New Bearded Dragon has a name and pictures

[F2M2]

Hello everyone,

My son finally decided on a name for our new bearded dragon: Roller Coaster

As you can guess he loves roller coasters, and Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, K'nex Roller Coasters, marble run roller coasters, designs on our table cloth look like roller coasters...you get the picture

The pet store sold this little guy as a red/orange hypo. No idea if that is true, and we are not really concerned about that. We are just happy he is finally eating (still not drinking as you will see below).

Here is Roller Coaster:



He is absolutely refusing to drink any water at this point (he didn't move for over a minute, and then shook the drop off without opening his mouth):



He crawled onto my hand for the first time this morning, for a few seconds before jumping off, so we are going to try and give him his first bath soon to get him a bit of water.

 

[Zaxtor99]

Awesome!

I actually like the name but I think I would call him "RC" for short if he were mine with that long name, I mean after all, "Roller Coaster" has a whopping 4 syllables! /end sarcasm

Good looking dragon.

I wouldn't be that concerned about his lack of drinking water. Keep in mind that they get a lot of their water from their live insects and I believe they take in water by bathing in water too for example. I would just give him fresh veges every day and make sure you rinse them in cold water and leave some of that water on his fresh veges as he will get some additional water that was as well.

Thanks for posting, a big CONGRATS to you and your family, and "Hello there RC!" :wink:

 

[F2M2]

Thanks for the feedback!

My wife calls him RC, which made my son very upset, until we explained to him that RC were the initials for Roller Coaster.

I would not be concerned about water and hydration except he is not currently eating his greens (or the water I put on them), eating only a few reptiworms, and he has not let us pick him up yet to give him a bath (He will sit on our hands for a few seconds, then leap off).

So, he is not getting water from any of those sources. He seems fine, so I am not super concerned and haven't tried the medicine dropper since the "nose drop" situation.

 

[Zaxtor99]

What kind of live prey are you feeding to Roller Coaster?

The reason I ask, is I think I read here somewhere that dubia roaches for example give the beardie a lot more hydration then a live cricket for example. So if you are feeding him crickets, perhaps try some dubias if you are concerned about his moisture intake.

..Just a thought. Keep us posted!

 

[F2M2]

We are feeding him reptiworms as his main feeder, and are going to add in crickets to vary his diet.

We live in Canada so no roaches for us.

 

[BeautyBelle]

REptiworms are great for hydration as well, just not enough. Just give RC a bath everyday for 10 minutes and he'll be fine. Dragons will absorb water thru their vent, aka poophole.
He is a beautiful little guy

 

[F2M2]

We are getting closer to being able to give him a bath. He will now let us hold him in the tank for about a minute before jumping off. Once he is a bit calmer in hand in the tank we will try a transfer to some water.

 

[BEARDIESandCOFFEE]

HI THERE~! :wave:
Congrats on the new little guy! If i might make a suggestion, ( for the water/hydrating factor )
If he still seems to be having a hard time getting any water in him, I would suggest a small waterfall. (and before anyone goes crazy talking about humidity and all) Depending on the size/type of enclosure you have him him, putting a small waterfall in the cold side corner of the tank will not make the humidity jump to 100% and instantly kill him. I promise. as long as there is a good vented/screen top, and you only run it for an hour in the morning and evening, it can stimulate him to drink out of sheer curiosity. both of my little guys had a hard time starting out getting any water, but after putting a tiny waterfall in the corner of their tanks, they became very interested in it, and began lapping at it immediately. after they had it figured out, i replace it with a very very tiny water dish, which they continued to lap at.
Hope all is well! :wink:

 

[DixieLonestar20x]

I can attest to the post by Beardiesandcoffee. I have used a waterfall for a beardie before......but it was a PAIN because I only ran it for 30 minutes at a time morning and night....removed it the rest of the time...you are better off to start giving him a bath in his tank. find you a small tupperware container and rinse thoroughly with hot water...make sure you bath him in room temperature water. he is most likely going to hate it at first is why i say in the tank. I have done this with all my babies getting them used to baths.

 

[F2M2]

Thanks for the suggestion. We bathed Roller Coaster in a small tupperware container in his tank with limited success. He is a jumper, and the tupperware isn't all enough, so he sat in the water for about 1 minute, then leaped over the edge and made his escape.

We are going to try again tonight and see if he stays a bit longer.

Yesterday he finally ate a larger amount of reptiworms (20) over the course of the day and seems in better condition. I have been spraying the reptiworms with water before feeding him, so he is getting some extra water that way as well.

Apparently, he is not overly fond of his current day/night cycle which starts at 530am and lights out at 730pm. He basically hides under is rock until about 930-10am then comes out to eat.