Rankins?Beardie?

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mdrn

Member
Hi Everyone,

I recently got a dragon from a good friend. Actually both of us wanted to keep a beardie and he being super excited got one ahead of me while i was still researching on the proper care guidelines prior to getting one. A week ago he called me up and asked if i was interested to keep his dragon because his 2 cats were really stressing the dragon out. Everytime he got back from work he'll find his 2 cats just outside the aquarium staring at the dragon and he noticed the change in the dragon's behavior, always edgy. So he made a decision to give up the dragon along with everything, tank, light, dishes etc.

After getting the dragon from him and reading about re-location stress the dragon is still frantic whenever i put my hand in the aquarium. I know that this will take patience and time and i am truly ready for that. After days of just absorbing lots of information about bearded dragons i recently stumbled upon the rankins/lawsons dragons. I understand that they are smaller than the beardies, have certain characteristics that differentiate themselves from the beardies.

When i first got my Dredd from my friend i noticed the lovely markings on his body, it is very distinctive. Somewhat greenish with light and dark brown markings. I too noticed these circular orange rings that run down his body, he has abit of orange as well at the side of his head.

Dredd has been with me for about 5 days and i have been monitoring his eating habits. He only eats a few mealworms a day (approx 8-10) and only gets a bite or 2 of the greens. I understand that probably he is low on his eating habits due to stress. I will keep monitoring him and probably get him crickets tomorrow to see how he fairs on crickets.

Okay now back to the rankins/lawsons question, is there anyone here that could tell me from the photos below if my dragon is a bearded dragon or a rankins/lawsons dragon? I ask this because i have made some research on rankins/lawsons and compared their markings to the markings on my dragon. A few other suspicions is bcos of his small eating habits and his size, currently Dredd is about 12weeks old. I appreciate any comments and knowledge to truly understand my dragon better so he'll get the proper love that is needed and for people out there who experience the same and would like to get their hands on any knowledge they could acquire on these beautiful creatures.

Oh and 1 more thing, i noticed that Dredd goes to an extremely lighter color and the orange in him gets super contrasted when he sleeps on the sand and i notice this immediately after i turn on the lights after it is pitch black, any idea as to why such a phenomena occurs?

Thanks all.

IMG_3938.jpg


IMG_3963.jpg
 

Onlymediocre

Juvie Member
HI, AND CONGRATS! He sure is a cute little one. Im not sure on the rankins dragon thing, srry. But Id def suggest you stop feeding the mealworms, as they can impact your dragon...And also get rid of that sand for the same reason...Its rlly not safe (or sanitary). you can use tiles, non adhesive shelf liner, paper towels, or newpaper. Any loose substrate can get ingested and lead to BIG problems.
Do you know how much he was being fed by your friend? And how often? You should feed as many live feeders as your dragon will eat within 10-15 mins 2-3 times a day, and offer greens every day. He does seem pretty small for 12 weeks. Are you sure he's that old? If he came from a petstore they are way off on the ages sometimes... And they almost always sell hatchlings (petsmart and petco...big name ones at least I know do) Also does he have a GOOD UVB light? The reptisun 10.0 tube and the arcadia 12% are the only ones that are good for beardies. If he wasnt being fed enough, and/or had/has the improper lighting it can def stunt his growth.
Also his nostrils seem rlly pink, IDK what that could mean..but with the pic of him star gazing like that and I see a water bowl in there.. Have you checked the humidity? Does he gape a lot? I kinda wonder if it could be a sign of a URI? IDK, Ive nvr seen a beardies thats nostrils were pink like that. It might want to be something you look into.
 

mdrn

Member
Original Poster
Onlymediocre":16owni8j said:
HI, AND CONGRATS! He sure is a cute little one. Im not sure on the rankins dragon thing, srry. But Id def suggest you stop feeding the mealworms, as they can impact your dragon...And also get rid of that sand for the same reason...Its rlly not safe (or sanitary). you can use tiles, non adhesive shelf liner, paper towels, or newpaper. Any loose substrate can get ingested and lead to BIG problems.
Do you know how much he was being fed by your friend? And how often? You should feed as many live feeders as your dragon will eat within 10-15 mins 2-3 times a day, and offer greens every day. He does seem pretty small for 12 weeks. Are you sure he's that old? If he came from a petstore they are way off on the ages sometimes... And they almost always sell hatchlings (petsmart and petco...big name ones at least I know do) Also does he have a GOOD UVB light? The reptisun 10.0 tube and the arcadia 12% are the only ones that are good for beardies. If he wasnt being fed enough, and/or had/has the improper lighting it can def stunt his growth.
Also his nostrils seem rlly pink, IDK what that could mean..but with the pic of him star gazing like that and I see a water bowl in there.. Have you checked the humidity? Does he gape a lot? I kinda wonder if it could be a sign of a URI? IDK, Ive nvr seen a beardies thats nostrils were pink like that. It might want to be something you look into.

Thanks for your reply to answer you i am aware of the sand substrate thingy. There sure is a big debate about it, some reckon that it is safe to use a sand substrate after 10 weeks old some prefer not to use a substrate at all. I live in Singapore and it is illegal to actually own reptiles except for a few turtles and tortoises but the dragon came from a breeder in a neighboring country and as you mentioned i'm not quite sure if the age is on the dot or not. I plan to get him a UVB light later, after looking into it and you assuring i definitely think it is necessary, thanks for the brand suggestions =) . I will also get more information on his feeding patterns from my friend and will definitely try to change the live feeders and the amount as suggested. For his nostrils i am not sure why it is so pink in the image, i checked again earlier and he did not have those pink signs. Maybe it was due to the lighting and editing of the image of some sorts but i'll monitor it, could i ask what is URI? I prob need to invest in a humidity meter as i have no idea on the humidity level. Thanks for all the info, really appreciate it.

Back to the topic of Rankins and Beardies. I've also read up that Rankins dragon has an ability to overextend its neck, something like what Dredd did in the picture, can any of your beardies do such a thing?
 

mdrn

Member
Original Poster
I just checked, my bulb is an exo terra Solar Glo. It mentions on the site that it has both UVA/UVB. Would i need to still purchase a UVB tube?
 

Onlymediocre

Juvie Member
Do you have a basking bulb also? And the solar glo is a UVB bulb, but not a good one, I strongly suggest gettin either a ReptiSUN 10.0 tube, or a Arcadia 12%, IDK whats available in Singapore...Especially if reptiles are ILLEGAL. I did a report on Singapore once back in like 3rd grade (many many yrs ago) and I believe theres harsh punishment there for breaking the laws. IDK if its changed since then, but if its illegal to have I would give him back to ur friend in the neighboring county. What happens if you get caught with him? Surely they would "dispose" of him and what happens to you? As for the sand, the risk isnt worth it either, so plz consider getting him off the sand. More cases then not it causes problems, especially in small dragons. A URI is an Upper Respiratory Infection. I dont know too much about them, as I havent had to deal with one personally, but you could type "URI" into the search and look into it.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I would check your laws in Singapore to see about getting a license to own a reptile as I would hate to see him confiscated.
As for the care of your dragon, most of the times, loose substrate ends up causing either impaction or contributes to parasites or worms just due to dirtier conditions.
The UVB light you get needs to be either a Reptisun 10 tube bulb or an Arcadia D3 12%, either one. I am not sure which lights you are able to find there though.
Usually if they overextend their head/neck area, it is a sign of a respirtory infection, a neurological issue or other vitamin deficiency.
What are the temperatures & humidity in the tank?
Stargazing is often causes by those issues & right now, since he doesn't have any UVB lighting he may be having trouble absorbing any vitamins or minerals, especially his calcium.

Please also consider the implications of keeping an illegal reptile. I hate to see anything happen to him.

Tracie
 

mdrn

Member
Original Poster
Onlymediocre":x104spiv said:
Do you have a basking bulb also? And the solar glo is a UVB bulb, but not a good one, I strongly suggest gettin either a ReptiSUN 10.0 tube, or a Arcadia 12%, IDK whats available in Singapore...Especially if reptiles are ILLEGAL. I did a report on Singapore once back in like 3rd grade (many many yrs ago) and I believe theres harsh punishment there for breaking the laws. IDK if its changed since then, but if its illegal to have I would give him back to ur friend in the neighboring county. What happens if you get caught with him? Surely they would "dispose" of him and what happens to you? As for the sand, the risk isnt worth it either, so plz consider getting him off the sand. More cases then not it causes problems, especially in small dragons. A URI is an Upper Respiratory Infection. I dont know too much about them, as I havent had to deal with one personally, but you could type "URI" into the search and look into it.

The solar glo is everything in one: http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/solar_glo.php. There is UVA/UVB and Dredd always basks in it. I have some driftwood setup so he could navigate to a proper height and i have a digital thermometer with a probe where i measure the slightly above the center of the tank to be at 95deg, so the higher he gets up the higher the temperature. The cooling side of the tank measures at 80deg and i have a sheltered structure which i just got. I got rid of the water bowl and will get a humidity gauge. After mentioning about the bulb i'm using if it is imperative to get the suggested tube for added UVB for Dredd then i will get it.

About Singapore laws, there is harsh punishment for sure. If i ever will get caught i assure you that they wont dispose of him but put him in the Singapore Zoo and i re-assure you i am quite tactful in not getting caught and the neighboring country that my friend is from has also similar strict rules but the country is big with corruption so people there get under the radar easily, it would be worst if they get caught with Dredd and it would be a huge risk to attempt at have Dredd given back to him, i stand firm in providing love and care for Dredd and i would appreciate if we could not discuss this matter anymore, i am here to seek experienced advice on the proper care of these creatures from all of you =).I have also gotten rid of the sand, just using paper towels for now.

I did a search on URI and it definitely looks serious.

So over the weekends i got some crickets for Dredd as i have mentioned. He absolutely loves it, he ate about 15 at one go the minute i showed it to him. I mentioned about his stress and him being hostile. Today i tried hand feeding, he was quite hostile at first after the 5th cricket he ignored my hand. I gave him a few more crickets and attempted holding him, he again turned hostile. So i waited for abit and gave him a few more crickets now everytime i did not let go of the crickets, the last one he got the cricket from my hand so i approached to stroke him, guess what, he was not hostile at all. So i began to pick him up, i could see he was breathing heavily, a sign of being scared but after a few seconds he just relaxed. I held him for a good 20mins and gently stroke him, it seems he was comfortable. I put him back in the tank and offered him some crickets. When i tried approaching him with my bare hands he was no more hostile, he was calm and relaxed. It was an amazing feeling. I guess he just wanted assurance, since my friend who was the previous owner had cats stalking him day and night he developed a defense mechanism. I'm not sure if Dredd will be ok tomorrow but i will continue to build up his trust. =)
 

mdrn

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":3lzq07gc said:
Hello,

I would check your laws in Singapore to see about getting a license to own a reptile as I would hate to see him confiscated.
As for the care of your dragon, most of the times, loose substrate ends up causing either impaction or contributes to parasites or worms just due to dirtier conditions.
The UVB light you get needs to be either a Reptisun 10 tube bulb or an Arcadia D3 12%, either one. I am not sure which lights you are able to find there though.
Usually if they overextend their head/neck area, it is a sign of a respirtory infection, a neurological issue or other vitamin deficiency.
What are the temperatures & humidity in the tank?
Stargazing is often causes by those issues & right now, since he doesn't have any UVB lighting he may be having trouble absorbing any vitamins or minerals, especially his calcium.

Please also consider the implications of keeping an illegal reptile. I hate to see anything happen to him.

Tracie

Hi Tracie,

Thanks for the suggestions and information. I checked your site and really good information there =)
I'm not sure if you have read my above comments but the reason i ask is i would like to know if my dragon Dredd is a rankins or a bearded dragon or a hybrid. As i mentioned i was researching and stumbled upon the rankins dragon, the markings on Dredd has similar characteristics akin to the rankins. But few days ago i stumbled upon a hybrid species called the vittikins, a cross between rankins and bearded dragons. Now i have a very strong feeling that probably Dredd is a vittikins. The reason i say this is because he has the patterns of a rankins but his head shape is that of a beardie, the significant "V" shaped head and Dredd has a beard, to compare, the rankins have a stumpy head with a short snout and no beard. Another characteristic of the rankins i read somewhere is that they have the ability to overstretch their necks as compared to the bearded dragons, it has something to do with their flexible vertebrate or membrane or something that has got to do with their neck, sorry i can't be specific enough, could not remember well where this piece of info came from but i definitely read it somewhere a few times. Could this characteristic be a possibility brought forward with a hybrid vittikins?

I am seeking greater knowledge and understanding of these different species and it can get pretty intense and confusing, i really appreciate any help or direction that i could look into. I've been spending days and night researching and if there are owners of rankins and vittikins, myself, current and future owners of these creatures am sure would appreciate first hand experience and information.

Thanks.
 
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