Rankins
Dragon Care Sheet
(Pagona henrylawsonii)
Rankins are very
similar in care to a Bearded dragon, but there are some important differences,
so please read through this care sheet thoroughly.
Housing:
The larger the better when it comes to enclosures for lizards. Hatchlings
can be housed in a 10-gallon enclosure, but a minimum size for an adult
is a 20-gallon terrarium. Rubbermaid tubs also work well for groups
of young dragons. Groups of adult dragons should be housed in larger
enclosures with numerous logs or rocks for basking. Please be wary of
housing young females with males. Dragons may mate at young ages and
run into complications with egg binding.
Substrate/Cage Decor:
Washed playsand (you can purchase this in 50 lb. bags at Home Depot
or Walmart) makes for a great substrate. However if using sand we recommend
screening out the larger pieces of rocks in play sand. This can be done
with window screen from the hardware store. We recommend this over the
"digestible" high-end sands sold at pet stores (such as calci
sand). We have found that it is difficult to monitor the lizards' calcium
intake if they live on calci sand and are a bit concerned with the large
size of the sand particles. And playsand can be as cheap as $2 a bag!
It is best to house young dragons on newspaper or paper towels to avoid
any problems with impaction. With newspaper, be aware that crickets
will hide beneath the paper. We suggest that you replace the old paper
with new paper nightly, allowing hidden crickets to be removed or eaten
for a late night snack. Left over crickets can harm young dragons, so
be careful. If there are extra crickets in the enclosure, provide them
with food, so they do not nibble on your dragon at night. Basking logs
or rocks should be placed within the enclosure to allow your dragon
to thermoregulate and feel secure. Decorative rocks and fake plants
may also help to liven up the enclosure. We recommend that you do not
use heat rocks. Rankins Dragons sense heat and light using a detector
located on top of their heads. They are not as aware of heat coming
from below and can badly burn their bellies without knowing it. For
this reason we advise to not use a heat rock or place rocks too close
to the basking light. Live plants may also be an option. (But live plants
must not be toxic, as they will likely be dinner).
Lighting/Heating:
The key to heating your enclosure is providing a temperature gradient
from a hot basking zone, to a cooler area. Basking temps should be in
the low 90s. The cooler zone should be around 75-80 degrees.
The brighter the light, the
better. Dragons thrive under a good full spectrum UV source. We recommend
active UV/heat or mercury vapor bulbs if you have a large enough enclosure
(these bulbs tend to be too high in wattage for smaller tanks). These
bulbs work double time to give your dragon quality UV and producing
heat at the same time. You may also use fluorescent UV full spectrum
tubes, although they do not produce the same UV quality. The colors
and health of your lizard depend on good heat, bright light and UV.
Your dragon will also benefit from natural sunlight and we recommend
bringing your lizard outside in an outdoor basking enclosure. However
the more natural sunlight you expose them to, the less supplements you
should give, especially vitamin D3 (this may also be the case when using
the active UV/heat bulbs). We also think that younger dragons may become
stressed when taken outside, and therefore suggest holding off on outdoor
excursions until your dragon is older .
Sexing:
Sexing dragons, especially young dragons, takes a lot of trial and effort.
Rankins are especially difficult to sex (much more than Bearded Dragons).
We personally feel it is not possible to 100% guarantee sex on young
dragons. However there are differences between male and female dragons.
Generally the male has a larger head, wider tail base, larger pores,
and most noticeably, hemipenal bulges. Young male dragons have two bulges,
with a slight space between them just behind the vent. Lifting the tail
and twisting gently may allow for the hemipenal bulges to appear more
pronounced. Females generally have one central or no bulges where the
hemipenes would be.
Feeding/Supplementations:
Rankins dragons are omnivorous and should feed on both vegetation and
protein. Crickets, mealworms, superworms, and a salad mixture should
be staple food sources. Never feed your dragon too large of a prey item.
We suggest feeding prey 1/2 to 3/4 the size of the space between your
dragons eyes.
Dragons require a variety
of greens including collard greens, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce,
mustard greens, turnip greens, and dandelion greens. Stay away from
iceberg lettuce, large amounts of kale, cabbage, or spinach. We also
suggest a variety of vegetables such as carrots, squash, sweet potatoes,
peas, corn, and fruits offered in small amounts. Other specialty additions
can include cactus fruit, dandelion flowers, and hibiscus flowers. This
salad mix can be offered daily using different combinations of ingredients.
When feeding crickets, make
sure your source of crickets is clean. Never feed crickets bought from
a source that does not clean the cricket container. You may gutload
your crickets with commercial cricket and/or we suggest offering your
crickets fresh fruit, greens, and water. Remove all old food from your
cricket container. Mold can be toxic to your lizards. We suggest using
a moistened paper towel/sponge, citrus, or carrots to provide water
for your crickets.
Whenever possible try and
provide a variety of appropriate sized prey items for your dragon including
super worms, silk worms, roaches, grasshoppers, preying mantis, and
a variety of other bugs (no fireflies). However we strongly suggest
not using bugs found outside, as they may have pesticides that can kill
your dragon. Also, use waxworms in limited amounts, if at all. They
contain little nutritional value, and although relished by the dragons,
contain high amounts of fat.
You can also feed rep cal
pellets to your dragons at a young age. The best method we have found
to start dragons on the pellets is to moisten the pellets, and drop
them like crickets onto a paper plate in front of the dragons. This
will generally trigger a feeding response from the dragons. Generally
they will only eat a couple of pellets in the beginning, but with patience
and age they will start to feed heavily on the pellets. The pellets
have less risk of parasites, associated with much live prey.
You can also feed pinky mice to adult dragons; this is especially good
for females during the breeding season.
We feed all of our hatchlings
a minimum of three times a day to ensure optimum growth and health.
As dragons get older, their appetite will decrease. For subadult dragons,
you can offer greens daily and crickets or worms 3-4 times per week.
As dragons get older, you may decrease the amount of protein offered.
We suggest misting your dragons once a day, more for hatchlings. Dragons
will drink during spraying and may also be "trained" to drink
and soak in a water dish inside the enclosure. They also enjoy an occasional
warm (not hot) bath. Unlike our Bearded dragons, we keep water dishes
inside our Rankins enclosures for soaking.
Supplementation:
There are many different and
often contradictory opinions/views on supplementation. Calcium, D3,
and vitamin supplementation are necessary for your dragons. However,
supplementation will depend on what you feed your dragons, the bulbs
you use, and how much natural sun they receive. Many sources recommend
supplementing small dragons daily and decreasing to once or twice per
week for adult dragons. But both too little and too much supplementation
can lead to problems. Therefore, we recommend going over this with us
or your vet to find a schedule that suits the specific needs of your
dragon. We suggest you supplement your young dragons daily with a ratio
of 1 part Rep-Cal Herptivite to 3 parts Rep-Cal calcium with Vitamin
D3.
Diseases&Disorders:
Rankins dragons are quite hardy, yet they still can succumb to numerous
diseases and problems. We are not veterinarians; please do not use this
information as a replacement for taking your lizard to a vet. This information
is meant to raise your awareness of signs and possible problems. If
you notice that your lizard is ill, do not hesitate to make an appointment
with a reptile specialist.
Several pointers to ensure optimal health for your lizard:
Follow all housing, heating/lighting, and feeding/supplementation requirements
for your lizard.
To be safe, do not house your
Rankins with any other species of reptile. Different reptiles come from
many different environments requiring different needs in captivity.
Even animals that come from similar environments can cause stress and
pass parasites onto your dragon, costing the life of your lizard.
Do not house dragons of different sizes together--this is a sure problem
for the smaller dragons' health.
If you opt to house males
together, monitor them closely for signs of aggression and make sure
there is plenty of room in your enclosure.
Keep your cages and food Clean! Clean and sift poop often. Remove all
old food.
Wash your hands before and after handling your lizard. Be sure to sanitize
hands in between handling different reptile species. (Hand sanitizer
is a good thing to have handy).
Calcium/Vitamin Deficiency:
This is a serious problem that can have permanent effects on the life
of your dragon. Too little D3 and calcium can lead to metabolic bone
disease. Some early symptoms of this problem include the shaking, twitching,
or stiffness of limbs (especially rear legs), separation of the mouth,
and difficulty chewing food. If this problem is caught early enough,
supplementation and exposure to natural sun can be good remedies. Calcium
deficiency is often seen in older dragons, or under supplemented dragons.
There is also the possibility of over supplementing your dragons, causing
a myriad of problems all its own. Vitamin deficiency, especially vitamin
B is very common in young dragons. This is why we suggest small amounts
of herptivite daily.
Parasites:
There are numerous parasites that can become a problem for a dragon.
Many dragons live with these parasites without problems, but symptoms
can often be triggered by stress (such as contact with an other dragon
or animal, change of enclosures, hibernation, breeding, etc.) Parasites
often come from food and unclean cage conditions so that it is imperative
to keep proper hygiene in these areas. Clean cages often, sift feces
out daily, make sure that your insects are in clean environments, and
remove all old food from your enclosure and your cricket/worm containers.
Symptoms of parasites include consistently runny and smelly stool (more
foul smelling than normal), an inability to retain weight, loss of appetite,
loss of weight. Do not hesitate to bring your lizard to a vet for an
inexpensive fecal exam if you see these signs. Treatments are relatively
easy to administer and successful, especially if the parasite is caught
early. Because parasite infestations are commonplace in lizards, you
may want to consider deworming your dragon 1-2 times per year. Parazap
is also recommeded as a natural preventative and treatment.
Mites:
Since all Rankins dragons are captive bred, mites should not be a problem.
Although some sources keep less than sanitary conditions and mites may
spread from animal to animal. These are small bugs that can be seen
on the dragon. There are several products on the market that can take
care of the problem. We recommend checking with your vet before administering
these products.
Egg binding:
Egg binding can happen for several reasons but is more likely to happen
during the first breeding cycle with infertile eggs. This can be a serious
problem and should be discussed with a vet. Suggestions for prevention
include making sure the female is old enough, big enough, and healthy
enough to breed; making sure that proper supplementation has been in
place during her growth period, making a suitable lay spot available,
and avoiding stress to the animal.
Respiratory problems:
Clogged nostrils, the presence of mucous and open mouth (often raspy)
breathing (do not confuse this with venting due to heat) are signs of
respiratory problems. These problems are often due to low heat conditions
and excessive moisture. Be sure to check your temperatures and humidity
levels, and contact your vet for treatment.
Tips for Hatchling Care
--Only house hatchlings of
similar size together.
--Make sure to supplement every day with calcium and vitamins. Small
dragons can stress easily, especially when acclimating to a new environment.
Vitamin B is a great stress combatant and helps the acclimation process.
If your young dragon still seems stressed, administer vitamin b drops
such as "stimulap", but try to leave them alone as much as
possible.
--House hatchlings on paper towels or newspaper to prevent problems
with impaction.
--Small dragons do better in enclosures that they cannot see out of.
We also feel that this helps with coloration. If housing in glass, you
may want to cover the sides to limit stress.
--Spray hatchlings multiple times daily.
--Feed babies 3-4 times per day. Steer clear of mealworms, they can
be hard for young dragons to digest. Stick to small crickets and finely
chopped greens.
--We know that these little guys are cute, but when first adjusting
to a new home, handle these babies minimally.
--Because food sources can be carriers of parasites, we recommend using
Parazap as a preventative once per month for young dragons.
