Meet Sir Henry of Scales

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hdochow

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Sir Henry of Scales
Hi guys! My name is hillary. My daughter Victoria (Tori) and I wound up "taking someone's Christmas present off their hands" in the beginning of January. His name was Henry, but he has since been knighted, and now goes by, "Sir Henry of Scales".

Needless to say, he was seriously neglected when we got him. He was in a Petco 20L kit setup with an outdoor thermometer in it, coil uvb, and a black bulb for heat. He was being fed nothing but huge chunks of apples and grapes, with crickets and mealworms just thrown into the tank in the morning and left until the next morning. Although by the time we got him, he hadn't eaten in a couple of weeks. When we cleaned his enclosure the first time, there was a layer of about 40 dead mealworms under the reptile mat. We adopted him immediately when asked, although Petco owed the original owner a vet visit, so we made her take him in for that. He weighed 11 grams at that time. I wish I'd thought to measure his length. The vet diagnosed and treated for parasites, and we got him back about 2 weeks later. While he was recovering at Petco (which they made us do) he was only being fed 4 worms and 2 crickets twice a day. He was up to 14 grams when he returned home at the end of January.

Since that time, he has been living his best dragon life. He is up to 85 grams and 11 inches! He eats some salad, the amount of which I'm not too worried about because of his age (we THINK he's 8 months now), dubias, BSFL, and extra small mealworms. Slowly we are weaning him of the mealworms. He is still in the 20L, but we have ordered a custom built 4'x2'x2' that should be ready in a couple of weeks. He likes to snuggle, take baths, and is starting to explore the office where his enclosure is.

I am absolutely loving this little guy, and doing the best I can to give him the best care that I can. I've always wanted a bearded dragon, but I truly had planned on researching their care before I got one. I just couldn't let that little baby stay where he was and be neglected to death, though.

01/10/2021 Gotcha Night
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KarrieRee

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Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Well thank goodness he finally got into a home where someone is taking care of him the way he should be--- your UVB is a long tube? And its on the screen ? What are you using? a T 5 or T 8-- distance and placement of it is key here--
 

hdochow

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Sir Henry of Scales
I'm so happy for him! It is hard to believe he is about 6.5 months old in my first picture. I swear I've seen pictures of babies that are 2 months old that are bigger.

The light is a Reptisun T5 5.0. After your advice on my post on the enclosure board, the screen has been removed. The round hide in this picture broke yesterday on deep cleaning day, but the piece of driftwood I am now using to prop up his basking log brings the top of the log to about 6 inches below the UVB. He's spent the time since the screen removal alternating between the top of the log and the bottom, and seems very comfortable and content.
 

KarrieRee

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Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Good he will do good w/ the correct placement-- did you notice a difference in his behavior--
 

hdochow

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Sir Henry of Scales
I have, but it is a little hard to judge which change caused it. He was cranky to begin with because he's in that tight skin, pre-shed stage. When we got the T5 light set and switched from the T8, we originally tried the 10.0 bulb but within a couple hours it was obvious it was way too strong and switched down to the 5.0. That's when I posted asking for advice on the 3 light options. The next day (yesterday) the screen was removed, but part of his favorite basking spot broke so things got moved in the enclosure. So that's a lot of changes for a being i understand doesn't like changes much! Last night he had a ton of time out exploring the office. And nothing has changed since yesterday morning as far as set up. All in all, I'd say he is acting better. Before he was doing some minimal glass surfing and this thing where he'd wander from one end of the enclosure to the other. (It kinda reminded me of someone walking into another room and then forgetting why they went there, so they go back to where they were.) Today he's just chilling and basking after a big breakfast and some snuggle time. It's lazy day here and he appears to be fitting right in.
 

saraho

Hatchling Member
Wow! What a turn around in life for Sir Henry. I'm so glad he found such a loving mama.
 

hdochow

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Sir Henry of Scales
Just an update to announce a milestone we are quite proud of. This morning Sir Henry of Scales weighed in at 101 grams. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have broke into triple digits! Shed is done and life is good.

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