Introducing Jazz AKA Jazzy....

[JazzyDragon]

Not sure if its a male or female so we figure a male will be Jazz and a female can be Jazzy. We just got it today for my 9 year old daughter. So I'm learning so much more on the web than I learned at the pet store or from the 2 books we had. :study: I'm still feeling a little foggy however. Hoping to learn tons on here from all you seasoned Beardie owners!

I've noticed there are tons of different types of these guys. :shock: So maybe someone can tell me what type I have? Also, I have no clue how old he is. Or how best to introduce him to the family and socialize him. Like how long to we let him adjust to his new environment. He ate 3 meal worms right now so I think he's not too stressed. He was opening his mouth a lot earlier but he got off the log and now he's not. Maybe he was too hot? :? The temp reads 105 at the hottest. He's got a cricket, a meal worm(but he already ate 3 right away), carrots shavings and shallow water dish. Plus I have calcium spray as well. There are plenty of climbing and hiding spots (although thankfully not interested in hiding). He's got all 3 lighting necessities as well. Right now the substrate is alfafa although we may switch cuz it smells funny. We have our own cricket enclosure as well and eventually will have that be a cricket farm hopefully. Any early owner advice or tips that a newbie ought to know would be appreciated.

Some pics of the newest family member!

The set up for him till he gets bigger

The crickets enclosure

The back view

His "good side"

Beautifully basking

Sunning

The open mouth moments

 

[Omnomnami]

Adorable! Congrats on your new addition!

Be sure to let us know if you have any questions! Everyone here loves to help.

 

[Omnomnami]

Jazz looks like a fun patterned normal to me. If you measure him maybe we can get a better estimate to how old he is...to me he looks to be a couple months or younger. When you first get him home you want to introduce him to his new environment as soon as possible and give a bit of alone time in his new home. That means no holding or poking at him for a couple days! Haha.

A lot of people don't feed their beardies meal worms due to the hard outer shells and the low nutritional value. Stick to greens and crickets for now. You can also find some dubia roaches for sale online. Beardies love those!

When he opens his mouth that means it's warm where he is at and it's sort of like a dog panting. It helps them cool off. If that method doesn't work for him then he will move to a cooler spot. The warm side under his basking lamp should be around 100-105 degrees, the cool end should be around the mid to low 80's.

Only feeding carrots to him is a BIG no. Carrots can be lightly sprinkled on top of his greens every other day or given to him as treats.

The best lights to use are Reptisun 10.0 UVB florescent bulbs and the typical heat bulbs found in pet stores(I'll list the one I use in a bit...forgot what it's called).

Baby dragons shouldn't have any sort of substance that can be easily eaten for bedding. Especially at that young of an age. Paper towels and news paper are ideal until he gets a bit bigger.

Hummm....did I forget anything? Let me know! I can also give you a list of veggies to feed him!

-Nichole

 

[JazzyDragon]

Gonna get lots more veggies tomorrow at the store. I only had carrots today.

Can you explain the meal worm thing again? Something about an outer shell? Do they choke on it or something? Can I use the meal worm for praying the calcium on? And the crickets are being fed carrots and oatmeal. Anything else?

 

[Omnomnami]

Baby dragons have pretty sensitive mouths, even though it might not look like it! The hard exoskeleton thingy on the meal worms could be hard to chew for your beardie and that can lead to them swallowing them nearly whole and not being able to digest them thoroughly which can cause blockage.

It's also best to get the calcium dust with added D3 instead of the spray on stuff. You can lightly dust your beardies crickets in a clear plastic lunch bag with the calcium dust. The dust doesn't have much of an odor compared to the spray on stuff as well so your beardie will most likely love you even more for that!

 

[JazzyDragon]

Gotcha! So since I JUST bought the mealworms, would it be ok to give them for a little bit? Maybe not as the main source but as a little appetizer or side snack? I hate to waste money throwing them out. And I think its a little annoying that every book and informative bit out there says mealworms if they actually aren't that great for them.

And since I bought the spray as well, could I just use that up and when its gone begin dusting with the powder? Again, its really just cuz I literally just bought it today cuz thats the ONLY type the store carried. What are your thoughts on that?

 

[JazzyDragon]

Oh and what is a "fun patterned normal"? What does that mean? What about the pattern makes it fun? And is it just the common coloring that makes it normal?

Oh and I'd say he's about 6 or 7 inches long from nose to tip of tail? hard to get an exact measurement cuz I don't want to stress him out by handling him too much right away. So about how old would that make him?

 

[Omnomnami]

By fun pattern I mean that his pattern stands out a lot. And yes the common brown/gray colors make him appear to be a normal...he might be het for some morphs which means he could be carrying the genes to make colorful babies. 6-7 inches would put him between 1-2 months or so. It can be kinda hard to tell. Babies can grow at different rates. I've seen a lot of my females grow at faster rates than my males but this isn't a proven fact or anything.

 

[JazzyDragon]

Thanks for clarifying!