BrightStar
Hatchling Member
Last month, I lost my bearded dragon, Rygel, to a devastating illness. He may have had it for about a year, though showed no major signs of problems until just weeks before his death. I took him to the vet, and he went downhill very fast after that and had to be put to sleep. Losing Rygel broke my heart. (I have a topic about that elsewhere on this board, plus I posted a memorial for him in the memorial forum.
One thing that helped me deal with the loss of Rygel was preparing for a new beardie. I found that re-reading over all the care sheets reminded and reassured me that my care of Rygel was good, and he didn’t get sick because of anything I did. Plus, having a “project” (preparing the setup for a baby dragon) helped give me something to think about rather than just grief and the worry of waiting for necropsy results.
Yesterday, we welcomed a new baby to our family. He is from 7thgalaxydragons, (https://www.7thgalaxydragons.com/) measures 9” long and will be ten weeks on Sunday. Ryan, the breeder, has been wonderful to deal with.
Here are some pictures of my baby-
And here are his parents.
Dad is 750g, and mom is 500g , so I think my little one will be a big boy when he grows up.
We have named our new baby Walter. He is a Male Hypo Citrus Dunner, 100% Het Trans, 66% Het Zero, 50% Het
We have decided to keep him in a bioactive setup. I know there’s a lot of split opinion on whether this is a good idea, so please be assured I’ve done my research and am aware of the benefits and risks of using this type of setup. After reading over both sides of the argument, I decided it is something I want to do.
Walter arrived by FedEx at 11:55am yesterday. He was lively and alert when I took him out of the shipping box, and I was astonished to see that he had absolutely no stress marks and a lovely white beard. I had no idea how he would react to his bioactive setup, so I set him on his basking log and left him to settle. I checked on him fifteen minutes later, and he was already cautiously exploring his new home and gaining confidence by the second! Within minutes, he was munching at his plants (all beardie safe) and chasing down a beetle (one of his cleaner crew). I didn’t expect him to want to eat, and certainly not so soon after arriving, but since he was already terrorizing the cleaner crew population, I offered him a bowl of Dubia and Phoenix worms. He devoured the roaches and ate twelve smalls straight away. He ate a few of the worms, but I think he prefers roaches.
He spent the day exploring, hunting, climbing and basking. In the evening, I took him out for cuddles before bed, and he settled against my chest and fell asleep. The slightest sound disturbed him, and he kept cracking open an eyelid to check, then went back to sleep.
I settled him into his cage for bed around midnight , left a nightlight on in the room for half an hour just in case he wanted to get up and find himself somewhere else to sleep. But he stayed right where I put him.
This morning he was already up and basking when I got up. I offered him a bowl full of roaches and worms, and he ran across the cage as soon as he saw his food dish. He’s smart! He learned what his dinner bowl looks like already! He is also already taking worms right out of my hand.
Today he has been climbing and basking and surveying his kingdom from the heights of his basking log. He seems very happy, healthy and curious.
One thing that helped me deal with the loss of Rygel was preparing for a new beardie. I found that re-reading over all the care sheets reminded and reassured me that my care of Rygel was good, and he didn’t get sick because of anything I did. Plus, having a “project” (preparing the setup for a baby dragon) helped give me something to think about rather than just grief and the worry of waiting for necropsy results.
Yesterday, we welcomed a new baby to our family. He is from 7thgalaxydragons, (https://www.7thgalaxydragons.com/) measures 9” long and will be ten weeks on Sunday. Ryan, the breeder, has been wonderful to deal with.
Here are some pictures of my baby-
And here are his parents.
Dad is 750g, and mom is 500g , so I think my little one will be a big boy when he grows up.
We have named our new baby Walter. He is a Male Hypo Citrus Dunner, 100% Het Trans, 66% Het Zero, 50% Het
We have decided to keep him in a bioactive setup. I know there’s a lot of split opinion on whether this is a good idea, so please be assured I’ve done my research and am aware of the benefits and risks of using this type of setup. After reading over both sides of the argument, I decided it is something I want to do.
Walter arrived by FedEx at 11:55am yesterday. He was lively and alert when I took him out of the shipping box, and I was astonished to see that he had absolutely no stress marks and a lovely white beard. I had no idea how he would react to his bioactive setup, so I set him on his basking log and left him to settle. I checked on him fifteen minutes later, and he was already cautiously exploring his new home and gaining confidence by the second! Within minutes, he was munching at his plants (all beardie safe) and chasing down a beetle (one of his cleaner crew). I didn’t expect him to want to eat, and certainly not so soon after arriving, but since he was already terrorizing the cleaner crew population, I offered him a bowl of Dubia and Phoenix worms. He devoured the roaches and ate twelve smalls straight away. He ate a few of the worms, but I think he prefers roaches.
He spent the day exploring, hunting, climbing and basking. In the evening, I took him out for cuddles before bed, and he settled against my chest and fell asleep. The slightest sound disturbed him, and he kept cracking open an eyelid to check, then went back to sleep.
I settled him into his cage for bed around midnight , left a nightlight on in the room for half an hour just in case he wanted to get up and find himself somewhere else to sleep. But he stayed right where I put him.
This morning he was already up and basking when I got up. I offered him a bowl full of roaches and worms, and he ran across the cage as soon as he saw his food dish. He’s smart! He learned what his dinner bowl looks like already! He is also already taking worms right out of my hand.
Today he has been climbing and basking and surveying his kingdom from the heights of his basking log. He seems very happy, healthy and curious.