Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all, thanks to LindsayMarie for answering my original questions (Ideas and suggestions) My thanks is late since that was a while ago, I am sorry. I got my first beardie yesterday, a baby. I'm not sure how old he (or she) is, I'm guessing about 6 weeks. He's gorgeous...beautiful interlocking s pattern all the way down his back and markings on the underside, beautiful tans, yellow and a bit of orange. He's huge, so I promptly named him Senor Gordo (Mr Fat) lol! I wonder if Gordo will have an indentity crisis if he turns out to be a girl? heh. I have him in a 10 gallon for now but will move him to a 65 when he's ready. Is this big enough? The lighting and temps are fine and I'm using newspaper as a substrate until he's older. I'm misting him twice a day and I'm feeding him crickets, BD pellets and fresh fruits and veggies though he really only seems to be interested in the crickets. He's ravenous with them! When I brought him home he ate 20 crickets and he ate almost 30 today. My question is...how many is too much? How many "should" I feed him a day? I haven't found any clear answers on this. Also..how often should I soak him? How deep should the water be and what temp? I've handled him a little bit, not too much though because I don't want to freak him out. He seems pretty mellow. How long should I wait before I handle him regularly? One more question, how old do they have to be before they can be (safely) sexed? I read that when they're young, you can hurt them trying to determine their sex if you're inexperienced (like me). Sorry for the incredibly long post...I'm a cautious mommy! I'll post a pic of him as soon as I can. My thanks to anyone who can answer my questions.

I'm glad you posted your questions because I was wondering the same things as well!

I'm getting my girl today. She's 4 weeks old. I planned on putting her in my 20L but should I put her in the 10 gallon until she's bigger? I was just going to feed her in the smaller one so she could catch the crickets easier.

Also, how long after she arrives should I feed her?

My kids are little tiny abandoned kittens. (How anyone could abandon any animals is beyond me, let alone helpless little 4-5 week old kittens )

Feed him three or so times per day and as much as he'll eat in about 5-10 minutes each time. That's the way I was taught, and it worked for me. Also, you may want to leave some nice greens and veggies in there at all time.

As for water, make it VERY shallow so he can't accidentally drown himself. I've found that room temperature water is pretty good. You should probably also mist him a few times per day as well, because many babies will not drink on their own.

As for the other person who replied to this thread (sorry I don't know your name): You probably want to offer them immediately, just in case it's very hungry. Chances are that it won't eat for a couple of days until it's settled though. Good luck!

n/p

-----
-Lauren

~ Lauren's Lizards ~

groups.yahoo.com/group/LaurensLizards

give him time to settle in, not handling a baby much can be a lot less stressful for them at first, give it a week or so, some of them it doesnt bother at all. I would feed him 2-3 times daily as much as he will eat in a sitting, carrick used to eat 30-40 in a sitting sometimes more, sometimes in total 80 or more crickets a day, very small ones mind you, 1/4 inch. Babies will eat A LOT, dont worry too much about them overeating at this age, just be sure you are feeding very small crickets, no bigger then the space between his eyes. At that age i dusted once daily with calcium with D3 and 3 times weekly with a multivitamin. As for his salads, it takes time sometimes babies will eat it right away, and for some it takes awhile, some wont eat it till a few months old. As for soaks, for now to minimize stress you can mist him and let him drink the drips off his nose, when he gets a little more settled in you can bathe him in luke warm water just so it comes up around his belly or just below the shoulders. good luck with your new baby, would love to see some pics soon! =)

Thanks for the info reiko. I'll resist the temptation to handle him too much (it IS difficult!). He's eating like a pig and I guess I won't worry too much about it then. He's digesting his food properly..I don't think I've ever been so relieved to come home to a "crappy" tank..LOL.
Illieyasha-what wonderful kitties...lucky!
Bezzerra- congrats on your dragon, I hope all is going well.
Be back soon!