New breadie today

[Nastynotch]

YAY he came today. Sparky is beautiful!
though hes a bit older than what i had expected. Sparky is a male about 2 or 3 months of age about around 9 inches long. He eats like a pig (of which ive been allowing him to 4 mealies in the morning and 4 in the afternoon) he likes a few veggies here and there aswell. but i have to say hes doing perfectly fine. and sparky loves to be handled. he gets pissed if i dont hold him.

BUT because hes older than i thought ive only got him in a 15 gallon tank. which will have to do for now untill i find a 40....(i think 40gallons is recomended for adults)

So for the time being heres a few pictures.
Let me know what you think
PS. these pictures dont do justice to his strong yellow coloring.





yes yes, 15 gallon tank, 100 in one spot 90 in the other (overhead light). and ive got one hide (which he refuses to use) along with my waterbowl and walnut flooring.

Thanks, Nathan watkins :main_thumbsup:

 

[gixxer3420]

WIth my experience in breeding dragons, they don't hide or ause a hide. They love climbing and basking. So if you don't already I would get some sticks in there so he can climb. great looking little beardy!

 

[Nastynotch]

WIth my experience in breeding dragons, they don't hide or ause a hide. They love climbing and basking. So if you don't already I would get some sticks in there so he can climb. great looking little beardy!

thanks, In the tank i have a large corner rock and then that plastic log looking hide, all he does is climb. he seems to have no interest in sleeping under the log. so Ill make a trip up to petco to get some goodies.

 

[NicoleO]

It's about time you got him I've been waiting to see pics lol. He's adorable and I'd happy that you finally got him. I don't want to seem picky but beardies taste everything, I do mean everything so I'd recomend getting him off the walnut and on something that won't cause impaction. I'd also suggest raising his basking temp to about 110 because young beardies need a higher heat source to digest other than that you're doing fantastic. A 40 gallon breeder is the minimum requirement for an adult but a 75 gallon is ideal. if you have the room. Good luck with him and keep posting pics as he grows. I'll have to take some pics of mine after they're done shedding so you can see my big babies.

 

[brandy101010]

Congrats! He is adorable! My beardies don't use there hides often but they do use them sometimes. I have been using newspaper as substrate but have used fine sifted playsand in the past with out any problems. But I agree for a juvie he should be on something that can not be ingested. 110 basking spot is ideal. anything over that is too much so keep an eye on the temps.

 

[Nastynotch]

It's about time you got him I've been waiting to see pics lol. He's adorable and I'd happy that you finally got him. I don't want to seem picky but beardies taste everything, I do mean everything so I'd recomend getting him off the walnut and on something that won't cause impaction. I'd also suggest raising his basking temp to about 110 because young beardies need a higher heat source to digest other than that you're doing fantastic. A 40 gallon breeder is the minimum requirement for an adult but a 75 gallon is ideal. if you have the room. Good luck with him and keep posting pics as he grows. I'll have to take some pics of mine after they're done shedding so you can see my big babies.

Actually, ive had alot of luck with the walnut, ive used it for all of my herps and have never came across any problems. Its extremely soft and of a fine grain. but alot of people seem to dislike it for the beardies. so i found something else.

:main_thumbsup: I just got a long 40 gallon tank and some tile. not to mention a few branches for him to bake on.

thanks for the comments everyone. i love him.

 

[NicoleO]

The only reason I say not to keep him on something like walnut is because if he's anything like a typical juvi then he'll try to eat anything and everything. I had my juvi girl out last night and she tried to eat a piece of gum wrapper and all, after I took that away from her she tried to eat shredded paper. She didn't do it because she was hungry since she's a chunky little thing but rather because beardies are curious and like to try everything they can get in their mouths.

I was also going to tell you to see if he'll eat collard greens. I don't know what it is about collard greens but the boy I held back last year wouldn't touch anything other than collard greens when he was a baby. I actually had to trick him in order for him to eat mealworms or crickets since he didn't want anything other than collard greens. Now he's much bigger than his parents and he's close to 500 grams if not more without being over weight. I've seen his siblings from that same clutch and he's by far the biggest one out of all of them so I'd get him eating a good amount of greens as soon as possible since they help a lot with their growth.

 

[Nastynotch]

Yup, I just got the 45 gallon tank and i put three tiles in it. but the back side was still open because they didnt cover the hole thing. So i got some fine grain calcium sand to fill that little back bit.

After i put him in his new home, he walked over and tried to bite off the corner of the thick vine branch i got at petco. then he walked over and tried a little sand....:-( which kind of worries me. But he only tired a little, before he realized it wasnt so good.

Right now he will only eat parsly and fresh green beans. not to mention the mealies and crickets.

Hes not stressed at all and likes to bake under the lamp.

PS: that 45 gallon tank should be good for him even as he grows right?

 

[NicoleO]

The 45 gallon tank should be fine even when he's an adult but as far as what he's eating for greens those are things that should be fed occasionally or rarely. Here's a very good list of things that can be fed and they're broken down into catagories as to how often you should feed them http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html . I know it can be very hard to get them started on greens when they're young but if you don't start him now it'll be harder when he's an adult. My first two didn't have greens or a UV bulb until they were six months old because the person that I took them from didn't know much about beardies and wasn't willing to learn or try anything with them so I know how difficult they can be with new foods but I found that if you keep trying that you'll find something they love thats good for them as a staple. You're off to a good start and your beardie is lucky to have a good home with someone that cares.

 

[brandy101010]

I have never had a beardie turn down dandilion greens! there great for them and for some reason they just can't get enough!

 

[LadyGecko]

I live in an area that for some reason does not get fresh Collard-Mustard or Turnip greens in the grocery store except on holidays
Yeah- i know that sounds weird
I have all my herbivores/omnivores eating frozen thawed greens when i can't get fresh
This includes my bearded dragons-blue tongue skinks and my iggy
I start all of my beardies out on greens from the day that i get them or if they are babies that i have hatched-I put tiny mealworms in with minced greens (and other veggies)and it usually works
Before they started stocking frozen collard etc. greens I would feed escarole and endive along with veggies
All of the above greens can be fed on a daily basis
I went to the site listed and read the foods and the color codes and I have to admit that a lot of the acceptable foods(the ones in green) were foods that i never see around here for sale

I let my baby beardies eat from a dish of mealworms as I do my baby Leos and toss in about a dozen 1/8 to 1/4 inch crix each per day at 2 months of age
I do not believe that you can overfeed a baby beardie but agree that like any other lizard-it is not good to leave uneaten crix left in with them

As for substrate and this is just my own preference-I use playsand
I would do not use any calci- and vita -sand or the crushed walnut shells

just my 2 cents

Sandy

 

[pawsfoot]

Now I want a beardy. He is soo cute Nathan. It's gonna be heck convincing the fiance that I need a bearded dragon.

 

[Nastynotch]

Now I want a beardy. He is soo cute Nathan. It's gonna be heck convincing the fiance that I need a bearded dragon.

lol this has been my birthday present this year. Im lucky to have an aunt that knows what she buying. though I was told she paid a pretty penny for him :main_huh: .

regaurdless hes great. calm (loves to be handled). and is very healthy.

:main_thumbsup: cant wait for him to grow up!

 

[geckolover2006]

get him off that calci sand or i will sneak into your house tonight and change his substrate!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Nastynotch]

its already changed.