The Chronicles of Elliott - 1 YEAR OLD!!!

Hi Everyone,

I have never owned a bearded dragon, Elliott will be my first. I have not even picked him up from the breeder yet. I will pick him up on July 3rd, when he is 8 weeks old and ready to come home. I have everything all set up and can't wait. I used to have an iguana, but he passed away 3 years ago at the ripe old age of 10. I have always wanted another reptile and after reading about the sweet and good-natured beardie I knew I found the right pet for me. In the picture you will see his brothers and sisters still in need of homes. I am so glad I found this wonderful site. I have been looking up all kinds of info already, I know I will be on here quite a bit.

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

OK, since Monday when he ate his first cricket, he has been eating more and more each day. Yesterday he ate 75. This morning he ate 55 in one sitting, and I honestly think he would have eaten more, but I ran out! I gotta go to Petco and grab some for his dinner cause my ghann's shipment doesn't come till tomorrow morning. He is starting to fill out so nicely now. He gained 7 grams from last Saturday to this Saturday. Is there a maximum you should let them have? I read you can let them have as much as they will eat in a 10-15 minute period. I'm guessing he's just catching up from all that time not eating and it will plateau at some point. Hopefully...he can't just keeping eating them exponentially forever, right? :lol: I gotta get some pictures up of him all filled out. I have a really funny pancake one from yesterday.

 

[jargonchipmunk]

yes. yes he can keep eating them lol. No matter how many times I read up on these boards about the amount young beardies eat, I was still amazed the first time I saw Mushu gobble down 50 in a sitting. I was like :shock: where on earth are you putting those girl?! Then I saw what General Tso did to a tub of phoenix worms. :shock: even worse lol

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

Quick question. I know for babies and juveniles you are supposed to dust the crickets with calcium powder 5 times a week. Elliott gets fed twice a day, so is that dusting at both meals 5 days a week, or one? Also, at what age do I cut back?

 

[jargonchipmunk]

dust only the first feeding of the day. The rest of the feedings are for protein mostly. One dusting a day should suffice for calcium. I'm not sure on cutting back for the adults. They eat fewer feeders and more salads anyway, so I assume you just keep dusting 5 a week, as the amount of calcium to body weight ratio will naturally be downed by their compulsion to eat greens later in life.

I don't own a large dragon yet so I can't fully answer the last part. I'll defer that to the more experienced keepers, and look back here for the answer myself .

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

OK, I have been doing 5 days a week at both feedings. I will cut back now that I know. Thanks for the info, and if anyone knows about how much adults should get please let me know. Thanks!

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

Well, looking at the older pictures I have up here I can see I'm long overdue for some picture updates. Compared to what he looks like now I'm like "who is that scrawny lizard in those pictures?" haha! He's beeen eating very good for me. He'll sometimes skip a meal here and there, but it's usually after he's downed about 100 the meal before. He will only eat crickets, not interested in PWs or even waxworms. And as far as veggies I think he thinks they're just there for decoration, but he's eating crix and growing and all that lovely stuff, so I'm happy. Last time I measured and weighed him on Saturday he was 12 inches 67grams. Here are some new pictures....enjoy!!!

Look at the Baby Belly!

Pancake!

Where he likes to nap after his bath

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

Just got back from Petco...boy do those guys make me laugh. They also make me very angry. I had to grab 100 crickets for tomorrow in between Ghann's orders (I will get this ordering on time thing down eventually). I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but at least at the Petco I go to after you ask for 100 crickets they look at you like you have 3 heads. That look is immediately followed by "What kind of animal are you feeding anyway?" When I tell them a bearded dragon they really don't understand. Probably because they have about 10 poor little 3 inch babies that they give about 20 large mealworms to each day. I had to explain everything to the guy who worked there. How my baby is 12.5" long and 88 grams and yes he's only 3 1/2 months old. How he eats anywhere from 80-150 crickets a day and the 100 he was counting me out was only going to hold him over for 1 day. How I usually order 1,000 at a time online and it costs me less than the hundred I had to buy from him would. I don't understand it, but I know it is the way it is and there's nothing I can do to change it. Maybe that employee I talked to will start to feed the beardies there a little more properly? I doubt it but hey, here's hoping! :roll:

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

Today was weigh/measure day. Elliott is now 13.5" and 118grams. Which means in one week he gained 35grams and grew 1"! It's not hard to believe when you see him eat. He eats about 150-200 3/8" crickets a day plus his greens. I'm going to up him to the 1/2" crickets on my next order now that he's big enough. I'm hoping he'll eat less because they're bigger. He's eating me out of house and home! But I'm not complaining, I'm very happy about it! :mrgreen: Here are some new pics...

Here's a nice one of his colors and pattern...

I love when they make this face...like "HUH?"

Big boy!

Tired from exploring...

Practically blends in to the carpet.

Sorry some of the pics are a little blurry. I gotta get better with the camera!

 

[herpfreak]

:laughhard: :laughhard: :laughhard:
Great shot! He is quite the handsome guy.

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

Well yesterday was a day of unfortunate firsts. First thing in the morning my Ghann's shipment came. I always leave them on the counter for my boyfriend to put into the cricket keeper when he gets home from work. I don't like to do it. When he got home he said there were crickets hopping around the house!!! I guess there was a hole in the package that I didn't see So unfortunately we lost some crickets and probably still have some here and there around the house as I type this. I am always SUPER careful with the crickets and haven't let one get away yet. So much for that!

Then when I was drawing Elliott's bath that evening he pooped right in my lap . He has never pooped anywhere except his bath or his viv. He usually poops in the bath, but I guess I didn't get it ready fast enough. So that was my other "fun first". He's really doing great. He eats a ridiculous amount of food. Like 250 1/2" crickets a day, plus greens! When I was first researching beardies I was under the impression that 100 a day would be about the maximum. I guess I was wrong! As a result he is gaining weight and growing like crazy, so I am happy. My biggest problem is ordering food fast enough for him. I think I'm going to have to add some worms to his diet. I tried PWs but he would not touch them. They all ended up dying. I know he likes Wax Worms, but I don't want to feed those to often. I think I may try silkworms. Does anyone know of a good place to get silkworms?

 

[herpfreak]

I feel for you. I have crickets all over my house due to holes in packages. I have also been poo'd on. Ick.

Sounds like he's a very healthy, very hungry boy! MulberryFarms.com is the the place to go for silk worms. I've never bought silk worms but I've bough horn worms and butters from Mulberry, great service, all of them were alive.

I know it's really gross, but dubia roaches are something to think about. Virtually indestructable (which is a good thing, as long as they're contained, which is also really easy as they can't jump, climb, or fly); I have left my dubia colony for two months without even looking at them and only a few died. They're super easy to breed, and while the adults would be too big for Elliott right now, you can just feed him the nymphs.

 

[beardieaddict]

aww what a cutie .. theey get so big so fast time flys when u are a beardie seems like just yesterday that you were picking him up huh?

 

[xxdragonflamesxx]

Maya - Thanks for the advice. My friends mom actually has 2 dragons, and 3 roach colonies and she offered to help me start one up, but I just don't know if I could handle it. I have a tough enough time with the crickets.

beardieaddict - Yes time does fly! He's already grown 3 inches and gained 140 grams in the last 2 months that I've had him! I can't wait to see what he's going to look like as an adult, but at the same time I know once he's all growed up I'm going to wish he was a little baby again!

Well Elliott is currently in the middle of a shed. He has his legs and tail all shed, but not his head or body. I want to wait and post pics once he's all done so I thought instead I would post some pics of mine and Elliott's furry friends and also a couple of his parents...

This is Bizkit, our 10 year old Pit/Lab mix.

Here's Ozzie our goofy 7 year old Pit/Lab. I don't know how this is comfortable for him, but he loves it!

And the baby! Muzik...he's a Chow/Shepard Mix

I may not have a pile of dragons, like dolcedragon, but I do have a little pile of dogs!

And here's some of Elliott's parents. I got him from a local breeder - Las Vegas Bearded Dragons (http://www.lasvegasbeardeddragons.com) Rick and Lisa are really great people and they still have 7 of Elliott's brothers and sisters left (there's my little plug for them )

Here's his mom Daisy, what a pretty girl! :love5:

And his handsome dad Bow...

I know it's hard to really see Elliott's color in some of these pics, but he's got a yellow undertone and orange and white all over his body too, so he's kinda a mix of both his parents. It'll be interesting to see how he turns out. I'll have some more pics of him once he's all done shedding!

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from Introductions to Beardie Tales

 

[laurenee]

Elliott is such a cutie!! I love his coloring. He reminds me of a starburst. And I don't really know why. He just does.