The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Other => Topic started by: Womble on April 01, 2017, 07:29:35 am
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Hi folks,
I just bought some hatching dragon eggs from Ebay. As recommended, I've got them set up on a bed of sand in our big incubator, and have set it going at 40% RH and 32 degC:
(http://rivista-cdn.reptilesmagazine.com/images/lizards/bearded-dragon-eggs-500.jpg)
I was wondering if any of you had kept dragons before, and could give me some tips on how to rear them? They're Indonesian dwarf dragons, so although they start off quite small, they'll be about the size of a goose when fully grown:
(http://www.bizarbin.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/baby-dragon.jpg)
I was thinking of maybe digging them a cave eventually, with an aviary around the entrance, but then I read online that they usually dig their own. Also, I know I'll need to keep them away from anything combustible (no straw bedding for these guys!).
Any other hints and tips?
Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:
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Wow - fantastic womble - you will make a lot of money selling the droppings.
As you probably know one teaspoon of dragon droppings added to your normal compost and left for 5 years will give you a whole load of old sh...... er compost :innocent:
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Bill Weasley, Harry Potters brother in law is your go to expert on dragons!!
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Sorry, only kept Welsh dragons here but good luck with them.
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Cool! Thanks for the tips!
I'd love some Welsh dragons, but I've heard they can get a bit antsy at this time of year, when the 6-nations is on.
Is Bill Weasley a member on TAS then? I'll drop him a PM :thumbsup: .
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I can see that this thread will "Drag On" and "Drag On" and that your expectations might disappear in a puff of smoke Womble!
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Oops..... I showed my 5yr old grandson the pictures and he is currently waiting excitedly for the postman to deliver his Dragon eggs and has been planning where he is going to have the cave.
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Dragons live in weyrs, which are smooth rocky caves, high enough up that they can take off by just toppling over the edge. The rocky floor is easily swilled down by their partner (you) when they have finished devouring their prey. But Womble - you can only have a single dragon. Daenerys' three is just plain greedy and they seem to fight among themselves a lot.
I don't think your incubator is going to be hot enough, and the Tupperware tray will just melt. They need to be kept in a brazier for several weeks, then laid beside a sacrifice - sorry, it has to be your spouse - and the whole house burned to the ground.
But I'm sure it will be worth it, as long as you remember my quote below - Draco dormiens numquam titillandus.
I recognise your dragon pic because it's one I hatched earlier :yippee:
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Hmmm, it seems we're going to have to make some sacrifices around here then (quite literally).
Maybe I should have done some more research before jumping into this....... still, that's never stopped us before, and things have always worked out. Besides, I just kept thinking.... hey, "Imagine Dragons" ;D .
BTW Fleecewife, do you keep the natural unimproved top-knotted strains then? I have to agree, they're far superior to the faster growing continental dragons we see so many of these days ;) .
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Please nobody start breeding the 'micro Dragon' people get quite uppity about people selling micros :innocent:
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Must be a slow lambing day today :innocent:
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Is sex determined by temperature during incubation (as with alligators) or is it pre-determined? Just wondering if a group of females might be better raised together than all-males.
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I'm not a total expert, for example the only Welsh dragon I know is Idris, Ivor's chum, whose grandfather sleeps under the mountain Cader Idris. RAF planes from Valley never fly right over Cader Idris in case they waken him, with dire results. True :)
The dragons with which I'm most familiar are the Dragons of Pern, now bred on a large farm in Eire. They communicate directly, mind to mind, with their partner, so you no longer have any personal secrets. They are a very fierey species and need a whole lot of fuel. However, they are huge, and can be ridden. These dragons need no training, whereas the smaller and very varied Scandinavian species most definitely do, to the extent there are training manuals published and even a DVD to help you get it right. They go through quite a few sheep, but mainly eat fish., and prefer to be ridden by children.
There is an American sub species, of which I'm only familiar with one very large gorgeous sapphire blue female.
Fortunately Daenerys has the only known specimens of the Targarian Dragon, as they are bad tempered and eat humans.
The Chinese dragons are all extinct now - they were overbred and just became too contorted, just like some of the Chinese goldfish and koi. I'm unfamiliar with the Indonesian sub species Womble, but I hope for your vet bills that they are not closely related to the Chinese ones. I think they are probably very similar to the micro dragons Backinwellies has mentioned, so be prepared for them to outgrow their housing. At least they will be vegetarian so you don't need to watch your sheep, but your veg patch is going to suffer, as will your neighbours' cereal crops.
Oh how could I forget Lady Sybil's Swamp Dragons in Ankh-Morpork. They are small and have big problems with getting their flamethrowing just right, so they keep blowing themselves up. The species is beginning to mutate, with Errol, who shoots his flame backwards. Perhaps they will have more chance of success.
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It seems dragons turn up everywhere!!
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Thanks for the constructive replies everybody - I was really nervous about posting this in case everyone just thought it was a daft April Fool's joke, but I needn't have worried.
Fleecewife - thanks for all the tips. I've bought a couple of sacks of octarine crumb to start them off on when they hatch. Wish me luck! :thumbsup:
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Thanks for the constructive replies everybody - I was really nervous about posting this in case everyone just thought it was a daft April Fool's joke, but I needn't have worried.
Fleecewife - thanks for all the tips. I've bought a couple of sacks of octarine crumb to start them off on when they hatch. Wish me luck! :thumbsup:
As if you wind us up Womble! :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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Well, it s a better AF joke than the one going round dog circles that the Kennel Club are going to appoint all championship Show Judges from now on instead of the Breed clubs. You should hear the uproar in all the various committees. A lot of irate people lol - and sheepish faces when they realised the practicalities :roflanim:
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Or letting cyclists and horse riders use the hard should on our motorways :relief:
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Quite right. It's time we stopped all this dragon talk.
I think our dog is taking it all a bit too seriously in any case:
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnIQQIBTHmTPzrlCeY6zjfui7uf8UwgxmI8LjQf-Q5fFeCsuB6FQ)
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Gardener's World are getting in on the fun
https://twitter.com/montysdognigel/status/849657352051724290
:thumbsup:
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Whoppers, but he needs to get them in a bonfire if he hopes they'll hatch.