New beardie - Nova

Just got a Beardie today at the NY Reptile expo (though i didn't plan on it quiet so soon) and thought i'd introduce him (no name just yet but i have a few things in mind i'll wait a few and see if his personality makes me lean towards anything)

got him from Dachiu at the show he is 5-6 weeks old and either a Red Hypo Translucent (possible leatherback) or a Red leatherback Translucent not totally sure at the moment but im sure time will tell


for some images on my enclosure / Viv and custom rock structure you can check out my sort of work log here viewtopic.php?f=34&t=213601



Edit: decided to call the little guy Nova (as in Nova Shenron as his color reminds me of a dragon ball)

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

screen problem has been fixed we took some old storm windows and cleaned them with a bleach water mix then re washed them 3 more times with just water to make sure they didn't have any left on them then they were screwed to the front and while there is still some screen the first 22 inches is glass which he can't climb to get to the screen which seemed to annoy him (little guy was giving me the stink eye and has been running all over but im sure he'll get over it in time)


offered him more crickets and he wasn't interested guess the 10-11 for breakfast were enough for him for the day (does that seem like a good amount for a 6.5 inch beardie? they are 3/8 i got directly from dachiu with him)


and one thing i gotta say is im surprised how well he can jump and how well he takes a fall i was worried about him hurting himself but i see him hopping all over the place and maximum fall distance is 15 inches anyway

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

little guy is doing good today he started the day with 7 crickets



first poop pics incoming

does that look healthy? little to no smell and did i clean it properly? i picked it up with toilet paper wiped the area down with white vinegar, then just water, then dried it , then wiped with water again, then dried

just want to be sure i cleaned it properly as that is his main basking platform and it figures he gets a bath tonight to but he wasn't gonna wait lol guess early poop is better then none

 

[CooperDragon]

That looks healthy to me. I use vinegar/water for spot cleaning as well and then do a steam clean every couple of weeks to sanitize. You can also use a veterinary disinfectant if you'd like.

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

what a surprised he pooped again :!: guess he has been eating well (23 crickets in the past 3 days)

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

little guy scared the hell out of me not long ago i went out and when i came back he was nowhere to be found i was searching his tank and he somehow found a hiding spot under one of the edge of the left side of my rock which has now been blocked off with cardboard (for now i'll probably do something permanent later after i get my glass doors for easy access as currently it is a bit of a pain to get into his Viv)


little guy also ate 3 crickets for his second feeding which is a bit of a pattern as yesterday he ate about 10 for breakfast and wanted no more now today he ate 7 for breakfast and 3 for dinner so im guessing 10 is right around his limit currently im sure i'll see it skyrocket sooner or later though




one final thing anyone have any advice about misting? im worried about getting water in his nose and giving him a URI or anything like that but my room is pretty dry due to the gas heat and such so would the moisture actually be helping him? his back legs appear to be in a shed and his head still has a few flakes which he likes me to softly rub and his tail seems to be going into shed soon

 

[Taterbug]

Gosh he is a cutie! He sooo little.

He looks pleased with that poop too, haha. He should get more appetite eventually, but the crickets are turning into good sized poo, so your ok there
I'm not familiar with flour moths, but that's cute he was interested in the flying bug. Some dragons love to chase and catch the black soldier flies that pheonix worms pupate into, as long as they are safe to eat it might give him some enrichment and excitement.

What is your humidity at? 35-45 is a good range to try and go for. It is really dry this time of year, I'm struggling with humidity in some of my cages as well, not the dragon so much but I can't get over 35% :/

I also give water by a dropper or sprayer for my guy. Their nose opens up into the very front of their mouth, not the back like ours, so I'd think it wouldn't be a big risk of RI to do that.

Was the gap he squeezed in unsafe for him? He might just like to have a snug little place to hide, Pepper used to squeeze up behind his rock to sleep when he was little bitty. As long as he keeps basking and active most of the day having a secure hideaway is probably good for him.

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

the gap he squeezed into was safe for him but damn near impossible to get him out of without moving all his stuff around (which is how i got him out) so it is blocked off now and while he did give me the stink eye over it he went to sleep in his cave instead


the flour moth comes from the bird seed in my room so im not to sure they'd even carry parasites as they live and die on nothing but seeds that my birds knock away that get replaced regularly but i'd rather him not eat any and be sure (though he did while i had him out and before i noticed it was there eat the remnants of one that was crushed days ago hopefully if it did have anything it was long since dried up but i'll be keeping a close eye on his poops anyway to be sure)

as for the exact humidity my room is slightly better then the rest of the house due to my turtle tank in the same room evaporating but it is still pretty dry (need to pick up a hygrometer soon for exact numbers)

 

[Nancy87]

I love the way he is looking at his poop like "yes all my own work". My baby hates misting so I gave up. I give her baths twice a week which she also hates but to be honest she seems pretty well hydrated anyway.

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

he is the same way i try misting him and he runs like hell usually so i end up spraying it on my hand and putting a drop on the end of his nose which usually makes him twitch a little before either rubbing it on his foot or the rock or drinking it



he ate another 7 crickets so far gonna offer him dinner soon and if he stays true should see him eat 2-3 more and he also pooped again and looked at it then walked up to the glass to look out at me as if he was waiting on me to clean it so he could return to his basking spot


as soon as possible im gonna order 200 medium phoenix worms and see what he thinks of those (they fed him mini meal worms and crickets at dachiu so i'd imagine he should like them)






also thinking of the name Nova (as in Nova Shenron because his color reminds me of a dragon ball) what do you think?

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

fed him his dinner though he only wanted one more cricket though within an acceptable total compared to the past few days as he had a pretty big breakfast for him (7 for breakfast and 1 for dinner)

then i waited a half hour and tried another bath and this one went a little better then the first he lasted 7 min before he insisted on coming out but i was able to last that long as i kept my hand in there with him and was petting him overall it seems like he'll learn to tolerate baths in time also saw him lick up one droplet of water today so hopefully between that and his crickets that is enough (one was getting away so i had to crush it and man was it more watery then i expected)


right now he is basking but it is getting close to his bed time i expect him to head into his cave anytime now and when he does i'll shut the lights off for him

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

ate 6 crickets for breakfast today also he pooped again but it was somewhat runny (but no odor) so im gonna have to keep an eye on that im hoping it was just from a lot of water yesterday as the crickets seemed super juicy yesterday and i gave him a soak as well and he drank a drop or two off water

 

[CooperDragon]

That's not uncommon. As long as it doesn't stay runny for too long and doesn't smell awful it usually just means he's well hydrated.

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

had a little scare was holding him (he seems to enjoy coming out and having me pet him he'll even relax and close his eyes while im petting him) and saw some black on a front toe my first thought was retained shed as it appears his back legs may be in shed and his tail will shed very soon thought about how i could wet it but he hates misting and isn't to fond of a bath (which he had last night)

so i decided to use how he likes being pet to my advantage and while i held him in one hand and was petthimg him with my thumb i was wetting the other and rubbing the water into all his feet little by little for a minute or two and i even went over his tail with a little water he didn't mind so long as i kept petting him lol and thankfully what ever it was the black came off sometime in the process


never thought he'd be so tame so fast as to enjoy being pet regularly

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

just fed him dinner and he has now broken his eating record so far by 1 (6 for lunch dusted then 6 for Dinner not dusted so 12 total) though im not to sure he is to big a fan of the calcium dust

 

[HitokiriBattousai]

just caught him nibbling on some of yesterdays salad (normally i change it first thing but i forgot to but changed it as soon as i saw him) he ate what looks like a few bites of each (yesterday was all mustard greens today was a mix of mustard and dandelion) then for breakfast he only ate 2 crickets dusted but i imagine he is gonna take quite a big poop after his record 12 yesterday so imagine he'll be looking for more after that


could him eating the greens explain the slightly runny poop?