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My Bearded Dragons
I was 12 when I persuaded my parents to let me have bearded dragons. A common question from youngsters on my forum is how to persuade parents to let you have a beardie.
My advice is to do what I did - read up and research and show them that you've learnt how to look after them properly, and show you are responsible enough to care for them.
Having got the agreement that I could have beardies, I then had to find where to get them from.This is the story of how I got my dragons. I was so lucky finding a breeder who identified which ones I was going to have from the time the eggs were laid!
Having got the agreement that I could have beardies, I then had to find where to get them from.This is the story of how I got my dragons. I was so lucky finding a breeder who identified which ones I was going to have from the time the eggs were laid!
Where to get Bearded Dragons?
I began my search for dragons as soon as I knew I had persuaded my parents! We trolled around the local pet shops and frankly were not impressed, even with the so called reptile specialists. So I started to do some research on the internet, and found the site of a breeder who was not too far from where we live. We were going on holiday, so knew that we wouldn't be able to have them until we came home.
So although it was stills some weeks away until I could get my dragons, I started emailing him about them. He told me he was going to reserve me two babies from two different bloodlines, and has even told me the name of the parents! One was to be the baby of Max and Shelby, and the other would be the baby of Rusty and Frogmella! His website has a wealth of advice about keeping dragons, as well as pictures of his breeders. He promised to send me pictures of mine when they hatch so I would have a complete record of them.
By checking his website I have finally found out what my new Bearded Dragons will look like! One will be hypo red x yellow, and the other will be a pastel lime x yellow.
The pictures below of Shrek and Fiona's parents, and my bearded dragons as eggs and hatchlings just a few days old were kindly provided by Mike, the breeder. Being in contact with such a great breeder certainly made the waiting time easier!
I had told Mike that we had already thought of names, and were going to name them Shrek and Fiona, which is why he chose one of Max and Shelby's eggs to be Shrek. Although it is almost impossible to sex hatchlings properly, Mike was 100% right in picking out Shrek - which was very lucky as he turned out to be the only male in the clutch!
This is Max - Shrek's Dad
Shelby - Shrek's Mum
Frogmella - Fiona's Mum
Rusty, Fiona's Dad
Fiona as a hatchling
These pictures show Frogmella (on the left) and Rusty (middle) who are the parents of my other dragon, Fiona. Fiona, on the right, is just a few days old in this picture.
This is the photo Mike sent to me of Shrek at just a couple of days old. Shrek was born two days before Fiona, and as Mike knew they were going to be living together he put them in a separate viv by themselves from just a few days old.
Shrek, just a couple of days old
Shrek as an egg
Fiona - as an egg
It was lovely of Mike to send these pictures to us. I have always thought that part of my luck in having no problems keeping Shrek and Fiona together was down to them living together from such an early age. Any babies they were going to have would be from good strong stock as they had different parents. And I also put the fact they have only bred twice down to the fact they have always been together, and see each other as part of the furniture!
My Mistake!
If you've read the other pages of this site you will probably be wondering why I wanted 2 bearded dragons when my advice now is only to buy one. We do live and learn by our mistakes, and if I was starting over now I certainly would not buy two. But although I did my research I didn't realise that it was inadvisable to get two together. The reasons why are on this page.
I made the mistake and got away with it, but I wouldn't advise anyone to go down this route.
I made the mistake and got away with it, but I wouldn't advise anyone to go down this route.
The day after I came back from holiday Mike delivered Shrek and Fi to my door! He even brought Max, Shrek's Dad along so we could meet him. I must admit I was a bit taken aback by how big Max was - and as the years have passed Shrek has certainly taken after his old man!
How my Bearded Dragons grew
The picture above, taken when Shrek (on right) and Fiona (on left) were about 10 months old. You can see that Shrek has inherited the bright colouring of his parents - particularly Shelby, and Fiona has taken after her mother.
They are still extremely placid and friendly, and entertain us for hours! Shrek has grown the larger of the two and was a massive monster weighing over 700g. Fiona looked small in comparison, although as an adult she weighs about 525g - a good healthy weight. I thought it would be useful to plot how they grew, so you can read all about it on the Hatchling to Adult page.
Mike was spot on with sexing my beardies - but this was very lucky. Bearded dragons are notoriously difficult to sex accurately until adult - and even then mistakes can still be made.
The pair did get on well - they only mated twice which was very lucky, and Shrek did not bother Fi over much - she had a tactic of climbing somewhere he couldn't reach her when he got amorous. Shrek, unfortunately, passed away when he was six years old.
As noted elsewhere on this site, instead of grieving Fiona seemed to thrive as an only beardie and seems far happier on her own than when Shrek was around. She is now a grand old lady of seven, fit and healthy.