Introducing Zippo

[NickBrahz]

This little cutie, i just got home with him and i was in the love the instant i saw this little cute guy so far he has been very calm with no hissy fits all the way home and while i turned him into a model real quick and i just gave him some food so waiting to see if he will gobble any up.

[wermy]

Love his markings! Very cute little bubba.

[Scotts1au]

Nice one

[alichamp]

Congrats! I know you been looking so glad you found him! Way cute.

[NickBrahz]

I met up with the person today and he had 4 of the little cuties i just wish i was able to take them all home, now the tough part of coming up with a name.

So far he gobbled up some meal worms and dog food mixed with veggies, had a little bask and exploration and now he is hiding away for sleeptime, he weighed in at 105 grams and 26cm long waiting for a reply from seller to know his rough age i forgot to ask in person.

[Scotts1au]

It would have been born in November at that size.

[NickBrahz]

Oh ok sweet thanks, now at about 3 months you are meant to start to feed them a little less but should i keep feeding him a teaspoon daily seeing it's going to start to get cold soon or how should i handle his eating, thanks.

[Scotts1au]

No keep the food and warmth coming. If night temps fall it will brumate. Otherwise keep powering along. Let it eat ehat it wants -quantity wise, for the first year.

[NickBrahz]

Oh ok because i fed it about 2 teaspoons earlier of food so i should just fill a dish for it to go to town on it as much as it likes everyday? what if it starts to get chubby.

[Scotts1au]

It is normal for baby alpines to get a little chubby, but youlle notice that it will deflate in a matter if days, because they use energy in growing at such a huge rate, and can grow 1/2 inch a week. One daily feed is fine. If you are feeding too much lean meat they will grow very fast and lean. Adding veges to dog food, finely diced apple, some snails if you can fine them etc willslow them down a bit and help them put on weight.

[NickBrahz]

I been feeding them dog food with veggies mixed in(Cucumber, capsaicin, broccoli, celery mainly) and also some meal worms for the past week, i do have snails out the back which i feed one a week should i change the diet?

[Richard.C]

that diet sounds fine

growing blueys put food consumed into growth,so when small still,if conditions are right they shouldnt get obese

[jdheff1982]

I been feeding them dog food with veggies mixed in(Cucumber, capsaicin, broccoli, celery mainly) and also some meal worms for the past week, i do have snails out the back which i feed one a week should i change the diet?

If anything, I'd replace the mealworms with something more nutritious. Mealworms are quite chitiny compared to other worms and offer very little protein. Dubia roaches and phoenix worms seem to be the insects of choice anymore. I had great success with the dubia's when I had a bearded dragon sometime ago. Dubia's are also very easy in getting a colony established for a constant food supply. They don't stink like crickets do, either. The phoenix worms aren't as easy and need to be kept at a certain temperature to prevent them from turning into flies.

Anyways, my point being that mealworms should only be a last resort food if nothing else is available.

[NickBrahz]

The meal worms aren't a long term regular i use to feed the little bubs, i bought a tub 2 weeks ago and have been feeding them alongside the dogfood + veggies and when they run out that will be it, it was more of a treat for the guys seeing they haven't had any live foods, im watching a Dubia colony video atm and they do look very low maintenance and easy but i would wait until my bubs are full grown before i start to think about a Dubia colony plus the Dubia would only be used to feed 3 blueies and 1 beardie.

[NickBrahz]

Introduced the new bub to Louie(My Eastern) supervised of course and heres a few pictures of them saying hello and sharing a meal.

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[alichamp]

Got yourself a couple of great lookers there Louie is beautiful too, how old is he?

Let us know when you decide on a name for new blotchy. Did I miss the story of how you found him? Just wondering as you were worried you might miss out this season...

They look great

[NickBrahz]

I'm told from the seller of Louie that he was born on 7/1/2015 and i got him on the 11/1/2015 so he was so fragile feeling i was afraid of touching him.
Yeah coming up with names has always been a hard thing for me which sucks, i looked on a couple classified sites and most were local pickups only no freight there was only i think 2 that was close enough to me, 1 ignored my messages and the other replied, he had the 4 left for sale so i met up with him and picked out this little guy, i was a bit worried that i was going to miss out most listings were for adults or the local only.

When i sat them next to eachother Louie walked up to the bub and started to lick him and bub was just like "Yeah im not having that" and slowly walked away you can see it in the second picture him walking off,
He has huffed at me a couple times but other then that perfectly fine, he is eating, he is basking he as already done a poop (Godzilla sized might i add) and at least physically he looks healthy.

It's amazing to look at them side by side Louie is a long thing sausage and then you got Bub which is just a fat sausage that slowly crawls around yet is more active then Louie.

[Richard.C]

we dont get dubia here in aus,nick,the comercial roach is woodies

[NickBrahz]

Ah ok thanks Richard didn't know that now i will do research into the right roaches!

I just got a reply from the seller and he said that the Blotchie was born roughly on 19/1/2015 does that seem to add up to its size/weight?

[Scotts1au]

Date of birth depends on behere the breeder is. If in western subs it would be earlier, if in the hills would be later, it I'd largely temp dependant. Eg see El Lobo's recent baby post from the blue mountains.