Hello! I'm new to dragons

[SM Johnson]

Hey, cool forum. Thanks for being here!

I'm SM Johnson, erotic fiction writer and mental health worker, and just got my first bearded dragon on Friday.

My 11 y.o. daughter talked me into a baby bearded dragon (from Petco, sigh) last Friday. Kind of wish I'd waited and set up first, or even looked for an adult to adopt. (Mostly because the guy we dealt with at Petco told me a bunch of things I later discovered are NOT exactly right).

But. Our little guy (or girl) is named Elliot, and he'ss adorable. Probably 8 weeks old or just barely that, super alert and interested in everything we do, although we are handling him fairly minimally still, mostly just to transfer him into the feeding box.

He does drink water from my fingertip, and tests different fruits and veggies I've offered him. So far he only likes crickets, babyfood squash, and has poked at a commercial juvenile dragon food.

Man, does he ever sleep HARD. I was worried this morning that he wasn't okay, but 17 minutes with the lights on and he bounded right out of his bed and started sucking up the heat/light.

 

[PatsyB]

Welcome to the forum! Nothing wrong with a Petco baby, with the proper care they can thrive into a healthy adult. I got my girl Dexter 2 years ago from Petsmart and my boy Luci last year from Petco, both are healthy.

They do sleep hard! We used to laugh at Dexter when she was little as soon as her light went off for the night her eyes closed and she never opened them till morning. It's like the light switch was connected to her eyes!

 

[SM Johnson]

Getting the baby from Petco is fine, it's just that they gave me some pretty wrong information about what the babies need as far as care and feeding and equipment. So as far as impulse buying before doing the research, I guess is what I was saying, the big pet stores get a thumbs down - I ended up realizing I was sold not-great lights, etc.. That being said, this little guy appears healthy and alert, and we had ferrets for 10 years, which are pretty high maintenance as far as pets go, and we're used to adapting (smile). I've also been a zoo docent at various times over the past decade, and am familiar enough with beardies to know I would love to have one at home.

This reptile thing started with a baby garter snake we rescued in early winter last year, and kept until spring, then released. So we have a nice (for now, but small overall) tank, reptile rugs, hides, and an under tank heater. Almost like being halfway there. It was kind of... find something to put in it, or find somewhere to store it.

Thanks for the welcome.

 

[rob.kolm]

Welcome. The garter snake story made me laugh. We started after finding some baby snapping turtles just out of their eggs. We kept them for a bit before letting them go. We then got a leopard gecko and then a bearded dragon.

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

Welcome to your new addiction.

 

[PatsyB]

We started out with tadpoles, which then turned us on to white's tree frogs and then to leopard geckos then beardies. I wish I would have been exposed to all this stuff as a kid!