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!

 

[diamc]

Welcome back. Oliver is adorable and we're looking forward to more pictures. :wink:

 

[Cenetri]

Thank you! I feel like I've definitely made the right choice; everyday he's been showing more and more personality and I love him to bits! Just today he proved to me that he isn't the best at jumping - tried to just from the corner of my laptop to my shoulder and just slipped right off and onto my bed! Not the most agile of them all... :lol:

A little bit shy of watching him eat still, though I've caught him sneaking in a few worms here and there. Can't tell if he's eating much in the way of greens yet... by the time I walk back in to check on him, they shrivel up and shrink to the point where I can't tell if anything has left. But I know he's pretty young still, and I'm sure he's just more inclined to prefer bugs at this point.

I just thought I'd show off his patterns right now. I find it so interesting how Bearded and Rankins patterns can be so similar and yet so different at the same time!

Back:

Stomach/beard:

 

[diamc]

What an amazing pattern & coloring on his back. Even the stress marks on the belly look different than on a normal beardie.

So adorable.

 

[Cenetri]

What an amazing pattern & coloring on his back. Even the stress marks on the belly look different than on a normal beardie.

So adorable.

When I saw the stress marks I was surprised at how different they were to my past beardie's! Oliver wasn't too fond of my dog coming into the room and ended up puffing and darkening a bit, poor little guy. He's feeling more secure now that she's out, and has decided that my neck and chest would be a great place to take a nap! I've definitely missed having a little buddy, and he fits the role perfectly! :love5:

 

[zandi202]

He's adorable!

Part of me wants a Rankin just because they stay so little and cute forever and it's okay! :lol:
Do you mind if I asked where you got him?

Rankins don't have the same beards as beardies, right?

 

[Cenetri]

Thank you!

I love how small they stay too, they look so similar to young beardies and have equally unique and interesting personalities, and they require half as much food and supplies! Cuts costs quite a bit and saves me space when considering college in the future.

I got him from a breeder down in Southern California; I found his ad on faunaclassifieds and contacted him, asking him copious amounts of questions on what he's feeding them, if he knows their full lineage, and basic other health questions. Turns out this guy bought Quagmire and Aurora off of rankinsdragonsforsale.com, who purchased their rankins from Star's Dragons (who is also a reliable breeder; I can trust them to breed pure dragons). Getting a pure rankins rather than a vittikins was my main concern, and I have full knowledge that he's pure. That breeder was great to work with - answered all questions promptly and even sent some phoenix worms in the shipping box to help get him started off right! Definitely recommend him!

And yes, you're right; Rankins dragons don't have much of a beard. They can't flare it outward like a bearded dragon and simply gape their mouths if they're startled. They also don't black out their beards, and instead just darken their stress lines a bit. I'll get a side-view picture soon so you can better see what I mean.

 

[zandi202]

I'm babysitting a friend's beardie (Batman) and he's almost a year old and only 14.5" long. Her care is proper and she has gotten a lot of help from people on here. We're thinking he might be part Rankin since he's proportional for his size, very active and alert, and he doesn't have much of a beard. Plus, the woman she got him from was not a reliable breeder and both her babies were from pet stores the male being a lot smaller than the female. So we're thinking he's part Rankin or as you said vittikins?.

Thanks for sharing that information! There is such a big world of information on just beardies alone.

 

[diamc]

Gee Liz, I wonder if Batman IS part Rankin or Vittikins? Something we never considered before.

Glad to here he is doing well, have thought about him (and Kristine) a lot.

 

[Cenetri]

There's always a possibility that Batman could be a vittikins - although it's pretty uncommon, it's not unheard of! I haven't seen him for myself, so he easily could be a mix of the two. Rankins are definitely more alert and hyperactive than the average bearded dragon, they zip around and have extremely acute attention! If he's proportional for such a small size, I could see it being the case, too. Rankins' scales are a bit similar in texture to the tubercles on Leopard Geckos; a bit more uplifted and bumpy in texture when compared to beardies', and also somewhat softer. They're also a bit less "spiky" as you can probably tell from the pictures, and there are minute differences in some of their limb/appendage shapes as well. With a reduced beard and small size, Batman could be a vittikins if some of these other physical features line up.

Oliver is becoming the little buddy I always wanted! Such a cutie, I was lying with him on my bed this evening and he chose to hop down underneath the blankets and squeeze himself right against me. Love him to bits already!

I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of his "not-so-beard" while he was awake so you could see the difference between a beardie and a Rankins.

Completely sideview:

Showing off that pretty white belly!

At a bit of an angle:

I also felt like the colors shown in my previous back picture of him were a bit off - he was against a blue backdrop and the camera quality was rather poor from the darkness. I decided that I would take another picture of his pretty little patterns again today, and this was the result!

He's got so many peachy and rosy undertones to his pattern, hence the reason why he was my favorite pick out of the batch of babies! I can't wait to see him grow; I've noticed how few discussions there are about Rankins on this website, as they've usually been questions on whether or not a beardie is pure, so I feel like it'll be interesting to watch him develop and describe his behavioral differences to those who aren't experienced with this kind of dragon. I'll be sure to keep this thread updated and possibly start others to discuss the noticeable differences between the two kinds!

 

[zandi202]

Oliver sure is a pretty boy. I love his patterns.

Thanks for all that info! He is a little spiky, but no real beard, he hasn't grown since settling in at 14.5", and he LOVES water. He also LOVES being with people.

 

[Cenetri]

Oliver sure is a pretty boy. I love his patterns.

Thanks for all that info! He is a little spiky, but no real beard, he hasn't grown since settling in at 14.5", and he LOVES water. He also LOVES being with people.

With that kind of information it's possible that he could be a vittikins - you never know how many generations out they could be from being 50/50, which can affect some of the features like amount of spikes, beard, etc.

I found Batman's thread and took a look at him; there are some signs, but I'm not exactly sure, it'd be much easier to take a guess by seeing his behavior in person, feeling his scales, etc. 14.5 inches is tiny for a pure dragon as previously mentioned, and considering that Rankins get between 10-12 inches, he's not too far off. From what I've seen of vittikins, they retain a lot of the bearded dragon traits, hence why he could be more spiky or boxy than the slim Rankins. If he really is a vittikins, he's probably a few generations out of the 50/50 Rankins-to-beardie vittikins ratio, hence why he may look similar to a stunted dragon even when subjected to proper care.

Here's a few helpful pages - although it's showing the differences between a Rankins and vittikins on the first, it adds a bit of information on characteristics to expect from a vittikins. The second shows the differences between all three. Hope this helps in your quest to figure Batman out!

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/foru...6-identify-your-rankins-dragon-vittikins.html

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/lizard-pictures/12674-beardies-rankins-vittikins.html

 

[zandi202]

Thank you so much for all this info! His owner and I really appreciate it.

 

[Cenetri]

Thank you so much for all this info! His owner and I really appreciate it.

Of course! Feel free to ask questions about Rankins/vittikins anytime!

In the meantime, I'm super glad to say that Oliver is willing to hand-feed now! The moment he took a worm from me I was mad with excitement as it proved to me how well he's been adjusting! Now that he's settled in he's also come to love exploring my bed and the living room couch, especially in between the pillows!

He's also begun taking a re-liking to his greens. Before shipping he had been eating well, the breeder told me, and so seeing him get back into them is a good sign. My phone's camera wasn't able to capture the motion shot too well though, and the zooming in to give him room didn't make it turn out well either!

The difference in alertness in Rankins compared to beardies is really interesting - while my old beardie would just sit around without much mind to his surroundings, Oliver is extremely hyper-attentive. His eyes are constantly in motion and he changes positions on his basking log often in order to get different views of the room. It creates a sense that he cares much more about what's around him than you get with beardies, possibly from being half the size? Either way, he sure is paranoid... but in an interesting way!

 

[zandi202]

He's still so adorable!