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All was going well since that one slight tail nip which happened when one baby was going for a cricket and accidently grabbed anothers tail with it.

Well today I picked up lil pink girl and had her out for awhile. Maybe half hour or so, which was after I had just fed them all for the second time today. I feed them every 2 hours or so, approximately 4-5 times a day. I know its alot but I am paranoid of nips. Anyways, after holding her for a half hour I went and put her back in her cage. I was taking my cat down off of another lizards cage and I looked over and another baby had ran across the bin and attacked lil pinks tail!!!!!!!!!! I heard the chomp and everything. I was screaming, no and trying to knock the cage a little, and I realized I had used the cat to hit the cage! The cat wasnt thrilled but not hurt either. Anyways, I picked her back up (lil pink) and poor little thing was bleeding in 2 spots and it looked like it broke that portion of her tail. So even if she doesnt lose that portion of her tail (as most do) it will be crooked. I am so angry. I wasnt sure if I was going to keep her and now I dont have a choice. I feel horrible for one. Second I already have the other slight tail nip that is going to the buyer I wouldnt give another, especially one thats recent and still healing.

I dont care what anyone says, this does not only happen because they are hungry or crowded. I only have 3 in that 60 quart rubbermaid and I feed them 4-5 times a day. They are eating 3/8inch crickets and as many as they want. It isnt my fault if they dont eat as much as they would like! I give each cage like 20 minutes to eat. That is plenty. I had just got done feeding all the babies half hour prior. Its BULL! Not only did he/she bite little pink, but went to go after another. I pulled him/her out of their real fast while I treated lil pinks tail. Then when I was done I went and fed everybody again!

I am not working right now so I have all day with them and 3/4 of my day is spent feeding, cleaning, bathing and holding the babies and adults. I am so glad I decided not to breed anymore. I am way to sensitive for this. It makes me so upset when one gets hurt. It makes me even more upset knowing that the baby who gets hurt has less chance of finding a loving home just because it isnt "normal". ARGH!

One more day of feeding and saturday morning we leave to go to their new home. I am going to miss them, but I wont miss this stress.

Thanks for letting me vent. *sighs* Take care, LindsayMarie
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Don't feel so bad....things happen....even under the best of conditions you can have some more aggressive ones.....you did everything you could and it still happens......just figure that the pink girl was meant to stay with you.....lol.....take care

I can't/won't send her to a new home with a hurt tail. The other one is pretty much healed and it is a VERY small nip (1/8 inch at the very tip was lost). Pinks tail was bit from the side half way up the tail. So I have a feeling her damage is going to be a little more severe cosmetically. I know things just happen but it is frustrating. AHHH!! Thanks, Lindsay
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i had a sub adult and a new blood male out at the same time and the sub adult is super tame but i didnt notice but he crept up behind me and ran and took a chomp out of the red guys tail. i had to pry his mouth off of it and it is crooked and used to twitch. then about a month later i got a sandfire from dragon ranch and it was just them two in a 20 gallon tank and the sandfire bit the end of his tail off. i think it is just the way they look that makes others want to bite. heh. it didnt affect him he is still a great eater and is tame as can be

I feel for you Lindsey....poor little things. I guess the only 100 percent way to ensure siblings don't nip tails or toes is to have them caged separately. Very inconvenient when you have 30 babies and maybe another clutch or two in the incubator....need alot of tupperware to house 90 babies separately...

You certianly sound like you really care for your babies...if you ever decide to breed again, separate tanks may be the best way to go. Those rack systems may be best bet to store so many cages without taking up a room. Something to consider if you get into breeding again.

Individual tanks would do away with the nips. However think of all the space and electricity it would use up! WOW

Personally I would rather just enjoy my beardies as beloved family members like my labrador retriever pup, 3 cats and 2 guineas (sometimes the guineas REALLY annoy me though).

Dont get me wrong. Baby beardies are precious and there is nothing quite like experiencing the miracle of hatching babies, BUT its not something I think I am cut out for I am highly sensitive and the nipping, the finding new homes etc is all a little too stressful for me. Everytime I sent a clutch off I cried. For days!LOL I am such a big baby.

The only reason I bred my females was because I thought it was better for them, healthwise. I was so afraid of them dying because of becoming egg bound due to infertile eggs. But the truth is, there just isnt the evidence out there to support the fact that fertile eggs is better then non-fertile eggs or none at all. At least not that I can find. If anyone has different information and would like to share, that would be great.

I think I will take the chance of them developing infertile eggs and just give them tlc to help them pass them. Hopefully they wont produce any (thats in the perfect world though)!

I am 99.9% sure that these are the last baby beardies I will be hatching. The second clutch is almost due to hatch and thats it. I will still be posting and stuff because I will still have my beardy pets I have my 6 adults (3 males, 3 females) and I am keeping pinky (female) and probably junior (male). That will be 8 beardies (4 males, 4 females)! YIKES!

How many beardies does everyone else have????

Take care, Lindsay
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Ok 12 adult/subadults
4 breeding size females (normals)

3 adult males (2normal and a nice yellow one)

a 400g yearling male that is a mean mofo that I don't think is nearly done growing, and bright orange

my little mutant male (he is bright yellow)

1 nice orange female about 250g still holding onto hope of eggs late in the year of her and the orange boy

a normal female about 250g again hoping for eggs later this year late babies rock

and a nice orange girl that has little to no control over her legs but she is happy

I have about sixty hatchlings now, 18 more will find a new home this weekend. I am thinking of keeping two babies from this year one that has screaming orange strips down her middle (where the patern is) and two more nice orange stripes down the spines and she (please be a she) hasn't even shed once. Then I have 5 that are five weeks onld I may keep one to replace her mother that was passed on a few weeks ago.

I am planning on getting rid of two males and 1 maybe two breedable females at the end of the season.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

How do you house your adults? I only have 6 adults and I am running out of room! Maybe it is because each adult has its own 4'x2'x2' enclosure (some of the cages are even bigger then that)! Obviously I cant house my 3 males with anyone, but I wish I could get my 3 females housed together, or at least 2 of them together. Unless I feel 100% comfy with a pair together I wont take the chance and right now, I am not 100% certain its a good idea. I will probably just keep introducing Daisy and Fiesty (sisers) and hopefully by age 1 1/2 - 2 years old I can house them together.

How big are your cages, what kind and how many per cage? Thanks, Lindsay
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Ok each male is housed by itself in a plastic tub that is about the size of a 40 breeder. I made each tube a screen top out of a wood frame and window screen. For my females I have 2 75 gallon tanks, each on has two females in it. My females are really good. But when introduced they did do a little batle, but no biting. Just aserting who is dominant. I monitor their eating. I breed them on the floor. 1 adolescent female is in a 40 breeder the other in a plastic container. The one that has a nuerological disorder is in a plastic tub also. 2 of my four clutches are in 55 gallon tanks, the other two are in plastic containers. I have 6 containers on a rack that is 5'w 2'd and 7' tall, I will attach a pic. I hard wired it. I have the luxury of having a place where one room is dedicated to animals. The 2 55s are on top of a freedom breeder level. All my snakes are either in racks. Right now because of the passing of my big male boa I have an empty 75. Hmmm how to fill it. Oh and I must say I have never had a single nip. But my big orange male has a slight tail nip, think it might have had it when purchased but he was pretty small but the most outstanding of the clutch so I took him. The female orange is missing one nail, not any of the toe just a nail. Hope this helps, I will try to attach a picture of my rack that my dragons are on.

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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

those bulbs sure look really bright...are they just standard basking lights or Mercury Vapour bulbs?

They are merc vapors, my pants are alot lighter since doing that. But it is nice. Although they are so tempermental I may go over to Reptisuns and flood lights for heat.

Derek
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

I am not sure it can be done with beardies and what the risk is, but you can always get the females spayed. I wouldn't do it though it there is a high risk of death due to complications. Better to ensure non fertile eggs don't bind in the female than risk her death by getting her spayed.

Another thing to keep in mind though is that bearded dragons can retain sperm so your females may still have a few clutches with fertile eggs even if you keep the males away from them.

I would be interested in your dragon(s) with broken tails.

My dragon, Drayco (now 2 years old) has a nipped tail when I bought her as a baby. There were alot of other dragons to choose from (she was the only one with a nipped tail and 2 nipped fingers) and I chose her over the perfect ones.

She has the best personality, she is mellow and curious and I wouldn't trade her for the world!

The link below is pictures of my girl!
Link

It happens, of course it is not your fault, all baby dragons should have as good a start as you give yours. There are just some agressive babies and some that only see something moving and jump to bite it. There have even been babies that bite their own tail or toes. Its when there are whole clutches nipped that upset me as you know those babies were hungry.

Also, did you know there is a whole line of BD's that are hatched with really short tails and they seem to do just fine?

I know you will give her extra attention and keep my fingers crossed that the tail heals with no infection and she bounces back from this.

You've had a active time with moving and all and don't beat yourself up over this, Little Pink is still a beautiful little dragon and I think she was destined to be special, some dragons just strike me that way, Ariel and Daisy did too.

If for some reason you find you can not keep her, there is a nice empty tank under the online cam that is empty right now and needs a lil dragon to fill it

I am feeling a little better today. I was just a tad frustrated yesterday and I apologize. Today is the last day with the clutch I am going to miss them! I am crossing my fingers and praying that there are no nips today! I tried seperating that cage up the best I could.

We are going to keep little pink girl and junior. I dont think I could part with the lil girl now. We are wondering what we should call her? My spouse says Pinki, but I just dont know. We also thought Tootsie was cute. Whats everyone else think. Junior is already named. He is so much like his father in personality, we have called him junior since day one. He is the one that manages to climb his thermometer. If I could, I would keep them all! I love them all.

Well got to run. Take care, Lindsay
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