To and Fro - Dash's thread

I thought I'd go ahead and start up a thread for my new beardie, Dash. Dash was bred by Tom at TnD Dragons. He was hatched June 11, 2010 and is the son of Gemini and Dozer. He's a citrus pastel coloring.

Dash arrived today after the long overnight trip from Pennsylvania. He arrived and was left by the front door, unannounced, by UPS. Fortunately, Tom PM'd me here on the forum to say he had the delivery notification so I rushed out and brought him inside. He made the trip in good shape and has spent the afternoon exploring his viv.

He left me a nice poop already, which convinced me that having some natural driftwood in the viv was a bad idea as it's difficult to clean and sanitize. First lesson learned

Around 6:30 PM, he got his first bath here at home, which he seemed to tolerate but wasn't too excited about. I wasn't able to pick him up yet, as I'm too scared I'll hurt him, but he was happy to crawl onto my palm. After his bath, he chowed down on 10 crickets, which seemed to satisfy him, so I left it at that. I'm pretty sure he's eaten some greens, but I haven't caught him at it yet

Lights out will be at 9 PM and that will be his usual schedule - up at 7:00 AM and lights out at 9.

All in all, a great first day!

Here he is pretending to look at the back wall while preparing to nab the poor, unsuspecting cricket!

 

[Toyguy]

Up 21 grams this week, to 453, Dash is causing havoc with his hammock

I busted it again Dad!

Crickets could not be delivered last week due to the storms in the south. Good thing I had a ready supply of Superworms. Also picked him up some Phoenix Worms this weekend, but he seems to be ignoring them. I think they might be too small to interest him. LOL

 

[Toyguy]

Another good week goes by, with a gain of 16 grams to 469 grams total, at just over 7 months old. He's been enjoying his crickets and superworms, as well as eating most of his salad every day. I think I'm going to try some Silkworms for him this week if they have them when I pick up the cricket order on Wednesday.

This week's photos!

See, there's no belly here!

Does this make my tail look fat?

Checking out that guy in the mirror

The old "I said no pictures!" stinkeye

 

[nair88]

wow! what a healthy looking tail! such a beautiful boy

 

[Toyguy]

Well, Dash has been worrying me the last couple weeks. He seems to be eating very little, although he does eat some, and he's pooping, but only every couple days. Given the small amount he's eating, I'm not too worried about that. He seems active enough, at least at times, so I'm wondering if the winter is somehow getting to him, even though his viv temps are fine and I just changed his ReptiSUN 10 at the 6 month point. Oddly, he is somehow still gaining weight - up to 479 grams now, so I don't quite understand what's going on but I don't think it's critical by any means. I'll be keeping an eye on him more closely though, to be sure.

Anyway - I think he needs a heftier hammock. This one just can't take the load anymore Found him settling in like this the other night, after collapsing one corner, so I let him be. Slept that way all through the night. I don't know how they do it!

 

[nair88]

yeah, i definitely wouldn't worry about him. falkor's been like that for the last couple of months. only eating 1 or 2 roaches a day and sometimes going a day or two without eating. she also only poops about once a week now. i haven't been overly concerned because, like dash, she is still gaining weight every week and hasn't ever gone more than a couple of days without eating. i figure that it's either the winter slowing them down or they've more or less entered adulthood. i guess we'll find out when it starts warming up again ;-)

also, that pictures is so adorable. he looks so comfortable on the fallen hammock ;-)

 

[Toyguy]

WOW! Almost 2 months since my last posting - where does the time go?

Dash ended up losing some 40 grams during his "quiet" period. Last week though he gained back about 15 of that and his eating ups are coming back up to pre-slowdown levels slowly. He's much more alert and active, although he still does plenty of typical beardie "laying around"

Here's a couple shots from today. He is developing some very rich chocolate brown patches to go with the orange - it's getting pretty striking in good lighting. I can't wait to get him outdoors again.

Was there something you wanted?

I lubs my branch!

Lettin' it all hang out

 

[nair88]

good to hear from you again! dash is looking great i know what you mean about wanting to get him outside. i can't wait for the weather to warm up enough to get falkor back outside. i think we all could use a little sun

 

[littlebirdy]

We've only had Clovis since October, so I also cannot wait for fun outdoor times!

 

[Toyguy]

Been another good while since I last posted. Dash has been eating like a horse again and has gained back all his lost winter weight, and then some. He's up to 492 grams and I expect he'll hit 500 in the next couple weeks. He's been really going for the hornworms, silkworms and supers, plus his usual salad. He seems to be off crickets and dubias, at least for now. I'll give him a few weeks then reintroduce them and see what happens.

The obligatory snaps

Who? Me?

Hah! Who says only humans can stand on 2 legs?

I look up! I look down! At the same time!

 

[nair88]

haha! thanks for the update!

 

[Toyguy]

Thought it was about time for an update - only a month and a half

Dash is up to 566 grams and is now about 22" long. Just finishing up a full-body shed, with only the large back piece to go that I can see. He's been a bit cranky and excitable thanks to that, but has kept his appetite this time. He's been stretching his beard out a lot too, so maybe that hasn't shed yet.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

I truly love these updates!!!!!!!

 

[EmilyRussom]

I LOVE Dash! He is totally precious!

I have seen so many amazing dragons here - it has me worried that (a) my rescue dragon was SO not cared for and (b) she may not be the age I was told she was.

Probably both a and b.

We are upping the cricket intake.

Keep posting pictures of Dash - too cute!

 

[beardie parents]

He's looking great!

 

[nair88]

dash is looking good as always!