New to forum - First Beardie!

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Hikari

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Hello. I'd been wanting a beardie since for years. I've been gleaning info on this site in preparation, and I've finally taken the plunge. I was originally aiming to get an adult, but I fell in love with this little guy as soon as I laid eyes on him. I brought him home Oct. 10th.

I was told he was a Hypo/Leatherback/Translucent type, and his parents were very bright red-orange, so he should be pretty bright as well (he kinda already is. Looks like someone took a red-orange crayola and drew lines on him). I was pretty much "shut up and take my money", so I forgot to ask how old he was :oops: Granted, this wasn't the breeder themselves, but a family-run pet shop owner who knows and is sourced by said breeder, so not sure if he'd have remembered the exact age off-hand anyways. If I had to guess, it's only 7 in. long or so...definitely a little guy.

Also, not sure if male or female. Too young to tell, though the guy at the shop said "probably male". Gonna make picking out a name interesting.

Anyways, here's my new, adorable scale-baby:

beardie1.jpg


beardie2.jpg


beardie3.jpg


So majestic, lol

beardie4.jpg


He loves his basking rock.

Here's his full set-up:

beardie5.jpg


It's a Zilla 20g with the top-sliding lock lid (originally housed my young ball python). His light is a combo of a Repti-sun 10 mini and a 75w Repti-Basking Heat bulb. I've heard Repti-sun lights are good. Substrate is ceramic tile. He loves to climb his various rocks and decor, and loves his basking rock. I was lucky and caught a really awesome clearance deal on all the decor. The side panel backgrounds were painted by myself with acrylics. I had to make sure to cover the insulation I added to the sides and bottom of the tank (I have long since learned glass is a terrible insulator). My temp gun has been showing good temps, so it seems to be working well.

I've been feeding him dubia roaches. He refuses to eat his veggies (spits them out even if I trick him into getting them in his mouth), so I give them to his dubia to eat instead. Gut-loading ftw. I know I'll have to get him to eat veggies eventually though. I originally got him calcium with D3, but then heard they can overdose on it, so I got him calcium without it for dusting instead. Might still use the D3 stuff from time to time, just not as my main calcium supplement.

Handling is still a battle, but he's young yet. Even then, if I go slowly, I can usually get him to climb on my hand without too much of a fuss. I pick him up to move him to his feeding tub, so I'm hoping he'll associate hand = good food, and eventually outside-the-tank playtime when he gets less flighty.

Anyways, I'm hoping I can manage this okay. This is my first lizard, and a bit more advanced than a ball python, but I'll be here trying to learn. I want him to be as happy and healthy a lizard as he can be.
 

DorkiTimmy

Hatchling Member
Super awesome looking dragon. I actually been looking for one that looks like him. I was wondering where you are located and where you got him? Also how much did you get him for?
 

Hikari

Member
Original Poster
DorkiTimmy":191grklu said:
Super awesome looking dragon. I actually been looking for one that looks like him. I was wondering where you are located and where you got him? Also how much did you get him for?

There's a reptile expo in Pittsburgh, PA every first Sunday of the month. That's where I got him, from a booth called Off The Hook Exotics. He was $200, and he was the only one like him they had. Not sure if that was a high price or not, but other booths were selling fancy hatchlings for $125-150, and even they didn't look as nice. Plus, I'm into ball pythons, so maybe I've come to expect spending a good chunk of money for a certain morph (my albino enchi ball python was $250, including shipping, since I bought her online).

Good luck on your search!
 

DorkiTimmy

Hatchling Member
Awesome thanks for the info. I thought you might have got her at a really good price. $200 is pretty normal avg for her morph. Love to see how she changes. update us with picture of her growth!
 

Hikari

Member
Original Poster
DorkiTimmy":371ulg06 said:
Awesome thanks for the info. I thought you might have got her at a really good price. $200 is pretty normal avg for her morph. Love to see how she changes. update us with picture of her growth!

Yeah, I'll definitely take lots of pics! I already have a bunch on my phone, lol.

Pity I have know idea the actual gender...I've been at a loss for what name to pick. I know it doesn't know or care what its name is, but I do, lol. I wonder if this little one is still too small to try the "shine a bright flashlight through the base of the tail and look" trick? Might try it anyways (doesn't seem like it'll harm anything).
 

DorkiTimmy

Hatchling Member
If you're experience it should be easy to tell otherwise the older they are the easier it is to sex them. Post a couple picture and maybe someone here might be able to help you out. You can try bringing them to a reptile store that is knowledgeable. They might help you sex them if they are nice.
 

MarlowAndMe

Juvie Member
What a cutie! Btw I don’t know mines gender either so I just gave him a gender neutral name so that if he turns out a she the name still sounds good :) mines called Marlow. I love his basking rock and hides! Do you happen to know the brand / names of them? I’m trying to find some like them for my dragon but being from a small country I have to by them overseas but to look them up I need names so I ask everyone who has one I like if they know the brand or name haha

Welcome to the page :) I’m new too and have found so many here extremely helpful :)
 

Hikari

Member
Original Poster
Jaspersmama":1fi8zwxb said:
What a cutie! Btw I don’t know mines gender either so I just gave him a gender neutral name so that if he turns out a she the name still sounds good :) mines called Marlow. I love his basking rock and hides! Do you happen to know the brand / names of them? I’m trying to find some like them for my dragon but being from a small country I have to by them overseas but to look them up I need names so I ask everyone who has one I like if they know the brand or name haha

Welcome to the page :) I’m new too and have found so many here extremely helpful :)

Yeah, I'll probably pick something gender neutral for the name. Easier that way. Just picking a name has been hard though...so many possibilities.

As for the decor, I got it on clearance at Petsmart, meaning they aren't planning on selling it anymore. I haven't found it online either, but if you want to take a go at it, it's called "All Living Things Desert Reptile Decor Kit". The basking rock was seperate, and is also the "All Living Things" brand, and was also clearance. I lucked out, cause I needed cheap decor and happened to be at the right place at the right time. Also, this decor is great for the 20g, but I'm not sure how well it'll size for a 40g once I switch him to that.

Either way, good luck on your decor-hunting. Worst case, you could always try and DIY some of your own. There's a whole forum here for that (I've been looking it over, it's pretty cool!)
 

MarlowAndMe

Juvie Member
Thanks :) I’ll have a hunt and see if I can find them on the net
As for too many choices of names, I hear you!
We decided to go gender neutral ( today we found out Marlow is a boy however) incase and I wanted Aussie theme. My other half and kids wanted the name Marlow, so I googled “marlow Australia” just to see if there by chance was a link thinking of course there won’t be - but it came up straight away “Marlow, a suburb in New South Wales Australia”
I guess from now on any future beardies I get will be named after Australian suburbs haha
 
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