Tamming a dragon?

[Oriheme]

OMG She is adorable!!!! What does a leatherback feel like? I have always wondered that lol.

 

[disturb3d0n3]

Thanks feels like the texture of sand paper but a little smoother.. Really hard to describe lol

 

[Oriheme]

LOL I think my next beardie is gonna be a leather back! I really want one!

 

[disturb3d0n3]

Yeah I read where some people were saying they needed "special" care but honestly I haven't had any problems.. I'm like you, eventually I'll get a "normal" beardie lol

 

[Oriheme]

lol I didnt pick out either of my babies, but they are both normals haha. were going to get 1 more beardie probably in december for christmas and then thats all, and thats only if the boyfriend is back to work >.<

 

[disturb3d0n3]

Yeah I can't wait to get more space to get another beardie I had 22 reptiles at one time... now down to 4 lol

 

[Oriheme]

Oh wow!!! 22!! LOL I am envious!!! haha

I wanna get some red eye crocodile skinks, leopard, gargoyle, and crested geckos, a green iguana lol I think thats it.. but I am happy with my beardies for now =D I've been looking into vet schools focused on herps I would love to be able to go to school and treat them!! haha

 

[disturb3d0n3]

I currently own Crested geckos, my green iguana and my beardie But I have owned gargoyle geckos in the past as well as pictus geckos and a viper-tail gecko. Never had a skink, although I always thought they looked cool. I wanted to be a herpetologist at one point as well I really need to go back to school.

 

[Oriheme]

LOL id love to go back to school as well, but life had other plans for me. Got pregnant and it got too overwhelming with 2 little ones(they are practically twins, 15 months apart and my 2nd one was on the IUD still not sure how I carried the whole pregnancy drs told me there was no way! My little Vinny is healthy as can be! just goes to show u that drs dont know jack!) taking up all my time. So i dropped out. Planned on going back but instead got a job to take care of them. its odd how life turns out haha.

My mom and dad both used to have iguanas, and I remember growing up with them. There was a power outage one time on one side of town and they took in 3 other iguanas and put them in the bathroom, and all I could think of was how spooky it was, they were mean! Like never handled and HUGE!!!!! Full grown! I was always soooo scare of them after that night! How does gecko care differ from beardie care? If u dont mind me asking, I know there is some big differences. I looked up a lot of stuff before we bought a beardie just trying to figure out the easiest for our child to take care of. Boba Fett is NOT easy by any means but so totally worth it!!

 

[disturb3d0n3]

Wow! I'm sure the little ones are worth the compromise

Geckos are very easy to care for actually. And also very cute Since they're nocturnal (they're active usually around 6pm-8am) Although they are never really cranky I've NEVER been bitten by a crestie. they don't need any special lighting nor heating actually. They thrive best at 72-82 degrees 82 being the max temp and can get as low as 65 but not ideal... I have my cresties on Repashy's Crested Gecko Diet, it's a complete diet that's in powder form. Just mix the powder with water to bring it to a milkshake consistency, put it in a gatorade cap and wa-la! I buy their food in larger bulk from Julie at http://www.geckoranch.com/ Not the little bottles you see at petco, they wouldn't last long at all! Feed them CGD every other day. They can be fed live food twice a week.. like on weekends but like I said the CGD is complete.. I fed them live food when I first got them (I would put them in jar, my cresties would climb down the jar pick em off and then climb back out lol) but when my other geckos who solely needed animal protein died I stopped buying crickets. Now that I have crickets again because of Daenerys I tried feeding my cresties and they didn't touch them lol.. oh well I guess I can try the reptiworms

As for children, I'd definitely recommend Cresties They grow to a very decent size and when you hold them you don't feel like you're going to hurt them or if they jump (which they do often but just play the stair stepping routine and they'll keep climbing.. they're not near as fast as our little beardies when they hit the ground so usually they just plop and lay there for a min, -easy to catch ) They do need a higher humidity but misting their foliage at night is sufficient.. they are also entertaining if you spray a little on their face as they will lick it off their eyeballs.. I still give them water bowls. I keep them on eco-earth coconut fiber substrate.

They need a minimum 18x18x18 cage with lots of foliage. I use http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=1869

Once you own one you'll want more! females can be housed together but you do have to watch for bullying... I had to separate mine.. I'm now down to 1 male and 1 female. Males absolutely cannot be housed together. You won't want to house male and female together unless you want them breeding

They also have lots of morphs like our beloved beardies! Here's my prize male Ace, he's an Anthony Caponetto blonde halloween harlequin or harley for short

and here he is fired up!

they're just too freaking cute

Here he is full grown with my girlfriend (luckily she loves all my reptiles and is always like gimmee!!! well besides my iguana, she admires her from afar lol) Ignore her pj's (we usually get the geckos out right before bed lol) but you can see how big he is now, and his tail is wrapping under her hand

My first Crestie, Harley (Rip)
example of their cage

Do I have you sold yet?

Lol we went way off original topic, sorry moderators

 

[Oriheme]

lol we so did! oh well. My youngest son has wanted a crested gecko for about a year but I was really iffy with it bc I was told they are really small full grown. but yours really arent as small as I thought they would be! He might be getting 1 for christmas!! If he still wants it! We saw babies at petco one day and he said he wanted one and he wanted to name it Carbuncle, and he would love it forever. LOL this was shortly after we got Boba Fett so it was like sorry kid maybe some other time. They dont need UVB lighting? I have a tall cage, I dont know the exact dimensions but half way between my knee and hip, so pretty decent. I cant even remember where we got the cage TBH and the boys have been trying to convince me to get something to put in it. Lucian keeps wanting to put Boba Fett in it, but hed have NO room to run around!! Hed have to climb everything LOL!!

On another note, these past few days I have some moderate success with Dragonite!! The other day she let me hold her on my palm right above her cage for a minute while she just looked around. SO HAPPY!!! When I gave her a bath the yesterday she was happy to sit on my hand with her eyes closed while I gently poured water over her back with my other hand!! She has also been letting me put my hand in and pet her gently down her back! She has been shedding really bad lately, like head, beard, 1 front leg, both back legs, her tail and her belly are all dull and starting to shed, so I am assuming it just felt too good to run away lol. but I am hopeful!!!!!

 

[disturb3d0n3]

Glad to hear she's making progress!

Definitely no UVB for geckos. They don't have eyelids to cover their eyes so the lighting can actually damage their eyes. Which is usually why you find them hiding in their foliage. Babies are definitely tiny! My girl (we call Lucky) cause my iguana Tiny decided to escape and play Godzilla and knock over the tiny tank I had her in, she ended up breaking her arm and dropping her tail I was freaking out tearing the house apart trying to find her expecting the worst (thinking the cat found her and ate her) turns out she was in the closet in shock hiding behind the totes. Her arm healed and never slowed her down she's still a frog butt.. They don't grow their tails back but it doesn't make a difference they're usually good for telling if there's a calcium deficiency.. The tails get affected first.

Cresties definitely benefit more from taller cages although I'd house a baby in a 10 gal with just a teeny but if foliage and on paper towels to monitor they're feeding and bathroom duties.. Itll look like they're not eating but the reality is they don't eat a lot at one time.

 

[Oriheme]

Oh wow! I'd freak out! haha my cats are afraid of the dragons. I should get video its hilarious!!

I thought I would share a few pics of her progress and a video as well!!!!

Ive been trying to get a vid of her arm waving but every time i come near her she stops and looks at me weird lol

<<< CLICK ME!!!! Here is how it started today, sorry my phone went off right as I started recording LMAO! and its really poor quality!

She actually climbed onto my hand after I pet her for a little bit so I got a little brave and pulled her out of the cage:

Poor baby is shedding soooooo bad!! everything except her tail, she looks sooo dull!!

I cant get enough of this face!! I love it to death!!!

I am so happy!!!

 

[disturb3d0n3]

Aww! She's so precious the one good thing about shedding... She's GROWING!!!

I have yet to see my little girl arm wave or head bob.. She'll gape and hiss lol but even now that's rather rare.

 

[Oriheme]

haha Dragonite does both! sometimes at the same time!! With her beard out as far as it can go!! i think shes a little confused!!

I always feel so bad for them shedding!! they have got to be miserable