My baby Beardies

Wrasse · #1 (**permalink**) 12-22-2003, 10:41 AM

These little fellers moved in today. I know nothing about them, although they are native to my area. They are Barbatus.

I don't know how old they are, have to ring the breeder later tonight to ask some q's. They are about 3 inches body length and maybe 6 inches overall.

Any advice appreciated.

Why do they wave ??

Scritch

Scratch & Scritch

Burm-Bomb · #2 (**permalink**) 12-22-2003, 04:01 PM

i love beardies, they are great pets, if handled regularly they can be very tame. enjoy

savannah_babe · #3 (**permalink**) 12-23-2003, 02:12 AM

aww, they are cute. i wish the were native to my area..LOL..

at such a young age, i prefer to feed as many veggies as possible, as this will help when they get older. i would not use sand on them at a young age either, as they can get impacted. you can use paper towels, reptile carpet, to be safe. i use rocks for basking areas in my enclosures. they are smooth for easy cleaning and when placed under a basking light, get very warm and provide heat to the beardies underbelly, which aids in digestion. this way they receive heat from the top - via a basking light, and from the bottom - via the heated rock. you can also throw in some branches, as they do will and can climb. i put them under the light, so they can also get heat that way. proper lighting is also very important to the beardies. dragons body temperatures are important for digestion and fighting off illness. dragons DO need a source of UVB light to naturally produce vitamin D3, (which helps to absorb calcium) and without a steady supply of it, are more subject to complications. many people think that by placing the vivarium near a window and allowing the reptile to bask in the sun will help. this is not so. normal plate glass as used in windows and vivariums will actually filter out the ultra-violet rays that are required to synthesise natural vitamin D3.
when small, beardies should get misted often, as well as their veggies. always make sure there are fresh veggies available. as they will eat crickets, mealworms, and when a bit older, pinkmice. i always dust my crickets, and veggies.

good luck with your little guy (s).

Bry · #4 (**permalink**) 12-23-2003, 02:21 AM

Sweet beardies. Nice to see something other than P. vitticeps and P. henrylawsoni. But then again, you're in Oz, so I'm sure it's a little easier for you to get the other species out there. Anyway, the waving is submissive behavior while the head-bobbing is basically dominant behavor. If there are other reasons for waving, I'm not sure what they are. Also, how big do P. barbatus get compared to P. vitticeps?

Bry

savannah_babe · #5 (**permalink**) 12-23-2003, 02:25 AM

LOL im sorry, i forgot to answer the waving question..lol..yeah. haha..just wait until they get older. heh. oh, and dont keep males together, they dont get along too well..heh..

Wrasse · #6 (**permalink**) 12-23-2003, 01:05 PM

Thanks for all the advice.

I just finished installing extra lighting to their cage, so if I can't get them out for their daily sun, they won't be missing out on anything.

When they moved in, one was constantly waving at the other. Now they wave together. If that is submissive behaviour... I think I am going to have a problem... :P

They don't seem to like anything to eat except crickets. They will go mad chasing them round the cage, but greens (peas, lettuce, bok choy, mushrooms, bananas) and pellets hold no appeal for them. Any ideas on how to encourage them to eat ?

Scratch appears to be shedding. I put some branches in with them today and Scratch was right up on them instantly, rubbing his/her face madly. Now he/she/it has little patches of skin hanging off.

Scratch also started gulping tonight. Four in a row. My partner leapt up and in between hunting for the mist bottle, explained that the girl he picked them up from said that was a bad sign and they needed cooling, instantly. (Gee, thanks for telling me now!!

) Anyway, misted them up and they instantly started lapping the water off each other and the branch they were on. Looks like they have no idea what the water dish is for either.

As for the q about Barbadus and Vitticeps. Apparently Barbadus tend to be about 5 centimetres bigger as adults. Barbadus also have a lateral line of spines down each side and over their forearms. I havn't seen the two side by side, so I don't really know.

[edit note] - rang the breeder, apparently they were born 1st December. So, just a tad more than 3 weeks old.

toker · #7 (**permalink**) 12-23-2003, 03:06 PM

Those are some cute little critters!

savannah_babe · #8 (**permalink**) 12-23-2003, 05:55 PM

yeah, chop the veggies very very small. if they are too cold, they might not eat them. sometimes mine like em almost rotton..wierd. but they have to get their veggies, so just keep trying. some people have purchased cricket scent or whatever from petstores, ive never used it. so i dont know if it really works or not. being as they are only 3 weeks old, you are going to want to mist them a few times a day, to make sure they get the water they need. you have to break them into the veggies though. just make sure they are in a shallow dish, that they can easly be reached without problems. do the same with the water as well. good luck with them

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