New Dragon!

[kal]

Picked up a new baby yesterday. I don't know yet if its a boy or girl and haven't looked if its a boy or girl yet and every time I've stuck my hand in the tank (s)he has hissed at me so I'm trying not to handle him too much right now until he gets used to me more. He's been pretty active when he's not basking, constantly running all around his tank. He does occasionally run back and forth with his nose on the glass. Is this something i should be worried about? His beard keeps faint black lines. I got him to eat a piece of kale when i got him home last night but haven't been able to get him to eat any crickets today. Maybe he's just still too stressed out? I'm having trouble uploading pics to photobucket right now but will try again tomorrow. I picked up a tank from petsmart the other day reduced from $250 to $90. It's a 67 gallon 36x18x24 NatGeo tank. I've got a (par38?) 60w halogen flood light on top of each side of the tank. His basking spot has been around 105-107 and the tank temp has been around 78-80. Have a 24" reptisun 10.0 on the back wall of the tank. For substrate he has a sand mat that my mom bought for my birthday.

 

[kal]

Got it to work! There isn't a UVB in the pics but i assure you it's there it just wasn't installed yet.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

He's a cutey

 

[BeardieRex]

Hi there! Congratulations on your new baby, I am sure you will have some great times with him/her!

Do you know how to sex your dragon? If not, feel free to browse around or ask for help. The hissing, black lines on beard and lack of appetite could, and probably are, all linked to the stress. These should go away within one or two weeks. The black lines are often known as 'stress marks', which usually occur once they move homes. His/her appetite should come back pretty soon, if this goes on for too long, go to a vet, but it is completely normal, so don't worry about it. They usually don't like to be handled for the first while once they have moved, and they are still adjusting to their surroundings. To help your baby become more accustomed to you, you can leave a t-shirt that you have worn, so it has your scent on it, in the cage, and your dragon will soon be familiar with your smell.

With the enclosure and lights, someone else will be better to give you advice, as it all just confuses me a bit!

Just a question, on your substrate, is there any loose pieces that s/he could potentially swallow, as that could cause some major issues for you. And just check how easy and well you can clean it, because even just a little bit of poo that gets left behind is the ultimate place for bacteria to grow, and if your baby does have parasites, they will infect the enclosure from there on.

It is usually recommended to take your beardie to the vet for a general check-up about one week after you get him/her, just to make sure everything is fine, and to get a baseline for tracking growth and health.

Happy days with your baby, feel free to ask questions if you have any!

 

[kal]

Thanks! I've read how to sex them, just didn't want to handle what i believe is a her too much. She eats 7-10 both in the morning and at night. She eats some of her salad during the day. I'm about to start ordering BSFL and switching her to them. She is a lot less skittish about me holding, though sometimes she still doesn't like me hand coming towards her. Her substrate isn't loose and she can't ingest it. It's fairly easy to clean as well.

 

[kalibar12]

Also she's still only about 6 inches long so it's a little difficult to determine if she's a girl or boy

 

[SpacialCoogs]

It won't be sexually mature yet, it needs to be 6-8 months before you can start to tell.