My new baby Beardie, Tidus!!

[Russell84]

Hello All! I'd like to introduce my new baby Bearded Dragon who I've named Tidus! He's really a christmas present as I bought him on the 22nd of December and my mom gave me the money to get him. He's coming up to 9 weeks old and he's a very big healthy size, weighing in at around 30g! Rather than a shop I got him from an amatuer private breeder who treated them as if they were their own pets, which I believe explains why he's so healthy and big!

Before Tidus I had a 20month old hypo-red dragon called Drake, whom I had from a baby. Sadly he was diagnosed with leukemia and developed cancer of the liver. He became so ill I had to have him put to sleep... it was so sad! . Since his passing I just really wanted another dragon. Now I have Tidus, but Drake will never be forgotten.

I've posted a few pics of Tidus below. He has some beautiful markings. His father is a german giant with a bit of red colouration, and his mother is a high-citrus. He's been a very shy little thing since I bought him, as he likes to hide all day in his plastic leaves. Today he has been very active, running around his vivarium enjoying himself! He is eating very well. He loves small black crickets and he'll take grated carrot from my hand.

And here is my previous dragon Drake (RIP little one )...

 

[Lindz0518]

So sorry about Drake, and I love the name Tidus! He is such a cute little guy!

 

[Twobeardieguy]

:wave:

 

[Russell84]

Thanks. Drake was my first Beardie, he was amazing! I'm really happy with Tidus also, I think I chose well. I would definately buy from an amatuer private breeder over a shop again in future.

Also I got the name from the video game final fantasy 10, Tidus was the main character in this

 

[Lindz0518]

I was wondering, I am a fan of the games

 

[Russell84]

It took me several days to decide on the name. My other ideas were- Leon, Rex or Thorn... I think Tidus is better though!

 

[Lindz0518]

It was between Spyro, Draco, and Charmander. My son had final say... but I am glad he chose Spyro, it was my favorite.

 

[Russell84]

I think Spyro is the best name so your son chose wisely

I'm going to try Tidus with some baby hoppers tomorrow! I think he's big enough to eat them and it'll be a nice treat!

He still hides away in the leaves for most of the time and this is in the cold end of the vivarium. I'm a bit concerned about this so now that he's settled in I will remove them. He should be spending more time basking, which he doesn't!

 

[Lindz0518]

I just replied in my thread about taking out Spyro's log because he was hiding and not basking. I have read on here that when they are young to take out things they can use to hide away from the uvb and basking lights.
So I switched it around from this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/aza31di0e4ub46n/2012-12-27 16.52.57.jpg

To this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m94hjux9v2621v0/2012-12-28 20.31.56.jpg

He stayed in the basking spot all day and I can already see some colors getting brighter, under the shed. Hope Tidus does well with the hoppers!

 

[Russell84]

He loved the hoppers this morning

I've moved the plastic leaves so that they're not hanging down in the cold end of the viv. Instead I've put them in the centre of the viv, wrapped around his piece of wood so that he can still sit in them if he wants, but this makes it much more difficult for him to hide! So far so good. He seems a little stressed from the change- he keep trying to climb in the area where they used to be. I think he will settle soon.

 

[jacody]

Russell- he's beautiful, really bright eyes. I'm glad you found one to call your own, hard to wait, but worth it.. we should compare growth notes.. Crixus is now just short of 8" and doubled his weight since we've had him, now around 21 grams.. good luck w/ him and have fun..

 

[Russell84]

Thank you Jacody . Tidus is a very big boy for his age! I think its a combination of being half german giant and been very well brought up by the family I bought him from. He was about 30g when I bought him a week ago and he is about 10inches long. He's only 2 months old!! He hatched on the 28th october so I even know his birthday

I just hope he has a long, healthy and cancer free life!

 

[Russell84]

In the end there were no decent baby beardies for sale in the shops before christmas. Only very few seemed to be left and nothing that I really fancied. I searched the internet and I was lucky to find an amatuer private breeder with 15 very lovely baby dragons- much better than what I've seen in shops

 

[Lindz0518]

I always try to avoid the pet stores, the people I got Spyro from got him from one though. He seems little for his age, 3 months and only 8-8 1/2 inches and I need to go get a new scale. I dropped mine a few weeks ago and broke it . I would like to watch Spyro put on weight.

 

[Russell84]

It sounds like your Spyro wasn't fed very well by the past owner, which could account for his small size. Now that you have him eating I'm sure he will catch up! I think Tidus is exceptionally big for 2 months old! My previous dragon Drake wasn't this big at the same age. Anyway, he seems to have settled with his hiding place taken away and is basking in the middle of the vivarium.