Introducing....... Cortez

[DrMac]

New Bearded Dragon owner as of February. We bought our 10 year old son a beardie at Petsmart for his birthday and he decided on the name Cortez. Unfortunately, due to some misinformation from the workers at Petsmart, we didn't have a very good setup for him (no UVB, red light lamp at night, fed him mainly mealworms, etc etc). After about six weeks, his health started to fail and we found him one morning lifeless in his cage.

After a TON of research, I came across this website and we decided after a few days to try again with a new bearded dragon (also named Cortez by my son). This time we got him from a locally owned family pet store who had a LOT more knowledge about their care than the Petsmart employees.

We have had him for about three weeks now and he is 9" long. We currently house him in a 20 gallon aquarium with a Repitsun 18" UVB bulb, a basking light that keeps it around 105 degrees on his favorite rock and also a tree branch that he loves to climb on.

Feedings started with morning and evening cricket feeds and a salad of turnip or mustard greens left in during the day. After about two weeks with us, his cricket intake had went from 8-10 at a feeding to 15-20 (2x/day). As of last week, we switched him over to Dubia roaches (also started our own colony) which he absolutely LOVES!! We appreciate not having to chase down jumping crickets that accidentally get loose when my son feeds him. Although my wife has threatened me with life and limb if the dubias get out.

We are in the process of building a 4x2x2 crossfire enclosure (DIY forum post here: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=224125 ) and should be done with that in the next week or two.

Looking forward to learning much more about the care of beardies on this forum in the future!

Here is a picture of Cortez:

 

[Terry15]

Cortez is such a cutie. He's going to love his new home.

 

[DrMac]

Since we started him on Dubias about two weeks ago, Cortez seems to be gaining size in both length and width by the day.

My son loves feeding him because as soon as the roach hits the ground, Cortez gobbles it up (versus chasing crickets around for minutes on end). Many times my son won't even have the chance to get the roach off his finger before Cortez snatches it away from him.....LOL.

He has also been doing a pretty good job of eating some greens every day, but he far and away likes the dubias better.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am so sorry about your first one, that is so hard to lose them that young.
It looks like Cortez is doing quite well & looks very healthy, too. He sure has a cute beardie belly also. At his he will definitely prefer protein over vegetation but in time, will start to eat more greens & veggies though.
I hope he continues to stay happy & healthy for you.

Tracie