Our last clutch

Our last clutch has hatched and are nearly 5 weeks old. They are such handsome little guys. This clutch of only nine had much larger eggs than before. We have seven that are already spoken for and two left to sell. If you or anyone you know is interested in a baby dragon, they are $29 each and will be ready to go to a new home on the 20th of August.

More Babies

Our family had a much needed and very appreciated vacation in Lake Almanor. Camping lakeside with occasional thunder and plenty of sun was quite fun. We spent time in kayaks, went bike riding and read books.

Meanwhile our friends, the Marking Family, were checking in on our dragon eggs and feeding our adult lizards. Wouldn't you know it... they all hatched while we were gone. We sure feel blessed that they were there; able and willing to care for our new hatch-lings. We have 9 baby lizards living in our house again!

Adoption Day

Today is adoption day. I have our first two going out to new homes. It is hard to part with them after caring for them these past 6 weeks!! Although I can't wait to meet each of the new families that will be raising these little guys!

Our son's teacher will be getting one just in time for her birthday this year. I am so excited that some of our friends have taken to these little guys.

We currently have 29 lizards, 2 full grown adult beardies (Kilo and Cork), 2 that are a little over a year old (Lizzie and Ruth) and 23 baby beardies. We also have 2 frilled lizards that are a little over a year old (Shrapnel and Volta).

There are still several eggs incubating. I expect these to be a full batch of German Giants. The eggs are so swollen and have turned oblong... as if there is more dragon inside than there is egg! I can't wait to meet our new bundles of joy in a couple of weeks!

8... 9... 10! Wow, they are hatching faster this time!

7 more babies and counting

Wow, four weeks has flown by pretty fast! The babies are growing up and are nearly ready to go to new homes. It will be hard to part with them, we all have grown a little attached to our little ones! However, with 7 seven more hatching over the last 24 hours and many more on the way... we need to make room for our newest bundles of joy!

11 Babies!!!

Eleven babies... these little guys are so much fun... I love watching them drink and eat... I could spend most of my day hand feeding these little guys!!! They are just so cute!

Trever's Dragon's

Trever watched two hatch this morning...and then 2 yesterday! He was able to capture the process... what great photos!!

They are all really cute!! Fed them all greens and saw them eat for the first time today and watched them drink for the first time too!!!

Our First 2010 Dragon Baby!

He is here... err... maybe... She is here!!

The first dragon to emerge from the clutch of eggs has hatched!

On 3-10-10 Corkscrew had laid her first clutch of eggs for 2010. Kilo and Cork were on their way to become proud parents once again. We have been checking our incubator regularly, anxiously anticipating the first baby to emerge.

Our friends bought us these really cool hatch boxes that keep the eggs moist and yet still provide a lot of air flow. An added benefit is that they keep the eggs still in the rows.

Ben checked the incubator this morning at about 7:50 am... no dragons... by 8:15 when I had returned home from dropping Trev off at school, the first dragon had completely emerged. We still can't tell which egg she/he hatched from... that was quick and stealthy!!! Maybe we can call him Stealth for now... until he finds a new home!

Ben set up the habitat Stealth will live in... and I have been feeding and spraying it down to get the humidity up. I am excited about spending a whole day caring for our new little bundle of joy!

I think we will have 6-8 more hatch this week and another 10 more hatch in the next 3-4 weeks... so keep checking in... I will update this blog regularly with pictures!

Corkie's new babies!!!

Oh my has our reptile family has grown since last year!

We have grown to a family of 4 bearded dragons (Mom: Corkscrew, Dad: Kilo, Daughter: Lizzie, Son:Ruth) as well as two frilled lizards Shrapnel and Volta that we adopted after visiting the Reptile Show in Sacramento last year!

Ben has begun breeding roaches, much to my dismay... and we now have weekly cricket drop offs at our house (Thank you Arrow Enterprises AKA Karen Bedsaul). Ben even built an outdoor habitat for all the feeder insects to live in... I think we are officially reptile nuts!

Corkscrew and Kilo have come out of brumation healthy and strong... and apparently a bit frisky!

A month of head bopping, a few black beards, arms waving, funky looking push ups and some biting... our normally flat bellied dragon began showing her "lumpy sides". Ben has been feeding her a well varied diet with plenty of protein to ensure healthy eggs and a healthy dragon. She feasts on lots of veggies, "BITES" (Nature's Zone), crickets, meal worms, cockroaches and pinkie mice.

*Certainly, not all dragons need to have all of these foods, no worries, if you dislike feeding roaches or pinky mice, there are plenty of other options for your pet.

Last week she began "showing" and I was able to feel at least twelve. From past experience I knew this meant she was very close to laying and that we could have up to twice that many when she lays. After days of digging and filling her food bowl with substrate (walnut hulls), we got the message, she was ready and it was our turn to make her comfortable.

After filling her habitat with coconut husk yesterday, I woke up this morning to find Corkscrew had laid 19 beautifully healthy eggs and with only one exception. We have set up our hovabator to (ranging from 82-84 degrees) with "Hatchrite" to incubate the eggs. A friend of ours gave us a great container to store the eggs in while inside the hovabator, this new tray keeps the eggs safe from shifting and also allows better air flow. I am excited to see just how many babies we will have this year with this new set up!

Dragon Eggs

July 4th & 5th

We still have only two hatched dragons... However... on July 4th, Kila laid 17 eggs . Apparently she liked riding in the car... we had been waiting for her to lay all day... it wasn't until she was in the trunk in her hatch box on our way to Laura & Chris's house that she began laying... We did get to see her push a few out... really cool experience...

After church on the 5th we went to the store to pick out parts to build an incubator... the cage is hard to keep a steady temperature and now with two sets of eggs... we want to be sure to do it right! We opted to purchase an incubator instead as the weekend was already packed full and the eggs needed to be stored properly and fast.

The brown egg has been slowly collapsing, but not completely. We haven't given up on it yet. The last white egg still hasn't hatched... no change in it at all.

Trev will be here Wednesday... maybe the white egg is waiting for him to get here so it can hatch!

We have been calling them Drago #1 and #2... we are waiting for Trev to name them this time.

Dragon #2

And to us... children were born!

Thursday morning, as usual, I was running late... but nothing about this day would be normal...

Something told me to check on our dragons... as I check the food dish I noticed something rather strange... Kila was digging... like a dog burying a bone... and Kilo... laying behind her with a look of utter disgust... was beneath a pile of walnut shells... Kila had just nearly completely buried him in the substrate.

After having 3 sets of eggs laid this year, I knew what this meant... we have a pregnant dragon and ifI didn't think quickly I would have dehydrated baby dragon eggs when I got home!

I scooped up Kila, grabbed our prepared "Pregnant Dragon Container" and ran out the door...

Upon arriving at work, with my pregnant dragon in tow, I got a phone call from Donna (Ron's Reptiles; Chico, CA) telling me we have dragon's hatching! Wow, I could have a delivery and a birth all in one day!

Quickly, I asked to take the day off opting to work the holiday instead and ran out the door.

... Flashback... to last December...

Ben had created a great habitat for the dragon's simulating true Austrailian seasons in hope of brumating them as we were wrapping up construction of our new home. After 3 months, the testing grounds began... we reintroduced our dragons on "dates" and prayed our dragon's would be very "happy to see each other". We had no idea... just HOW happy they would be...

Since then, Corkscrew has laid a cluster of 14 eggs... Kila has laid 24 and then 4 more. This being thier first time and ours, only 4 of the eggs have made it through incubation. (Some eggs weren't fertile, others were too dehydrated). However, today... we would see new life!

... In just 20 minutes from the phone call yesterday telling me an arm was poking out of the egg... our first lizard was born. In hopes of viewing the rest of the births firsthand, I took my eggs home.

After many hours of monitoring their temperature to assure they had a cage at exactly 82 degrees... a second dragon began to emerge face first out of the egg...

Our second little guy took much longer than the first. He waited till quite late in the night to emerge and at that was quite timid but much more willing to be held. As you can see they are smaller than Ben's finger and quite willing to give him a hug!

Our first little guy is still skittish, but enjoys basking on the rock with his brother. He has eaten his first cricket today and has enjoyed running quickly here and there in the cage.

Our Bearded Dragon Family

A little over a year ago, Trever received two pet Bearded Dragons for his birthday. It didn't take us long to fall in love with "Kilo" and "Kila". They had brought us so much joy and laughter that we knew quickly a third one was destined to join our dragon family.

We wanted this third one to be unique. It was equally important that it be another female that would happily share a home with Kila and Kilo. After a few visits to Ron & Donna's (Ron's Reptiles; Chico, CA) we set our eyes on a feisty and resilient dragon named "Corkscrew". We were drawn to her immediately as she was of similar age and yet a different demeanor and breed than our existing pair.

Imagine Trever's excitement when he discovered there were not 2 but now 3 dragon's living in his room!

How did we name them?

Kilo: Short for Kilimanjaro, since he is always climbing to get to the highest peak
Kila: Named after one of Trev's favorite movies; Akeelah and the Bee
Corkscrew: Named after a unique "corkscrew" characteristic in her tail caused by a "tussel" with a dragon in her previous home.