Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A good friend of mine, Matt (www.mlb-2003.com), gave me 2 dragons about 3 days ago. One male and one female (we think). Both dragons are about a week old.

Anyways, i've been feeding them small crickets dusted w/ calcium and vitamins, and some veggies, but the two lizards have completely different eating habits. The male will eat 4-5 crickets right off the bat, bask in the light for awhile, and then go eat another 4-5 crickets about 10 minutes later. He is doing great and seems to growing fast and healthy.

However, my female, who is on the same diet, will only eat one or two crickets and then stop. she is considerably smaller than the male, but she's still just as energetic. I never see her eat more than 2 crickets at a time. I think both of my BD's are still a little stressed from the move, and they dont seem to like me watching them. So, i usually just feed them, watch for a few minutes, and leave them alone. When i go back and look at them about an hour later, most of the crickets are gone. I highly doubt that the male eats them all by himself, but the female is so much smaller.

My questing is : Is my female afriad of me and refuses to eat while i'm standing there watching? If she eats when i'm gone, why is she still so much smaller than the male?

My beardies are only one week old and are already bigger than 3-week old hatchlings!!! The male has much prettier colors and is really big for his age. i cant wait to see him full grown! These 2 dragons came for Matt Wodrowicz (www.mlb-2003.com). He's a really good guy and has a great line of Leucistics and Blood red sunfire dragons. Check it out....

apart from the fact that those babies sound far too young to have been sold, and that your post sounds a little too much like a commercial for this breeder, there are two points to make

beardies frequently dont eat for a couple of days after a change of habitat. not a problem for adults or well established babies, but a serious concern for your littel ones who cant go that long without food. this why experienced, responsible breeders will not sell dragons before 6 weeks / 6 inches.

secondly, the larger dragon is probably intimidating the smaller one. therefore they should be separated to allow the smaller dragon to eat with fear of the larger dragon coming after her. it is not a good idea to leave crickets in the tank with babies, crickets have been known to bite and even kill baby BDs.

bottom line; separate the dragons, ensure a basking spot of 110-115F, feed crickets no larger than 1/2 space between eyes.
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Ross

0.1 Bearded Dragon (Fuego, spent the last 10 months thinking she was a he!)
2.1 Roommates (require more cleaning up after than the dragon)

This does sound like an ad; and if this guy is letting week old dragons out of his care I wouldn't buy as much as a cricket from him.

I don't think it looked like an add, it looks like he was pleased with a deal & wanted to give a good word for the guy he got them from. It happens all the time.

One more thing to break to ya,, There is no way you can tell the sex at one week. Even if you think you can tell, it's much likely to change within the next month. Just too early.

As the others mentioned, you just can not place an eating habit on a dragon for a few weeks upon arriving to a new home. Stress. Now, if there is more than one dragon there is always going to be a hierarchy, no if's and's or but's. There is going to be one who gets bigger, eats first or more, etc. Now, that hierarchy can change with time, but one must form, it's just how nature works. That is most likely why one is bigger than the other & also eats more. This is also why many become "runts" or at least, look like runts. I have seen many times where a "runt" who just doesn't grow, was moved out of a group, either on it's own or into another group, where it is now the bigger one, & they take off like a bean stalk. Once again, hierarchy. Unfortunately, these labeled "runts" get tagged with the label Inbred, or genetically incorrect, etc. (which also can & does happen, but just because they are small, does not mean their genes are faulty) This hierarchy can be formed from the matter of one hatching 8 hours before the other, etc. It does not have to mean that one is genetically stronger than the other, it just happens. Sorry, I'm rambling now.

It also sounds like your pair are from the same clutch. I do hope that if you intend on raising the two to breed, it's with another unrelated pair, which you can make unrelated pairs from the two groups. (I hope that makes sense)
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Joel R

Coming some day.
www.SpikesAndScales.com

Thank you so much for defending me. I just joined this website a few days ago and i felt like everybody has isolated me already. i'm trying to do the right thing w/ these BD's and i understand that they were moved at too young of an age. The guy i got them from comes to my house almost every day (we live 7 miles apart) and is constantly checking on them and asking me how there doing, ect... not that any of that justifies moving them at that young of an age. He didnt want to give them to me this early, but i was so excited about getting them and i talked him into it. its all my fault and i'll take full responsibilty for it. You can hate me if you choose to, but dont hate him.

Sorry that my post sounded like an advertisement. everybody gives positive reviews when they are pleased, but perhaps i took it a step too far. From now on, i wont mention any names. i dont want to hurt his reputation any further than i already have.

With that being said...

I know what you mean about determining the sex at this young of an age. I think i have a male and a female, but its very difficult to tell. As far as breeding, i did get these BDs from the same clutch, so i will NOT breed the 2 of them. I'm honestly not too concerned about their sex, as long as they're both healthy. I'm currently building a new cage to seperate them. They'll be seperated before they're a month old. I do have 2 other sources for breeding (when the time comes). Either from the guy i bought the BDs from, or from my cousin. If, and only if, i choose to breed them it will definitly be w/ non-related beardies. i know the effects of inbreeding, and people who would do such a thing shouldnt be allowed to have pets in the first place. i'm not trying to make money from my BDs.

As far as the hierachy info. Your probably right. I hope thats all it is, and not that the smaller one is unhealthy. The larger of the 2 does always seem to eat first. I do think that they enjoy each other company, as they are always laying with one another while basking. Its really cute to watch.

Again, thanks for everything.

She may be showing some sign of shyness from the transition to her new home. Id try letting her eat without knowing your around.Make sure the cricket isnt larger than the space thats in between the eye on top of the head.
Also make sure you have plenty of greens readily available just in case she wants something other than the crickets.
Post some pics soon

Yeah, it may be shyness or a hierarchy thing. the crickets i feed them are very small. Smaller than the distance between their eyes. as far as greens, i feed them leaf lettuce (not iceberg) and finely shredded carrots. I never see them eat it, but its always disappearing, so obviously they do. anyways, here's a picture as requested. sorry that its low quality, my digital camera sucks.