I hope all my faithful readers are having a spectacular Christmas! At least a day that finds you at peace. Things are typically manic round here. But it's all good.
I can now divulge the identity of the mystery guest. It was a (drum roll) Bearded Dragon. My granddaughter and I share a love of all animals. She really wanted a kitten for Christmas, but that was not meant to be.
On several occasions she mentioned liking Bearded Dragons. I did not get the attraction. I mean, they look all spikey and - well - dragon like. Then we went to a petting zoo and they had one in residence. I was stunned at how laid back and sweet they can be. Those spikey things sticking out of them, which make them look like the dragons from which they got their name, are in actuality quite soft. They also like to be held. Who knew.
So, one day, I was in a pet store and happened to notice a BD on sale! I figured it could live in Petey's old aquarium. Piece of cake. Wrong! $200 later, the $30 BD was outfitted with brand new digs plus all of the paraphernalia required to keep them (hopefully) alive.
They require not one, but three, heat lamps; each performing a specific function. (And those suckers get HOT!) They also eat live crickets. I cringed at the thought of feeding a live thing to another live thing. As my grandson said when I told him I felt sorry for pigs, "You eat bacon, don't you?" He is wise for all of his six years. After a few weeks of chasing after escapees; cleaning up their "keeper" and that annoying chirping they make constantly, I didn't mind one bit serving them up as breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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| After awhile these things become so annoying you're happy to see something gobble them up! |
So, I left the pet store with a Bearded Dragon, a lizard habitat, three floodlights, a box of live crickets plus a "cricket keeper," cricket food, lizard food, bedding, a cave, a fake plant, a thermometer to measure both heat and humidity, a water reservoir, a food dish - oh - and mealworms which had to be refrigerated.
I swear by all that's holy, this lizard that was on sale cost more than a kitten would have. Not to mention my son will never keep it alive. He is a busy guy and will either forget to turn on/off the lights and either cook/freeze it. In addition to giving it crickets every day, one must finely chop veggies for it. Yea right. I can see that happening! A Bearded Dragon is a high maintenance pet.
Then there was the challenge of keeping the BD somewhere the kids couldn't see it - or the cats couldn't mess with it. I was terrified Boo! or Dash would get burned on the hot lights. They are the only ones who were truly curious. They knew something was in that room and they were hell bent and determined to find out what. Somehow we all managed to survive the few weeks our visitor was in residence.
Of course, I fell madly in love with her/him. One can't tell the sex of it until they reach about one year. This is also the magical time when the cricket feeding can stop. Now, I would give my granddaughter both of my kidneys if she needed them - but I had a tough time packing up the BD in my son's car on Christmas Eve. My husband pulled him aside, looked him the eyes, and said, "If you EVER get tired of taking care of it, bring it back to your mother, don't just turn it loose or whatever. Do you understand?" He understood.
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| Cuddling together under a heating pad |
I am patiently waiting for the phone call from my granddaughter telling me Santa brought her a Bearded Dragon! I hope it makes her happy.
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