Are rankins dragons hard to take care of?

[AxolotlRocky]

I was wondering if Rankins dragons are easy to keep? Why are they so expensive?

 

[onceblue]

They're so expensive simply because they are rare. Pet shops don't sell them and there aren't many breeders. Also, a breeder at an expo told me that they lay fewer eggs than beardies, too, so that may play a factor as well.

My understanding is that their care is fairly similar to bearded dragons, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

 

[AxolotlRocky]

Thank you for your help onceblue. If any of you have bred rankins before I would like to know how easy or hard it is. :study:

 

[harlequin1274]

Hi there!

I've got 2 little rankins, and their care is pretty much identical to beardies. The only difference is that these guys are social and do better in pairs, whereas bearded dragons are territorial.

They eat the same things, temps are the same in their vivariums, and they too brumate. One thing I have noticed is that they tend to brumate longer, maybe that's just mine in particular, but my beardies go down for about 2-3 months, where my rankins were down 5 months.

They are such sweet little things! I'll post some pics for you!

 

[harlequin1274]

Adorable aren't they?

 

[Dragongirl848]

Hello!
I breed rankins dragons and beardies, and rankins are a bit more difficult.
I haven't had any trouble getting them to mate, but the females are much more fragile than beardies. They develop calcium deficiencies much more severely when producing eggs if they aren't given enough supplementation. One of my females passed away this year, after producing 4 healthy clutches. She refused to eat while gravid, and didn't have enough time to get her strength back up before her next clutch.
I'm guessing that one of the reasons they're harder to find in the reptile industry is because the females are so delicate.
I've also had more trouble with baby rankins than beardies. They're pickier about their bugs, and I have a few who refuse to eat anything but waxworms and soldier fly larva.
They're pretty hearty once they grow up though, and they love their bugs! They're more insectivorous than bearded dragons.
They also like to swim, so I keep a water bowl with them all the time

 

[Dragongirl848]

These are some of my babies. The one of all the different sized ones is their dad, a three month old. and a two month old, and a week old. They're about 2 grams whe they're born, bu they grow fast!