Hi all,
New here so bare with me if I miss anything (or if it ends up being a novel). I'm not new to reptiles, but am new to beardies. One week ago I bought 2 babies from a local breeder. Being as I have bred reptiles in the past (but never beardies) the 2 I chose were chosen not only for health, but for genetics and color as well, just in case in the future if I ever decide to breed them I would already have good genes. Anyway, so the two I bought were still pretty young at just barely going on 3 weeks old, 1 being a Citrus Hypo het Trans and the other a Hypo Trans. I saw the parents and both are a great bright orange color so I knew all babies would end up being beautiful anyway. But of course, I still chose the 2 that had the brightest coloration of them all, which at the time of purchase, they were both a stunning bright orange.
I understand stress can dull their colors a bit and relocation can take up to a couple weeks or so to calm them down a bit. The HT is actually shedding at the moment and has been since the day after purchase, so I haven't really been able to see those same colors since purchase day. The Hypo on the other hand... has since the day of buying turned more of a grayish/brown (normal) color and his/her orange has diminished quite tremendously. Is this normal? At first sight he was a stunning orange and now he's more normal colored. I'm sure I've got nothing to worry about and his orange will return, especially after a shed... I'm just wanting to hear from people about opinions I guess. Or maybe if there's a change needed in husbandry that may be causing any sort of additional stress. To add, he is not in shed anywhere but his tail ATM, so it can't be a loss of color from shedding.
Oh, and to add, no they are not being handled as of yet. I wanted to wait at least a week to destress them and let them get acclimated to their new environment. Being babies they are still pretty skittish... so on top of that I haven't been able to do much misting either. As the tank is pretty large with real rock structures, there are plenty of places for them to hide and the moment they get spooked they go hide, but it's getting better every day. (So that adds, no baths yet either.)
Husbandry:
90g
Reptisun 10.0 for UVB
ZooMed 75w basking light about 10" from basking area
Hot side 110-115, cool side is room temperature ranging from 70-75 at night and 80 in the day (the reason I say room temp is the tank is large at 4' wide, basking spot is far left, so the other side on the right gets none to little added heat, then there's the middle area which stays in between) --- I use a Zoomed digital probe
Tile for substrate
Real rock structures (yes, cleaned properly prior to adding to tank) and driftwood
Diet:
Appropriately sized crickets 2-3 times a day, and both eating very well -- no issues with feeding
(Crickets dusted with calcium every other day. No vitamins yet but planning on getting some Herptivite tonight and will start a twice weekly regimen.)
Have greens available but it doesn't look like they're eating much of it. (Cucumber, carrots, grapes, collared greens so far.)
I'm not sure if I'm missing anything but if I am, just ask. To add, yes they will go in separate tanks eventually. I have recently moved and this is the only tank I have set up and I got a great deal on 2 nice morphs and had to take it. I have tons of other tanks that I'll be setting up soon. Also as far as aggression towards each other there have been none. They actually keep to themselves, seeing as the tank is pretty large they have not come across any territorial issues.
Sorry no pics. I'm at work and they block photo sharing sites so I can't upload to photobucket and the forums will only link and not upload to their server... But basically he looks like a normal guy right about now as opposed to the really bright orange guy on day of purchase.
New here so bare with me if I miss anything (or if it ends up being a novel). I'm not new to reptiles, but am new to beardies. One week ago I bought 2 babies from a local breeder. Being as I have bred reptiles in the past (but never beardies) the 2 I chose were chosen not only for health, but for genetics and color as well, just in case in the future if I ever decide to breed them I would already have good genes. Anyway, so the two I bought were still pretty young at just barely going on 3 weeks old, 1 being a Citrus Hypo het Trans and the other a Hypo Trans. I saw the parents and both are a great bright orange color so I knew all babies would end up being beautiful anyway. But of course, I still chose the 2 that had the brightest coloration of them all, which at the time of purchase, they were both a stunning bright orange.
I understand stress can dull their colors a bit and relocation can take up to a couple weeks or so to calm them down a bit. The HT is actually shedding at the moment and has been since the day after purchase, so I haven't really been able to see those same colors since purchase day. The Hypo on the other hand... has since the day of buying turned more of a grayish/brown (normal) color and his/her orange has diminished quite tremendously. Is this normal? At first sight he was a stunning orange and now he's more normal colored. I'm sure I've got nothing to worry about and his orange will return, especially after a shed... I'm just wanting to hear from people about opinions I guess. Or maybe if there's a change needed in husbandry that may be causing any sort of additional stress. To add, he is not in shed anywhere but his tail ATM, so it can't be a loss of color from shedding.
Oh, and to add, no they are not being handled as of yet. I wanted to wait at least a week to destress them and let them get acclimated to their new environment. Being babies they are still pretty skittish... so on top of that I haven't been able to do much misting either. As the tank is pretty large with real rock structures, there are plenty of places for them to hide and the moment they get spooked they go hide, but it's getting better every day. (So that adds, no baths yet either.)
Husbandry:
90g
Reptisun 10.0 for UVB
ZooMed 75w basking light about 10" from basking area
Hot side 110-115, cool side is room temperature ranging from 70-75 at night and 80 in the day (the reason I say room temp is the tank is large at 4' wide, basking spot is far left, so the other side on the right gets none to little added heat, then there's the middle area which stays in between) --- I use a Zoomed digital probe
Tile for substrate
Real rock structures (yes, cleaned properly prior to adding to tank) and driftwood
Diet:
Appropriately sized crickets 2-3 times a day, and both eating very well -- no issues with feeding
(Crickets dusted with calcium every other day. No vitamins yet but planning on getting some Herptivite tonight and will start a twice weekly regimen.)
Have greens available but it doesn't look like they're eating much of it. (Cucumber, carrots, grapes, collared greens so far.)
I'm not sure if I'm missing anything but if I am, just ask. To add, yes they will go in separate tanks eventually. I have recently moved and this is the only tank I have set up and I got a great deal on 2 nice morphs and had to take it. I have tons of other tanks that I'll be setting up soon. Also as far as aggression towards each other there have been none. They actually keep to themselves, seeing as the tank is pretty large they have not come across any territorial issues.
Sorry no pics. I'm at work and they block photo sharing sites so I can't upload to photobucket and the forums will only link and not upload to their server... But basically he looks like a normal guy right about now as opposed to the really bright orange guy on day of purchase.