babies!
I have wanted a bearded dragon for over 6 years now, but was waiting for the time to be right to get one. This fall I finally got the word I needed and set about getting ready to acquire a beardie. I set up a cage in my office, bought a UV bulb and lamp, scrounged some habitat items from unused piles of stuff in the back rooms, and let the person at our local pet store know I was finally in the market. Unfortunately, they had sold their last bearded dragon. The store in the next town over sent theirs but it was almost an adult, which is not what I wanted. Poor Teresa could not tell me when they might receive more youngsters. Then my student told me of the Ohio Reptile Show in Columbus.
I went Saturday with my colleague DMS and 6 of our students. DMS acquired a nasty marbled gecko for the department plus two little anoles. Ironically, DMS did not know that I had mistakenly told some of the students we were going to get geckos, when I meant anoles. We came back with both. Today we learned why the gecko was so cheap. Not only is he not particularly used to being handled (he bit DMS) but is infested with mites. Hopefully the anoles, whom we purchased from the same dealer, are not so plagued. They are too small and flighty to check out. I am, however, glad that I did not decide I wanted a leatherback bearded dragon, for that was the only dealer with a leatherback.
Despite the number of people selling snakes, we did not acquire a snake. Three in the department is enough. I am not overly fond of snakes but there were so really beautiful ones there. I also realized how much Cyrus has grown since that day I found him in a jar in my campus mailbox.
There were7 or 8 people selling bearded dragons, ranging in size from only weeks old to full grown. One vendor even had the Lawson's bearded dragons, which are full grown at only 8 or so inches long, not even half the size of a regular beardie (they are a different species in the same genus). They were cute and certainly would be more easily managed as adults than a regular bearded dragon, but I had my heart set on a more colorful dragon. I saw so many different color morphs, too. The citrus are beautiful bright yellow dragons, prettier somehow in person, or perhaps that was just the line the one breeder had. I looked at so many bearded dragons and after examining all of them, my heart returned to one little orange and greenish brown one. I went back to that dealer and saw that he was charging $50 for his little ones, which is about $20 less than one would cost me in Marietta. I asked if he knew the sexes and he told me he was about 90% accurate with the youngsters and that my little one was a female. He didn't know it, but that is what I wanted. He also had some hypos, which lack black pigment entirely. Clearly he had just acquired this line because he was very taken with them. I was less so. I was, however, somewhat taken with another little brown and coral one, sister to my orange and greenish girl. He originally told me that each was $40, then offered me the sisters together for $60. When I hesitated, he found a bump on the coral one's tail and offered me both for $50. I am a sucker and took them both. I love them already.
I have yet to name the girls, but am using Cora and Greenie as names until I come up with real ones. I suspect Cora might stick, but am having a naming contest for my students - whoever suggests the name(s) I like best gets the prize of a batch of homemade cookies.
Today I fed my babies and they are good eaters. Cora is definitely the bolder and more active of the two, but Greenie did try to have an adventure in my office today. Luckily for me, they cannot run very well on the concrete. I will get better head shots, because their markings are so distinct on their heads but here is a shot of their beautiful backs. Notice that they both have a weird Y shaped stripe on their tails. Cora may or may not be getting ready to shed - she also might simply have more faded coloration than her sister.
Greenie Cora (who, after an internet search, I am beginning to think might be a male)
I went Saturday with my colleague DMS and 6 of our students. DMS acquired a nasty marbled gecko for the department plus two little anoles. Ironically, DMS did not know that I had mistakenly told some of the students we were going to get geckos, when I meant anoles. We came back with both. Today we learned why the gecko was so cheap. Not only is he not particularly used to being handled (he bit DMS) but is infested with mites. Hopefully the anoles, whom we purchased from the same dealer, are not so plagued. They are too small and flighty to check out. I am, however, glad that I did not decide I wanted a leatherback bearded dragon, for that was the only dealer with a leatherback.
Despite the number of people selling snakes, we did not acquire a snake. Three in the department is enough. I am not overly fond of snakes but there were so really beautiful ones there. I also realized how much Cyrus has grown since that day I found him in a jar in my campus mailbox.
There were7 or 8 people selling bearded dragons, ranging in size from only weeks old to full grown. One vendor even had the Lawson's bearded dragons, which are full grown at only 8 or so inches long, not even half the size of a regular beardie (they are a different species in the same genus). They were cute and certainly would be more easily managed as adults than a regular bearded dragon, but I had my heart set on a more colorful dragon. I saw so many different color morphs, too. The citrus are beautiful bright yellow dragons, prettier somehow in person, or perhaps that was just the line the one breeder had. I looked at so many bearded dragons and after examining all of them, my heart returned to one little orange and greenish brown one. I went back to that dealer and saw that he was charging $50 for his little ones, which is about $20 less than one would cost me in Marietta. I asked if he knew the sexes and he told me he was about 90% accurate with the youngsters and that my little one was a female. He didn't know it, but that is what I wanted. He also had some hypos, which lack black pigment entirely. Clearly he had just acquired this line because he was very taken with them. I was less so. I was, however, somewhat taken with another little brown and coral one, sister to my orange and greenish girl. He originally told me that each was $40, then offered me the sisters together for $60. When I hesitated, he found a bump on the coral one's tail and offered me both for $50. I am a sucker and took them both. I love them already.
I have yet to name the girls, but am using Cora and Greenie as names until I come up with real ones. I suspect Cora might stick, but am having a naming contest for my students - whoever suggests the name(s) I like best gets the prize of a batch of homemade cookies.
Today I fed my babies and they are good eaters. Cora is definitely the bolder and more active of the two, but Greenie did try to have an adventure in my office today. Luckily for me, they cannot run very well on the concrete. I will get better head shots, because their markings are so distinct on their heads but here is a shot of their beautiful backs. Notice that they both have a weird Y shaped stripe on their tails. Cora may or may not be getting ready to shed - she also might simply have more faded coloration than her sister.
Greenie Cora (who, after an internet search, I am beginning to think might be a male)