (licking our vulva) if necessary. That doesn't mean you HAVE to do all of that but we just need to know you're WILLING to. Some stuff is extra credit. For example, some girls like a finger in their bottom at just the right moment. (I know, as a guy you're probably somewhere between "eeeeew" and "woo hoo!" on that one.) But don't be doing that without warning us and finding out if we're into that first! Some girls HATE that. (But we like that your'e willing to do it if necessary.)

4) Be gentle! Be gentle! Did I mention be gentle! Those porno movies with the guy slapping the girl or chewing her nipples or doing her so hard her head jerks up and down--that's just the movies. We don't like that stuff! (Well, usually anyways.) If we DO want it rougher we'll tell you.

5) Encourage us tell you how to touch us and don't get in a snit if we correct you, like, 10 times or 20 times. It takes awhle to learn how to touch us just right and we reaaaaaaaly appreciate it that you want to know how to do it right! We might even demonstrate for you (which a lot of you guys like, right? To see us masturbate?) If we do, PAY ATTENTION, don't just drool. (But you can drool a little cause we know it makes you hot to watch).

6) Take time. Don't rush us. Don't EXPECT that we're going to come--we might not want to--don''t keep pushing for it if it isn't working out. That just stresses us out. But do always let us come first. Do foreplay with us until we invite you to penetrate. Don't just assume. All of this is to get us to relax. THat's important.

7) Make us come the way we like to come. Not every girl can come with a penis in her vagina. That's just the way we are. A lot of us prefer to come manually or orally, or that may be the ONLY way we can come. SOme of us even like to make ourselves come with our hands while you make love to us other ways.

8) Sometimes you need to just keep rubbing or stroking or whatever the same exact way until we climax. Once you sense you're in a good groove, just keep doing that same thing over and over until you get some sign from us that we want a change. Don't keep vary it on your own just to keep things interesting--we're making our final approach to landing here! We don't want any changes!

9) Don't EVER tease us about the sounds we make. Those sounds are often completely unconscious and they give you some EXCELLENT clues about how well your'e doing when we're at the pont where we can't or don't want to talk. Be aware of all the sounds like breathing, sighing, gasping, crying out, moaning, etc. An honest woman won't do those things just to stroke YOUR ego, but will allow you to hear them so you hav esome feedback.

And some really basic stuff:

10) Be clean. Be shaven (you give us beard rash if you're too bristly) or try not to brush your stubble on our skin too much. It's distracting and it makes our skin red and sore. Brush your teeth, chew gum and/or rinse with mouthwash. God's sake don't smoke if you don't have to. Nothing stops a good encounter faster than a guy with bad breath sticking his tongue in your mouth.

11) Be nice to us. Care about us. That means having a conversation, not just talking about yourself all night and then hopping in the sack expecting us to have delirious multiple orgasms. Take a lot of time to get to know us. Talk to us--explore what we think, what's important to us, who we are. And open up about yourself--your feelings--some. I know, BOOOORING. But if you really want to drive a girl over the edge in bed, you need to do this.

12) Afterwards let us know how much you liked it when we came, how much you appreciated us showing you how to touch us, etc. That sets us up for a good experience the next time and shows that your'e still communicating with us, still care about us and didn't want us just for sex.

Not all of this stuff applies to every woman, but most of it applies to most women. I know you probably know a lot of this stuff, but I hope there are a few things in there that help. Good luck!

Would you leave the foreskin on your baby boy?

Q. Why do people have the foreskin removed?

And would you do it, and why?

Answer
No, my boys are not circumcised. I've never even seen a circumcised penis before.

We live in the UK and it's not a common procedure here, last year only around 3% of under 15s were circumcised and barely any of that 3% were infants.

It's not any more clean to have it done, it's no different to cleaning a fingertip or your nose - soap on the sponge or flannel, lather up the area, rinse. The foreskin doesn't need any particular extra care or attention and doesn't take any extra time to clean. It doesn't affect sex and it doesn't make the child/man prone to infection or irritation. It doesn't protect against STDs. Getting it done so they "look like daddy" is pathetic, frankly. My sons' daddy has a beard and a tattoo - shall I get my sons those too so they look like daddy!? And it's prettier to have it cut? Have you ever seen an adult penis? They're not known for their beauty and cutting bits off makes zero difference.

Circumcision isn't commonly done here because the risks and side effects are too great for no obvious benefit. Older males who were circumcised earlier in life tend to have loss of sensitivity due to continual exposure of the glans, this can lead to the skin hardening and in some cases makes it painful if not impossible to maintain an erection. Circumcised men are also actually more prone to UTIs than uncircumcised men. In uncircumcised men the head of the penis and the urethra opening are protected by the foreskin and it's lubrication, in circumcised men this is removed and as the urethra opening is constantly exposed bacteria can gain access quite easily, it can also become irritated due to chemicals in the laundry process. Circumcise men tend to be at greater risk or irritation/dryness during sex or masturbation too, just like the vagina releases lubrication to ease intercourse, so does the tissue in the foreskin of the penis, the foreskin naturally pulls back during sex and this lubrication aids the process. My partner is not cut and he has never given me an infection either.

The foreskin is there for a reason and all the arguments about hygiene, etc are proved invalid simply by looking at countries like this one where the procedure isn't routine - our men do just fine 100% intact.