a short story

[beardiedragon]

I am writing this short story for a column in a herp magazine. This is pretty close to a final draft. I am looking for any input good or bad... thanks

"A day in the life of a Beardie"

Spring is in the air¡¦ the temperatures are warming up. Time to wake up from my four month nap and start enjoying life again. My name is Draco. I¡¯m a two year old Bearded Dragon. Let me tell you about my day. My lights are on a timer so my keeper doesn¡¯t have to remember to turn them on and off. I have dreamt of the long 12 hour spring and summer days, a far cry from the 8 hour winter days come November. I sleep in a cave but occasionally I just fall asleep standing up, leaning against the glass door.

It feels good to get up and stroll around my cage. I have eight square feet of floor space as well as a hide and a log to climb on. When I want to warm up I climb up the log to get closer to the heat. I am so lazy, sometimes when I get to hot, instead of going where it is cooler; I just open my mouth and gape to allow some heat out. After that cool night air, almost 70¢ªF, brrrrr, it feels so nice to warm up under that 105¢ªF heat. My younger brother is only 3 months old. He likes it even hotter. His basking temperature is 115¢ªF. He also has a different type of basking site. He gets wood so he can hang vertically or lay horizontal. It¡¯s easier to digest food when gravity helps. The extra heat helps too since he is small. He can always move further away if he gets too hot.

Oh boy, it¡¯s almost 9 am. I¡¯ve been up for a few hours so my keeper should be here any time now to give us all a bath. I love to soak in the warm water while my cage gets cleaned. My little brother is lucky because he gets bathed daily. Then again, he poops at least once a day. He gets to eat more often then I do too. Maybe that¡¯s why¡¦ OK bath time, hooray! While I relax in the tub my cage gets cleaned out with Chlorhexidine. It¡¯s way better than bleach or any of those smelly cleaners my keeper used to use. One time I got stuck back in the cage too soon and that smell made me real sick. The Chlorhexidine doesn¡¯t bother me at all. Sometimes I even get it in my bath and I get scrubbed with a soft toothbrush. I don¡¯t usually like that but it makes my keeper happy when I am all clean. I tried shaking off the water the other day like I saw the dog doing but only my tail will get people wet so I splash around in the tub. It¡¯s funny seeing my keeper jump when he gets wet, heeheehee.

I didn¡¯t always like bathing, it¡¯s fun now but it¡¯s even better when I get out and lay in my basking spot. I know after I warm up a bit it will be chow time. I love to eat. My keeper is great because he feeds me a large variety of food. One time when he went away, I got the same food almost every day. It was unbearable. I stopped eating so much and lost weight. But now things are back to normal. Every day is different. I get a variety of greens, different types of squashes, green beans and snap peas chopped up with parsnip. A couple of times a week I get mango, papaya and sometimes melon. Once a week is treat day. It¡¯s always different and a great surprise. It can be spinach, parsley, berries, grapes, or flowers like roses or hibiscus. My keeper is always looking on the internet for new and exciting foods for me to try. I also get live prey once a week. That¡¯s my favorite day!!! Some weeks it¡¯s roaches others it¡¯s silk worms or crickets or super worms. I always get vitamins and calcium too. That¡¯s what made me grow so big and strong.

It¡¯s no fair because my baby brother gets to eat live prey every day, twice, sometimes three times a day. It¡¯s a jip I tell ya. I got fed that way too until I was about six months old then I started getting more salad and less fun food. Before I knew it, I was only getting one meal a day and the live food was coming only a few times a week. I wanted a cricket cake for my birthday but instead I got pellets and greens and my keeper took my poop out of my cage in a little bottle. He came back later on and gave me some gross medicine. I showed him though; I spit it out all over him. He told me ¡°this will take care of those nasty parasites¡±. I don¡¯t know what it was but I started feeling better afterwards. I didn¡¯t even know I was sick.

Boy time flies when you¡¯re just soaking up the rays. This new UVB light I got really makes a difference. My color is brighter and now that I am old enough to breed, the girls will go nuts over me. It must be about two o¡¯clock because here he comes with more crickets for my little brother. Lucky kid. Oh and look these crickets are covered with calcium. That makes them such an easy target. I love nice plump crickets, especially after they eat a lot of fruit and greens. They get so juicy that I can skip the stop at the water bowl. It used to be fun chasing them all around. I¡¯ll tell you a secret. I found out it¡¯s easier to stay still and let them come to me!

It¡¯s great to be a Beardie, at least for me. I have a great home with someone who cares for me and looks out for my well being. I know some Beardies aren¡¯t this lucky. If you know someone who has a Beardie, give them this story and encourage them to go online or read a book or even join a herp group. I didn¡¯t ask to be a pet, that was your choice, so learn all you can and we can both be happy. Remember, don¡¯t make Beardies disposable pets! Thanks.

[peterm15]

i thought it was great.. and it really narrows things down.. like insects only once a week and greens the rest at about 6 months.. thats something thats not in any care sheets.. its very informative and the choppyness of it makes it easy to read for the younger croud.. its basically a care sheet writen from the eyes of the dragon.. i thought it was excellent.. good job..

p.s. why is your care sheet down.. and you should post this on your site... if you cant let me know so i can print it for future reference ( if thats ok )

[beardiedragon]

thanks for those kind words. glad you pointed out the broken links for the care sheet. I fixed them.

Do me a favour and reread the part about the insects and salad. Let me know if I was not clear. My point was that starting around 6 months they need to start getting more salad and by the time they are a year old, live prey should be reduced to once a week.

[peterm15]

It¡¯s a jip I tell ya. I got fed that way too until I was about six months old then I started getting more salad and less fun food.

maybe you should put.

"...old then i slowly started getting more salad..."

ill read through it a few more times for ya.. i just wont be able to catch everything, but ill try..

[peterm15]

Before I knew it, I was only getting one meal a day and the live food was coming only a few times a week. I wanted a cricket cake for my birthday but instead I got pellets and greens and my keeper took my poop out of my cage in a little bottle.

Before I knew it, i was one year old, I was only getting one meal a day and the live food was coming only a few times a week. I wanted a cricket cake for my birthday but instead I got pellets and greens and my keeper took my poop out of my cage in a little bottle.

with the b-day and the one year old i think that goes quite well... and itll narrow it down a little, i dont know if i have the grammer right though..

[peterm15]

i know 3 posts in a row must be a record..but that seems about right.. ill read through some more later and doubble check..

i hope it get in ( if thats how it works ) and i would like to know the mag it gets into... so i could buy it.. lol

[beardiedragon]

I have a regular column in The Keeper. The site is being updated and the publication should soon be available on line at no charge.
http://www.faunasociety.org/PublicationsHome.html
here is the site, you can also get a copy of it from a distributer in your area or by contacting them directly.

[peterm15]

thanks... its a really great story...

[Greg West]

Is it possible to use this in another newsletter? I am looking for a story like this that is an easy read for younger readers? If you would give me permission, I would also send you out a copy of the newsletter that it appeared in?

Let me know.

thanks

Greg West
TARAS President

[beardiedragon]

I would be happy to let you use it as soon as it is done. I need to finalize it by tonight. Just make sure to credit me and you are free to use it as you like.