Thought it was cool...

[Pancake]

So, just getting aquinted with our new dragon.

I tried to tell if it was a female or male, but I think it is fat enough it kind of looks like both! I am hedging on the side of it being a female though.

Yesterday was the first day I went to the grocery store with a shopping list for a lizard. So she got a nice mix of fresh veggies last night... lots of butternut squash, a couple blue berries, broccoli, parsley, snow peas, red pepper, and I tried a cheerio but she spit it out.

Last night was the first night I could get her to eat from my hand! I figured out if I hold my hand flat, and move my fingers a bit, she just licks the veggies right out of my palm... It was pretty cool, I had no idea how sticky their tongues are! I also made sure to wash the veggies good and give them to her a bit wet so she got some moisture...

I also watched her eat a superworm and a cricket... she missed a couple, but it was neat watching her move around a little.

So, I spend a good portion of my night (my dog as well) laying in front of the tank watching.... Not sure why, but the dog is infactuated with her... tries to eat the cat if the cat even thinks about walking in that bedroom... can you say a little protective over our new addition? lol!

So, tonight I am going to pick up a uvb light and I think I need more crickets as there are only 3 left in the tank... no more worms for a bit though.. I think she ate about 5 last night...

 

[ladyknite]

LOL Atomic Guard Puppy!

You don't really want to leave crix in the tank. Remove them if she doesn't eat them within 15 minutes.

 

[Craiger]

Those are definitely "cool" nights. I do that from time-to-time. Just sit and chill while I watch them go about doing whatever it is they want to do.

Eating from your hand is definitely cool....and helps build trust in the relationship. But just one warning, be careful not to do it too much. They tend to start relying on it and won't eat on their own.

By the way, what makes you think "female"? Just curious.

 

[Pancake]

I know I shouldnt hand feed very often... I have just never been around a lizard before...so new experiences are neat lol! "She" did eat quite a bit on her own last night though...and I put a new salad in for her today for her to munch on...cant spoil her too much!

I mentioned to hubby about taking the crickets out, but he didnt want to or didnt think we needed to....its his pet so...I kind of have to listen...for now... I do make sure the crickets have lots of food in the tank though so they dont start chewing on him.... bran, shredded carrots and a bit of lettuce...although I believe pancake ate some of it last night while eating the worms...

I found some pictures of the difference between male and female... problem is... "it" does have two kind of bumps under the tail like a male, but no real indent... I honestly dont have too much faith in my ability to "sex" it... I will more than likely end up trying to take pictures and post them on here for help....

 

[Craiger]

I totally understand the new experiences.

I'd let hubby know about how crickets will much on our dragons. I've seen some pretty nasty pictures of this very thing. So no way would I ever leave a cricket in one of my enclosures overnight.

You know, I thought I was pretty good at sexing....'til Sam decided to have a sex change on me. Imagine the shock when, for almost a year and a half, I thought Sam was a boy. Then going home one day to find a single egg on the floor of her enclosure. I had no idea what it was. But when I found out, I freaked. LOL! I'm just really glad I named her Sam. ;D

 

[Pancake]

Ya, I tried... half of it being I dont want a tank of crickets...if they get out in the house I am not going to be too happy lol... unless they can stay in the garage or outside....

As for sexing...with uneducated eyes... she kind of looks half and half lol... I call her "pancake" because of how flat and round she is lol... Hubby cant get used to that name. but we will try and keep it generic just for that purpose.

I thought that all reptiles could change sexes?

 

[renich]

I think pancake is a cool name!

Just a note of caution on the hand feeding. I used to wave a piece of collard green to get Bernie to eat his salad at times. Once he misfired and got my finger instead of the collard. Ouch! Their little teeth are sharp.

I'm not aware of lizards changing sexes.

 

[Pancake]

I like Pancake too lol... Hubby looks at me a bit sideways because it is weird, but he wouldnt expect anything less out of me lol! ;D

I just hold my hand out flat, kind of like if I was feeding one of my horses. Pancake just licks what she wants off and when she is done, backs up a little bit. She is not agressive at all... the dog licked her last night lol.. not sure if that is healthy for the dog or not, so have to try and avoid that... next thing I know they will be best friends...go figure, stranger things have happened! lol...

I have read about some frogs changing sexes if there was not enough males or females...cant remember where, or if it was pollution induced lol...

 

[renich]

That is awesome that they are connecting. There is a pic on here somewhere of a member's dog and his beardie. It was too cute. I'll have to dig. It's been awhile. This member took incredible shots of her beardie.

 

[northface75]

This is probably the best article I've seen for determining the sex of your Beardie: actually, I'm not sure if you're allowed to link other sites on this site...new to the forums ><, eh, I'll do it anyways, its a great article.

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/sexing/

 

[Red Ink AUS]

I found some pictures of the difference between male and female... problem is... "it" does have two kind of bumps under the tail like a male, but no real indent... I honestly dont have too much faith in my ability to "sex" it... I will more than likely end up trying to take pictures and post them on here for help....

Best way of determining sex when they still look androgynous is through hemipenal transillumination.

 

[Craiger]

Best way of determining sex when they still look androgynous is through hemipenal transillumination.

Sticking a light bulb up their butt? LOL! J/K

Please explain.

 

[staylor]

Best way of determining sex when they still look androgynous is through hemipenal transillumination.

There he goes with his encyclopedia terminology. j/k

 

[Red Ink AUS]

Flip dragon unto it's back hold firmly and secure, turn ambient lights off/dim. With the dragon upside down in hand illuminate the base of the tail brom below with a single LED torch (must hold the light as close as possible to the dragon so there is no light spillage over the tail or you will just blind yourself lol). So if the dragon was the right way up it would be on the top of their tail. Now if you see a yellow glow with no interuptions it is female, if you see a red glow with what looks like two dark dots inside the tail it's male. The dots are the hemipenes.

 

[Craiger]

Flip dragon unto it's back hold firmly and secure, turn ambient lights off/dim. With the dragon upside down in hand illuminate the base of the tail brom below with a single LED torch (must hold the light as close as possible to the dragon so there is no light spillage over the tail or you will just blind yourself lol). So if the dragon was the right way up it would be on the top of their tail. Now if you see a yellow glow with no interuptions it is female, if you see a red glow with what looks like two dark dots inside the tail it's male. The dots are the hemipenes.

Nice! That's some great info. Thanks Francis.

Darn...I'm going to have to go to bed. That's, yet, another thing I learned today.

 

[Vesta]

WOW!!! I'd never heard that before!!! Interesting!!

 

[renich]

Very interesting!

 

[Pancake]

I took another look last night and I am pretty sure she is female. I am going off a photo of a male/female from a site I found. Apparently if you hold the tail up and towards their head a bit there is an indent with a bump on each side for a male, and the female doesnt have that... I will try the light though.... for curiousity purposes more than anything.

Pancake is starting to get more used to us now, she is moving around a lot more....

One question though...

How often do they go to the bathroom? Just want to keep an eye on it so I can catch it quicker if something is wrong...

 

[Craiger]

Just kind of depends on the dragon. Sam used to go twice a day. Now she's down to once every other day or when she gets a bath. Almost ALWAYS in the bath tub.

 

[li]

Be really careful sexing. You don't want to hurt his/her tail.
This is a picture of femoral pores. Although both male and female have them, they are much more prominant in males.

Here is a good example