DawnsNova
Member
In our home, naming things generally comes under my kingdom, our vehicles have names, our favorite fishing rods have names, so does my shotgun, even my big Kitchensaid stand mixer is named Betty White.
So, I would *love* to hear how all those precious beardies out there got their names!
My little girl went through a few names... One thing I've learned is no matter how clever I think I am at coming up with a name, things have a way of naming themselves. When I first chose my sandfire/german giant, there was one thing that immediately caught my eye, of the dozen or so babies in the display, one stood out because of her incredibly unique pattern. Rather than a line of broken irregular dark spots down the spine, she has very very close to a solid stripe all the way to where her tail starts. I've never seen another dragon with a clearly defined stripe like that.
My first thought was "cool, a racing stripe!". Racing stripe led to car, which led to my favorite car, a '73 Chevy Nova SS which usually has a wide racing stripe, and this was just about the time the breeder showed me a birth certificate that said the baby's hatch date was July 3rd. So, '73 striped Nova = dragon hatched on 7/3 wearing a stripe = BINGO! Thus "he" was christened Nova. Once again, I was all pleased with myself at how good I was at giving something a neat name. The breeder checked and said he was pretty sure it was a male and said he was very close to keeping this particular baby for himself because of the interesting marking. A couple weeks went by and I still hadn't noticed any bulges or under tail bumps that would indicate a male. I took several detailed pics and posted them here and the general consensus was "he" was in fact, a "she". So, Nova struck me as more of a male name, so, I went ahead and shifted to my second favorite car, one with more of a feminine sound to it, Chevelle. That seemed to fit for a little while. I guess you'd have to read all my posts, but here's your basic take away: I had the wrong lighting and until I bought a clue and got everything fixed up correctly, she was somewhat dark and listless with not much of an appetite. She sure changed after the ReptiSun got installed in the cage. She went from dainty little portions that I had to beg her to eat even when she'd close her eyes and turn her head away, all the way to active hunter and adorable little piglet. Somehow Chevelle just didn't "stick" either. I should have just waited for her to tell me her name from the get-go. So, a few evenings ago, the family was watching tv, with the dragon tank to the right. No name had sprung forth yet, so rather than try to actively come up with one, I just waited for her to tell me. Pets have an amazing way of doing something to let you in on what name *they* have in mind for themselves. There we sat, watching the ridiculous antics of Cajun Pawn Stars, and they have a coffee cup from the set of the Beverly Hillbillies, along with a picture of the cast at a dinner table, with the exact cup.
Where am I going with this you may ask...
Well, here's how my demure little southern Texas belle revealed her name, one that just stuck and felt right....
I happen to look up at the right time, and here's what I saw: with the enclosure and screen side by side, there's Ellie Mae Clampett next to my dragon, both looking down onto their full plates of grub, about to dig in. The two of them were even facing the same direction. So as my little princess was chowing down on her evening treat of a couple of wax and small superworms, I see the similarities, the irony and am about to say "damn, it's about time she told me what her name was", my husband says "looks like we got a us a little Ellie Mae of our own, she eats like a rich hillbilly". There you have it, she's sweet, beautiful, tough, dainty, and eats like a pig, both Ellie Mae's. Then the supporting evidence started falling into place and it got even funnier. I lived all my life in Maryland until I divorced, remarried and moved to Texas with my current husband. My ex now refers to me as the "hillbilly b****h" around the house according to my 8 year old son. ROFL One of my two rescue pit bulls is named Jethro, with is Ellie Mae's brother on the show. But, he wasn't named Jethro because of the Beverly Hillbillies character, I specifically let my step son name his new dog, and he named the dog after the lead role on his favorite show NCIS, the incredibly hot Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
Thanks for sticking with me gentle reader. I knew I'd get to the point eventually. LOL
So, Nova became Chevelle became Ellie. She had a place in my heart the moment I saw her, even when she was anonymous. Now let's just hope Ellie isn't a very slow developing male and the name game will have to start all over again. She is three months old, so there is a slim chance I could have the sex wrong. Ugh!
Please let me hear those name stories? I'd really enjoy it.
Dawn
So, I would *love* to hear how all those precious beardies out there got their names!
My little girl went through a few names... One thing I've learned is no matter how clever I think I am at coming up with a name, things have a way of naming themselves. When I first chose my sandfire/german giant, there was one thing that immediately caught my eye, of the dozen or so babies in the display, one stood out because of her incredibly unique pattern. Rather than a line of broken irregular dark spots down the spine, she has very very close to a solid stripe all the way to where her tail starts. I've never seen another dragon with a clearly defined stripe like that.
My first thought was "cool, a racing stripe!". Racing stripe led to car, which led to my favorite car, a '73 Chevy Nova SS which usually has a wide racing stripe, and this was just about the time the breeder showed me a birth certificate that said the baby's hatch date was July 3rd. So, '73 striped Nova = dragon hatched on 7/3 wearing a stripe = BINGO! Thus "he" was christened Nova. Once again, I was all pleased with myself at how good I was at giving something a neat name. The breeder checked and said he was pretty sure it was a male and said he was very close to keeping this particular baby for himself because of the interesting marking. A couple weeks went by and I still hadn't noticed any bulges or under tail bumps that would indicate a male. I took several detailed pics and posted them here and the general consensus was "he" was in fact, a "she". So, Nova struck me as more of a male name, so, I went ahead and shifted to my second favorite car, one with more of a feminine sound to it, Chevelle. That seemed to fit for a little while. I guess you'd have to read all my posts, but here's your basic take away: I had the wrong lighting and until I bought a clue and got everything fixed up correctly, she was somewhat dark and listless with not much of an appetite. She sure changed after the ReptiSun got installed in the cage. She went from dainty little portions that I had to beg her to eat even when she'd close her eyes and turn her head away, all the way to active hunter and adorable little piglet. Somehow Chevelle just didn't "stick" either. I should have just waited for her to tell me her name from the get-go. So, a few evenings ago, the family was watching tv, with the dragon tank to the right. No name had sprung forth yet, so rather than try to actively come up with one, I just waited for her to tell me. Pets have an amazing way of doing something to let you in on what name *they* have in mind for themselves. There we sat, watching the ridiculous antics of Cajun Pawn Stars, and they have a coffee cup from the set of the Beverly Hillbillies, along with a picture of the cast at a dinner table, with the exact cup.
Where am I going with this you may ask...
Well, here's how my demure little southern Texas belle revealed her name, one that just stuck and felt right....
I happen to look up at the right time, and here's what I saw: with the enclosure and screen side by side, there's Ellie Mae Clampett next to my dragon, both looking down onto their full plates of grub, about to dig in. The two of them were even facing the same direction. So as my little princess was chowing down on her evening treat of a couple of wax and small superworms, I see the similarities, the irony and am about to say "damn, it's about time she told me what her name was", my husband says "looks like we got a us a little Ellie Mae of our own, she eats like a rich hillbilly". There you have it, she's sweet, beautiful, tough, dainty, and eats like a pig, both Ellie Mae's. Then the supporting evidence started falling into place and it got even funnier. I lived all my life in Maryland until I divorced, remarried and moved to Texas with my current husband. My ex now refers to me as the "hillbilly b****h" around the house according to my 8 year old son. ROFL One of my two rescue pit bulls is named Jethro, with is Ellie Mae's brother on the show. But, he wasn't named Jethro because of the Beverly Hillbillies character, I specifically let my step son name his new dog, and he named the dog after the lead role on his favorite show NCIS, the incredibly hot Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
Thanks for sticking with me gentle reader. I knew I'd get to the point eventually. LOL
So, Nova became Chevelle became Ellie. She had a place in my heart the moment I saw her, even when she was anonymous. Now let's just hope Ellie isn't a very slow developing male and the name game will have to start all over again. She is three months old, so there is a slim chance I could have the sex wrong. Ugh!
Please let me hear those name stories? I'd really enjoy it.
Dawn
