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]

Thank you! : D
he is really becoming handsome, i agree. I am really curious as to what he'll look like next time he sheds, or in 3 months time! his last shed was kind of subtle in his back but its neat how they almost become a completely different reptile with each shed as they grow!

and Oki, i know what you mean! i really wanted a super red bearded dragon, which i was too impatient to wait for. though Darunia is supposedly a red x orange, i'd still like to get a super red someday, when i can afford it - this one bleeds me dry enough as it is :lol:

 

[littlegoron]

here is a crappy photo of his length from tonight before bed:

and here is where he slept tonight

i remember seeing photos of people with babies much smaller than mine on their chests like this and i remember feeling like i'd never have a dragon who was willing to do that but he has become so trusting of me fvdkf yay so happy

 

[littlegoron]

"mom..mompls. what are you doing"
"CRYING BECAUSE U R A GIANT NOW GOSH"
he is so sick of me haha

5 days ago

yesterday

he is shedding as you can see, he just has his head/back left, im surprised he hasnt shed it yet but he's holding on to it i guess heh. his arms turned a beautiful orange/red/yellow, his back legs are the color of frozen butter, with a bit more orange than before but not much, same with the tail. he got really translucent in color on the back of him. i think his head will be pale as well, no idea about the back. its so weird the only thing red/orange about him so far are his 2 arms!!

i can see a huge size difference from the photos like this i posted 2 weeks ago! he is growing really fast, he is calming down a lot too. he will sit in the bath for 10-15 minutes no problem...most days :lol:
we've been having really hot weather here so he goes out into the sun for 10 minutes or so[depending on how fussy he is to stay still..i dont have a harness for him yet] and he loves it, he is so brave when birds fly overhead, but i always hold him a little tighter when they do, just in case. he loves lying on my chest and just hanging out. He is a lot more trusting of me but we're not quite there yet. He is not afraid of my hand and i hope one day he'll willingly come onto it haha
he is currently being socialized with the others in my household, including my dog so he wont fear him when he sees him unexpectedly. my mom surprisingly is eager to hold him, she loves him a lot!


i also got a stand for his tank so he is off the floor now, he is 3.5 feet of the ground and facing a window so he knows when it is day/night. the only downside is even if it is light in his tank, when it gets dark outside ~10pm he tries to go to sleep! lil baby sigh
I'll try to get a photo of his tank ps.

one more thing - when he was a baby i made the choice to keep his tank very simple, because he was put in a 40g breeder when he was only 6" and i knew i would be feeding him in his tank[my attempts at bucket didnt go gr8, he hated it so its his bathtub now] so i kept it down to a basking spot which doubles as a sleeping cave, and a hammock for him to get away from the 100+basking spot, the hammock is usually 91-97.
but now he has grown over 5" and will be 4 months in 2 weeks and the set up is a little lackluster for him and i'd like to add more things. im in the process of adding a new back wall for privacy, my sister is an artist and is going to draw something nice for me, but i dont know how to decorate! i dont have much money right now, everything i have goes to feeding him, so if you have any DIY suggestions i'd love to hear them.

i had a piece of driftwood but it has wood mites in it and im glad i didnt put it in there and that i noticed them! phew, crisis averted.

 

[zandi202]

You can buy a 4x8 sheet of styrofoam from Home Depot and use grout to build something for Darunia. I'm making Jace a castle basking spot, rolling hills, and a dragon cave with it.

He is getting very big. His tail healed up nicely! Good job!

 

[littlegoron]

thanks for the suggestion! His viv is so boring and he is at the point now where he wants to explore and climb, so i need to work on that!

i havent been around much lately, i have depression and have been struggling a lot lately, but i still take photos of Darunia regularly of course!

as for current updates, he turned 4 months old on tuesday the 23rd, and is currently 13.75" which i think is pretty incredible, he grew almost 1.5" in the past week! i am still just amazed by him, i cant believe how big he has gotten in such a short amount of time, im so proud of him and myself too because it means i am taking good care of him and am doing things right by him. im so lucky that despite some problems i did have like the tail and then him being falsely labeled as a hypo, he is the picture of health from what i can tell, and he doesnt mind being held, doesnt get stressed very often, he NEVER beards pretty much, especially not at me, and he likes outside a lot, he is just so docile and has excellent temperament and i feel so lucky for it.

getting too big for his basking rock:

my cockatiel flew into my room and landed on darunias viv where he was sitting and yeah not happy:

he also finished another shed just over a week ago and wow he is beautiful. i dont have a camera on hand so i had to adjust the saturation on my webcam to get accurate pics but yeah!

second photo is more accurate, he has a golden head, his tail is pale, his hind legs are orange-y on top but match his tail on bottom[so weird!!] and his arms are just fire red and beautiful. he has lavender grey bars on his back, and the orange/red on his back is accurate to the top photo. He is finally starting to look like a red x orange beardie, in some places, anyway haha. I took those photos 5 days ago and he is already bigger than this.

his tail is getting ready to shed again, he is really non stop, but i think thats a good thing at his age. i find shedding time really exciting because he changes so drastically every time, i love it. i cant wait to see how he looks next time. his colors really brighten when i take him out into the warmth and sun, i usually have him out for 5 minutes, 10-15 if he is willing to sit still, and it does him really well, the weeks i do this he has huge growth spurts, more energy, and is just bright and happy.


lately ive been worrying he is underweight but i think its just me being silly. he has a nice thick tail base and his fat stores behind the eyes look good from what i can see, i know i dont have anything to worry about but i cant help it!

 

[littlegoron]

also he just graduated to the medium/large crickets at pet smart, 5/8" and 3/4" and i am so proud!! milestone!! :lol:

 

[littlegoron]

Darunia ate an entire collard green leaf today! i am so proud. he came and went to his salad dish several times and i am so proud of him, i dont have to hand feed him greens at all - i do slip him a few by hand though cuz its cute heh

he has also been a really lazy eater, partially my fault, but lately ive been dropping a few crix onto the floor of his viv and he has been flying around chasing them, good exercise for him for sure!

 

[littlegoron]

Is there a certain age until you can get a fecal done? I imagine not but want to ask. Darunias poop STINKS and has since the day i unboxed him..is it possible he came to me with parasites? I was hoping it would go away or that it was normal but there is no way its normal for it to smell this bad. I admit i have a bad stomach when it come to poop smells hha, but it makes me gag, i cant go near his tank until the poop hardens/isnt fresh anymore, even my mom commented on how bad it smells and i think something is up..

i did inspect a fresh poop one day and couldnt see anything in it, his poops look great, always firm and fine in color, urates are fine, he is very alert and never sluggish, great appetite. What could it be? He eats crickets as a main staple and as for his greens the main one is collard greens and i change it up with bok choy, mustard greens, he gets the rarest piece of kale, a lil bit of carrot and broccoli, sometimes he will have sweet potato and butternut squash but he mostly eats leafy greens and isnt fond of other things. so yeah i just thought id ask for advice while i save up some money for a fecal exam at my vet

 

[zandi202]

You should do fecals after the relocation stress is over. Worms counts are higher during that time.

 

[littlegoron]

So how long should I wait? I have had him over for 2 months now, he is 17 weeks old

 

[zandi202]

If you had him for 2 months he should be over any relocation stress and you can do it whenever.

 

[littlegoron]

yeah i figured, thank you! i will do that as soon as i am able to, just to be safe!

i took darunia out into the sun today for ~25 minutes, i took a 5 min break in between two separate outings because he got very stressed by a neighbor using a table saw, so i took him in. he is getting more used to it and i think he would be less scared if he was able to explore more since he loves doing that a lot. i tried to make him a harness like 2" ago but he wasnt having it at all, im hoping now that he is a little bigger he will be less of a booty, bleh. i cant risk him running off and me losing him

i also took some nice photos of him that werent from a DS or a webcam so i am excited to share those with you
they are from last week when he was done shedding but yeah!

 

[zandi202]

Beardies are butt munches :roll:

 

[htidavid]

Love the name

 

[littlegoron]

they really are pains in the booty area, yep. today he has stress marks, not really dark but more than usual, but i have no idea what he is angry about. his temps are fine, he is shedding, his legs are opaque but nothing is peeling rn..

and, thank you! i think it suits him really nicely. I believe he was accurately sexed as a baby and will be male, but in the event he is actually a she, i will keep the name, because it theirs regardless of gender.

i am so proud of him right now, i really want him to enjoy a variety of things but he never really enjoys the things i give him because he is fussy and doesnt like change in his food at all!

but, i just put in his little salad plate with:
- collard greens
- swiss chard
- kale[only an occasional treat for him due to oxylates]
- watermelon
- strawberry
- blueberry
- broccoli

he loved the blueberries a lot, which made me so pleased! he liked the strawberry. he loves watermelon as a rare treat but eating if confuses him because it so wet and slippery, watching him eat it is so cute! :lol:
im proud, he ate everything i gave him, very happy with him for being so adventurous