I got my baby beardie!

[Aimees_Dragon]

My lisence finally came in the mail yesterday and I went out and got my baby! It's sooo cute! Since I got it, it's eaten 2 crickets and some grated pumpkin & sweet potato (off my finger)!!! It's also had some water from my finger! And it pooed today.. It has a slightly bent tail in a zig-zag shape but all its toes are there!

It's about 4.5 inches long (12cm) and so very very adorable!

THE BEST PART: It waves at me! About 5 times now... why is this??

So im thinking of names now... short list: Yoda (use the force - coz he waves), Kinky or ZigZag (crooked tail), Benny (bent tail).. and a few more in progress..



Oh he has been sometimes basking with his mouth open.. is this normal??

 

[lisa5]

Congrats on your new addition. Sounds like he is fairly tame and it is very cute when they bob or wave. It's good he likes his vege's- mine's a bit fussy. The kid's reckon the lizard gets better than them, as I make up a nice looking salad by cutting up a variety of vege's, yet he leaves most of it!

 

[Chris1]

How about Bender!!? (futurama,..?)

waving is said to be a submissive gesture,...so i guess he wants to be friends, lol,..

basking with mouth open is normal, means his baskign spot is warm enough,...'gaping' cools them down,...like a panting dog.

bok choy and chinese broc are good staple salad foods, they have a good calcium to phosphorus ratio.

 

[Aimees_Dragon]

Yeah he definitely loves his veges. His salad today had butternut pumpkin, sweet potato, bok choy and parsnip. I saw him eat all but the parsnip. The salad looked pretty good!
The name Yoda has kinda stuck.. he really does love waving! so cute! Not certain yet on Yoda.. but fairly sure...
I tried to post some pics but no luck yet. He does this cute thing where he comes up to the glass and just looks at me.. like he wants to play.. adorable!

He's very distracting though.. I'm at uni and I've had exams this week (1 left 9am tomorrow), and when I study next to the enclosure I find myself watching him a little too much.. Meh.. It's worth it!
He has tried a few times to climb the walls of the enclosure.. I think I'm going to need to make some sort of climb-able wall paper for him.. Holidays next week, it can be my project!

 

[lizardloco]

You'll have to show us some pics!

 

[damian83]

congrats on getting a fairly tame little one, mine are both pretty tame too, mine dont wave but the do bask with there mouths open (alot more when there outside)...

You'll have to show us some pics!

pics are always good........

 

[TaraLeigh]

Sounds cute. I like ZigZag.
Have to see a photo.
Congrats on your new friend.

 

[Jeannine]

He has tried a few times to climb the walls of the enclosure.. I think I'm going to need to make some sort of climb-able wall paper for him

just get a few branches/logs for him to climb

 

[Smithers]

Grats on the new family member

 

[Aimees_Dragon]

Jeannine, I've got a few climbs in there already, 1 x2 pronged basking log climb, and also an old turtle dock made of rocks stuck to glass that he loves to run up and down on.. I think the white walls just creep him out or something.. maybe he'll get used to it.

As far as names go, I tried Yoda for a few hours, am trying Phoenix at the moment.. waiting for something to stick..

Damien83, how old do they have to e to take them outside? My little one is still a little jumpy.. don't want to risk it just yet..

will try pics again later tonight..

 

[Jeannine]

ditto aminees and mine does the 'glass dance' as i call it :lol:

her enclosure is going to have an update soon as she is getting bigger (12" long) so the one under her basking lights getting a bit smallish for her i am currently sourcing a bigger log to go under the basking light and heat lamp then putting in another hollow log under her UVB light plus im looking for a similar age female for a flatmate so will need something they both can fit on

i intend later on to put down some sand at one end for her to dig in etc but until winter is over its on hold

she loves her salad but is still picky about what she eats but is offered a variety, loves her woodies, crickets and the occasional meal worms for a treat

they certainly are a joy to own, watch and interact with, she has learn the dogs/cats are members of her family and wont hurt her (though still only supervised interaction for now)


updated photo taken a little while ago when she was having 'brunch', i find its easier to feed her in with the woodies instead of putting them into her enclosure, she sure doesnt seem to mind

 

[Aimees_Dragon]

so im thinking of calling him Nimrod.. means Firey rod, great hunter! what do you think? plus Nim is unisex so thats a plus!

So Nimrod it is! He has been sooooo cute lately. Scratching at the glass to get out.. naww. Then i carry him round for a bit and he's happy again! Sleepy head though.. sleeps in longer than i do lol..

 

[Aimees_Dragon]

Nimrod has been acting a little strange the last few days.. He hasn't been eating his salad (or not much, I can't really tell), and he doesn't seem to want to be handled at all. He still eats his crickets though.

Does anyone know why this is? My friend said it may be because he's shedding (which he is), but I thought dragons constantly shedded.. does this mean I'll always have a temperamental beardie?

Also he doesn't wave at me anymore..

 

[Chris1]

as long as hes still as interested in crickets as ever i wouldnt worry, probably just a bit picky cos of shedding like your friend said. yes, they do shed pretty much constantly, and may get a bit fussy from time to time because of it,...or cranky,...lol, but life still goes on,..

no waving at you anymore isnt a bad thing either,...waving is often a response to feeling intimidated, sounds like your little one has settled in,....
(eg, when my boys head bob like complete morons from across the room at the girls, the girls wave,..its not that theyre stressed sillly, just responding to the boys)

the time to worry is when you notice its really lethargic, refusing food completely, not moving properly, not pooing, twitching etc,....small changes in mood are totally fine.

 

[Aimees_Dragon]

He ate some boc choy today! Think he was just being a strange one lol.. Thanks!

 

[IgotFrogs]

do you have a UVB light for it ?
when they are little they eat more crickets/woodies than salad as they get older its more veggies

 

[Aimees_Dragon]

yeah i have the uv reptile light and a basking lamp also, and a heat mat. Yeah he eats plenty of crickets but since the first day i got him he would always eat some salad off my finger. Don't worry he started again today he was just being wierd yesterday lol..

Thanks

I made a cool cricket habitat today! I tried to post pics but my internet sucks..
I'll try again tomorrow.

Just wondering how many (and what size) crickets a 13cm baby beardie should be eating daily/ twice daily???

Mine's been eating 6 ish medium crickets daily, someone just told me he's supposed to eat 30+ crickets a day!

How is that possible? Their volume would be bigger than him!

 

[Aimees_Dragon]

GUESS WHO'S REACHED 14CM!!! That's a whole cm in 9 days! yayay!

 

[Aimees_Dragon]

So the beard came out for the first time today.. My friends cat 'Cricket' was sitting on the bed about a metre from his enclosure, purring VERY loudly... And Nimrod put up his beard, and puffed up his belly to about twice the height!

It's the first time I've seen him use it and it was kinda scary.. He's sitting on my shoulder now back to normal.. but he's still a bit ancy.. He is shedding though so he's allowed to be a bit of a wierdo..

I don't know why he used it though.. My theories:

It was feeding time and he was saying 'Get away from my food', or

For some reason he is now scared of the cat who has spent most of every day on the bed next to him and he's never put the beard up before.. or

He only just realized he HAD a beard and was trying it out..


Opinions????

 

[Defective]

he was expressing dominance towards your cat