Is my pet store bearded dragon a Rankin's? What's the difference?

Congratulations on your new addition! The tank is sufficient for a juvenile, however you will likely need a larger one when Sonora is fully grown. Make sure Sonora can get into and out of the bowl easily to prevent drowning. Place thermometers in the enclosure to monitor temperature. You will need 3. One at the cool side, one on the warm side and one for the basking spot. Hygrometers can also be used to monitor humidity. You can review care information at the link below. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html

There has been a lot of selective breeding done in bearded dragons in recent years, and through this breeding, there have been a lot of color morphs/types produced. That may explain why your beardie has some different colors present on it. They are not different species, just different colors within the same species. Another reason for different looking colors can be difficulty shedding - this often looks like a dull colored layer on top of the normal skin. If this occurs, it means that there are husbandry deficits that need to be addressed. I would recommend considering a wellness visit for your dragon at some point in the future - at the vet visit, theyvwill collect a full history to evaluate your husbandry and diet, as well as a full physical exam. Then, depending on the findings, they may make recommendations for diagnostics, such as blood work to make sure his organs are working properly, or evaluation of the feces to look for parasites, which are common in reptiles. You can find a list of reptile veterinarians on the ARAV website.

Hello. Here is a link to a bearded dragon care sheet. This should answer all your questions. http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care-Sheets/Lizards/Bearded-Dragon/ If after reading this sheet you still have questions feel free to post again and try to be as specific as possible. Best wishes.

Yes, I think a 40 gallon tank will be sufficient for now and may be enough long term depending on hiow big he gets. Just make sure to properly control his environment with temperature, an area to eat, and an area to hide away. Good luck! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Choose the largest cage your space and budget will allow. At minimum, a 55 gallon enclosure should be considered. Acceptable substrates include slate, reptile carpet, decomposed granite or large gravel. Yes, setting up a bio-active environment for beardies is possible. It will take a bit of research and effort to get it right.

The black beard Is indeed an indication of stress or anger. It may be due to his new surroundings or something could be wrong in his environment. You can review care and feeding here: http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html Confirm proper temps and humidity. Also, provide a hide large enough for him to enter on each side of his enclosure. As long as Boris is at least 16-17 inches long, superworms are fine to feed. Gut load them for 24 hours prior to offering to maximize nutritional value. For variety, you can offer appropriately sized crickets, dubia roaches or phoenix worms. Try offering greens in the morning about an hour or two after the heat lamp comes on. He may be hungrier at this time. Once he eats his greens, you can offer prey. Sometimes, a sprinkle of dried mealworms on the greens will stimulate the appetite. Since he is "new" to you, an exam with your veterinarian or a vet experienced in treating reptiles would be recommended to confirm good health or to diagnose and treat any preexisting conditions.

Thanks for your question about Smaug, and thanks for the photo as well! I think that you have a good start to your set up, and that we can tweak a few items. First, your lighting situation appears adequate - I see a UVB light (please change this bulb every 4-6 months), a basking light, and a ceramic heat bulb. I would ensure that your temperatures are appropriate for this species, and that you are monitoring them using digital thermometers (I think that you see both a digital and analog thermometers currently) at the level of Smaug. Analog thermometers are inaccurate, so I don't recommend using them (also, they are high up on the sides of the enclosure, so they wouldn't be giving an accurate temperature read for Smaug). For the cage furniture that you have, I like that you have places for Smaug to climb and hide. However, I would recommend having a hide on both the warm side of the enclosure and the cool side so that Smaug has choices. Same for the climbing structures. I may have missed a food and water dish in the enclosure - I would recommend that both of these be shallow, and be large enough for Smaug's entire body to fit within them. I cannot tell what type of shavings that you have on the bottom of the enclosure, but the only wood shavings that I recommend are aspen shavings. If they are pine, these can be irritating to the respiratory system. I hope that gives you a place to start, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!