Hey all! My new baby Beardie! New Pics!

[C3Sound]

I want to welcome my first lizard ever, *insert future known gender-based name here* to the community!

Its such a cool experience taking care of this little booger, and I want everyones input on how they think I am doing - This is my first time taking care of a reptile!

Upon registering with the forum, the email said these were the most commonly asked questions - here they are and the answers provided after:
- Age: Has to be almost right out of the egg. Not literally, but the pet store said a few weeks old. My guess is anywhere between 4 and 5 weeks.
- Approx. 4 and a half inches (length from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail)
- 10 Gallon Tank (Length 20 inches, Width 10 inches, Height 12 inches - 20x10x12)
- Temperatures: WALL Temp on Basking side: 88-90F - Basking SPOT Temp unknown
- Substrate: Zoo-Med Eco Reptile Carpet
- Diet: Small/Medium Crickets - approx. up to 9 per day, however this number seems to be growing rapidly

Additional Information:
Calcium Duster: Fluckers Calcium with Vitamin D (Phosphorus Free) - Crickets dusted 1 to 2 times a day
Backup Food (Until he gets older): Healthy Herp Dragon Food Instant Meal
Zoo-Med Basking Spot Lamp 50watt (Double Reflector Focus makes for 35% more heat)
Exo-Terra Repti Glo 10.0 UVB 26watt Lamp
Exo-Terra Night Glo Moonlight 50watt Lamp (for night heating)

My questions are:
- How old do you think it is currently?
- How often and how much is it supposed to drink water? (I drop water on its snout which sometimes it licks it off, back, and tail periodically for hydration)
- Will it bother the beardie if it can see its reflection in the glass?
- When do I upgrade to a bigger tank?
- Are there any warnings to look out for initially? Any baby quirks that are signals or signs for different treatment I should be watching for?

Some fun questions:
- I play soft jazz for it during the day I really think it likes Melody Gardot! Anyone have beardies that like music?
- Anyone else have their baby beardie getting their attention when it wants to eat? It stares at me while I work on the computer (I work at home) and then will jump down from its perch and run back and forth on my side of the tank! I feed it and it immediately eats!
- When does the beardie start trusting you? Yesterday (Day 2) it climbed up my hand by its own will!

UPDATE! PICTURES!

Thanks all for your interest and advice/comments!
-Curtis
http://www.c3sound.com
[email protected]

 

[catUK]

Congrats on the new beardie
Your baby should be fed 2-3 times per day, as many as it can eat in 10 minutes. They should be getting between 30 and 100 crickets per day, 9 is nowhere near enough. Live food should be dusted with calcium once per day, 5 times a week. They should be dusted with vitamins 2 times per week. Salad should be available every day, although they may not start eating it until older. Here's a helpful site on good veg for your beardie:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

As for the temps, you should be measuring the air temperature with a digital probe to get the most accurate temps. Also it is best not to use a night light as it can disturb their sleep patterns. I use a ceramic lamp which i turn down on a night as it gets really cold. if its not too cold where you live you wont need heat at night i.e. if temps dont fall below 65. Repti glo's aren't the best uvb. Ive got one and havent had problems but ive read reviews. Im going to change mine to arcadia 12% (UK) or you can get repti sun 10 (UK, USA)

- How old do you think it is currently? Beardies vary in size so its hard to determine age
- How often and how much is it supposed to drink water? - Beardies very rarely drink from a water bowl. Just keep on what your doing by dropping water onto its nose and mist daily. when he's a little bigger you can give him baths- just make sure the water is warm and doesn't go past his shoulders.
Will it bother the beardie if it can see its reflection in the glass?-sometimes it does but mine has always been ok with it
When do I upgrade to a bigger tank?- I think you will be able to tell when he is outgrowing his tank
Are there any warnings to look out for initially? Any baby quirks that are signals or signs for different treatment I should be watching for? Specialists in reptiles tend not to sell babies so young as they are so hard to care for. watch out for lethargicness, not eating and not pooping. I would read up on signs and symptoms of different illnesses in beardies so you know better what to look out for. the website i gave above has a good health section.

Mine took about 2 months till she completely trusted me i.e. loves to cuddle me and comes to me for comfort.

PHOTOS: if you sign up with photobucket you can upload pics directly onto post by copying image code

A bit of advice, i would name him/her now as i didn't find out terri (formerly terry) was a girl until she was 6 months- its hard to determine the gender before that age.

Hope this helps

 

[C3Sound]

Is it possible he could be going through relocation stress as a baby? He eats, and hes eating more and more every day, but he seems to prefer basking a lot even when there are crickets down below. Sometimes he would rather me chase them with a spoon before going after them than hunting on his own!

I still need to get the vitamins, but I will soon -- hes getting his calcium.

So far the only other thing besides crickets he has tried was a small piece of apple.

 

[catUK]

Yeah it could possibly be relocation stress, after all he is so small (and gorgeous). If the crickets are too large he might be intimidated by them. You said they were small/medium- as long as they're no bigger than the space between his eyes then they are ok. At least he tried some apple, thats good- babies rarely touch their salad until they're older. A good vitamin powder is nutrobal, which you might be able to get online. Hope your enjoying your new beardie, they are the best pets!

 

[Reptar101]

I wouldn't be worried about him/her basking a lot. It is normal for most beardies.
Congratulations on your new reptile! :mrgreen: :lol:

 

[Atrax]

Welcome :wave:

Aww, he's so small He's just as big as my dragon Ziggy was when I bought him. They are so adorable at this size. Aww...

 

[C3Sound]

Thank you all for your interest! Ill keep updating this thread as time progresses!

 

[vallllhalla]

Ah! He's so tinyyy