Welp, here is the babe <3

My new beardie does not yet have a name. He/she is just about 2 months old. Born on August 8th, 2016. He/she is just about 7 inches old. As soon as I put him/her in his/her cage he/she zipped away and it seemed like he/she walked all over before finding a hiding spot behind the log. He/she stayed there until about 3 minute before his/er lights came off, then slowly moved towards the basking spot, but then the lights went off. He/she didn't want to eat, but I think the breeder fed him/her already today, so I will give it another go in the morning. As soon as I put a phoenix worm in front of his/her mouth, the eyeballs were glued to it, but he/she wouldn't go for it. I hope he/she is sleeping well. I hope he/she turns out better than Clementine.

Well, I have narrowed it down to two names: Taro(from a song i like) or Pollux(one of the twin stars from my favorite constellation, Gemini) . The breeder says that he is a probable male, but at this age its really hard to tell as you all know. Which do you think? I'm leaning towards Taro because it's a little more neutral. I think I will start using male pronouns because he just looks like a little guy haha.

Anyways, here he is:

 

[Stormikins]

Mine will only snuggle when he wants to. Other times he will scuttle away as soon as i touch him, or open his little baby mouth and try to bite me, which he did once haha

Awww, right now, mine is passed out on my stomach, under a thick blanket. I'm sure that with a lot of patience and handling, he will come around.

Once he gets more comfy eating, try letting him eat worms from your hand. Or using an old shirt that you wore and didn't wash to wrap him in. It will help him get used to your scent.

 

[Gyro]

Those are good tips!! Thank you!! He only ate about 3 crickets today :/ but he did poop so we will see what happens tomorrow!!

 

[SpacialCoogs]

it'll take time for him to get used to you. At that age they are flighty and easy to spook. It makes sense if you think about the predators they'd have in nature.

 

[Stormikins]

Those are good tips!! Thank you!! He only ate about 3 crickets today :/ but he did poop so we will see what happens tomorrow!!

Pooping is good! As long as that happens, at least you know he is not stopped up or impacted.

 

[Gyro]

He is back up on crickets, ate about 6 this morning. All of them were a little under 1/2". Going to go buy some more in a little bit

 

[Gyro]

So, how do I get him to start eating his veggies because he will NOT touch them in the slightest...

 

[SpacialCoogs]

He's young yet to be eating veg. Make sure he has them available and provide a little variety to let him figure out what he likes.

You can pop a little leaf or something in his mouth while he's gaping. You will probably get the stink eye

 

[Stormikins]

So, how do I get him to start eating his veggies because he will NOT touch them in the slightest...

Mine is not huge on veggies either, but he will eat them. For mine, it seems to be the vibrancy of the colors that gets his attention. I offered him, by hand, tiny pieces of apple. Dipped them around his lips and he got a taste. Then I put some down in front of him, and he nipped at a few.

Now, for his greens, I always put down his greens first thing in the morning. I make sure they are sprayed with water, they are nice and cold, and I don't dust them at all. I only dust his insects. I try to give him some love in the morning, because he is always grumpy, so I handle him for a minute or two, then I put him down right in front of the veggie bowl in his viv. He will take a few bites because by then, he is starving. I also offered him a bunch of stuff to see what he likes. He enjoys collard greens and mustard greens. Anything else he could care less.

I have a timer set to crank up his lights at 5:30 in the morning. That ensures he has been cooking for about 2- 2.5 hours before any food is offered. By that time, he is ready to eat. So once he goes and gets a few bites of veggies, I will offer him his morning meal. I tend to do phoenix worms in the morning, crickets in the evening so i can gut load them.

Honestly, at this age, you want to just make sure your baby stays hydrated, and gets plenty of vitamins, calcium and protein. Veggies, while somewhat needed, are not a necessity.

Give him regular baths to help him soak, mist him a few times a day, or use the dropper/ syringe to get a bit of water in him. Letting your phoenix worms soak up in water for 5 minutes or so, also increases the hydration of your beardie when he eats them. (Make sure the bowl you put them in is dry, or those buggers will climb out). Soaking the worms in warm water also makes them super active, and removes all the aggravating packing material from them. Oh, don't overdust your worms. That will keep them from wiggling around too much. My guy will just ignore them if they don't move around enough. So I either only lightly dust my worms, or just dust the crickets. He'll chase those like a maniac.

Ok I've yapped plenty, but really here is where it's at: monitor him, keep him hydrated, full of good protein, keep temps where they need to be, and he will get into a routine. He will even eat those veggies.

 

[XNoarmpitX]

hello, I actually have a beardie that's only 2 days older. What a coincidence.

 

[Gyro]

He's up to about 20 crickets a day and seems to be getting a little bigger. He is very active as usual. He likes to be picked up when he is sleepy so I get some quality time with him in the morning and at night. My mom said that back in Cuba, lizards would go crazy for papaya so I bought one and cut it up small and put some in his cage. He is looking at it pretty intensely right now. We will see if he likes it haha

 

[Stormikins]

He's up to about 20 crickets a day and seems to be getting a little bigger. He is very active as usual. He likes to be picked up when he is sleepy so I get some quality time with him in the morning and at night. My mom said that back in Cuba, lizards would go crazy for papaya so I bought one and cut it up small and put some in his cage. He is looking at it pretty intensely right now. We will see if he likes it haha

Awesome news! Glad you are keeping us posted.

Have you weighed and measured him yet? That is a nice strict way to keep track of his progress. I weigh and measure mine every saturday. So far we are gaining 5-9grams a week, and 1inch in length.

Give it a shot! This way you will always know if something changes in his weight and size quickly. It's a good tool to have if you ever need a backlog for a vet too.

 

[Gyro]

Hello all! Little Helios is eating almost 30 crickets for the past couple days along with a couple bits of papaya, couple cubes of apple, little grape, some pepper, and a bit of collard green. When I have some kind of fruit or veggie in my hand he opens right up and lets me feed him. Either that, or he still wants to bite me, which he does occasionally look rather standoff-ish. I give him daily cuddles in the morning and night when he's sleepy and doesn't want to fight me so those are always good. Slowly trying to get him to eat his veggies alone without me. Now that he's settled down, i might try the effort into switching his staple to PhoenixWorms again because crickets still kinda freak me out. Just by feel, I think he's gained some weight, and has grown about an inch in the 2 weeks iv had him, but I feel that now since he's eating a lot more, he'll grow faster

 

[Gyro]

My favorite thing that Helios does is that sometimes he will look like he's on a serious hunt, and I think that there's maybe a cricket in there or something, and he will run as fast as he can towards something, then stop, then give it the slightest little lick. I can't help but laugh every single time he does it :lol: :lol:

 

[Stormikins]

My favorite thing that Helios does is that sometimes he will look like he's on a serious hunt, and I think that there's maybe a cricket in there or something, and he will run as fast as he can towards something, then stop, then give it the slightest little lick. I can't help but laugh every single time he does it :lol: :lol:

Yeeeep. Mine does something similar. Also, sometimes he will just furiously lick something, and I sit there thinking what in the world he is so passionate about.

I'm really happy to hear your baby is doing better. Show us pics!

 

[Gyro]

My little dragon turns 3 months tomorrow He hasn't grown too much since we got him. He is around 8 inches in length right now. I cut open the screen where the UVB bulb is to see if that will help at all. He eats roughly 15-25 1/4 to 1/2 inch crickets a day, dusted with calcium and sometimes the multivitamin. I still havn't been able to get him to eat veggies, but the crickets love them so its better than nothing. I have some Phoenix Worms coming again, and hopefully now that he's settled into his viv he'll eat them. He poops pretty regularly, once a day, sometimes will skip a day but the next one will be a big one. Some days he will only eat like 5 or 6 crickets total, and no matter what I do, he will not eat any more. I give him soaks every couple days but he hates it. He likes to nibble on lettuce, so I do that every once in a while so he gets some water in him. He's so active and happy. I love him