Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have about 2 dozen dragons, but only 3 that have indented spines and those three also are stockier and have shorter front toes than the others, I was just curious as those three are GG, but not all our GG have indented spines... what are yours?
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www.reptilerooms.com

n/p

this is the best picture I have that shows it, it goes part way into the tail

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www.reptilerooms.com

Quite a few of mine have what you are talking about. I personally don't think it has anything to do with whether they are German Giant or of German giant ancestry, but rather the healthy weight of the particular dragons that cause this indent. Foster, Candy, Anna, Buddy, Amber, and Reaya all have this indent, and all hold healthy weights for their size. My smaller or lighter weight dragons like Meg & Myah don't have this shape as of yet. Just what I noticed in my own dragons, and when I see other peoples dragons most of the ones with this shape are quite healthy or I view them as healthy looking. The opposite of the indent I see more on skinnier or younger dragons, or dragons in my eyes that don't look as healthy. Just my opinions. I'm sure dragons of all shapes can be healthy this is just how I view them when I see pictures etc.
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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

Have to disagree Matt....I have a couple of 650 gram females that don't have that indent.....so I don't think it has to do with being well filled out......may be a coincedence that your adults have it. Nor can you relate it to health....my 10 1/2 year old female doesn't have it and never has, even at her largest.....which was about 700 grams.....my 9 1/2 year old male doesn't either and never has. Though it may not be related to GG....it may well be a body type trait....
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

'Nor can you relate it to health'

I happen to.. I can't help that LOL .. like I said opinionHow I feel when I view a picture. I think dragons that do have this shape look healthier TO ME then the ones with raised spines. I seen pics with skinny unhealthy looking dragons and they all have that raised spine or sloping from the spine to the sides (sad pics stuck in my head). I think this LOOKS unhealthy. Could still be healthy dragon though. It just the way I view it. Not much to disagree with I thought...
I checked my dragons today and pics at different times of their lives and weights. Fosters who had it real noticeable at 760 is much less noticeable now at a lower weight of 720. Candy did not have this shape as a baby, but from sub-adult up until today has this shape. Anna who I thought has it does not, and never did as I looked back. Reaya has it now, but at a younger age and lighter weight did not. Buddy has had it since he was a juvenile. Meg still does not have it. I don't know what causes it, but I noticed it with weight gains in my own dragons as they went from juveniles to large adults. Could be a coincidence?? A natural change?? I don't know, or possible just a different shape?? just thoughts, opinions

Meg is my wild dragon. He's a skinnier dragon and does not have this shape as of yet

Reaya hypopastel. She has this shape, but did not as a younger dragon

Reaya Baby does not

Candy red/orange X snow. Candy has had this shape for a while but if you look at her baby pic on my site she did not always

Buddy hypo pastel when young

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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

come from? they are very nice!!!!

very cool colors

trevor

Reaya is a Hypo Pastel I got from a pet store in California.. I had sent Reiko a friend from the forum in to pick her out of a large group of pastels the store purchased from a private breeder, and little Reaya made her way here to NJ.

Meg is a Normal or wild type. Meg was from Cheri S., and is an imported dragon from Germany. Her parents were sent to Germany from Australia as part of an educational grant, and they bred them in Germany. Meg is part of one of those clutches.

Candy is a red/orange X Snow I got from Chris Allen. Candy is the mother of the babies that are due to hatch in a few months. I'm really excited about these long awaited little ones from my Foster X Candy Cross

Buddy is a Hypo Pastel. Buddy was bought from Paul Morlock from the Sandfire Dragon Ranch at a show I had attended.

Thanks. I'm glad you liked them. I just love this group of dragons. They all have such great friendly personalities as well.
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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

What I mean is that not all healthy dragons have the same body shape of style.....I have been looking over my crew today....which I have 32 adults right now.....some of my smaller dragons have that feature, which I had never noticed.....a couple in the 400 gram range....but many bigger, older ones do not and scanning back through my pics they never did....

Sure yours are healthy, and so are mine, but I don't see the correlation between the indent and health....Cheri has several adult dragons that are healthy without it also.....I believe it's more of a body type.....like some have shorter, stockier feet....others are longer and trimmer, but would have no effect of health. It's kinda like saying dragons with bigger heads are more healthy....those are just physical characteristics.....
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

Gees now it's big heads huh LOL?? I happen to like big heads and view them as "healthy looking" LOL. That's it.. period just the way I veiw it, and the characteristics I like, and look for in a dragon. Now nothing against the small heads just like nothing against the different spine shapes I have ones without the spine indented that are just as healthy too. Maybe you misunderstood what I said.. I just gave my view/opinion on how I look at dragons, and features I look for and like. Nothing I wrote in stone or that disagreeing with would mean anything...I agree with you it's a body shape, and not all healthy dragons have the same body shape.. I noticed when quite a few of mine increased in weight they got this body shape..

meet Meat Head

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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

Same here Matt I was just stating my opinions to....opposite yours in some ways.....I like big headed, well filled out dragons as well....that's why I don't breed anything under a certain size myself! That aside, some people have small dragons that are very healthy too......it's a matter of asthetics of sorts.....if your talking about dragons with appropriate weight to length ratios with their body shape.....all can be very healthy, just appealing to different people.
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

I have to agree, I think it is just a body type thing. Wayne is long and skinny, with a dent.
Ozzy is way chubbier with no dent.

Pic is Wayne

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www.classylizard.com

one that has it is only 6 months old, 98 grams stocky legs but thin right now as he was sick and on meds.

I was thinking also it is a body trait, but wanted to know if it was in others that are not GG or any GG/wild caught blood lines, all three we have that are like that, have the stocky legs with shorter front fingers
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Taadaa is my biggest dragon at over 500 grams and has it, PeeWee is TaaDaa's brother, he does not have it.
Wayne is the lightest adult at 350 grams and has the dent. He has a long, thin body type and is 3 yrs old, he's a normal. Heaviest and lightest, (TaaDaa and Wayne) both have the indent.
Daisy also has the indent. Cecil, with the iguana tail does not have the dent, neither does Slimmy.
It doesn't seem to matter if it's m/f, or morph or size in my dragons.
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www.classylizard.com

just a thought but, my female dragon didn't have it when i rescued her...but now that she's put on 6 inches and nearly 200 grams since i got her she has it. and my male didn't have it either...but now he's got the hugest fat pads i've seen in a long time and he has it. could it just be that dragons with lots of extra fat stored it pushes up or raises up slightly?

just some thoughts that i was pondering.......

trevor

imported dragon had it when arrived and still do. Some of those were under 10 dragons when they arrived, but all have the shorty stocker legs and fingers on the front hand
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I've also noticed a slight indent in my more husky dragons. I've never given it much thought, but now that you've pointed it out...

Ojay is the only one in my clan that has an indent...

The rest of my beardies don't have indents. Interesting.

Veronica
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Beautiful Dragons