Hello everyone, so here is the tale of how my family and I came to welcome Zia into our crazy little household.
We were strolling through Petsmart about 3 weeks ago, when my 6yr old stopped and lit up like a Christmas tree. She had spotted about 5 baby dragons, dancing around in their enclosure. Now, my husband has been talking about getting one one day (since his beloved ferret passed about a year ago at the ripe old age of 9), but we didn't expect to walk out of petsmart that day with a beardie-love-struck daughter. So I wrestled the family out of the store while repeating "we'll think about it" about 10 times.... and I'm sure you can guess what happened the next day; we were back at Petsmart, looking at the beardie tank kits. My husbands birthday was that weekend and he was eager to mention that the beardie and equipment could be his birthday present. How could I say no? I had always secretly wanted one too.
So we get the 40gallon tank home, complete with a UVB dome light and basking dome light, a few logs and rocks, dishes, reptile carpet and thermometer. Silly me should have realized that the pet store guys aren't the brightest bulbs, and half of their 'expertise' was false. I know now that the UV light is trash, and doesn't get through the metal mesh as much as it should. The 100watt heat lamp is OK, IF I raise her basking rock up about 12inches so she can get a good 105 - 108 degree basking spot. The thermometer/humidity gauge thing of course is crap too, and will only remain my cool side temp gauge. So far, after reading through this forum a bunch, I have filled my amazon cart with a new reptisun 10 bulb, an under-the-counter light fixture thingy and command strips to mount it inside of the tank. A spot temp reading thermometer so I can get a more accurate reading of her basking rock, another light fixture thing to mount the heat lamp the the inside of the lid (moving both lights off the tank every time I open the lid is getting irritating), and I have made a list of stuff to get at home depot this weekend to start work on a custom rock wall and hides out of styrofoam, grout, etc. I'm really excited about this project! I'm an artsy person and I'm going to make it themed and everything, haha, I will likely post pictures on here when I'm done.
I am 90% sure our little beardie is a girl, or a late developing boy? I watched videos of the tail elevating and the bump spots, and she has a slight center bump, nothing at all on the sides. It was hard to name her till we knew the gender. We live in NM currently (we are a dual citizen US/Canadian family), so we decided on Zia, after the Zia sun symbol you see on the NM flag.
She loves to be held, eats baby crickets and collard greens like they're going out of style, likes opening her mouth and challenging our other pets (she's going to be the boss one day), and sleeping in hilarious positions. I figure she's only about 2 months old, and once she had finished shedding, she is a bright orange and green mix which is quite pretty! Right now she has just finished a big BM on her basking rock, and has jumped down and is glaring at me like "aren't you going to clean that so I can continue my bask?" :lol: I had no idea before becoming a reptile owner that they can have such a range of expressions! She can tell me if she's irritated or content just by the look on her little face. I love it.
Congratulations if you read my novella, and thank you for giving me a place to research for my pet. The topics and expertise on this site has been invaluable and I look forward to joining in on other discussions about all of your beautiful dragons.
We were strolling through Petsmart about 3 weeks ago, when my 6yr old stopped and lit up like a Christmas tree. She had spotted about 5 baby dragons, dancing around in their enclosure. Now, my husband has been talking about getting one one day (since his beloved ferret passed about a year ago at the ripe old age of 9), but we didn't expect to walk out of petsmart that day with a beardie-love-struck daughter. So I wrestled the family out of the store while repeating "we'll think about it" about 10 times.... and I'm sure you can guess what happened the next day; we were back at Petsmart, looking at the beardie tank kits. My husbands birthday was that weekend and he was eager to mention that the beardie and equipment could be his birthday present. How could I say no? I had always secretly wanted one too.
So we get the 40gallon tank home, complete with a UVB dome light and basking dome light, a few logs and rocks, dishes, reptile carpet and thermometer. Silly me should have realized that the pet store guys aren't the brightest bulbs, and half of their 'expertise' was false. I know now that the UV light is trash, and doesn't get through the metal mesh as much as it should. The 100watt heat lamp is OK, IF I raise her basking rock up about 12inches so she can get a good 105 - 108 degree basking spot. The thermometer/humidity gauge thing of course is crap too, and will only remain my cool side temp gauge. So far, after reading through this forum a bunch, I have filled my amazon cart with a new reptisun 10 bulb, an under-the-counter light fixture thingy and command strips to mount it inside of the tank. A spot temp reading thermometer so I can get a more accurate reading of her basking rock, another light fixture thing to mount the heat lamp the the inside of the lid (moving both lights off the tank every time I open the lid is getting irritating), and I have made a list of stuff to get at home depot this weekend to start work on a custom rock wall and hides out of styrofoam, grout, etc. I'm really excited about this project! I'm an artsy person and I'm going to make it themed and everything, haha, I will likely post pictures on here when I'm done.
I am 90% sure our little beardie is a girl, or a late developing boy? I watched videos of the tail elevating and the bump spots, and she has a slight center bump, nothing at all on the sides. It was hard to name her till we knew the gender. We live in NM currently (we are a dual citizen US/Canadian family), so we decided on Zia, after the Zia sun symbol you see on the NM flag.
She loves to be held, eats baby crickets and collard greens like they're going out of style, likes opening her mouth and challenging our other pets (she's going to be the boss one day), and sleeping in hilarious positions. I figure she's only about 2 months old, and once she had finished shedding, she is a bright orange and green mix which is quite pretty! Right now she has just finished a big BM on her basking rock, and has jumped down and is glaring at me like "aren't you going to clean that so I can continue my bask?" :lol: I had no idea before becoming a reptile owner that they can have such a range of expressions! She can tell me if she's irritated or content just by the look on her little face. I love it.
Congratulations if you read my novella, and thank you for giving me a place to research for my pet. The topics and expertise on this site has been invaluable and I look forward to joining in on other discussions about all of your beautiful dragons.
