Darunia the Fire Sage beardie!

Hi all! I've been a long time browser of this site and I must say I've been using it more than ever the past few weeks as I awaited the arrival of my newest addition to the family. I finally decided to make myself an account, a choice I won't soon regret, i'm certain!

On May 21st, I got my very first bearded dragon after years of wanting one! He is a Red x Orange Hypo from Capital Dragons in Toronto, and they were great to deal with and I highly recommend them if you are in Canada, as they do deliver to all provinces. This is the photo from the breeder that made him steal my heart:

Such a cutie, right? After many delays[including a hurricane] he finally arrived on the 21st and was very quick to adjust for the most part! He began eating on the 22nd and is getting used to the daily noises of my house, and my dog, who is constantly in my room.

Here are some photos i took of him when he first got here:

He's got that little spot on his head still, what is it, anyone know? is it just a weird marking?

climbing up his back wall on the 3rd day here, which is when he started exploring his surroundings

basking[note the sexy leg, i love it!]

combining this wink with the sexy leg, i think hes hitting on me

heh heh. his little eye markings looked like 3 white eyelashes so i had to give him some blush!

I have a few more but i will save them for a separate post. I look forward to posting more and asking questions. Thanks for viewing!

 

[littlegoron]

Also, will he turn more red as he ages, or something? I did pay extra to get a red bearded dragon and with shipping he was quite expensive, when he arrived I was surprised to see how grey/normal he looks, I almost thought they'd sent me the wrong dragon! His back markings are orange and he does look a little more orange/red in certain lights but yeah, will he change color as he grows and sheds? Thanks!

 

[zandi202]

His markings are the same, but the color is off. It might be relocation stress still, but not sure. Their colors do get much brighter as they get older.

That spot on the top of their head is their third eye which helps them figure out heat and such since they can't tell temps through their belly.

If you have any questions about your set up or what have you, feel free to ask

P.S. Love the pics

 

[KristineM]

What a cutie!!! Congratulations

 

[littlegoron]

Ah, I had actually read about their third eye but completely forgot all about it, thanks!

I've looked up a lot of stuff over the years so I do feel educated but if I have any questions i'll definitely ask them, as now that I own one i've come to realize that no matter how prepared you feel there will always be things that take you by surprise. He does so many things I never read about that give me a scare or confuse me haha. The first night I had him I woke up and thought he had died,he was in the same place and hadnt moved overnight and was so still, they sleep so heavily. i teared up and then he opened one eye and i felt so ridiculous haha.

more photos coming soon

 

[zandi202]

I know exactly what you mean. My first one (had to return him because he had very bad seizures ) fell asleep in the corner and looked dead to the world. I touched him and he was so cold and and didn't move or twitch. I went to work with tears thinking I had killed him. My boss had my go home because I was just too upset and when I got home, he was climbing all over his tree. I was like :shock: I think they thrive off of giving us heart attacks...

 

[littlegoron]

haha, yeah i know exactly what you mean. I'm glad the breeders picked him up often so he isn't too bad with being handled[though he hates the inital pick up]. I'm glad i'm not alone with thinking they've died and crying. also, regarding his colors, i think Capital Dragons must saturate their photos or something because obviously my little fella looks nothing like the photo from their site, color wise. I still love him though, no matter what he turns out like when he's older! I think he's beautiful : )

falling asleep in my hand the 3rd day i had him:

sorry for the foot haha, but here is a size comparison to my thumb. i have very small hands, too!

his first bath, after a week of settling in I gave him one:

^the saucer is used like a rock, in case he wants to leave the water for a bit

basking two days ago:

you can see he is starting to gain weight now! He is a big fat pancake when he lies down, and his tail looks a bit wider at the base, too.

 

[littlegoron]

i usually have to hand feed him his greens[and im lucky if he eats one piece to boot] but then i bought some collard and dandelion green and he loves them so much! I still had to hand feed him a piece at a time, but then he went over twice today to get some all on his own! He ate about half of what i put there this morning, im so proud of him, especially since he is a fussy baby who prefers crickets

 

[littlegoron]

last night i looked over to see this

I had seen other peoples beardies do it and i got a good laugh out of it, heh. I then opened the door a smidge

He then decided it was the perfect place to rest

 

[littlegoron]

Tonight he looks a lot lighter nad more orange to me. His tail has been a lot paler than the rest of his body the past few days, i am not sure if he is planning to shed it or if it was always like that and i didnt realize! im thinking hes just gunna shed though, little pieces have been falling off in the bath from unknown parts of his body . I am really excited for him to shed his back so i can see how his colors change.

 

[zandi202]

Sounds like a shed is coming

 

[littlegoron]

yeah i think so. looking at photos i think his tail was lighter thanhis back but it gets paler each day so youre probably right!

do they always shed like, one body part at a time basically? im so used to my leopard gecko shedding her entire body all at once

 

[littlegoron]

i bought this hammock before he arrived, but i decided to try it out in little goron babys tank and he really likes it! i'll probably move it around when he is older, put it up higher with some vines to reach it!

i really hate using a 3ds to take photos of him theyre so bad quality, im missing out on his childhood! haha

 

[zandi202]

Quick question, not sure if I missed this, but what's up with the end of his tail?

 

[littlegoron]

when he arrived and i unboxed him he had major trauma to his tail, it was all bent up and looked so painful. the tissue in the last ~2" of his tail is dying and is gunna fall of, so he will have a stump tail. I know they did it accidentally without even realizing it, but the breeder chose to passively blame me for it, and offered me a refund of not even 1/10th of what i paid for him..

anyway, i think it is going to fall off pretty soon, its really dried up now, and today it began to tilt sideways a bit like its coming off, i'd say its only a matter of days.