Got a new beardie!!!

Just happened to be in a pet store we hadn't been in before and there was a really pretty Beardie there. He was a surrender; turned in by some college student that couldn't care for him anymore. He's about 1 1/2 years old. 18" long and a big chuck of a guy. He's sort of a normal sand color but he has a lot of peachy tones to him with some orange around the eyes, ears, & beard. He's got 2 stripes down his back that are really light and have a lot of peach, very pretty.
He's really friendly, he seems to eat pretty well. He's likes to stick his tongue out and lick. Like if you get right next to his snout he'll lick.
He has a nice tank with some cork bark and hide, food and water dish. Of course lighting too.
Well... I guess you can't have just one. Kinda like potato chips.

Question... at what age does a female beardie put out the "I'm ready for a boyfriend" signals? This guy saw a female at the pet store and immediately had a black beard and was bobbing his head. When he saw our female he sorta had to take a while to figure out she was a girl and his beard only was a little black around the edges. We didn't let them get together but they saw each other.

If we ever find our digital camera I'll post pics. We are looking in the last place we can think of sometime this week.

Congrats on the new bearded dragon. Sounds like a nice dragon, my male will also lick at your finger. Females have to be at least 18 months to 2 years old. I believe the weight is at least 400 grams. May want to double ck the weight I am not 100 % on that. Look forward to pics.

Hello,

Congrats on your rescue & I am glad that he isn't in too bad of shape & is eating pretty well too! That always helps.
Usually, they can begin "pre-mating" behaviour as early as 8 months, as males tend to hit maturity a little earlier. Females usually are not ready until they are at least 14-16 months I would think. I am not saying that they might not exhibit behaviour, but physically they probably wont respond as strongly until they are a bit older.
It is more common that the males start the blackbearding earlier than the females begin their submissive headbobs & waving, when they see each other.

Tracie

well we got our answer to the when do the females start giving off the scent or what ever .. Today when I was doing cage duties they could see each other and "romeo " started doing some serious wild bobbing. She ran to that side of her cage and flattened out and started doing the arm waving thing. So cool to watch them. Though interesting that just before that ....before they could actually see each other. I noticed her doing the arm thing once or twice and wondered what was up. Of course once they could see each other that answered my q! He was very good about eating that first day, but since he saw her his appetite seems to have diminished greatly. I don't like that. he only ate about 8 crickets today. And no veggies. Do you think maybe they should be farther away from each other even tho they can't see each other? I'm thinking its smell.

I think its a visual thing. Try putting something between them so they can't see each other. And he might be eating less than originally because he may be caught up. Whoever gave him up was probably not feeding him as much as he'd have liked, so he might have been making up for missed meals when you got him.

Have you thought about having him checked by a vet? might be a good idea.

ya I've had them so they can't see each other , I didn't want them both overly stressed by constant stimulation.. It was just during a cage cleaning etc. that they were able to see each other.
When I went down later to turn them off for the night he hadn't been able to see her for hours, but he was still all black bearded.
Well here's the thing about the vet. We will get him to a vet eventually. But the fact that it was a "rescue" may be misleading in that he was not rescued do to bad treatment. Only because the owner could no longer care for him. He seems to be in excellent shape. He will get also eventually parasite treated as maintenance anyway. Probably when we take the fecals for the other two to be re checked we will take his also. Along of course w/ samples from the new snakes!! We're gonna show up at the vet w/ a whole lotta poo! LOL G....

Hello Gigi,

So your vet will be knee deep in it when you get it into him! LOL
I think it is mostly visual, but, the femoral pores however small they may be on females do give out pheremones that the males can smell. Have you ever seen the hard waxy buildup that comes out of males' femoral pores? They use that for scent in their territory in the wild too.
Good they can't see each other though. He will be more interested in mating than eating so they definitely need to be separated. Are they in the same room?

Tracie

Yes same room. We don't have tons of options at this time. were in a process w/ the house. We should eventually be able to get them farther apart at least. Today he gladly slurped down 3 cc's of carnivore care, mixed w/ probiotics, vit's, cranberry juice etc.. Plus ate about 12 crickets. But no interest in his veggies still at all. He seemed to be eating them according to the last owner........

Hello!

Well, that is ok, as long as they don't have constant stimulation they should be fine.
It sounds like he is eating pretty well though, as well as taking the carnivore care too. Hopefully eventually he will start eating veggies, too. I am glad he seems to be perking up slowly for you.

Tracie

He's eating some veggies... the other day he ran to the bowl and ate a bunch of greens. He loves the crickets, especially if you hand feed him. Sorta stick the crickets in your fist and let them come out... he eats them right out of your hand. He really is a sweet boy. He also likes the special liqid stuff, he just laps it us right from the syringe.