The Life of Copper and Callie

Good evening, y’all. I want to introduce you guys to my two, new, baby beardies. I’ve been a bearded dragon owner since 2011, with some breaks here and there. I’ve had a total of 4 beardies, and continue to learn more and more every single day.

So come along with me into the journey of “The Life of Copper and Callie”

Edit 1: Week of Purchase (Week of 06/28/2024)
This week, my wife and I were looking at different reptile shops in our area. The first shop we went to had a good selection, but unfortunately, their knowledge was lacking, and more importantly, they had no clue where their beardies came from. The last shop we ended up at was Scales an’ Tails in Phoenix, AZ. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and knew where their animals came from. My wife and I decided to pick up our first dragon…Copper. Copper is estimated to be approximately 5 months old. I’m not sure. If you can tell, please let me know. He looks to be a Leatherback with no Het genes for Hypo or Trans. His coloration is a bright orange and yellow with black tiger stripes. I’d feel comfortable saying he’s an Orange Leatherback. Let me know what you think! Copper is currently housed in a Zilla 30x12x16 (20 Gallon Long). I plan on upgrading him to a 36x18x18 (40 Gallon Breeder) when he gets to be about 18 inches long. Heating him is a 100wt Zoo Med Powersun. This is the first time I’ve ever used a heat/UVB in one bulb. From my previous experience, I’ve heard to stay away from bulb UVB, and go with the strip. Due to this, I will be keeping a sharp eye on Copper to ensure he is getting the UVB he needs. Copper’s diet currently consists of Dubias (which I breed) 2 times a day, at however many he’ll eat in a 5 minute timespan. Please take a look at him, his enclosure, and please…feel free to drop suggestions below.

About 3 days after we purchased Copper, my wife was HOOKED. We needed to get Copper a friend. So back down to Scales N’ Tails we went. After looking at their selection, my wife landed on Callie. A BEAUTIFUL dragon. The coloration, and huge possibility of some amazing het genes in this girl is wild. One of her eyes is standard (colored iris), and the other eye only has a colored iris on the top quarter! The rest of the eye is black. She’s got translucent legs and a translucent base of her tail with clear nails. I’d feel comfortable saying she’s an Orange, Het Hypo, Het Trans, Leatherback. Her age is estimated to be about 3 months old. As always, please let me know what you think of her morph, and age. We purchased her, and placed them together…big no no. We realized that fairly quickly due to Copper chasing her around and nipping at her tail. To Facebook Marketplace we go! We found a killer deal on the Zilla 20 Gallon, which came with a Zilla heatpad, a thermostat, and TONS of decor for only $35. We had an old 20 gallon long from my last beardie. We brought the new enclosure home, I deep cleaned it, put in new substrate, deep cleaned the decor, and got it ready. We decided on giving Copper the Zilla 20 gallon, and have Callie in the standard 20 gallon. Callie is heated by a 100wt Zoo Med basking bulb, with a ReptiSun 10.0 for her UVB. She is also on Dubias. We have not attempted greens yet, due to us just getting her today.

So there you have it! Update #1 on Copper and Callie. I plan on doing weekly updates with their length, and weight, along with the pictures we all love!

Copper Week 1:
IMG_2050.jpeg

IMG_2056.jpeg


Copper’s Enclosure Setup:
(see if you can spot Copper sleeping)
(I do plan on getting something to cover the other 3 sides of the encloser)

IMG_2076.jpeg


Callie Week 1:

(No editing. Her tail is THAT much more vivid than her body)
IMG_2066.jpeg

IMG_2071.jpeg

IMG_2073.jpeg

As you can see, one eye has the full color iris, while the other only has color at the top of the iris.

Callie’s Enclosure Setup:
IMG_2045.jpeg


Please comment down below any questions, comments and/or concerns you may have regarding Copper and Callie. I am always looking to learn, and more importantly help out where I can.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2045.jpeg
    IMG_2045.jpeg
    180.5 KB · Views: 14

JohnLillywhite23

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Copper (Male Leatherback) and Callie (Female HypoTrans Leatherback)
Chris is correct on the color.
Color isn't considered a morph.
Morphs are specific gene mutations that can be reliably reproduced, such as hypo, trans, ect.
Color is more like melting crayons and swirling them together, you kind of know what you'll get but not in what quantity or patterns.
Your girl would be for instance an orange, hypo, trans, leatherback. If she develops some yellows if would be fair to call her a citrus, hypo, trans, leatherback.
The term het is short for heterozygous. A heterozygous gene is recessive and offspring have to receive a copy from each parent for the trait to be visible. So the only way to prove an animal has a het gene is by breeding into another animal that is know to carry that gene. If you get babies that display the trait then you have proven yours is het. Hypo, trans, zero, witblits, wero are all examples of recessive traits.
Homozygous on the other hand are dominant genes and only one copy is needed for the trait to display. Leatherback, Dunner, genetic stripe are some of the Homozygous traits. So if an animal carries the gene it 100% will display. There is no het for these genes. (With the exception that there is a recessive leatherback gene, but I think it's pretty rare)
Both of your beardies are leatherback, I DO NOT RECOMMEND ever breeding them together. It creates a super form of leatherback. They are called silkies. They are EXTREMELY hard to care for and can suffer a great deal by just being alive.
Thank you for that information! Yes, I do NOT plan on breeding to get the silkies. They look very cool, but just seem SO inhumane. It’s like birthing a child with no skin. Not fair for the animal.
 

ChileanTaco

Juvie Member
Beardie name(s)
Taco
Both of your beardies are leatherback, I DO NOT RECOMMEND ever breeding them together. It creates a super form of leatherback. They are called silkies. They are EXTREMELY hard to care for and can suffer a great deal by just being alive.
Absolutely! I would not risk that.
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Thank you for that information! Yes, I do NOT plan on breeding to get the silkies. They look very cool, but just seem SO inhumane. It’s like birthing a child with no skin. Not fair for the animal.
Exactly 💯
And your welcome 🙂
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

My baby beardie likes to sit in their water bowl. I'm curious on whether it would hurt them or not.
Any thoughts an knowledge will be helpful. Thank u
Im needing some questions answered about my female beardeddragon, I honestly have no idea on age , she was a recuse, as ive had a couple in my life an have experience. So 9 weeks in , she earing well pooping well getting comfortable, then approx 3-4 days ago the digging started. So I got a dig box set up in her 75 g tank. Well within 2 hours she dropped an egg. Now only one egg an its been 10 hours.shouldiBworried
В санатории "Сукно" вас ждет полное погружение в мир здоровья и релакса. Эксперты санатория разработают индивидуальную программу оздоровления, которая поможет вам чувствовать себя лучше. Для получения дополнительной информации посетите наш сайт putevka.com/krasnodar/sukko
I just set Swordtail's timer for his bath and paused it so I could actually fill his soaking bowl up and he crawled over my phone and canceled the timer 🤣

Forum statistics

Threads
156,474
Messages
1,261,757
Members
76,265
Latest member
Willyrybo
Top Bottom