Introduction to me and my beardie family

[Spikesmom1970]

I don't know why it took me so long to join. I am not a newbie to dragons, having acquired our first boy, Toothless 14 months ago. It was my husband's idea. We had just lost our beloved kitty Dale. We were not ready for another cat but our home felt so empty without a pet to love. I didn't really think a reptile could fill a void. Honestly, I assumed they were just lumps that needed to be fed and watered but I allowed my husband to get one anyway. Boy , was I wrong. Toothless actually has a personality and enjoys snuggles, watching tv and looking out the window. If he catches my eye, he will glass surf to come out, but only if he knows one of us is watching. He is rather smart. We enjoyed him so much that we ended up rescuing a female from a pet store 2 months later. She is missing 1 foot and part of her tail. They were going to euthanize her and I couldn't let that happen. We took Spike home and she became a part of our family. Spike's personality is so much different than Toothless. Spike is not a cuddle bug. She is rather hyper and will run and jump when she is out as if she thinks she is super girl. She will actually play like a cat with a laser light or cat toys. We had used this site for tips on raising them, such as proper lighting and diet, but I never had a question so I didn't join. Here is where the story gets interesting. Spike layed eggs back in September. We knew that females can sometimes lay infertile eggs so we were going to dispose of them. That is when my teenage son spoke up and said that he had put them together a few weeks prior, just to see what they would do. (As if it wasn't obvious). Although we had not planned on breeding I did go out and purchase an incubator. We ended up with 16 eggs in the first 2 clutches. She had a third clutch but I ended up freezing those eggs. I struggled with myself, but I really did not want to get in over my head and wanted to keep it managable.
Our first egg hatched last night! The hatchling is so small and cute. The rest of the eggs are starting to deflate so they will not be too far behind. I am sure I will have a lot of questions to come on hatchling care. We are planning to raise them for 6 weeks before rehoming. And as exciting as this is, I told my son he better never do this again. Wish me luck!

[Claudiusx]

Welcome to the site! Glad you finally joined!

A lot of people who have only ever had cats or dogs look at reptile owners as weird because they don't see how you could form an emotional connection with a reptile like you can with a dog or cat. But, as you've learned, that's clearly not the case.
And they truly do all seem to have their own personalities.

I'm glad you and your husband found toothless and spike and found this site.

Boy I'm typing as I read through, and you have hatchlings?! How exciting. You better post up some pictures, we love pictures here.

We want to see spike. We want to see toothless. We want to see the incubator and eggs, and we want to see the little babies!

-Brandon

[DragonPete]

I don't know why it took me so long to join. I am not a newbie to dragons, having acquired our first boy, Toothless 14 months ago. It was my husband's idea. We had just lost our beloved kitty Dale. We were not ready for another cat but our home felt so empty without a pet to love. I didn't really think a reptile could fill a void. Honestly, I assumed they were just lumps that needed to be fed and watered but I allowed my husband to get one anyway. Boy , was I wrong. Toothless actually has a personality and enjoys snuggles, watching tv and looking out the window. If he catches my eye, he will glass surf to come out, but only if he knows one of us is watching. He is rather smart. We enjoyed him so much that we ended up rescuing a female from a pet store 2 months later. She is missing 1 foot and part of her tail. They were going to euthanize her and I couldn't let that happen. We took Spike home and she became a part of our family. Spike's personality is so much different than Toothless. Spike is not a cuddle bug. She is rather hyper and will run and jump when she is out as if she thinks she is super girl. She will actually play like a cat with a laser light or cat toys. We had used this site for tips on raising them, such as proper lighting and diet, but I never had a question so I didn't join. Here is where the story gets interesting. Spike layed eggs back in September. We knew that females can sometimes lay infertile eggs so we were going to dispose of them. That is when my teenage son spoke up and said that he had put them together a few weeks prior, just to see what they would do. (As if it wasn't obvious). Although we had not planned on breeding I did go out and purchase an incubator. We ended up with 16 eggs in the first 2 clutches. She had a third clutch but I ended up freezing those eggs. I struggled with myself, but I really did not want to get in over my head and wanted to keep it managable.
Our first egg hatched last night! The hatchling is so small and cute. The rest of the eggs are starting to deflate so they will not be too far behind. I am sure I will have a lot of questions to come on hatchling care. We are planning to raise them for 6 weeks before rehoming. And as exciting as this is, I told my son he better never do this again. Wish me luck!

I wanna see too! Take lots of pics! Love baby anythings!
-Dee

[DorgEndo]

Wow, congratulations on the babies. Also welcome to Toothless, Spike and the human family

[Spikesmom1970]

[Click image to enlarge]
Sorry it took so long to reply. I had trouble figuring out how to post photos. Thank you to everyone for the welcome replies. The hatchlings are doing good. They are now all eating pinhead crickets and dubia roaches. We still have not been able to get them to eat greens but I know that will co[Click image to enlarge]
me soon. We now have 6 babies with 2 eggs hatching at the moment.. We lost 7 that were in a different tray and have another clutch that should be hatching in 2 or 3 weeks. I am trying not to get too attached to them as they will be rehomed in 6 weeks but it is so hard not to. [Click image to enlarge]

[Claudiusx]

Aww they are so cute. I love hatchling dragons.

I bet you were so excited when you saw those eggs hatching. I remember the first time I hatched babies. Quite the exciting experience

-Brandon

[Spikesmom1970]

It sure is exciting. I could sit and watch them all day but I have to go to work to pay for all these crickets!

[Claudiusx]

but I have to go to work to pay for all these crickets!

LOL, the unfortunate reality that many don't realize until they have dozens of hungry mouths to feed.

-Brandon

[AHBD]

Hi there ! What a nice little beardie family. Just curious, where are you getting the small crickets ? I know the stores call them pinheads even when they are actually the 1/4" size. Babies can eat 1/8 " crickets for the first 2weeks and then go right into the 1/4 " size. The reason that I mention this is because some people actually order pinheads + they literally are the slightly larger than the size of the period at the end of a sentence and are too small for baby beardies, but of course the crickets will grow every week. Another thing I want to suggest if you don't already do it is to use a spray bottle for hydration. It's very important to keep them hydrated .This video [ not mine ] shows how :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN3tSmkZisM

[Spikesmom1970]

Thank you for the advice. As far as the crickets, the ones at my pet store sold as extra small seemed a little large, some of the hatchlings were afraid. I ordered 1000 1/8" from an online company where I purchase my adult's cricket's. (I don't know if we are allowed to mention names but I have had good luck with this company). Well, the 1/8" look like fleas and they are having trouble catching them. Luckily, they love the small Dubia's I have for them. I am going to order some 1/4" crickets today. Also, all but the last baby to hatch, who was just born yesterday, are nibbling the greens. I am misting them several times a day. As soon as I new we were having babies I started reading as many forum posts reguarding hatchling care. Many of you have been providing great tips for people like me.

[AHBD]

Sounds good, you've done your homework ! Spraying the babies 1-2 X a day without leaving the enclosure wet, or mopping up any excess will keep it from getting too wet for the babies.

[DragonPete]

Oh my goodness! Those tiny babies are just the cutest things EVER!! ❤
-Dee