I am TEMPORARILY (and we all know how that goes) caring for a bearded dragon that belongs(ed?) to the roommates of a co-worker.
I own two snakes, but never had a lizard before.
He came with the incredibly creative name of “Lil Buddy” but considering 1a.) the euphemism my manager uses when I get too crabby and she sends me outside for a smoke (“Shoe, would you like a puff… ?!?”) and 2b.) the old hippy song, I think this magic dragon is about to be renamed “Puff.”
How hard is it to take responsibility for such a creature? Throughout the years, I have temporarily or permanently assumed caring for numerous felines, but I’d be hopeless at adopting a lizard, or lizard-adjacent, animal. I’m glad you can do better.
Oskar is a Giant Schnauzer, so he’s got some of that terrier attitude (even though they aren’t terriers). He’s about 100 lbs. He’s pretty well behaved, but when he gets excited he does jump up on people which, given his size, worries me.
So he’s not stubborn, but he is very independent. He can be home alone for 8 hours and be just fine with it. He has a favorite perch and just watches the world go by.
That is rather what that expression looks like to me.
There may be a subtext of “I do this often when you’re not in the room to notice.”
One of the differences between (most) dogs and (most) cats is that you can teach most dogs that they don’t belong up on the counter. You can only teach most cats that the humans think they don’t belong up on the counter.
(Admittedly I have been informed by the presence of dog hair on couches that a number of dogs think like cats in this matter.)
I suspect that the presence of that glass wall dividing them is a good idea.
While the expression currently on the panther looks like it translates to “What the hell is that thing?!”, if the wall were absent the panther might eventually not be gentle about finding out.
And, of course, the dragon might take action in return.
Beardies are pretty bulletproof, though you (much like your snakes) want to make sure they have good sheds, clean water (when they want it) and a clean enclosure. A varied diet of bugs and greens, along with not-too-many kibbles and they’ll be good without too many worries. The enclosure you have is actually a very nice one (we have several like it). The only thing that you’ll need to be careful about is making sure you’ve got a decent UV A&B bulb (we used ZooMed Powersun) and replace it once a year.
Speaking as a past owner of many lizards and snakes (well, we still have 3 snakes).
Not exactly a pet picture, but here are some mice that have been gene-tweaked to have hair/fur similar to the wooly mammoth:
Some of the reporting said that they had received woolly mammoth genes, which as best I can tell isn’t true, but some of the gene edits they received did have counterparts in the mammoth.
Indeed, that orange blob is a boy, and one of a trio of brothers – Eddy, Teddy, and Freddy. I believe this ball would unroll to be Ed. All three are gone now, alas.
Dr.Strangelove, those are funky-looking mice! i wonder how soft that fur is.
To be fair, many puppies think like cats, but of course puppies eventually grow up. Cats will always be cats. As a puppy, my Bernie understood that he wasn’t allowed to jump up on the bed and steal a book from the headboard/bookshelf to gnaw on. He took this to mean that he shouldn’t do it while anyone was around to catch him, but it was a fine thing to do if no one was there. He’d take the book over to his “safe place” (a couch in the family room that he was allowed on, because I’m a soft touch with doggies) and proceed to gnaw.
Fortunately he matured before anything of value was destroyed.
Also, allow me to present this fine picture that speaks to this phenomenon of puppyhood – note the title of the book!
Here’s our two. Our senior cat, Allie, is the Siamese mix, age 14. Our junior cat, Buddy, is estimated age about 8-9 and of course he’s the orange boy. Allie doesn’t usually have this much tolerance for Buddy being anywhere near her (she was quite content as an only cat for a long time and was less than impressed when our former stray moved in with us a few years ago).
As a puppy, my Bernie understood that he wasn’t allowed to jump up on the bed and steal a book from the headboard/bookshelf to gnaw on. He took this to mean that he shouldn’t do it while anyone was around to catch him, but it was a fine thing to do if no one was there. He’d take the book over to his “safe place” (a couch in the family room that he was allowed on, because I’m a soft touch with doggies) and proceed to gnaw.
