I am in search of a new habitat for Copper. She has grown - a lot - and I've been told can get up to 24 inches in length. Her current 20 gallon aquarium is just not going to cut it. Why I didn't expect this shows how dumb I can be. Be that as it may, I am shopping for a bigger house. However, there are scads of these reptile habitats to choose from. And everybody has an opinion about which ones are the "best."
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| Sweet Copper! |
There are glass, plastic, wood, pvc, and melamine ones; with top openings and front doors. Some are so complicated they have special heaters and fans built in. There are DIY ones. Yeah, that ain't happenin'....Oh, and there are an infinite number of sizes as well.
Now, I kind of get into doing research on this stuff. But I am getting more confused as I dig deeper. For example: I started out researching lizard cages, then aquariums only to discover reptile habitats are called vivariums. Well, ex-cuh-use me. If you really get into the vernacular, there are "vision cages."
Now, in my mind, a vision cage is one where I should be able to see the future. You know, the future where I spend $500 on a cage I can't move to clean and, in attempting to do so, drop on my foot, shattering it into a million pieces, leaving Andy to not only care for me but a whole menagerie, including a bearded dragon who is higher maintenance than my human children were at any point in their lives - well except for the teenage years......
Then there are the extras, like backdrops of the desert - you know - so the creature can wax nostalgic. This creature was NEVER in the desert. She has seen the inside of a Tupperware container, which is what the breeders keep them in, then the vistas of Petco. If I really want her to feel at home, I should just snap a picture of Petco and slap it up there, cause that's the only thing she saw for the first six months of her life. Seriously. Backdrop.
Oh, and for a few more rubles you can purchase a cheesy foam mold that is supposed to replicate a mountainside. From what I've read in reviews, the only thing that's good for is to provide hidey holes for the crickets. (Heavy sigh)
Then there's the diet thing. When you buy a Bearded Dragon from a pet store, you are told to feed it mealworms. When you do your research, you find out you are never supposed to feed them mealworms because they have a hard shell called chitin which is indigestible for a beardie, which has a short digestive tract.
It's a conspiracy! The pet store wants you to kill your pet so you come back and buy another one. What's that called? Planned Obsolescence. Well, this is not an appliance, people! I want her to live a long and healthy life.
So, where was I? I got sidetracked by a call from Andy during which I informed him I was researching a new home for Copper. He got excited thinking I meant re-homing her (he is not as into lizards as I am.) When I told him she could grow to two feet, his reaction was unprintable for a PG-rated blog.
He was not helpful. The only thing we agreed on was that our ten year old granddaughter couldn't possibly keep up with the demands of properly caring for a Beardie. That's where Gigi came in. I am in my element.
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| Not Copper - but an example of how big they can get. |
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