Small dragons

[cheekabee]

Hi just wondering if you guys have any tips on getting small dragons eating.

 

[shell477]

what type of dragons?

 

[Grogshla]

what set up do you have so we can help. We need lots more info mate.

 

[cheekabee]

I've got two red barred dragons, set up is perfect, lots of crevices, got a cool spot and a basking spot of about 40-45, I only got them yesterday so I think just a matter of letting them settle in plus they were in an outdoor enclosure previously so they might be going into a bit of a shut-down with the cold weather. But they are under the lamp quite a bit so their metabolism must be high. Just wanted some tips to try out if I feel they are loosing condition in the future ect. They are skittish previously being house in an outdoor enclosure so dont want to wait the last minute.

 

[cheekabee]

bump

 

[mad_at_arms]

How old are they?
I would let them settle a bit before worrying too much.

 

[cheekabee]

About 4

 

[mad_at_arms]

About 4

4 what?
Minutes, hours, Julian days, weeks?

 

[cheekabee]

Obviously Years

 

[Chicken]

Akash mate, just get into a routine! Keep it hot dont touch them and be disciplined they'll be fine man. If things are looking bad after a few weeks/months ill drop round and give you a hand.

 

[cheekabee]

Yeah man, im just trying to get tips and info on feeding them and they ate a few crix today and drank water so thats great.

 

[richoman_3]

you better get them feeding akash
i wouldnt want chickens hand touching anything of mine....

just let them settle in for a bit

 

[longirostris]

If you want these to breed next season and I am sure you do, then you will need to cool them. These animals if I am right come from Whyalla in South Australia, where they have been kept in outdoor aviaries. Right now outdoor day and night tempretures are dropping which means these animals are or would have been getting ready for brumation. You need to gradually wind back the basking spot tempretures over the next couple of weeks so that the ambient air temp in the enclosure is in the high teens or low 20's and replace the heat source/basking light with one that drops the temp down to mid 20's tops. I suggest that by the end of this month you will have no lighting or heating running in your enclosure at all. This assumes you have the animals indoors and they are getting some natural filtered light and are not in a completely dark room. I also assume that the enclosure is kept in a room in the house that is a little warmer than outdoor tempretures. You have to try and replicate the weather patterns and photoperiods that these animals are used to and have been living in for the last 4 years. If you do this successfully you will get these animals mating when you start to crank up tempretures again around late August early September. Don't worry too much about feeding, if I am right about where thee animals came from, then I have no doubt that they are well feed and have enough condition already to survive a normal wintering/cooling/brumation. Be careful when feeding animals that are going into or coming out of brumation. Make sure ambient air tempretures are sufficient to allow the animal to actually digest any food taken. Good luck with them they are very colourful little dragons.

 

[cheekabee]

Im getting two completely different replys, i just looked at the weather on bom exactly where they come from and its 33 with on over night low of 15 so I think that is what I'll be aiming for.

 

[Rogue5861]

33c days still bring in warm basking areas but dont be fooled by day temps, night temps is what ya need to watch. Afternoons here in adelaide 4-5pm start to rapidly decline in temps, we have just had a few warm days but next weeks temps are again low. Its cooled down alot over the last 2 months here in adelaide, outdoor beardies were hidden away about a month ago and indoor beardies have started to sleep over the past week. Just cool them off slowly and warm them up slowly again august september.

Good luck with them, their a beautiful dragon.


Rick

 

[longirostris]

Im getting two completely different replys, i just looked at the weather on bom exactly where they come from and its 33 with on over night low of 15 so I think that is what I'll be aiming for.

No problem with your thought process, you do what you like, just a couple of comments if I may. You said the basking spot was 40-45 degrees. These are summertime tempretures. We are currently well into autumn right now and in a few weeks will be officially in winter. It does not get to 40 degrees at this time of the year in the home range of these animals very often if at all and on the rare occassions it gets close to these tempretures they usually only last for a day or 2 until the next cold front comes through.

I would confidenty suggest that 33 degrees is several degrees above average for this time of year where these animals came from. My suggestion regarding cooling was offered to help you get the best possible outcome from the animals you have just purchased. If they have been kept outside all their lives then a shift indoors could be a very destabilisng and stressful change for them particularly if you don't get all the elements of replicating their natural environment right.

At 4 years these are mature adult individuals. My experience with mature dragons that come into my collection particularly wild caught or individuals kept outdoors is that they are almost impossible to breed and very often in a large number of cases are very difficult to keep alive. One of the main reasons certain keepers have strong success on a regualr basis year on year with breeding captive individuals of dragon species is because they are kept in outdoor enclosures in a geographic location that closely relates to their home range or is actually in their home range. This is definately the case with the individuals you have and all I am trying to do is give you a heads up on how to keep these animals breeding successfully if you are keeping them in an environment that requires artificial heating and lighting sources.

As I said in my earlier post good luck with them, I hope they work out for you.

 

[GeckoJosh]

I keep Netteds and Painted Dragons, both have a 38-40 degree basking spot.
I have foudn for troublesome feeders the trick is to feed them small food items (7-10mm crickets) and give them absolute privacy. If they are in a exposed area they may be too stressed to feed. Once you have them feeding you can slowly start exposing them to more people traffic.
IME small dragons can be very easily intimidated by human traffic.

 

[cheekabee]

I keep Netteds and Painted Dragons, both have a 38-40 degree basking spot.
I have foudn for troublesome feeders the trick is to feed them small food items (7-10mm crickets) and give them absolute privacy. If they are in a exposed area they may be too stressed to feed. Once you have them feeding you can slowly start exposing them to more people traffic.
IME small dragons can be very easily intimidated by human traffic.

Hey gecko josh do you have your dragons in these basking spots at this time of the year, and yes I have them in a low traffic area, from 7 to 3 no one is home.

No problem with your thought process, you do what you like, just a couple of comments if I may. You said the basking spot was 40-45 degrees. These are summertime tempretures. We are currently well into autumn right now and in a few weeks will be officially in winter. It does not get to 40 degrees at this time of the year in the home range of these animals very often if at all and on the rare occassions it gets close to these tempretures they usually only last for a day or 2 until the next cold front comes through.

I would confidenty suggest that 33 degrees is several degrees above average for this time of year where these animals came from. My suggestion regarding cooling was offered to help you get the best possible outcome from the animals you have just purchased. If they have been kept outside all their lives then a shift indoors could be a very destabilisng and stressful change for them particularly if you don't get all the elements of replicating their natural environment right.

At 4 years these are mature adult individuals. My experience with mature dragons that come into my collection particularly wild caught or individuals kept outdoors is that they are almost impossible to breed and very often in a large number of cases are very difficult to keep alive. One of the main reasons certain keepers have strong success on a regualr basis year on year with breeding captive individuals of dragon species is because they are kept in outdoor enclosures in a geographic location that closely relates to their home range or is actually in their home range. This is definately the case with the individuals you have and all I am trying to do is give you a heads up on how to keep these animals breeding successfully if you are keeping them in an environment that requires artificial heating and lighting sources.

As I said in my earlier post good luck with them, I hope they work out for you.

Hey longirostis im not trying to argue or anything but in the wild, which is what im trying to replicate even though the air temp is about 33, on the the floor especially on dark rocks the temperature readings are much higher, even on a freezzing day in Melbourne when I go out bare feet on the road i feel the heat. And at night even though the temperatures drop really low the rocks retain the heat and all the animals are under the rocks not exposed to the low temps. I hope I make sense.

 

[Stevo2]

Hey gecko josh do you have your dragons in these basking spots at this time of the year, and yes I have them in a low traffic area, from 7 to 3 no one is home.

Hey longirostis im not trying to argue or anything but in the wild, which is what im trying to replicate even though the air temp is about 33, on the the floor especially on dark rocks the temperature readings are much higher, even on a freezzing day in Melbourne when I go out bare feet on the road i feel the heat. And at night even though the temperatures drop really low the rocks retain the heat and all the animals are under the rocks not exposed to the low temps. I hope I make sense.

Do you think you're the first person to try and "replicate the wild"? Captivity is not the wild, nor is the wild where your dragons have been living. I'd suggest taking on board the advice of people that have kept similar dragons in captivity successfully (otherwise, why ask on the forum in the first place), including to breeding and raised hatchling stage, and follow the advice some good books. What you are doing, keeping dragons in captivity, is nothing new - there's no need to try and reinvent the wheel.

I think you'll find that gecko Josh's dragons choose themselves when they want to be in the basking spot, not the other way around.

Good luck with your little guys and step back and enjoy them, rather than stressing


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[Demansiaphile]

Akash listen to longirostis otherwise you're likely to have dead dragons in the near future.