I'm Pretty sure my Bearded dragon is a Lawsons

[Shidohari]

So at the time I got my beardie, I knew they were the smallest one in the display bin of the three that were there. Since then they've grown a couple inches (and become named Kohaku Chai), but the patterning hasn't changed from when I first got them, and very closely resembles a Lawson's Dragon also known as a Rankins on wikipedia. On the rare times i have occasion to hold them, they run first thing to my shoulder. According to info on this forum's page, out of all beardies Lawson's LOVE TO CLIMB (and the implied was ALOT) I have two pieces of driftwood set up in the tank and one has a ramp end that leads to the hide/basking rock and he's just sitting there as pretty as you please. It's actually the reason i haven't done the nightly feeding yet because I really really don't want to disturb them, but will have to soon.

My eyes estimate their between 9-10 inches long at this time. Lawsons get up to a max of 12 inches on average. size of the enclosure is still the 40 gallon size.

I've owned the bearded dragon since fall of last year. Don't know what other climbing things i could even fit in there as i have a rather large water dish that they can bathe (and sadly sometimes leave gifts in) and the veg is delivered on a white paper towel. Picky beardie has always enhaled endive which i do two days with Herpivite and five days with reptical. Occasionally i still throw in protein in the form of the mealworms they like but it's rarely.

Sorry i don't have any updated pictures but i just got home from work about an hour ago. It's chilling out time for me. Also prayers to anyone in the northeastern's path that has pets of any type.

Thoughts welcome.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, it's most likely just a slow grower. A Rankin's is more of a specialty dragon + much rarer than a beardie. Post a few pics tomorrow when he wakes up.

 

[Taterbug]

AHBD is right that Rankins tend to be a bit harder to come by and as such usually fetch a higher price or at least some indication they are Rankins. If you can share pictures, especially if the head we can help get you a positive ID

What’s your setup like right now? Pictures Wilde he’ll for sure I’d love to help you come up with some enrichment ideas to keep your little guy active and athletic.

 

[Catzo]

Its very unlikely the store would mislabel a rankin as a beardie. They are harder to find and cost much more. The store wouldve had to search specifically for a rankin breeder. They don't really get put together in shipments or even come from the same supplier.

It would be like walking into a honda dealership and buying a civic and the dealer gives you a porsche by mistake.

 

[Shidohari]

Here's the pictures you requested.

Sorry the last one is a little grainy. I did that at 4x for the magnification.

This will probably be the last time that i do pictures soon after requests...lol.

 

[Shidohari]

and yes that is black garbage bag around three sides to minimize how much they can see their reflection in the glass.

 

[Catzo]

He is a pretty tiny little guy thats for sure. Do you know how old?

 

[AHBD]

Pics from the top looking down at the back would be more telling, but that is a regular beardie. He is cute as a button.

 

[Shidohari]

I've got you handled. Try that image on for size.

 

[AHBD]

100% beardie. Looks like a possible leatherback.

 

[Shidohari]

Presented themselves in a nice obliging way right after you asked for the top down picture. Leatherbacks are rare to end up in pet stores aren't they? Would the breeder have donated it due to a coloring fail from what they were trying to achieve?

 

[AHBD]

Leathers are very common, found in many stores. A leather bred to a normal scaled dragon will produce a percentage of leathers in every clutch so they are not uncommon at all.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Definitely looks like a regular central bearded dragon, I agree that he could possibly be a leatherback looking at the images.

As for leatherbacks in petstores, not really rare though probably depends where you are. My petco and petsmart carries them pretty often, while my local petstores only occasionally carry them.

 

[Shidohari]

Good to know. Could be a slow grower as the two beardies that were in the petsmart display 'tank' with it were both noticeably larger. Now that i've got Kohaku on two days Herpivite on the veg and five days calcium on the veg maybe that's making the improvement.

I'm really pleased with this new setup though. It's going to be a pain to clean because of how i've placed the rocks so removing them to change out the repticarpet (which i still need to clean the swap i pulled out last week) is going to be fun. But i think Kohaku likes this setup best as there's many places to perch.

 

[Shidohari]

AHBD is right that Rankins tend to be a bit harder to come by and as such usually fetch a higher price or at least some indication they are Rankins. If you can share pictures, especially if the head we can help get you a positive ID

What’s your setup like right now? Pictures Wilde he’ll for sure I’d love to help you come up with some enrichment ideas to keep your little guy active and athletic.

I'll take those enrichment suggestions from yourself or anyone.

My work schedule keeps me very busy so i rarely get to handle them, part of this was due to the first two weeks I owned them i was still working two jobs. As a result within the first month I got smart and got them a 40 gallon enclosure instead of sticking with the repurposed 20 gallon fish tank i was using. Budget is limited but can be slightly flexible as it's for one of my pets and not myself (the other pet is a betta fish named Sephiroth). I also have very limited handyperson's knowledge. The condo is not beardie safe as it's carpeted and pretty much fully furnished. Also on the times if I have them out and on my shoulder then SIT DOWN, the beardie will either jump on something or the back of the chair i'm sitting on (since my condo isn't beardie safe i have to make sure that doesn't go very far and have figured i can't sit down with them on my shoulder.

The only thing i was thinking about in the immediate future is maybe changing the wraps on the outside from the garbage bag to a normal reptile habitat wrap. the hardest part would be doing the back of the tank as it's just me.

Lighting is still the 150w Exotherm and the UVB lamp is a 22 inch T5 tube bulb from lightyourreptiles. Lights are off right now and the digital therm reads 70.7 which is probably about room temp. when the basking light is on that side can read up to 111 because i have the thermometer placed right next to the top part of the basking rock/hide thing i got from petsmart.

Hope that information helps.