The Adventures of Falkor the Great!

Hi!

Since I've already posted once, I thought I'd come over here and introduce myself and my beardie.

Three weeks ago I had no plans on adopting a bearded dragon. However, a family member told me that she had one that she couldn't keep and asked me if I would take it. I love reptiles, so I did some research and ultimately decided I would.

Upon bringing him to me, however, I discovered that she was underfeeding him and feeding him the wrong thing (she was only giving him a couple of mealworms a day and she'd give him large superworms twice a week, when I cleaned out his tank I found five living superworms in there). I learned that his setup was also wrong (coil UVB and this substrate that had glued on rocks that could easily come loose/be ingested). She was also using a red light for him at night. So I quickly worked to get nearly everything replaced. Now he gets to eat crickets (though I'm transitioning away from those), dubias, and very soon calicworms too. I give him the very occasional small piece of waxworm as a treat, too (I cut them up). I dust once a day. He has a reptisun uvb tube, the correct temps in his basking spot, tile substrate, and fresh veggies every day.

He had a little stress after his two moves (to my house, and then to his new viv), but he's now officially eating around 60 bugs a day! I had to order more dubia. I also bought a colony but they aren't breeding fast enough, haha.

He was only 6" when she gave him to me, not sure if it's because he was very young when she bought him, or because he was underfed, or both. I know he's grown over the past two weeks, though, but I haven't had a chance to measure him again yet. He takes food from my hand, but he won't climb on my hand on his own just yet, and occasionally he'll still puff up at me when I approach, but I can tell he's getting more accustomed to my handling.

My favorite activity is giving him water with a dropper...it took him two tries to learn what that was, and now he opens his mouth every time I offer it to him. It's cute.

Here are a couple of pictures...

Sleeping in his original tank:

On our way to his first bath:

Caught eating veggies for the first time:

Fat tummy after his first big meal:

 

[onceblue]

Thank you! I am too

One last pic...

I'm getting closer to making the perfect harness. But I really love this pic

 

[sweetiepie9]

Me, too, he's so cute!

 

[onceblue]

Thank you!

I can't believe how big Falkor is getting and how quickly he's getting there!

Here's a size comparison pic. On the right was the day I got him, the very first time I held him. On the left was from this weekend. I need to measure and weigh him again, I'm trying to keep track. He was 84 grams on the 5th, I'm curious how much he weighs now.

Here's a full-body pic:

We had an excellent weekend. The weather was so nice so we were able to get some good sun. Falkor is still adjusting to being outside but he's doing well — no puffing up or anything. Saturday was the first day he tried to climb down my leg, I guess to go explore. I know a lot of people let their beardies in the grass but I'm really nervous about doing that because there are a lot of crazy bugs in my grass and I worry that he'll eat one. But I was thinking about putting down a sheet or blanket and letting him walk around on that.

Oh, and I bought a real harness at an expo — it works much better than the ones I tried to make.

I had one of my dogs (Baldr) out there with us, he's a sweetheart and doesn't pay any attention to Falkor at all, but I would still never let Falkor run around around him because I don't want to risk accidents.

Because Falkor tries to dig at night, I put some fleece scraps into his viv and it's probably the best thing I ever did for him. He loves digging into them when he's sleepy. The only down side is that I feel like it encourages him to sleep in in the mornings. He likes to take his sweet time getting out of the fleece when his lights come on. But I like that he likes the fleece so much, it's important to me that he has the opportunity to burrow into/under something like he would in the wild.

He's still eating great and exploring during his time out of the viv. He also seems to like to hang out with me a little more than before. Nowadays when I let him out, he'll hang out on my shoulder or on my knee for a while, go explore, and then come back.

He still shuts his eye at me sometimes when I'm handling him, though. Maybe I just annoy him with how much I fuss over him, lol.

He loves to burrow into my hair, too. The other day I was getting ready to go to the gym so my hair was up and he was not happy that he couldn't easily burrow into it. He tried his best though :lol:

He also hates when I wear tank tops because he can't easily climb on my shoulder when there's no fabric to cling to.

I still get cuddles at night He's been turning in a little earlier than usual though, around 6:00 PM instead of 7 PM. I guess because the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting a little cooler. I know young beardies don't brumate but I did read that they might slow down a little bit in the winter. Not sure if that's why or if he has just been tired from doing more with me, but I wish he'd stay up a little later so I could get more time with him. My work schedule makes it hard. As much as I don't want him to grow too fast, I am looking forward to when he only eats once a day so that I can change his lights so that I have more evening time with him.

 

[sweetiepie9]

What great pictures and I love his bed and all his fleece. Yes, they do slow down in the winter, just shorter days for the little ones (even though he's not so little anymore). Sounds like you two are getting closer and closer and that he trusts you now. It's just the best feeling in the world when they decide they love and trust you

Thanks so much for sharing him with me, he's a real cutie pie

 

[onceblue]

Thank you!

I'm glad his going to bed early is just a winter slow down. It's hard not to worry with that kind of thing, I bet I'll be a wreck when/if he ever brumates. But he's still eating great and pooping just fine, and he has good energy before evening, so I know he's okay.

I do feel like we are getting closer! I still feel like we have a lot of ground to cover but I think we're making great progress. Sometimes when I put him back in his viv after a handling session he'll glass climb, not sure if that means he wants to stay out or he's stressed from the handling, though. Sometimes when I put him up to his branch to let him climb back into his viv on his own, he won't do it and instead will try to stay in my hand. So maybe he likes hanging out with me! Or at least the freedom.

I have off from work today and we had some good outside time. I put a blanket down for him like I said I might.

But while he was on the blanket, he snagged a small bite of grass. My grass isn't treated or anything, but I of course worry about parasites and such, but I know a small bite of grass shouldn't hurt him. I honestly was surprised, given how little he eats veggies in general, haha. I made sure to give him water when he came inside just in case.

Since he already ate a piece of grass, I let him take a short supervised walk in it. He didn't try to eat anymore (maybe it wasn't tasty) and I made sure there weren't any crazy bugs around.

(My grass is long, I know. My lawnmower broke.)

I'm really pleased by how well he seems to be adjusting to being outside. He starts out cautious but he ends up curious and exploring, which is great, because I think we're setting a good foundation for adventures when he's older, like camping and such. After we get this knocked out, I want to start socializing him with being in a car and then possibly with being around strangers, like at a park or something like that, because right now he's wary of new people.

Here's a bonus picture of Falkor climbing my shower curtain:

I always put a couple of blankets under him when he does that and I'm always right underneath him, too, to catch him, because he falls off really easily. But he loves climbing it. I have a trashcan that matches and he tries to climb that too, I wonder if it's the branches.

One more bonus: This is the face I get in the mornings when Falkor doesn't want to wake up, haha:

I haven't weighed him just yet. I've been too busy having all this fun with him!

 

[sweetiepie9]

When you put him in his tank and he glass dances, it means he wants out again. So I think he's enjoying his adventures with you. Glad he enjoyed being out in the sun, so good for him. That bit of grass won't do him any harm either.

I think I can say that you're now officially a great beardie slave, congrats on being part of a big club :lol: It'll only get better from now on in

 

[onceblue]

Oh good, I was hoping that was the case! I'm glad he seems to like being out with me

And thanks so much! I love being a beardie slave. When I first agreed to take him in, I had no idea how much I would come to love and enjoy him! Hanging out with him is my favorite thing to do.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Me, too. I love my dragons, they're so much fun to be with. Castiel, my youngest, he's a year old, is bobbing the furniture in the living room right now, he's so funny! He thinks he's my security chief :lol:

 

[onceblue]

Aw, that's adorable! He'll protect you from that suspicious couch

 

[sweetiepie9]

He reminds me so much of my Lonzo. Lonzo was 11 1/2 yrs old when he passed away last November, but he did the same thing, every time he was out. He was a wonderful dragon and I miss him alot.

 

[onceblue]

Lonzo sounds very sweet, and what a long life! I'm sorry you lost him, but I bet he had a wonderful life with you.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I adopted him when he was 5 years old, he was a major sweetheart and was in love with my female Sweetiepie. She wanted to jump that gorgeous dragon in the biggest way, it was fun to watch their interaction. They were my first 2 dragons. I lost Sweetiepie when she was 5 1/2 yrs old, complications of pneumonia. I still miss her. But I rescue dragons, so you never know what they might develop as they age. I've never regretted giving any of my babies a great home life.

 

[onceblue]

It's true that you never know how a rescue will develop/fair in terms of help, but I think it's really wonderful that you've taken those beardies in and given them the best life possible. I tell my husband all the time that I'm going to start adopting beardies in need once Falkor is older. He isn't crazy about the idea of me having more, haha, but I'm prepping him so it isn't a surprise when I come home with a new one. I've already had people at work offer me their beardies and my husband knows some people who have offered theirs up as well; the only reason I haven't taken another in yet is because I want to make sure Falkor grows up into a well-adjusted beardie first, so he's my focus right now. And really, in a way he's a rescue — he came from a family member who was under-feeding him and not giving him the time and attention he needed. I'm surprised he's turned out so healthy, giving his origin and his experiences with her!

 

[sweetiepie9]

He's turned into a really sweet dragon and you've got a great bond going with him. I agree, though, it's best for him to know he's the BOSS man before another dragon comes into the home. Mine are all used to each other, yet if I put any of the 3 youngest males in the same space, they would immediately fight. If I put Cierra anywhere near the 3 youngest, they would try to mate with her. So only Leo, my oldest, and Cierra can be outside at the same time, with supervision, of course. She likes to sit on top of him and he doesn't mind. He's 8 years old and so laid back. They're all so different, too.

 

[onceblue]

Yes, he's definitely the BOSS man haha! I like being able to give him all my attention and know that it would be divided with another beardie so even though I tease my husband about it, it'll be a while before I do actually consider getting another. Especially because of the risk of fighting, as you said — I would want to keep them separate at all times, so it would be even more time consuming to have two. That, and the quarantine period would make it even more complicated.

So, yesterday I let my dog outside and I was sitting on the couch with Falkor and he was just relaxing with me, when my dog started barking outside. Falkor hears my dogs bark all of the time, and it wasn't that loud because the door was shut, but I guess because he was out of his enclosure and in a room he hasn't been permitted to explore very much, it spooked him a little. He tried to run so I stood up with him to bring him back to his viv so that he'd be in a safe place (I was holding him in my hands close to my chest so that he wouldn't jump down and get hurt), but just as I got there and tried to put him back, he scrambled up my chest and hid in my hair and just stayed there. So I went to a room he's more familiar with (bedroom) and let him hide in my hair until he felt calm enough to come back out.

I guess he feels safe when he's covered by my hair. Maybe it's all the time he spends sleeping in it, lol.

He soon calmed down and was back to exploring.

He has some really pretty colors coming out. Photos don't really do them much justice, at least not in artificial lighting, and it's hard to get a good picture in sunlight because he darkens as he starts absorbing the rays, but this picture shows a little:

Those dark bars on the sides of his body are almost purple-ish in hue. I think they look really cool.

Also, he just chills in my hand like that all the time, one foot dangling. It's going to be a sad day when I can no longer fit him in my palm.