Baron the Beardie

Just making this to put stories/pictures of Baron in.
I got him on Friday. I think he was laid in Jan/Feb, and he hatched in March but I'm not 100 percent sure.
He's a Super Red, and pretty gentle for now.
Here he is:

No exciting stories about him yet...aside from his logic being "No I don't want dinner 2 hours before my lights go out, Mom" and then 15 minutes before lights go out, he is dancing along the glass where the cricket keeper is and trying to eat them through it.
And then when I go to feed him this morning...nothing. Silly Beardie.

 

[CountofCasualty]

It means that they'll be able to ship them across the border to me. Whew. Such a relief for me, it's one less thing I need to worry about. He's starting to eat really well though, though he's not as big of a fan of the crickets as other dragons I'm sure.

 

[CountofCasualty]

I got my silks yesterday!
I don't know why I'm suprised that he doesn't like them live. I return to pulling heads off and tweeze feeding but he does eat them. He's eaten 5 so far, 2 last night and 3 this morning.
He hasn't been passing poop much though...Pretty watery and not much substance to it... Gave him a little olive oil last night and warm baths 2x daily if I can, with some belly rubs just to make sure things keep passing well. But he continues to eat and eat and eat. I'm about to go feed him now because he's glass dancing by the crickets which is the universal sign of 'MOM I'M HUNGRY'

 

[CountofCasualty]

Baron, head to tail, measures 7 1/4 inches today! I'm kind of shocked since he doesn't seem to be growing that much? His body is still about the same length, just over 3", but his tail has just sprouted. Probably from his shedding. Grow faster little man!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Awww, that's great news that he's grown. Sometimes their tail does grow first before their body does. He's doing well now eating all that food!

 

[CountofCasualty]

Baron isn't eating again...He won't eat the crickets, and every time I offer him silks(live or dead) he ignores them, or spits them back out. He only eats the heads of the silks and everything else he refuses.
He was so fat 3 days ago, but he's just not eating much the past two days...Maybe 2-5 crickets and some silk bits. I'm at a loss. I'm going away for 4 days this weekend for a wedding and I'm worried he won't eat for my roommate. ARG.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Time for babyfood, have you ever tried it? When mine won't eat, especially when Rubio & Issy were little, I bought Heinz chicken w/5 veg (nothing extra added) & butternut squash (organic). I added calcium to the chicken, as they all loved it (and do to this day, I always have some in stock) and also added Carnivore Care when I was told about it, as it has protein & herbs & helps with appetites, which just helps a lot. I used to feed it by putting it on my finger and the babies would lick it off, then moved to syringes. It started with Sweetie when she refused to eat any bugs, she was on the baby food from 6 mo old to over a year until one day, she started eating bugs and salad again. I really recommend it, even if it's just to try. Even if you can't find the Carnivore Care (I buy it from my vet) the babyfood has always worked.

 

[CountofCasualty]

I've got baby food in stock, I had to feed it to him the week I got him because he wouldn't eat. I went down to Petsmart, stocked up on crickets and wax worms and he's eating again?? He's a weird little boy that's for sure, but I just have to stay on top of it. He enjoyed the 2 waxs he ate yesterday though. I also gave him a long bath and he drank the water, for the first time, and took a poop there! I was so proud.

I'm pretty sure the lady at Petsmart that helped me did an eye roll-I was telling her about Phoenix worms and how I wish I could find them in Vancouver(apparently a small petstore in South Surrey/White Rock sells them) and she told me one of her regular customers found them, and how big they get...Apparently, according to her, they're as big as the fully grown horn worms. I kind of laughed. She told me they wouldn't be any good for babies, and I told her that they don't get as big as horn worms, because they are fly larvae, the biggest they get is an inch at best, and that even if they did get large, they're soft bodied so for babies they're fine because they don't cause impaction. She did an eye roll and didn't argue with me-though I could tell she wanted to because it conflicted with the information she gets.

Also whatever worm that lady got is not phoenix worms if they get that large...nope. I'm interested to find out what worm she's mixing up with them.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Glad to hear he's eating again, good news. And I've given up arguing with pet shop people, the info is so easy to get yet they don't bother. We know we're right and that's what counts!

 

[CountofCasualty]

It's frustrating because she's actually quite knowledgeable in a lot of areas(she's helped me a few times before finding things), but the things she isn't is like 'why, why do you think that? stop it.' They recently expanded their herp section in store though, so there's a lot more stuff there now. Liquid calcium and vitamins of 3-4 different brands, more options for dusting powers. I was quite impressed. They also have the ReptiSun 10.0 tube lights in stock there now- which is nice if I'm ever in a pinch and can't get them from work on time.

I also saw a gem of a Beardie there. Ohh he was beautiful. A citrus, quite long. I'd guess at least 9 inches as least, and a leatherback I think? Def a special morph. If I had the money/time I would have gotten him. But I have to many animals as is right now. I really really hope he goes to a good home, he looked really healthy too. I spent the 10 minutes she was counting crickets talking to him.

 

[CountofCasualty]

Is it possible Baron is to small for his age? He's two months old now and just over 7 inches...I feel like that is way to little for the average Beardie.

Edit: I'll elaborate a bit, I'm on Tumblr and I see pictures of beardies just sprouting and growing really quick, but this isn't the case with Baron. I saw something earlier today about a 'Vittakin Dragon'. However, I don't think it's possible cause the gentleman I bought Baron from definitely had Beardies for parents and had been doing it for the past 8+ years so him selling not true Bearded Dragon's seems off for me.
So I'm just kind of concerned that something isn't right with him not growing fast enough. Or maybe I'm just concerned over all when I shouldn't be. I don't know.

On another note I keep thinking about the Citrus I saw at PetSmart and I WANT HIM SO BAD UGH. HE WAS SO HANDSOME.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm not sure as I've never had a beardie that young. You might want to contact the breeder to ask him what could be causing Baron to not want to be eating. I really don't know what would help him. Did he jump on the crickets you bought? Have you any news on when you might be able to get some phoenix worms, I'm so hoping he'll find his appetite with those. The only babies I've ever had were rescues; Rubio was tiny and only 24g at almost 4 mo old and Issy was even smaller and weighed even less. But Rubio sure made up for lost time, by 10 mo old he was full adult size and just kept growing. But he's unusually big. The others I got as adults and they were mostly in bad shape & needed care.

 

[CountofCasualty]

I'm starting to give him daily baths(he's started to drink the water, which threw me off when I first saw it), and that seems to be helping his appetite as well. I was only giving him a bath every 2 days, but I gave him a bath yesterday and today and that's seemed to help. he is jumping on the crickets, though he isn't eating as much as I would like, I'm pretty sure he ate 15 yesterday and 10 today. He ate a waxworm yesterday to but now he isn't going for them really. But I have a feeling he isn't eating enough anyways-however he does seem a bit fatter then he was on monday when he was super skinny though it's hard to tell. Compared to when he was eating the silks(I'm out now...I also think my cats got into them and ate them D<) and he was super fat. But he was also bloaty then to. He's been pooping REAL BIG the past two days. Like half the size of his head. I'm impressed!

I keep a tupperware tub in his Viv with high enough edges for the crickets not to jump out during the day. I take it put it in at 9:00 and take it out at 7:30. He likes eating and taking a break and eating more. He can get in and out if he wants, so it works well enough and I don't have to work really hard on fishing all these crickets out. And if any do get out he catches them and eats them right away.

The worms get his attention-the waxes really catch his eye but he's only gone for them once, he just stares REALLY INTENTLY at them. I think the other times I've offered he's just eaten so he's not hungry so I'll try feeding them right away in the morning. I called the breeder where I got him and told him how Baron wasn't eating crickets much and they said try the wax worms.

I looked at a few growth charts on various places online(beautiful dragons being one of them) and some charts record as small as 5 inches at 2 months and as big as 7 1/2 at 2 months. So he's either bigger then normal or right on track I think.

Still working on the permit. I've got it printed and filled out and am emailing and mailing it out tomorrow when I do errands(emailing allows them to start the process right away, but they need to original form to complete it). From there it should take 3-4 weeks to do depending on the amount of permits needed. Sometimes it takes as little as a week and a half for it to be processed and mailed out. So once I get it I can email ReptiWorms and find out what I need to do to give proof of my permit(fax or just scan and email it) and then place my order and get a wine fridge. The fridge can wait a week after I get them I think, but it's better if I get it before or right away. So HOPEFULLY by this time next month I'll have reptiworms in the house and him nomming them down.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm glad to hear the baths are helping, he must have been a bit dehydrated. I'm also glad he's a normal size for a 2 mo old, that's good news. And he's eating more crickets, too, and that will improve with time. As for the waxies, be careful as they're 20% fat & not a lot of nutrition, so just 2 or 3 a week would be best for those. They can be like candy to a human! And you can always supplement at night or in the am with babyfood. That's what I used to do when mine weren't eating much, just for a couple of weeks and the weight gain was dramatic, plus they got into eating their crickets like fiends!

Sounds like it's all getting better at your end, glad to hear it. I'd say continue the daily baths, too.
Deb

 

[CountofCasualty]

If he isn't eating well while I'm gone I'll start supplementing with the baby food at night. I need to go out and get a scale for him so I can start weighing him as well as measuring every Monday. He's eating breakfast right now, 5 crickets down! But with the way he eats, he's done and wants to bask for an hour.

Today is going to be busy. We leave tonight to my sisters, and then leave for Williams Lake tomorrow morning. I need to make a cheese cake, go buy shoes, go to Chapters, a gardening store, my work to get more cat food, do laundry, pack and clean the house as much as possible. I already feel like I won't have enough time, ha! I need to get Baron's squash all ready as well so my room mate just has to take it out of the fridge and put it into the dish each morning.

I'm really excited to go North though, I'll be seeing a lot of family I haven't seen since I graduated in 2010 or well before that. For Brandon, it'll be his first time meeting a lot of them. My Great Uncle on my Mothers side and my Aunt on my fathers side are getting married, so I will be seeing both sides together for the first time in a very long time. I'm going to miss my pets though, that's for sure. I wish I could bring them everywhere sometimes! I know they would love Baron, he's such a character.

And I was glad to see he's normal size for a 2mo old as well. Someone I know has a baby at 11 weeks and they're only 6 inches, but the baby is growing like a little weed and should catch up quick.

I also fixed my cat being able to jump up on the Viv. I moved the position of the light, so he can't get up there now. Which will be nice when we're gone-my Room mate would have to lock him up all night and all day when he was at work. At least now, to be safe, Benjamin will be locked up at night and during the day he can come out. When I was at work yesterday I left Benjamin out and he didn't do anything which was good for me.

Baron is happily basking away. I love the way he basks, he always keeps his tail high in the air. I've noticed when I'm watching TV, when certain things come on(mostly animals like cats, dogs or other herps) he starts arm waving. I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed him doing it.

Gotta start making that cheese cake and cleaning! I'll be back monday night and will give an update then!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Have a great trip, yes babyfood to supplement at night will make a difference. And get the Carnivore Care (usually at a vet) and add It to the butternut squash, just gives him that something extra and helps with appetite.