Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is safe for marking the beardies. I know some people use nail polish. But others look like they use a sharpie marker. What is the safer method for marking babies for sexing.

thanks

I've used both, I like sharpie better.
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Heart Mountain Herps

One of the best and safest things to use would be a paint pen. You can get non toxic paint pens from any fabric store. Most breeders use them so do I.

i have two dragons that were marked with sharpies and it still hasent come off. Ive had both since october.

peace,
nate

i hope that no one uses nail polish. Isn't nail polish an enamel based paint? and therefore contails harsh solvents?

One drop of that on the skin and those solvents are in your beardies blood stream before the paint dries.

best bet would be to buy a small can of latex paint. Go to a toy store and buy some paint that is ok for young kids to play with.
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

So using the Paint Pens or Sharpies is the best way to mark them, but how long do they stay on. If the beardies shed does it come off? But I also don't want it to stay on forever either. So How long does it stay on the dragon? Thanks Deb

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Kai- German Giant Male
Skyla- German Giant x German Giant Pastel Female
Voodoo- Yellow Red Desert Male
Banshee- Orange Sandfire Female
Puff- Citrus x Red/Orange Sandfire Male
Cera- Citrus x Sunburst Female
Jewel- Sundial Coral x Red/Gold Sandfire- Female
Ace- Orange Sandfire x Snow Male
Sunny- Sunrise x Red/Gold Sandfire Female
Stubbs- German Giant x German Giant Pastel- Male
Rainbow- German Giant x German Giant Pastel female
Velvet - Leopard Tortoise baby poss male
Marley- Sulcata Baby poss female
Sammy- Red Foot Female
Isis- Red Foot Female
Jade- Red Foot probable male
Runner- Basilisk Female
5.6 Ball Pythons
7.14 Manx Cats- Too many to name here
1.1 German Shepherds-Danzig & Onyx(due March 15th, 2006)
1.0 Hedgehog- White Wicca
0.1 Giant White New Zeland rescue Rabbit- Callie
2.2 Chinchilla's- Breezy, Stormy Nights, Mist, Black Velvet
0.1 Eastern Gray Squrriel- Paws
0.1 Ferret- Jumanji
1.1 Leopard Geckos(my daughter's)
Hermit crab(my daughter's)
Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula(my husband's)
Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula(my husband's)

I use different colored sharpies (blue or pink). I put a dot UNDER the tail, about a half to one inch behind the vent (depends on size of dragon). If I need to differentiate between more than just sex (parentage), I use a second dot of green or black. I marked them on top of the tail once and was overwhelmed by questions about the dots (I assumed it was common knowledge). The sharpie normally comes off with the first shed, sometimes there is a faint mark left after the shed but it is certainly gone after the second shed. The sharpie is very quick to use so I am not wrangling young dragons in positions they don’t want to be for more than a couple seconds. With larger young Dragons, I put a small number in the same place with the sharpie. It works good for me but they do need remarked after they shed.

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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles