Oliver and Lola the Rankins Dragons

Hi everyone!

Just a few days ago I got my new little guy, Oliver, to bring me back into the world of dragons! He's a full-blooded Rankins, and is just over seven months old. Absolutely tiny compared to how my beardie was at this age!

I'm surprised at how well Oliver has been settling in. Even though he was shipped and nervous his first day here, he's really calmed down and is such a sweetheart now. Not skittish in any way! I really look forward to the future with him!

I'm also excited to be coming back to this website! Here's a photo of my little man for now, I'll be taking a lot more soon and keep you all updated!

 

[Cenetri]

I haven't decided just yet; typically I get inspiration for names when I'm actually holding or looking at my animals in person. When I was watching Oli run around and observe me, the look on his face and demeanor spoke to me and the name "Oliver" came to mind.

 

[Esther19]

Yes, that's the best way.

 

[Cenetri]

After a hectic few weeks of finalizing our move and getting everything properly set up, my new little girl is here!!!

I'd like everybody to meet Lola!:

(New, better pics soon, I've just been busy lately, so hopefully tomorrow!)

She definitely stressed me out when I got her out of the shipping box! Poor thing had rubbed the end of her nose raw trying to get out of the box she was kept in. But otherwise she is an alert and happy girl now!

I have her own tank situated next to Oliver's - I never realized how absolutely HUGE he had gotten! She's only a third of his weight but in size is waaay tinier than him. He's been displaying some dominant behaviors and so I don't feel comfortable keeping them together quite yet, but slowly he's growing accustomed to her presence. Just today I noticed she's started to do the arm-wave... but Oli doesn't seem to care anymore. Poor girly also WANTS to be in his tank - she runs against the glass trying to get near him, even when he puffed up at her and head bobbed like the magnificent beast he is. :lol:

She's got some stress lines, but I don't think it's from being next to Oliver, rather the new environment. I'd imagine that if she was ultimately stressed about that she would hide and avoid eating, but she's basking like a champ and is the most voracious eater I have ever SEEN! Oliver would never chase his food around, but she sprints across the tank non-stop to catch crickets, and I mean non-stop! None escape her tiny wrath! :lol: This has also been a great decision because Oliver is already learning from her eating habits. It's only been one day now but he went from being a worm-eater that never chased his food to running around his tank just like her! It seemed as though he watched her chasing and eating her crickets, and when I noticed he was trying to get into her tank to chase one himself, I threw a few into his tank and wham, there he went! I'll have to document all of their behavior and interactions for you guys, it's so interesting to have a bit more social of a species such as this.

She's also drinking water nicely - I'm giving her extra baths to hydrate her after all of the stress of shipping, and the first time I was filling part of the sink she tried to leap out of my hands and into the water! I lowered her down once it was full, though, and I didn't even feel comfortable setting her down since she was trying to shove her entire fact into it!

I love her so much already, such a character! :love5:

 

[Cenetri]

Just thought I'd share another picture of my girly - just look at this fatty! She eats crickets like there's no tomorrow! :lol:

I swear she eats far more than Oliver, and the same size of crickets, too! I have a feeling she'll be growing like a weed. She's going through a full body shed at the moment; finished most of her body but you can see that it's all over her head and legs.

Very happy to have her in my home!

 

[hoopyscoop]

Lola and Oliver! Those names like fit perfectly!
And she’s soooooo cute! :love5:

 

[Brezzy99]

She is so cute and she even looks like a Lola. Oliver is trying to show her what a beast he is by chasing food and flashing some side boob! You should video him head bobbing!

I was showing my mom pictures of your babies and she loves them! Now she is wanting one. :shock: I may need to cave in and get her one so I can get my baby Ember back! This time of year I don't get home until late because of my sons baseball games/practice. She has been putting them to bed for me and I think she is enjoying it a bit much. If you wouldn't mind sharing the breeders information you got Lola from, I would love to contact them. Thank you!

-Sabrina

 

[Cenetri]

Thank you guys so much! I'm so glad you like the name, I honestly felt the name "Lola" was screaming to me as soon as I opened up her shipping container. :love5:

I'll go ahead and PM you the info, Sabrina. It'd be fun to watch one of Lola's siblings grow! I'd love to monitor weight and size information with you if it were the case, I'm very into the whole scientific and genetic side of these things. :lol:

And as for videos, I'm definitely going to try and video tape that sometime! He's been calming down a bit but if it picks up again one day I'll definitely record it for you guys!

 

[Cenetri]

Long time, no update! Sorry about that, I've been busy with track and field as well as AP testing... oh, the joys of school...

Anyway, thought I'd first give you an update on the new girl. Lola is settling into her new home nicely, and is a complete eating machine! The biggest hog I've ever seen! She easily can eat 4x as many crickets as Oliver, and I give them both the same medium to small size; about 20 in one sitting, and she eats almost every two or three hours! I've even started using her as a feeding timer since she can see the cricket keeper from her tank and always glass dances when she's in the mood for a meal, which is whenever I'm in sight! :roll: All of this eating has made her gain 1/3 of her original body weight in just two weeks or so time, so she is now 12 grams and growing like a weed! I'm worried that belly of her's is about to burst! :lol:

Not only is she a hog, she isn't picky in the least! She will try to eat anything in sight - and I do mean anything. In one evening of holding her, she attempted to eat my crochet blanket 5 times, a small bit of dirt grit, a piece of Oliver's shed skin (was using it to get her used to his scent), and, here's the kicker: a MOTH! I didn't mean for it to happen; it happened to fly into her tank and she went bonkers sprinting and leaping after it, but just as I got it out of her tank, it suddenly dropped back in and she nabbed it! She's fine now, though - still an eating and pooping machine! :lol:

Here she is directly after her meal from 10 minutes ago; as I type, she's eating more crickets! She was just saving that bit of veggie for later!

She's also very good about drinking water when she's in the bath, and seems to really enjoy herself. It's comforting knowing that she's getting proper hydration, and it's also fun to watch her scoot around in the warm water and have a good time!

As for Oliver's opinion on the matter... well... this picture just about sums it up. Such a dramatic boy. :roll:

It's fun to look back and see how big Oli is getting though! Last time I weighed him he was already 34 grams, and so I imagine he's about 35-36 grams now! Wow, such a big boy! So happy to see him blossom into a mature male too, he's just about done with his teenage phase and has started dropping sperm plugs (yuck!). He's about 8 1/2 - 9 inches in length now, very close to being done growing!

My pretty boy... :love5:

This is one of my favorite pictures of him - he has mastered the art of tripod-ing! He's ready for his car insurance commercial!

And finally, to wrap this update up, here's a bit on the two of them together: Oliver is completely, madly in love with Lola. Oh yes. He just wants to be with her 24/7! I often walk into the room to find him pressed up against the portion of the glass where he can see her just admiring from afar! It'll be interesting to see their interactions when she's old enough to be housed with him. Just to give you an idea of the love:

I rest my case.

 

[Esther19]

Oh how precious they are! You must be having so much fun!

 

[FirebornMuse]

Lola is gorgeous! Congrats on the new edition.

 

[Cenetri]

Oh how precious they are! You must be having so much fun!

I most definitely am! It's so much fun watching them and learning their different personalities - while Lola is a little snuggle bug who prefers to be in her tank or my lap, Oliver is all about adventure and exploration. It may also have to do with the different traits that males and females tend to have, as she's much more relaxed than he is (at least until the crickets come out!). Boys will be boys... :roll:

Lola is gorgeous! Congrats on the new edition.

Thank you so much! She's a little bundle of joy and I'm very glad I made the decision to bring her into my home. She has brought me a lot of happiness!

Even though they're both so different, I love them the same!

 

[Taterbug]

Your rankins are so adorable! I'm toying with the idea of getting one (a few?) down the road. Any tips?
Are you planning to house them together when they are older? What size setup do you recommend?

 

[Cenetri]

Your rankins are so adorable! I'm toying with the idea of getting one (a few?) down the road. Any tips?
Are you planning to house them together when they are older? What size setup do you recommend?

Rankins don't really have any special care requirements when compared to beardies, per say; the one thing I can recommend, though, is to watch their shedding around their toes and tips of their tails. Since they're smaller than beardies, it can sometimes be harder to tell if something is becoming constricted, so you just have to make sure you bathe them a bit more during those times. Besides, most of them love to bathe, they'll appreciate it! :lol:

Also, when purchasing, ALWAYS request bloodline papers from people you don't know, or only go to the most reputable of breeders. Even then, honestly, I would request for them. It's hard to find pure rankins nowadays, lots of vittikins out there with careless breeders mixing up the gene pool.

I'm intending on housing them together when Lola grows older, but if Oliver were to beat her up or attempt to breed with her to the point where she is stressed out, I would of course separate them. Rankins, as I've seen them, tend to be pretty friendly with each other and don't overdo it. Currently, Oliver is in one of the 30 gallon low front-opening Exo Terra tanks and it fits him nicely at this size; Lola is in a temporary 10 gallon setup that I plan to upgrade as she grows. When I house them both together, I intend on getting a 40-50 gallon breeder to give them extra space to be apart, especially at the beginning of introduction.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I'll happily answer!

 

[Taterbug]

The bowling green herpitaruim folks are at our reptile show every month, so they would be from their blood line. I think they are one of the leading breeders? (Correct me if I'm mistaken!) I'm not really interested in breeding them, but it's defiantly worth the thought.
Either way, it's a ways out, I'll be watching your little ones though. Boy they are hard to resist at the show.

 

[Cenetri]

I'm debating whether or not I'm interested in breeding them one day myself; I mean, I know as adults they will copulate, but it's a matter of if I will incubate the eggs or not. I was figuring that if I advertised before I incubated and informed people that some eggs may not survive, if people showed interest in future babies, I may do it. It'd be a little pastime for me... I love their little micro-beardie-babies... :love5:

I've never heard of them personally, but they may be a bigger thing in your area, hence why I might not have heard of them here in California. Someone asked me about vittikins dragons on the first page of this thread and I gave some good links to images of both Rankin's and vittikins, so I would just use good judgment in analyzing the characteristics of their dragons if you are planning on purchasing from them. Make sure they have no beard (they can't flare it at all like a beardie), a very narrow/"round" head (such as no cheeks/jowls toward the base of their head where it comes in to meet the neck, or no triangular shape), amount of spiking and texture of scales (very little spiking, and almost upward, pyramid-like scales), and of course their weights. Rankin's over 90 grams should be of suspicion if you are purchasing adults. Even 90 is high - for purity, I would aim more in the range of 40-70. Oli is close to done at 36 or so grams at 10 months, hasn't been shedding much anymore. And also, on Lola's bloodline papers, her parents only maxed at 9 inches and 40-45 grams as well, so the smaller the more promise!