New Owner (pics)

[Markyy]

Hello everyone! My name is Mark. Im 24 years old from nyc. I purchased 2 bearded dragons but Im only receiving one tomorrow. I purchased both online from the same breeder. One is a male and one is a female. Both were top picks of each clutch. Im getting the male tomorrow. He's actually in the box on the fedex plane as I type this . He's 2 weeks old at 5" and orange color with full body scales. The female I purchased is a leatherback which is orange in color as well and just hatched 5 days ago at 5" out the shell. She will be ready in about a week or so to travel. I currently have a 20 long gallon tank set up with a flourescent fixture mounted inside with the reptisun 10.0 bulb 24". Im using a regular 150w ge crystal clear household bulb for basking with a light dimmer. I have a acurite thermometer to go along with it. I actually just did a test to see the temps I get in the tank and the hot side is reading 109.0 and the cool side is reading 83.7. But my zoo med infrared temp gun is reading 97 on the hot side when pointed at the basking rock and 83 on the cool side pointed at the floor. Does this make sense? I have a hammock coming in tomorrow which I will add in the tank and it'll be complete. The little guy should arrive by 10:30am tomorrow. I have 100 phoenix worms and 1,000 crickets waiting to be eaten lol. I recently bought wood cut to size for my custom vivs (50"x24"x20") I will be building to house both dragons separately. Below are a few pics of my tank and my quick test run to check the temps. Im happy to be on the forums and look forward to interacting with all of you fellow members!

I will update this post with pics tomorrow of my baby dragon so stay tuned!

 

[CooperDragon]

That's really exciting! Your setup looks nice. Let us know how everything goes when your new buddies arrive =)

 

[Markyy]

Hey guys, I got the little guy today. Hes pretty shaken up. He gets scared easily but Im sure he'll grow out of it. He only ate 8 crickets covered in repcal with d3. Their were around 11 others crawling around but he was too busy watching me and what im doing. Soon as id leave the room he would go and hunt the crickets and run around. Soon as I come back in he would freeze and watch me until I left again. Hes so small and so adorable. Hes currently in his shedding stage but you can see his color on his tail. Hes a beautil full body hypo orange. Im excited to watch him grow. Im going to try some phoenix worms in a couple hours and see if he eats more. I added a pic of him in the tank. He is marked with a #1 by the breeder for identification.

 

[Markyy]

That's really exciting! Your setup looks nice. Let us know how everything goes when your new buddies arrive =)

Thanks man. Its very exciting. I was patiently waiting for him this morning. I couldnt be more happier with my purchase! I will keep everyone updated with pics as time goes by.

 

[CooperDragon]

Definitely quite a shed starting up! It's encouraging that he's curious/alert and eating (even 8 crickets is a good sign right at the start).

 

[Markyy]

Definitely quite a shed starting up! It's encouraging that he's curious/alert and eating (even 8 crickets is a good sign right at the start).

Yea I'm going to soak him tomorrow to help with shedding and hydration. It was a good first day. Looking forward to tons of others with this guy and the gal pretty soon to come! He doesn't seem to know phoenix worms are food lol. He doesn't seem interested. I heard it takes a couple days for him to adjust to the new food and hopefully start eating them.

 

[Markyy]

Some random shots throughout the day. I cant wait til hes done shedding. He has such great color!

 

[Brezzy99]

He is really handsome! His coloring is going to be gorgeous! Have you named him yet? You could put a shirt or a pillowcase of yours inside his viv to get him used to you. Can't wait to see pictures of your little girl when she arrives!

-Sabrina

 

[KarenInCA]

He's a very alert little guy. He has a great home, and a good human to wait on him hand and foot..and trust me, you will. Their personalities are so funny, that I find myself completely catering to his every need. I shook my head when I heard and read of others doing this, but I have succumbed to the dragon's whims.
Are you planning on keeping them together or separately? I would love to get a second one, but Rin has been living alone for about 4 months now, and he would have to be housed separately.
I really like your substrate. Is that tile or carpet? I love the texture it looks like it has. We have tile substrate but I think we are going to get some new tiles, the current ones are not rough enough for his paws, and he has a difficult time gripping onto the floor sometimes without sliding around.

 

[Markyy]

He's a very alert little guy. He has a great home, and a good human to wait on him hand and foot..and trust me, you will. Their personalities are so funny, that I find myself completely catering to his every need. I shook my head when I heard and read of others doing this, but I have succumbed to the dragon's whims.
Are you planning on keeping them together or separately? I would love to get a second one, but Rin has been living alone for about 4 months now, and he would have to be housed separately.
I really like your substrate. Is that tile or carpet? I love the texture it looks like it has. We have tile substrate but I think we are going to get some new tiles, the current ones are not rough enough for his paws, and he has a difficult time gripping onto the floor sometimes without sliding around.

Thank you for the compliments. He's def a cutie and high quality. I feel like towards the end of the last night he was more active while I was in the room which is a good sign. The first few hrs he would freeze and not move a inch until I had left the room. Im going to house him together with the girl but only for about 4 months. Afterwards, I'm transferring them to custom built wooden vivs where they will live separately until I feel like breeding them (if ever). The substrate is zilla liner. I only have it cuz they are hatchlings and lick everything lol. But it is very nice. Got it for under $5 at amazon. The white stuff on it is from the calcium powder when i dumped the crickets in the tank. Im not a fan of sand. Their natural environment doesn't have sand and I like to mimic that as much as possible. I have 3 of the new sand mats that came out not too long ago that I may use when I'm ready for them but Im leaning more towards tiles for my wooden vivs. I actually purchased a sample tile sheet and I'm really interested in them. They are 2"x4" tiles that look like bricks and come in sheets with the mesh underneath attached to the tiles (totally forgot what they are called). They have grip but not too rough like a actual brick. Only issue with that is weight (wood is 50"x24"x20" at 3/4" thick with two 28"x20" sheets of 1/4" glass) so thats why i may decide to use the sand mats. The vivs empty are going to weight close to 70lbs (estimate) and I wouldn't be surprised if the actual weight is more than that. The sand mats are great! I love them and originally installed one in my current tank but replaced it with the liner because its safer for the baby. Im all about their health first then ill worry about how good the enclosure looks. Yesterday was just day 1 for me as a bearded dragon owner and I already love it.

 

[Markyy]

He is really handsome! His coloring is going to be gorgeous! Have you named him yet? You could put a shirt or a pillowcase of yours inside his viv to get him used to you. Can't wait to see pictures of your little girl when she arrives!

-Sabrina

Thank you I haven't named him yet. Haven't thought of one. He was easier this morning to handle. I picked him up just for a minute and pet him and he wasn't scared at all. I will def post pics of the girl when she arrives as well as the boy after he's done shedding. Im at work right now waiting to get home to see the little guy lol. Crazy the effects they have on us humans.

 

[Markyy]

He just started shedding his skin off this morning. His color is amazing. I will have better pics when hes all done. He has to shed off the skin on his head and thats it.

 

[Markyy]

Almost done shedding! He ate 30 crickets today!

 

[jenn4turtles]

I love his colors! He looks great!

 

[CooperDragon]

"Ahhh! Help! I just exploded!"