Dragon Shout!

My husband and I received a super-surprise holiday gift from his sister on Christmas Eve. I'm a big believer in "never give animals for gifts if you don't check first." She is DARN lucky I have a soft spot for all creatures (except spiders O.O') It went something like the following:

Hands wine bottle sized gift bag, "I wanted to give you something really, really special for Christmas to say thank you for everything you do for us. So here." Hubby opens the bag. Two small, two cup sized containers inside, odd white with writing on them, "He's a bearded dragon. See, somebody accidentally hurt him when they were cleaning the cage (Note: She's a groomer at PetSmart) and so his hand may be paralyzed forever, but he can walk just fine. The other is crickets." I just sort of stared at her. We all sort of stared at her. My brain whirred. Slow as mollasses left on the front porch, we live in Pennsylvania, which is in the North-East of the United States for those outside America. Whir. Whir. Whirwhirwhir.

"I'm sorry, what-now? You did what?" I tried not to sound rude. Truth-be-told, I was thouroughly and completely shocked into submission at that moment. I think my mouth was hanging open, and I do believe I had not taken a breath for, perhaps, a good thirty seconds. "A lizard? You gave us a lizard you say?"

She stared back at me, "Yyyyeeessssss?" The tone of her voice was stunned, almost as though *I* were the slow one and perhaps needed to be held back in Christmas present school because obviously I did not know that I was meant to say thank you now, take the lizard and go home until the shock wore off.

"And he's a gimpy lizard...... Wait.... This is like the hamster isn't it?" She had given me a hamster a few years back, a result of a miss-gendered hamster mother who was accidentally placed in an all male hamster store. Hamsters did what hamsters do and.. Well..... There were babies. I took one of them as she tearfully told me it was that or he would be snake food. "So...... You're giving us...... A lizard."

"Why? I thought you were scared of spiders!!! You're not afraid of lizards are you," that last part was said in an almost accusatory tone, as though she were scolding me for not informing her of this imagined phobia I was only now informing her of... Now... At Christmas.. To the ruination of her gift... The surprise gimpy lizard.

"No.. I'm not scared of lizards. I don't... I mean.. I just.." The shock had begun to wear off, and my brain finally caught up, "Becky!! We have SIX CATS!" I have a habit of my own, I rescue animals and the ones that simply haven't been able to be rehomed have stayed. "I mean... Where will I PUT him?? Is it a him? How old is he?"

"I don't know! And I got you a cage and a light! A red one for night and a white one for day and a light fixture," she started rattling off a list, and I sort of stared at her, blinking.

My husband sort of came to life. He had been staring at the tiny container with the just as tiny baby beardie inside, "A..... Lizard.....?"

Becky and I both paused, our heads turned and we stared at him. For just one moment he became the slowest person in the room. That was a record considering the youngest had just turned two on December 13th. However, I always thought my nephew Liam was rather bright. Wayne, my husband, fell back into the safety of silence as the women returned to their "discussion."

Becky continued, "He really is fine. And I have the stuff for you..." She looked so hopeful and serious and really had meant it to be a sweet gesture for both us and for the little guy that I couldn't say no to her. I never could say no anyway, not to hurt animals that had no place else to go.

We held him a little and warmed him up, took him home, found the perfect spot, spent some time with him and fell in love. Two days later we went out and spent entirely to much money on a "gimpy lizard." Now my mornings are spent lightly shaking crickets in calcium dust while happily telling him, "It's Shake and Bake, and I halped." I check the temperature, with TWO thermometers. I change the newspapers. I make sure his crickets fit between his eyes. He's taken a warm bath twice already.

We went through a few thoughts on names for him, the main ones were Cyprium Draconis and, jokingly, Fos (for Fos Ro Dah, a Dragon Shout from the video game Skyrim). Fos led us to deciding to name him Odahviing. A dragon in Skyrim is named Odahviing, and his name becomes the Dragon Shout to summon him. His name literally means "Winged Snow Hunter". Perfect for a Christmas lizard.

tl;dr Surprise Christmas Lizard is Awesome!

15 Gallon tank: Eventually I'll up to a much larger vivarium with front opening doors but it serves for now. Lined with newsprint. He's eating calcium dusted crickets and some fresh veg plus some veg pellets always on hand in the viv. White bulb during the day, red at night. Half viv is hotter and temp carefully monitored. I've managed to absorb so much!

Aw, what a fun story! lol. He is a really beautiful little guy! Very cool name! Its amazing how quickly you warm up to these little lizards, I got two this year and just adore them already! The picture with your cat is so cute, I'd love if my cats would like them, but one is scared of most things, and when they is big, I think she might be scared of them and the other has a ehm... history with lizards and I don't trust her Anyways, Congrats on your new little guy! He really is adorable!

Gratz on your new little guy. Although in that post I did not see any mention of a UVB bulb.

KatieKat, Thank you! I always feel it's a real shame how people underestimate animals in general, especially birds and reptiles. I think that a lot of critters are far smarter and affectionate then we give them credit for. We just don't have the instant ability to understand how to translate that affection. How many ways are there to greet each other with friendliness in humankind alone? Animals are amazingly diverse. Fygarr, Neko and Pooka ALL love to sniff him. At first he was fearful, so I'd cup him and shelter him. Eventually he started lifting his face. I wish that shot showed it, but his eyes went closed when Fygarr nudged in to sniff him. I have no plans to let them alone with him ever, even when he's older. But I'm hoping the exposure early, for all of them, will introduce a bond. Plus, Pooka is a warm kitty. Suitable for basking.

Mediabandit, Thanks. Yes. The white bulb is actually a mercury vapour UVA/B bulb. It's got climbing foliage and a lizard hammock so he can get very close. That side also has a low rock cave shelter to suck up the heat. He likes to climb onto it after "lights out" (when I switch to the lower wattage red bulb). He comes down and does funny laps around the vivarium, sort of tasting everything. I think he likes to taunt the cats. He kind of waves at them, the little turd. :laughing6:

Great story! My husband got me Skyrim for an early xmas present, so I can appreciate your choice of name. He's super cute-'grats on your new family member!

Amy

He's adorable... but a couple of quick side notes.... the red light for night time... turn it off... beardies need complete darkness to sleep, if the temps drop below 65 you can try a ceramic heat emitter that will warm up with out putting of light, also as soon as you can I would change his setup he's going to need a bigger viv soon, and his light... well there are alot of post on here regarding mercury vapor bulbs and how they really can cause medical issues to beardies... just my opinion, but not worth the risk. also, thought I'd through this link in for you, it has been a great help with me and others on here as to what type of food and what not to give... it's color coded and easy to use.. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Thanks so much for providing a loving home to this little guy... seems like he needs a great forever home.

Amy, thanks. I'm not a big gamer, but I'm part of the "geek-culture" so was all in on the naming. I've actually got our nephew ALMOST saying his name right. Better then his momma who replied, "Oda-what now? Dinosaur it is then."

Pyffersnpaws, We've a massive vivarium picked for him like I'd said in the first post, and I've begun experimenting with building with foam insulation board and grouting for creating levels. He's SO tiny now that I really don't want to move him. :-( I don't want to put my tiny boy into that great big unit yet! Thanks for the input on the UVB Merc. bulbs. I hadn't seen that yet. I've been perusing the forums, reading slowly "cover to cover" as it were and hadn't come to that. I never would have seen it and had read a million things that VERY SPECIFICALLY say mercury vapour, GO GET THIS NAOH!! Only thing to get! I've two books I downloaded for my kindle, highly rated, beardie books, reading lots of sites, all saying UVA/B Mercury Vapour, a foot away from dragon. Over and over. I'm unclear on the red bulb issue tho, being that it's softer then moonlight. Is that because they'd dig a burrow? I will say, he does sleep like a champ... And in some of the most adorable, toddleresque positions. Sort of up the corner of the viv or half off a branch, dangling down his cave rock. The other day he tucked under a back leg and I'm not sure exactly how, but he was sort of curled up like a puppy.

here is a link to a post that Tracie, one of the moderators has posted about the mvb's. I do realize that it is a few years old, however she was just talking about them recently in another post and they still have issues with some. Just wanted you to be informed is all... viewtopic.php?f=45&t=105421, also, as far as the red light...everything I have read on this forum says that the beardies need complete darkness... that over time it could cause some issues. With that said, he's adorable and best of luck with him

Pyffersnpaws, Thanks for the link. I definitely appreciate it. Having been thrown in face first has definitely been overwhelming. The ample information available online and on demand for download from Amazon, while helpful, is more so helpful with experienced actual herp fans. I did take the advice RE the merc vap bulb to heart though. It seems, to me, that the two bulb system has been around for such a long time that it's dependable and pretty much assured as safe. For me, at least, the convenience of one bulb is not offset by possible health risks, regardless of them being slim. So I went and snagged a two bulb system instead. Thanks for all the wonderful advice. Odahviing sends his thanks as well. Or ambivalence. It's hard to tell the difference at times.

That's all it was meant to be was a bit of advise... let you do your research and let you make up your own mind... I just personally feel that while they have been around, they just might not be the best for my guys, everything that I come across with all their health issues usually stems from poor uvb lighting. So for my peace of mind, I'd rather just not chance it. There are alot of great people on here that will be more than willing to help, give advice (asked or not... heheh, and if it's me just tell me to be quiet, won't mind.lol) I would keep Tracie's username handy, she is one of the best on the site if your little one becomes ill to run things by... she has a website that sells some of the meds for them I'll post the link for you. http://www.bug-de-lite.com/index.html . Please keep the pictures coming, and I hope he's getting realy comfortable in his new home.

Oh, I know I ramble, but where you able to get a Reptisun 10.0 for your little one...I'm sure you've done your reading and you realized not to get the coil or compact bulbs.

Have a great day, Lisa

I definitely welcome advice, especially unsolicited funnily enough. I can't ask for advice when I don't even know that I need it! I'll definitely tag the username. I may need to ask about my little guy's hand. I went with one of the fluorescent type bar lights, I'm brainfarting on what the proper name is, with a regular household fixture. They didn't have any fixtures, just the 10.0. I remembered reading that a regular bar light fixture would work. Hopefully it'll be enough UVB for the little guy. The whole reason I'd picked the Merc Vap was because I'd read that it had the highest UVB output. Then I used the same dome light the mercury vapour bulb was in but with a clear basking light. It's cooler but still just fine. Still bright eyed and scaly tailed and trouble on a stick.

The 10.0 should be fine... they actually recommend the reptisun 10.0 or the arcadia d3 12% bulb... I made the mistake of thinking we had the reptisun and it was acutally the reptiglo... which is not what they needed... so had to go out and quickly get 3 new bulbs... was in a panic..just glad I caught it before something serious happened. Don't forget pics... we want to see lots of them... I love to take them of my 3 guys... they sit better for photo shoots (hahaha) than my 5 dogs.

I just finished uploading a bunch to Flickr. I slipped my fisheye/macro lens onto my canon yesterday. I hadn't had time to get him out and about nor wanted to. I wanted him to settle in, give him time to acclimate, before flashing his poor eye balls half to blind. He actually didn't seem to mind, little love. Takes an awesome portrait actually...... When he's STILL! He made for a couch crack, that was a pleasure. He's rambunctious, scrappy too. He huffed at one of the cats. Not a hiss really. Sort of like he blew quiet air at her. Like a sigh but heavier. I think he decided she'd smelled him enough and he was QUITE finished, thank you ever so much furball. I take more burst photos since I've gone all digital. Without a fear of wasting film I can take twenty photos and only have two come out, but BOY are those two smoking. I got some stunners of him. Naturally, I'm partial. Now I have to finish loading and posting and then start looking at more. And maybe figure out WHAT he is. Leatherback. Leatherneck. Leather hyperhypomixedmartiallemondropwithsprinkles.

Lmao... w/ sprinkles... that's awesome... I'll take one of them. Thought if you wanted to you can check out my guys, since I'm a little camera happy.. just took a few new ones of Hot Rod tonight. here's the link viewtopic.php?f=30&t=160178