I have just a few questions. A couple days ago I brought home 3 new baby beardies, and I've been keeping an eye on them and caring for them to make sure they arent showing any signs of illness.
However, one of them that I named Boothar seems to be much darker than the other two. She's just as alert as they are though, running around and eating a bit, but Im still worried. It may just be that shes a different kind of Beardie but since I've never owned babies before, Im not entirely sure. Im making sure to keep a good eye on her. I know they tend to get darker when theyre cold, but no matter how long she stays under the light she doesnt seem to lighten up even though shes warm. Anyone know any possible reasons?
I've also been hearing about stress marks that they can get when being moved into a new place, but I have no idea what they look like. I want to check if any of my three have them just in case, does anyone have any pictures of stress marks?
One last thing, Im having issues with them eating. The biggest one Khip will eat the most, but not enough from what I've been hearing. Boothar eats less, but more crickets than Serenity. And Serenity I haven't seen eat a single cricket. (Although I have seen her eating her veggies and playing in the water. She loves greens and water). I know this is probably from the stress of the move and they need a little more time to get comfortable, but im just a bit worried about them getting their nutritional needs. Any ideas on ways I could possibly get them to eat a little better?
Thank you in advance for help!! ^-^
here is Boothar. That's about how dark her scales really are. A bit of a grayish color instead of the noraml tan and brown:
Hi there....that cute baby is just darker colored, but that will change as it grows. Whenever my babies hatch, some are darker than others. It can also be getting close to shedding. As for keeping them together, be aware that they can nip at each other, taking off toes + tail ends. When we raise babies, they are in groups, and there is always the possibility of getting bitten, and now + then it happens....soooo, be aware of that and know that you may need to separate them at any time if that starts up. Oh, and stress marks are dark circles on the belly, and they will show them on + off, it's not always anything to worry about unless it's constant.
Ah! That could be it. Earlier today she was rubbing her face on my hand so I think she may be ready to shed :]
Im watching them closely for any aggressive play, so far they seem pretty happy together but i know that can change.
Oh my that's what stress marks are? D: Wow then my babies have definitely got those! Hope they feel less stressed soon :3 I know itll take a little while though.
Thank you so much for the information! It helps me alot!
The reason I took three at once was because I want to start breeding beardies, and because you cant really tell the gender at this age I got three to raise my chances of getting a male and a female.
I've already had experience with owning a beardie before, I've just never raised them from babies (because the one I got was originally my brothers) That's why i want to do my best for them so they grow up big and strong :]
No, the owner at Zookeeper made sure that I got a batch that were mixed because he knew I wanted to breed them. (Originally I was going for the smaller younger ones because they were the cheapest and I didnt have enough for 3 of them this size, but he said they were all related so he gave me three of the older mixed batches for the same price as the younger ones.)