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Don't mess with me!!


Don't mess with me!!
Photo Information
Copyright: Joe Kellard (joey) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1739 W: 224 N: 6872] (24909)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-08-22
Categories: Reptiles
Camera: Canon Powershot S3 IS
Exposure: f/3.5, 1/500 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Reptiles - Monitors, monsters, & dragons 1, My Photos for my website [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-08-23 2:07
Viewed: 6766
Points: 42
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
For those who have asked before, here is the beard.

Bearded Dragon is the common name for any agamid lizard in the genus Pogona. Bearded Dragons are popular exotic pets in many places, notably Pogona vitticeps the Inland or Central Bearded dragon.

Characteristics
Bearded dragons have broad triangular heads and flattened bodies, with adults reaching approximately 20 inches head-to-tail. If startled they will expand a spiny pouch under their jaw to make them appear larger. Males are slightly longer than females, but females are slightly heavier. They owe their name to a distinctive series of lateral spines (specialized scales) radiating horizontally from the head and base of the tail. As juveniles, they are semi-arboreal. As adults, they are mostly terrestrial but climb to bask and search for prey. They inhabit mostly open woodlands.

Distribution and Life Span
All species are native to Australia, but they have been exported worldwide; and due to their convenient size, hardiness, and omnivorous diet, they are popular reptile pets. They are one of the most popular pet lizards in the United States and Canada. Bearded Dragons live for 8-12 years with proper care. Some owners reported bearded dragons that lived 15 years. The life span depends on the quality of their lives (correct temperature, lighting, diet and care). Solid substrates, such as paper towel (for babies) or non-adhesive shelf liner are considered the safest. This is because of the risk of impaction, which occurs when too many indigestible particles (sand, kitty litter) have been ingested and are clogging the digestive tract. Like many reptiles, bearded dragons require UVB/UVA as well as an appropriate heat lamp, to maintain correct basking and ambient temperatures.

Feeding
Bearded dragons are omnivorous, meaning they eat both insects and plants. The ideal staple for these lizards are gut-loaded crickets (gut-loaded meaning pre-fed before feeding them to your lizard for at least 24 hours; do not go for vegetables or scraps as these are not nutritious to your bearded dragon). Commercial gut-load cricket foods are available [1]. Many breeders have shifted away from the use of crickets and are opting for the more easily gutloadable superworms as a main staple in the bearded dragon diet. Hornworms, butterworms and silkworms are a favorite choice by breeders as well since they grow quite large, and with silkworms and hornworms, a few of them can fill the bearded dragon up as opposed to feeding 50 to 100 crickets a day. Any food fed to your bearded dragon should be dusted with a calcium compound twice a week and a vitamin and mineral compound once a week to ensure that they are getting proper nutrition. The size of the insect fed to a bearded dragon must be smaller than the space between its eyes. Never feed it fireflies, as this is fatal.

Bearded dragons also eat a variety of leafy greens. Collard greens being a favourite among many. Examples of everyday greens are as follows: collard greens, mustard greens, squash (acorn, scallop, hubbard, and summer), turnip greens, alfalfa plant, romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, asparagus, and parsley. A mixture of these plants make a delicious salad for a bearded dragon to enjoy. (Don't feed your Bearded Dragon cauliflower, though, because it makes dragon stomachs upset.)

A common problem with bearded dragons as pets is their refusal to eat vegetables. Usually this can be solved quickly by mixing greens with crickets or worms.


Thankyou for your comments
Patleboss, JORAPAVI, angybone, keanhoon, Silke, jrobertop, fartash, eqshannon, gannu, pierrefonds, LordPotty, hester, extramundi, emmari, boreocypriensis has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Joe,
realy impressive shot, what a beautifull macro, wonderfull colors very well satured and great details, lovely comopsition,
cheer,
Pat

Hola Joe,
Gran retrato, con buena definición y detalles, saludos
José Ramón

Look a bit like my horny toad. :)
Wonderful close-up...interesting expression. Great colors.

Great catch in the eyes. POV and BG are nice too. I like it more if you crop it to the center more.
TFS

  • Great 
  • Silke Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 729 W: 98 N: 1707] (5458)
  • [2007-08-23 5:36]

The head-to-head PoV is most unusual. Great moment!
It is a touch OE on the chin, but that is easily remedied in Photoshop with Image Adjustments > shadow/highlight
TFS
silke

Hi Joe,
Great shot!
Excellent sharpness and very good colors.
Impressive the wealth of details.
Well done!
Congratulations!
José Roberto

Hello Joe,
Good closeup shot with intresting expression.
well done.
TFS.

Hello Joe
Very intersting portrait of this Bearded Dragon, Perfect details,DOF and BG,
Great lighting and sharpness, Superb shot.

Good Luck
Fartash

In order to get that shot I need to loose more weight so I can toss my body and contort to his eye level. Nice mug shot for sure. Great notes...

Bob

  • Great 
  • pirate Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 799 W: 152 N: 1186] (7474)
  • [2007-08-23 10:58]

very nice exposure and superbe eye to eye confrontation joe!well done!
tfs
tom

  • Great 
  • gannu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 988 W: 4 N: 3277] (14761)
  • [2007-08-24 5:20]

Joe Excellent title. The look of the eye is somehow conveying this msg. Lovely shot friend. Some section of the shot is ignorable. But eye catch amazing.Ganesh

Hi Joe,

A nice image of the head of the bearded dragon, the photo has a good composition, sharpness and nice colors. Thanks for sharing.

Pierre

Hi Joe,
A beautiful lizard. And the interesting part is these can be kept as pets. Wow. You have captured it very well and the frontal POV looks excellent. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Great capture of this handsome beast Joe,
Nice colour and exposure with good detail where it counts.
Very good notes too.
Wish I had one of these.
Cheers,Steve

  • Great 
  • hester Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1515 W: 18 N: 3165] (11638)
  • [2007-08-27 13:14]

Hi Joe

Great eye contact and POV! Didn't I see this chap in Star Wars? You have pulled off a great macro shot with stunning details and great lighting

TFS

Karan

I like frontal views very much and this is not an exception.
The quality is very nice and the eye contact gives this guy a lot of personality :)
Beautiful colours too, thanks and regards, Felipe.

Bonjour,
Excellent angle de vue, bonne utilisation du flou et net.
Bonne journée.
clnaef

Excellent POV! Congratulations Joe. Very impressive.
regards
Emmanuel

great face, TFS Ori

Hie Joe, Nice animal:) well done. TFS.
Greetings, Bayram

Excellent shot! The low point of view, in level with the eyes of the dragon makes this a grand shot. Good colours and sharply focussed.

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