New Mom

[JessicaHaverty]

Hi there!

My name is Jessica. I am 27 and live in Modesto, California. I have a six month old beardie named Ryu. I am considering getting another one so that he has a pal. I am interested in what everyone's thoughts are on housing another one with him.

I joined the forum so that I can get more information and ask questions, just to make sure i am doing everything right. So far it seems as though my little guy is healthy and happy. He eats crickets and also romaine. I also feed him carrots, mustard greens and broccoli but he wont eat those. I know romaine isn't the most nutritious but that is the only vegetables he will eat at this point. But he eats plenty of crickets.

I have attached some pics. I would love to know what you guys think!

 

[Jp]

Hello Jessica, Ryu is a great name & he's a good looking little dragon. U should definitely have separate enclosures 4 the dragons. Stress on the animals should always be a concern when dealing with limited space. Both dragons may fight 4 dominance. One could b cool with the situation & the other, not so much & 1 dragon doesn't have 2 be aggressive 2 intimidate the other. Lack of nutrition & health can be a big issue.
Who knows? They might totally get along but it is a big risk.

 

[JessicaHaverty]

I can see that. I go to petsmart sometimes and I see the beardies together and they are so cute how they play and i love it and I wonder if it would be good for Ryu to have a pal. But I would hate for them to fight. So i appreciate your advice!

 

[Dragonsx6]

Hi Jessica, A male Dragon is better on his own. If you tried to put another male in with him when he gets older they would fight for dominance, and if you put a female in with him he would eventually pester her constantly to mate with her. This I can tell you fron experience as whe we got our first 2 they had not been looked after properly and were very small, by the time we could sex them it was too late & the female was pregnant, the only time he left her alone was when she was pregnant, he was at her constantly and caused her to be ill thru the stress of it. We did seperate them as soon as we could. You can house more than one female together, but they really only run around and play together when they are little, when they get bigger they prefer just to watch what going on around them. If you feel he is lonely just make sure you bring him out his viv everyday to interact with you and your family, ours like nothing better than cuddling on our shoulder getting stroked or going exploring the house, just keep an eye on where they go tho lol. Hope this helps you make your decision.

 

[JessicaHaverty]

Thanks guys for your advice and answering the poll! Brings me to another question:

I have had mine about a month. I have always heard that they like to come out and be part of the family and "cuddle" on someone's shoulder and such...I have heard that they can develop a dog like affection...im wondering how this develops. Right now he doesn't really seem to like handling. He runs around and as best he can tries to not let me catch him. He doesn't seem to be getting at my comfortable with hiuman handling. How can I help this...just with time?

 

[Brett]

That's something that comes with age when there small there a bit skittish as they get older they calm down and are more willing to just chill with you. Keep spending time with him and holding it the rewards will come in time.

 

[ajandj]

Hi Jessica, welcome to the forum. You've got a sweet looking dragon there.
I think the posts above have covered the housing questions.
As for the food side, Romaine really isn't the idea thing for you beardie. What else have you tried.
As a staple i use endive, dandelions (flowers and leaves), turnip greens and squash. I mix it up with things like, mint, lavander, nasturtiums (flowers & leaves). pepper bell, rocket, apple, pear, bok choy, beetroot greens, carrot greens. Not all together, maybe 6 different things and not the same things daily. Below is a link to a site with a food table. It's colour coded and really easy to read "It's my Bible"
http://carolinadesignerdragons.com/common/docs/food_list.pdf

 

[JessicaHaverty]

SO I took your advice ajandj and tried some of your suggestions with Ryu and he really liked them. In fact, for the first time he ate right out of my hand! That was really exciting!!! Anyway. Thanks for the advice!

 

[ajandj]

anytime! glad to hear. There's not much that yoda doesn't like.. well, except for strawberry and grapes.
He seems to love flowers and herbs too. Like pansy flowers, rose petals, lavander, rosemary and mint

 

[JessicaHaverty]

Hey these might be dumb beginner questions but I just want to double check all my information.
What should the temperature be in my tank?
Should my UV light be on at all times?
Infrared light should just be on at night time?
Baskign light should just be on during the day?
If he isn't drinking water on his own, I should mist him, How often should I mist him?
How many crickets per day should I feed him? The lady at pet smart said five per day. He seems to be hungrier than that though, he will eat up to 15 per day if I let him.
How long will it take him to become full grown and how big will he get (minus the length of his tail)?

I thought I would ask you guys because I have asked people at two different pet stores and gotten several different answers. and \different answers from various online sights,

 

[Dragonsx6]

Hi Jessica your uv & basking lights should be on for approx 12 hours in the winter & 14 hrs per day in the summer, you dont need an infrared at night as they just sleep all night and having a light on will upset his sleeping patterns. I have never used any light at night and my dragons are fine. A lot of dragons dont drink from a bowl, I know mine dont, mine only drink when they are in the bath, as such I bath them everyday. Rule of thumb for feeding is give as many crix/locusts etc as they will eat in 15 mins, but making sure they are no larger than the space between their eyes. It can take him up to 2 years to be fully grown, My own dragons are 19inches long from the tip of their tail to the tip of their nose. They are small tho as they had been malnourished before we got them, my others are still growing so I will have to wait and see but I know of people who have dragons that are 24 inches long from tip to tip.
Hope this helps & enjoy your little guy

 

[ajandj]

i personally don't use infer red lighting. Any lights will keep your beardie awake at night. I use an oz purple globe as it puts out no light, you can also use a CHE (ceramic heat emitter)
Let your beardie eat as many crickets as he wants in 5 -10 minutes. NEVER leave crickets in the enclosure as they will bite your beardie (these's a post about it with pictures)
Always offer greens - this is the guise i use - http://carolinadesignerdragons.com/common/docs/food_list.pdf
Heating should be between 90 -105 on hot side and up to about 85 on the cool side.
I don't use heating all the time thru the night, only if the enclosure gets below 65.
You should dust crickets with celcium 5 days a week. Make sure your crickets are healthy and that you gutload them. Also, don't feed anything bigger than the space between his eyes.
I turn lights on at about 8am and lights out at 9-10 pm. (basking and UV)
I bath mine every 2 -3 day but l mist everyday as mine doesn't seem to drink from a dish - l have on the every odd occassion found Yoda in his water dish so l always make sure he has clean water in a dish everyday.
I also have found that Yoda will poop in his food dish, or very close to it. I have cut up a very thin place mat and place that under his food dish as it makes it much easier to clean his poop out everyday.
Growth - not sure..
NEVER believe what a petshop tells you as MOST of the time they have no idea. Ask as many questions as you need. SOmeone told me that the only stupid questionis the one you don't ask.
Everyone has different oppinions about different thing, so take the advice onboard and do what seems to suite. As long as your beadie is growing well and is happy, then you can't go wrong.
Oh also, natural UV is better than a globe so if you can, take him out for a ropm in the grass just bare in mind they are very fast. I use an old bird cage with the base removed. That way l know where he is and that he is safe from cats/dogs and so he can't eat anything (snails/bug/flowers) that aren't safe for him.
Hope this helps and goodluck!!!

OH and Welcome!!!!!

 

[JessicaHaverty]

Great information!!! I will definitely heed all of it! I am very nervous to try taking him outside right now. I do take him out of the tank and hold him occasionally as seen in the pic, but he is very fast and there have been a couple of times he has gotten away from me and I have had to execute a search and rescue mission. Luckily my apartment is only 600 square feet and he has been found safely under my sofa. But I cant think of what would happen outside. I like the bird cage idea. So far he seems to be thriving. And all of the answers to the questions seems to be close to what I am doing, so it seems like I am not too far off track! Thanks again so much for your help guys! I am glad I joined the forum!

 

[Missy]

Hi there Jessica! Welcome to the forum! I'm still a bit of a "newbie" too, although our Gobi is almost 9 months old. Never feel silly for asking "too many" or "stupid" questions. To NOT ask, could cost Ryu (LOVE the name BTW!) his/her life. I don't think that I really need to answer anything, being that everyone else here, replied and was pretty thorough.