A photobiography of my beardie.

I know how you all love pics so I'm gonna post some in here as my little beardie grows up. Sometimes I get a bit lax with things like this so please remind me if I go too long without posting anything...

First off I want to give some shout outs. Janie (zebraflavencs), thanks for all your help and incredible patience! Ian (Ihaggerty1313), thanks for all help with the roaches man; They look really good! dawnki and hammerhead, thanks for all your help with the silkies (I'll get to updating that thread soon)! Aimee (dna14) thanks for calming me down today when I was nervous about leaving the little guy in my brothers care. And to anyone and everyone else who has asked or answered a question on this forum, Thank You! I gained sooo much knowledge here and it culminated in having the best possible conditions for this little beardie.

Some may wonder what it's name is. Well, I won't name it till I know if it's a male or a female. I have two names in mind, but they will remain confidential until I determine the gender.

On to the first couple pics. This is the little guy/gals first bath! It definitely didn't like it. Drank a little, but mostly just scurried around looking for a way out.

It didn't much like the towel either. He/she kept trying to get out and explore more. This is the only time it sat still long enough to snap a pic.

This ones a hyper little stinker! Always moving and exploring. It will settle in my hand for a period of time, but really likes to move around an explore. No relocation stress as of yet. It ate about 15 mini mealworms (not regular mealies, don't worry ) and some Mustard Greens today. Unfortunately I was not home at the time so I couldn't get any pics of that. It also left me a stinky surprise to clean when I got home from work. I spared you the pleasure of seeing that :lol:


Aaron

 

[dna14]

He's getting SOOOOO big! For Twitch, was about a year old. She has only shed once in the past several months. It was REALLY noticeable when she slowed down so I think you will be able to tell. Hermes... 14 months still shedding once a week and growing. He had a sloooow start though looked like a baby when I got him at 8+ months...

 

[Angiecountrygirl]

Such a cutie- and getting big quick. I've only had Falkor for about 3 mths or so, and he's getting real big... They are so amazing!

 

[laurenee]

Adorable. I also love his name! Death Note ftw.

It looks like so much fun to raise a hatchling. He sheds so much!! I've never experienced the shedding because I got Gizmo when he was 2. And in the past year he's only shed once. The girl who I adopted him from would pull off his skin when he was shedding (And I'm pretty sure it wasn't ready to come off yet.) and because of that, he has weirdish skin on parts of him. Dark spots and such. I guess they're scars. He's also missing spikes on his head and sides. :/ She wasn't very nice to him. But that's gotta be so cool watching him grow up to be a big boy!

Love your pictures!

 

[Freeie]

Awww what a cute baby and lookie how hes grown! They dont become adults i think intill 18 months of age. I noticed they slow down their growth at about 6 to 7 months at least mine did but im happy with that sinces hes 23 inchs long. I feed and feed him he just turned 10 months old hasnt shead in a few months hes going thru it now. When my hatchlings were little they were sheading every 2 weeks. I think the bigger and the older they get the less growth they have so the less they need to shead.

 

[Heisei]

Ryuuku thanks you for the comments everyone! He just shed a few days ago and his color was super bright. That only lasted about 2 days and now his colors are fading again as, once again, he prepares to shed. Laurenee: It's great watching him grow up; I just wish he ate a bit less. It's a good thing Turks breed so easily, which also gives time for the Dubia colony to establish itself, because he mows through up to 100 Large nymphs/Adults a day now. Oh and btw, I have a ridiculously large list of anime that I have watched and liked and one I am watching now that is REALLY good: Gintama. If you get a chance it is definitely worth watching.

Quick pic:

I know the angle is funny but it was the only way I could get the pic. I think he looks king of regal.

Aaron

 

[laurenee]

Can't wait till I get to raise a kiddie beardie. Ryuuku is so cute.

And I'll be sure to check out Gintama!

 

[dna14]

Aaron, I LOVE that pic! He does look quite kingly

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

I think that's my favorite pic so far of him! He's getting so big so fast!!!

 

[Heisei]

He certainly is growing, seemingly by the day. It wasn't long ago that his entire body and his burrito would fit in the palm of my hand:

I have really been slacking of feeding him his salad this week cuz I ran out of greens, then got lazy and never got more. Well today I got some more squash and mustard greens, chopped em' up and gave him a salad. He tore into it and finished a good portion of it. I can't believe how much he likes his greens...

Aaron

 

[Heisei]

Boy he must have REALLY missed his salad because today he ate more squash than roaches! I'm not complaining; it gives the Turks a chance to produce some more babies (those things are baby factories...) and the Dubia babies a chance to grow. Replacing squash is significantly cheaper than replacing roaches.

I've also found that Ryuuku is not a fan of Rammstein. I played some in my room and he got all black; definitely was NOT happy. He tolerated some Buckethead, but wasn't a real big fan (he'll have to get used to it since Bucket is my favorite artist). A couple things he didn't mind: FictionJunction YUUKA, DOES, Linkin Park, Jon Schmidt, The Delgados, Monoral. I'll have to try some more to see what his reaction is. And yes, I have a wide range of musical interests...

Aaron

 

[laurenee]

Haha! That's so funny! I never thought about beardies having musical preferences! It makes sense though. That's so cute.

 

[Heisei]

So I was off for 3 days to take a civil service test. Crashed at a friends place near the test site so I didn't have to drive 3 hours, take a 3 hour test, then drive 3 hours back in the same day. I just got back yesterday. Anyway, while I was gone I left my mom to feed Ryuuku. She remembered the first day, but forgot the next two! He looked terrible; I felt sooooo bad. He was so skinny and pale. I immediately stuffed him full of roaches and today, thankfully, his color is back and after this mornings feeding he looks a lot better. I just gave him a bath and he is giving me a bit of the stink eye, but that proves that he feels fine. Hopefully he doesn't hate me too much for that

Aaron

 

[dna14]

Awww Aaron no way can he hate you! Is he feeling better? How'd the test go?
*hugs*

 

[Heisei]

Sorry haven't been around much lately. Test went bad as far as I'm concerned. I got an 82, which was FAR below my expectations. I'm a little frustrated that 1. I had nothing specific to study and 2. almost nothing on the test required knowledge needed to be a Waterways Conservation Officer. I.E. No questions about fishing rules and regs, no questions about boating safety, no questions about weapons handling, ect. Instead they loaded it with grammar and spelling which KILLED me. No spell check on the test. And whats worse; I had to drive 3 hours to a Career Link Office in Lock Haven to take the test when there is a Career Link Office literally within walking distance of my house. For some reason they weren't offering the specific test I needed to take. So I probably wasted a tank and a half of gas and time I could have spent looking for another job...

Back to BD talk: I'm running a little low on Turks and the Dubia nymphs are still too small to feed to Ryuuku (and the adults too large). I want to order more Turks, but the temps here are now consistently below 55 degrees, sometimes dipping into the high 30's, and I'm worried they will die in transit. I doubt the Turk colony can sustain itself through the winter without a boost, but I don't want to waste 40$. I dunno what to do. I wish he would just hurry up and get large enough to eat the adult Dubias; or that the dubia nymphs would hurry up and get big enough for him to eat.

Oh yeah, Ryuuku is doing fine BTW. I just stuffed him full of Turks and he pancaked out under the light.

Aaron

 

[Heisei]

Sorry guys, the job search has kept me off of here for a while. I finally got some time today to snap a few pics of Ryuuku. First, though, his measurements as of today:

276 grams, 43.2 cm (17 inches)

It has been 90 days since I started keeping measurements. On average he has grown .233 cm per day and 2.766 grams per day.

This morning he kinda accidentally got fed an adult dubia. He chomped it down like a champ! I still think it's early to give him the adults so I'll make sure it doesn't happen again for a while. In any case he seems fine.

So on to pics. Ryuuku still hates baths. He's graduated out of the rubbermaid tub and into the upstairs actual tub. No worries, this tub is never used by people. Pics:

Remember how I said I don't want him out of the room for fear of the kittens getting him? Well I guess it's about time I posted some pics of them too. We got them only a few days after I got Ryuuku. Here they are soon after getting home:

Zeke with some Old Spice for size reference

Loki sprawled out on my sis:

Both of them together:

Here they are as of yesterday:

And here is the very aptly named Loki right after Ryuuku's bath. He's so nosy, always has to know what's going on:

I think he's waiting for me to bring Ryuuku back so he can play...

Sorry bout' the color in the pics. Something is a little off with the camera.

Aaron