A Dragon In The Snake Den

My precious sweet babu arrived today and has me wrapped around his tiny tiny tail!

First look at the little guy (his first look at me too, LOL!)

Getting a bath after arriving.

Climbing on my hand and trying to figure me out.

Pancaked out and darkened up under his lights.

He drank some water from a squirt bottle and ate about seven dubia just a few hours after arriving. He's the most adorable little thing and even if he's a bit shy now we are going to be best friends and have wonderful adventures together. <3

My sweet babu is almost seven weeks old. He is a sunburst tangerine hypo according to his hatch certificate. He was hatched April 28 and his parents are Dheyy and Knyte from Rio Reptiles, so he's got some serious good color coming to him as he matures. I'm so excited to see him grow and develop.

If you ever want a dragon, go to Cheryl. I can't say that enough. She's been incredible through the process of picking out a baby and helping me get going. beardeddragons.co


I have a million names in mind but I can't decide on one yet. I love Cheryl's naming scheme of using a "y" and some possibilities I've thought of are Veyron, Soveryn, Royal, Phoenyx, Drayden, Tornado and Skywalker. But I feel like I haven't "hit" on the right one.

 

[Ophiophilist]

Whoops, fixed!

 

[zandi202]

Aw, so cute! What's that blue splotch on his arm?

 

[Ophiophilist]

A safe type of paint the breeder uses to mark babies as male or female and number them to tell them apart. It comes off with the shed.

 

[zandi202]

Ah, okay. I thought that's what it might have been because I've seen them tramp stamp them, just never on the elbow as well :lol:

 

[Ophiophilist]

Yup, he has one of those too, LOL! He's a perfect 10 in my book anyway..

He ate two good dubia meals today for the first time! One at lunch and then dinner. Hopefully this means he's getting more comfortable. I took him out in his bathtub for a little sun. He was nervous but did okay, he only darkened up a little bit.

He had some roach guts on his face!

 

[zandi202]

That face is too cute!!!

 

[Ophiophilist]

Almost two weeks into having Iroh and I already can't imagine life without a beardie. We have our schedule set and he's eating two meals of dubia a day and pooping twice a day. He gets water and electrolytes at lunch and a bath and cuddles at bedtime, and I try to get him outside every few days. We've had cloudy weather the last few days but we have some sunshine coming this week.

He's still not eating quite as many dubia a day as I would like, about 25-30, but I imagine he is still in the adjustment period and will be eating more each day. He doesn't always eat much salad but I do see bites missing.

He is good with being handled out of cage but still seems nervous with my hands in the cage or moving around him, and will jump out of my hands if he's in the cage. I do have a shirt in there and change it with a fresh worn one every few days.

Basically he's a perfect little baby and weighed in at just about seven inches nose to tail and just about 14 grams. I am going to try to remember to weigh him weekly to chart his growth.

 

[zandi202]

That sounds like a pretty good amount of dubia as I have been told they are more filling.

 

[Ophiophilist]

That's good to hear! He ate really well tonight and has an adorable little tummy going from it. I also realized he will eat more of the really small ones or fewer larger ones (not too big) so I guess it averages out.

How often do babies shed? He just finished shedding the week before I got him, so three weeks ago, and I am wondering when to expect another shed cycle.

 

[zandi202]

It depends. Some shed a lot and some don't. Jace and Zy I have had since late Nov and Feb and Jace (late Nov) has done maybe 3 sheds, working on his 4th now and Zy is finishing off her 4th. Some shed every week.

 

[Ophiophilist]

Thank you! Looks like I'm about to find out in person.

Baby measured in at 7 inches, 19 grams at two months and three days and is going into shed tail-first. He's eating great and I love him to bits. I gave him some shredded yellow squash and a chopped up blueberry on his salad this morning, can't wait to see if he actually eats tries it.

His breeder said he's one of the biggest from the clutch and his great-grandfather was 1,000 grams. :shock: I'd better be ready to get him a bigger cage.

 

[zandi202]

He's so handsome! And yes, you might want to start building your own viv :lol:

 

[Ophiophilist]

Look who decided to shed! These pics don't capture his colors very well, he "fired down" outside and the light was fading.

He also bearded a little when my mother came outside to look at him. He saw her walking up and started puffing. I guess she startled him. We went in right after that so I didn't stress him out too much, but I thought it was so cute! He didn't manage much of a beard, but he tried.

He's up to 24 grams, if he gets to 26 by Wednesday (and I'm sure he will at the rate he's growing...) he'll have doubled in size since I got him a month ago. He's also eating his salad really well, he especially loves butternut squash.

Do some male dragons tend to be more dominant than others? I get the impression he's a dominant personality, he never arm-waves, he never has more than the faintest stress marks, he doesn't glass dance - he seems like a little lion cub who plans on growing up to take over the pride. Of course maybe that's just my imagination!

 

[zandi202]

He's so handsome!

Jace barely ever arm waved, but he glass dances a lot when he thinks I don't take him out enough :lol: He might grow into glass dancing, though it's a pain to break them out of doing so. When Jace started doing it, I just wanted to take him out and cuddle him.

 

[Ophiophilist]

It's been too long since I updated! Iroh is still doing wonderfully, eating great, and growing. Oh my gosh is he growing.

The day I got him five weeks ago, at 13 grams and about seven inches long:

Today, 11 weeks old, 50 grams, nine-plus inches long and in shed again.

Also, he is so big now he was able to climb out of his bathtub for the first time. Time to get him a new bathtub.