Lizards, anyone?

Araucana16

Chirping
6 Years
Jun 18, 2013
485
26
93
Denver, CO
I didn't see a (current) thread on this, so I thought I'd start one.

I have had five reptiles in my life, all lizards. Two I still have! So here they are :)

# 1 - Tesla. I was I think 7 when Tesla joined our family. She was originally my older brothers. For her first few years, little "Tes" was fine, but then my dad left and my brother left his two leopard geckos alone. Completely. So I ended up feeding them when I could sneak into his room. Eventually he told me to take them, and they joined my room. As if I had room for a second 60 gallon tank. Oh well. Who needs floor space? Last spring she passed away at age 7. It's not as old as many, but she was partially blind, most likely from sunlight exposure very early on in her life, had stopped eating anything I offered in her last month or two, and just didn't seem happy. It was her time, and for a PetCo gecko bought on a whim, she's made it far in life. Bless her heart, she's buried under the apple tree <3
# 2 - Newton. Newt was the second addition to our little reptile world, another leopard gecko we bought 6 months after Tes first joined our family. He joined Tes in her then crowded 20 gallon, so once he was half grown my dad went out and bought a massive tank, I think 65 or 60 gallon for the two of them. That seemed to make the both of them happy. It was before he was mine, probably around age 2, that my brother told my mom he couldn't find Newt's tail. This seemed idiotic to me. But really. His tail was gone - not even in the tank. We never did find out what happened to it, but it grew back as a weird white lump. He was 5 at the time of his death. Not quite sure what happened to him, broke my heart. I was in 7th grade I believe.
I don't have photos of either Tes or Newt, sadly.
# 3 - China. For my 10th birthday, my mother purchased me two bearded dragons. This was a few months before my brother moved the geckos to my room. China was the boy, as was soon clear. Though soon he became far too aggressive with the second beardie, a girl, Sahara, so his access to a friend became seasonal. When he's feeling.... errr... frisky... .they must be separated. Chi Chi used to be very human violent, as was Sae, however now they are very, very calm.
# 4 - Sahara. My little Sae-Sae <3 She's smaller than normal, and so cute, and I love her to death. We snuggle all the time. Chi doesn't appreciate this. He gets jealous. Once she made her way out of her outside enclosure (which marked the end of that...) and fended for herself for 3 weeks before our neighbor got a scare. Haha. Sae LOVES water. It's so funny. She gets in the water and starts dunking herself and swirling and scratching her head and licking the water in this adorable way like she's scared something may scold her for it. Oh Sae-Sae.
I do have a photo of a pool party featuring the beardies, who remain with me to this day :

To the left is Chi, with his inquisitive glare. To the right, is my little Sae gal. And if you look towards the back of said photograph, you will see red scrap. Said scrap is result of my dog going all Hannibal Lector on a kong. Oh Tatum.

# 5 - Gobi. First off, I refer to him as "Gobezoid." Gobi is too mainstream lol. He's really small, for starters. My dad said he was 4 when he bought the lizard. But he's soooo small, I assume he was malnourished when he was younger. And super psycho when we got him. It took several months for Gobezoid to calm down to the point where I could actually hold him.
So heres the story... I came back from a week at my grandparents house, and my dad was watching the then 3 lizards (Chi, Sae, and Tes). The second I walked through the door he told me "I bought you guys another beardie." I just blinked. "No." I said. He said yes. I ran to go look. It was Gobezoid <3 I asked why, as I held (fine, it was more like struggle to keep hold of him on the couch and then go streaking after the little lizard as he ran off) the little guy. Apparently, my father had LOST my bearded dragon Chi. I didn't ask. Rather than, I don't know, tell me, he decided to go buy a new one. *Sigh.* And it's not even like they could kinda be mistaken for one another. They looked a grand total of NOTHING alike. But that's my dad for you. And when Chi turned up again, he wasn't sure what to do with the little guy. I dealt with him, and learned to love the little guy. He remained with me for four months before my dad claimed him back and sold him. I was crushed. He's fine, we still get updates from the new owners who were delighted. They had lost their 8 year old beardie and wanted a new one.

Photos! (I know, he was very thin and small when I took these. He fattened up some and has remained like that from what I've seen, but remains very small for an adult dragon)


I called this "Frog Mode." He would sit on my window screens for hours. Apparently this held some sort of entertainment value?

This was a picture in the "free range" room. I had cycles for the beardies. For Gobi, he would spend from 6ish at night to 10 AM every day in a 10 gallon. I know, that sucks for a full grown bearded, but I had nowhere else for him, and I knew all along the arrangement was temporary. Then I would place him with me in my massive office where I usually spent all day, and he would run around and usually find that little log and sit there. After that, until 6, he had his shift in the guest room, sitting on the window sill. The other two beardies had opposite shifts with him.

I was never quite sure WHAT this accomplished, but he did this far more than I care to admit. Silly Gobezoid. It makes him look like he's skin and bones. He almost was at this point in time. Anyway, this was also in the free range room. He SLEPT like this.

So that's mine. What about yours?
 
Sounds like you really love your lizards! I do too, I have 2 Bearded Dragons and 1 Leopard Gecko

Love these sweeties!!!! The male is on the left and female on the right.

Here is my Leopard Gecko - I named him 'Smiling Joe'. Can you see why? Heehee!!

He has a smiley face on his head, and a 'J' at the tip of his nose. He is really gorgeous!


And finally, I have 2 Veiled Chameleons. I have not had them for very long, so I am still learning about them. I will have to take a pic of them and post it later.

Lisa
 
Veiled Chameleons!
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*Eternally jealous.*

Your beardies are sooooo pretty
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Mine are so boring lol. Do you ever feed yours zuchinni leaves, or hot peppers? I let mine loose in my garden, and of course they go straight for spiny leaves and the wicked hot peppers
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Who knows...

Tes kinda looked like Smiling Joe :)
 
I feed my beardies all kinds of things, veggies, lettuce, kale and fruits too. I also feed them mealworms, superworms and crickets. I raise the mealworms, and am going to try raising the crickets and superworms - I am still researching on the superworms.
 
I do not have a garden, but I am afraid to let them loose in the yard because we live in a subdivision and there is a lot of traffic, I would be afraid they would get on the street or run away.
 
Oh, that would be bad :| I keep mine in the backyard when they do roam and they don't get more than 10 feet away. Plus once they find a nice cozy spot of grass that's warm, or shade under my squash, they just settle down and sleep
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Sweet! Real sunshine is the best for them. Mine really enjoy being outside during the day. I have an outside cage for them during the day and an inside cage at night and if it is bad weather.


I will get a chameleon pic tomorrow if I can.

Lisa
 


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