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]

darunia seems a little off today. he ate his greens no trouble and had some blueberry too, but when it came time for his first meal he ate 4 crickets and then ignored the rest. he always poops right after greens but didnt. i had to give him an early bath to get it out of him, and it took over 10 minutes in the water until it came out. The poop was solid, normal in color, and the urates were fine and completely white but on one end of the urates[closest to the poop] there were tiny brown circular dots, almost like spider eggs just to give you an idea of size and appearance. there was probably 30-50 of them ,very very tiny? i have never seen it before in any of his poops and perhaps i may not ever again, but still. they werent in the urate either, they were on the surface of it.

im going to offer crickets again soon and see how he feels about it. he is hanging out on his hammock and moving and his head is help up while he is lying there so thats a good sign. he is also in the middle of shedding so hopefully it just has to do with that...

 

[littlegoron]

updates:
- he is eating again today and is moving around more, and his poop was normal as well, though he does have stress marks. i think it is a temperature thing, though, i need to go buy a 100W white bulb. the temp just dropped 10-15 degrees outside overnight and the 75W bulb is too cool by a few degrees[plus its dull], and the 150W i have is too hot by a few degrees, sigh! i figure it is better for it to be a 105f and for him to just go on to his hammock when he wants to cool off, or go on the cool side, etc. lots of options!

- i managed to pick up a new strip panel for his UVB bulb, too.

my dad did all the wiring for me and i can finally mount his UVB inside the tank i seriously cant wait. he's been getting loads of natural uvb and gets his food dusted appropriately but he really needs it in his tank, especially now that summer is ending here, so i am glad i picked this up. Its the most important part of any dragons habitat, and i feel comforted knowing he can get all the uvb he needs.

- i am planning to redo his viv tomorrow morning, moving his basking spot over, put down some slate tile, i am hoping they will cut it for free for me when they find out its only for a reptile 'tat, but im not counting on it. i am also going to draw out some designs tonight for additions to his viv and pick up a sheet of Styrofoam and some grout and have at it. hoping my sister can help me out - she is an artist.

- he weighed in at 181 grams today. i thought my scale was wrong! he is going to be a big boy when he grows up, just like i thought he would be!


here is a pic of my not so little goron baby, ps! from 2 nights ago. he is in the middle of shedding atm

 

[littlegoron]

i found my battery charger for my camera!! so of course i took real pictures, no more low quality yay!!

Darunia finally shed his arms and legs thankfully, i was getting worried because they looked almost swollen but all is well now. his arms are fir red, though i wasn't able to get a pic of it yet, but i will soon, he looks so cute. he is just starting to shed his face/head now after taking these photos, too.
He also tried hornworms yesterday and i regret getting only 2 tiny ones because he LOVED them. im definitely gunna pick up a few more, and get them a little bigger, too.

Here is a small photo dump note how creamy his belly is, woo stress free!

his head nevr goes white but this time it did!

this is my favorite pic of him:
"MOM, WHY CANT I EAT EM THO?"

Kiwi: ive decided i will post about my leopard gecko occasionally as well. she is 4 years old, a rescue i got on christmas eve! when i got her she was going through a horrible shed and i suspect she had her share of them due to being underweight. she had horrible eye caps.

it took over 4 months for her to have normal sheds and get her weight up, despite having a great appetite.
she loved my heated blanket :lol:

Here she is today!! She just weighed in at 53 grams yesterday. she could stand to gain a few as she recently went down a bit, im aiming for 60-65 for her.

my camera focused on the wrong thing but here she is having a treat, a few waxworms:

 

[zandi202]

Darunia is such a handsome boy and his colors are coming out so well! his beard and belly really are such a pretty creamy white. Two of my three (baby is still too small to tell yet) have color tinted beards. Zy has a pinkish tinge and Jace is more of a gold. The pure white looks so pretty...er handsome. I meant handsome! :lol: He also has the cutest facial expressions.

You have done such an amazing job with Kiwi. She looks amazing. Her coloring reminds me of Ava's and Ava is as good as rescued as well. She wasn't in bad shape when at the pet store, but we have come to realize that she is an enigma - or at least acting like one and taking up many of their characteristics. It would cost $400-$500 to find out for sure.

Back to Kiwi, she is just the cutest, plumpest little thing. None of my three want to be plump. The picture of her eating is cute, even if the camera wouldn't focus. Mines like that.

 

[CountofCasualty]

Hey! I didn't know you were on here. I love your babies, I'll have to go back and read through the entire topic.

 

[littlegoron]

hey, yes im on here, dont post as much as i'd like to but here none the less!

and zandi thank you for your kind comments, i really appreciate you saying she looks nice and chubby. its been a long journey with her and she has come so far.


Kiwi: She tried supers tonight, I always watch her as she eats just in case because she has a little head, and she loved em! she actually ate 7 of them omg i couldnt believe it. I picked the smallest ones out but i was really surprised and impressed with her haha. I don't even have to ask anyone to crush their mouths because she goes right for their heads n munches them first :lol:
she did try a hornworm as well but i only had big ones and i didnt feel okay giving her one of them so i got my mom to cut it in half. worst thing is they stop moving then but surprisingly she ate it - normally she refuses anything not moving. even live pry that she has zoomed in on[you know what i mean heh], if it stops for a moment she loses interest!

I also got some textured ceramic tile for her viv last week and dad cut it for me with a diamond blade, so i am going to be installing it tomorrow morning, finally. She has been on sand since i got her which i hate so i am sooo excited for her to be off it, i think she is going to be one happy girl. i will post a pic when its done.



darunia has been trying new things too!
- he tried hornworms and he dies for them dang. he ate like 8 in one day and i had to cut him off.
- He tried superworms today as well[out of crix and wanted to try more new things with him] and he is also addicted to those.
- He grew another .5" and is 12.5" now. i'd put him at 15.5" with tail so i feel it is safe to feed him the supers without a problem, but i am going to check his poop tomorrow to make sure he digested em okay.
- I'm noticing he has a lot of undigested greens in his poop, do you think its because he eats thm throughout the day and they take longer to digest? I find now that he is bigger he hates the temp to be high, even more than he did as a babe. When his core temp reaches 97.5f and he opens his mouth to regulate, without fail. But im worried if i make the temps lower this soon he wont be able to digest properly..advice? i try to keep it at 98-101f right now, sometimes i lt it go down to 96 but i find he is basically ALWAYS on his hammock which is more like 87-92f. he does go on to his basking spot for a bit tho, think its enough? im not sure what to do, its important his greens digest and im not sure what im doin wrong a lot of it gets digested its just a few pieces wrapped into the poop? but yeah

i bought slate tile like i mentioned and i put it in last week and mounted his UVB in the tank as planned, it looks great! Here's two pictures, i dont believe i posted any yet..maybe haha

i love the slate so much! beautiful color with oranges and his nails are already filed down a good bit, might not need a trim after all!



and zandi i was reading about ava and the troubles youve been having, though i dont comment often but she sure is giving you a wild time!

 

[littlegoron]

ps. he turned 5 months old yesterday, sob! so here is him before at 7/ 8 weeks:

and here his him yesterday at 5 months:

 

[littlegoron]

HUGE photo dump some posted on tumblr, some not!

my sister has only held him twice but she's getting more accepting of him. she isnt afraid of him, just not cool with having him on her, but she is getting better. I am trying to socialize him because he doesnt like to stay on other people and i want him to be friendlier.

and here are v recent ones from the past week/few days
"WHAT IS THAT?!!?!?!"

"I WAN EAT IT"

OM NOM

"i want more.."

i lov the lottle orange splatter/freckles he has on his lips

red arms

eating blueberries!!

his tail has gotten SO orange since i mounted the uvb inside!

and here is him being mad because i called him a dirtbag the day after eating said blueberries. look he even got hornworm guts on his chin jfc

i had to wet a qtip and wipe it off, and it was hard :lol:



by september he is going to need a new bath

 

[CountofCasualty]

He is growing so well. And he is brightening up a lot, too! That's great, such a change from the baby you got.

 

[zandi202]

What a cutie!

 

[littlegoron]

thanks guys!
he really has brightened up, for a long time i worried they were lying about him being the type of dragon they claimed he was tbh, he was so plain as a youngin' and its taken him a long time to get to this point. i just hope his head catches up to the rest of him, haha. His back is so close to shedding, i cant wait

 

[zandi202]

Yeah, most babies look plain until they hit about 7" and pet store ones a little longer.

 

[littlegoron]

yeah i honestly didnt know that. i guess i was expecting him to be more red because the breeder over saturated the photos and made him look red, but i'm glad he's turning out to be a beautiful boy. i'll love him no matter what he looks like. : )

i dont know if i ever posted his parents before but here they are:
Mom:

Dad:

they seem stressed and dark in the photos but i think he is turning out a lot like his dad!

 

[littlegoron]

Measured Darunia today, he grew a whole inch!

age: 5 months/ 22 weeks
length: 13.5" [~17" if he had a full tail]
weight: 257g

how did my boy get so big?! i always knew he'd be a big guy but i cant believe the way he's grown and the lengths he's reached, its crazy. since i put the uvb into his tank he's been unstoppable. beautiful colors that are bright, he was always active but i notice a big increase in his willingness to hunt and explore, and the growing? he cant stop, 1/2" a week at his size and age is impressive to me, since its consistent. how did he grow up? in may i had this little tiny baby, waaah

no update onkiwi for right now, i havent had her out in ~ a week, my mom accidentally unplugged her heat pad and didnt notice and it was off all day and kiwi has understandably been very unhappy about it so i left her to it. i'm going to install her ceramic tile today and starting next week i am going to work hard with her to get her to a level of comfort in being picked up. I understand if she doesnt want to socialize or anything like that, but i would like to get her used to being held for her own safety, so we'll see how she does. : )


I cant wait until darunia is a bit older, if only so that he will take up a little less time. sometimes i feel like i am neglecting my other pets a little, in that they get excellent care and are fed regularly and stuff, but i dont get to spend as much time with them because they take so much work as babies. do any of you other beardie parents feel like this, if you have other pets?


me:
i am doing okay. we just drove my sister to her dorm room for university.she is 700 miles away now and it is really hard. she's my best friend and i really miss her. i dont think its kicked in yet that she is so far away. i wish i could be there with her. i have also been really struggling with my anxiety and depression, for ~ a year now. The past 8 weeks in particular have been horrible, i was very suicidal and absolutely a danger to myself. I feel like in the past week that has finally passed but everything else is still present. i quit my job in january and was too sick to work but i am running out of money and have to get a job now. i am nervous about it because i cant handle certain work environments right now. its really hard to explain that to your family so i havent bothered, they dont know how i feel. but, im hoping to find something part time that is stress free, like maybe a stocker at pet smart or something. hopefully i find something. so long as i can feed my pets, pay my CC, and put a little bit away, im happy with it for now, so heres hoping..
animals really help me with my mental illnesses though, which i am very thankful for. My dog is my life support i swear, he's this sweet little thing that follows me all over the house, he has so much love for me.
i think Darunia has really helped me too, i dont know if i'd be alive if i hadnt purchased him back in may, thats how far gone i was. He was this little tiny helpless baby and he required literally ALL of my time, it was an all day thing to raise him as a baby, constant feedings, temperature checks, plus working on his temperament, etc. He kept me busy and he distracted me and i am so glad for that. Even now, he gives me a purpose. If i'm not here to take care of him, theres no one around who knows how, so i have to be here, to give him a good life.

im really glad i bought him, even though his vicious appetite as a baby and buying from pet smart instead of online totally run up my credit card :lol:

 

[littlegoron]

photo dump of darunia : )

just waking up~ he just barely fits in the box, ive got to turn his tail a good deal. im going to pick him up a nice basket so he can just sleep next to my bed

http://31.media.tumblr.com/c3c7658a1e0857250a1a7a2bf68e4700/tumblr_msiunvycfX1qateomo2_500.jpg[/img]

"you dont fit on that rock buddy"
" yes i do."

he wanted to go to bed but it was way too early so he climbed back out to glare at me :lol:
img]http://24.media.tumblr.com/ff432092f529e92c1243d6237b296e25/tumblr_ms448n19JE1qateomo1_500.jpg[/img]

shedding his back last week:

and from this morning, nomming radicchio and collard greens - he eats better than i do!