Enter the Bearded Dragon

A little over a year ago, there was a guy who apparently thought he knew enough about bearded dragons to successfully breed them for money, so he put a male and female together in a small tank. Nature took its course and the mom laid a clutch of eggs, about a dozen of which eventually hatched. Once out of their eggs, the babies were so crowded in there that they started nipping bits off of each other!

Long story short, the surviving babies wound up at the Star Eco Station in Culver City, California. I cannot say enough about how awesome this place is, as are the people who work and volunteer there. Their website describes the Star Eco Station is “an environmental science museum, an exotic wildlife rescue center, and a haven for endangered and illegally-trafficked exotic animals confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.” If you’re in the area with kids, you should absolutely schedule a tour. You’ll learn a lot and you’ll meet some very cool animals and people.

Many of the Station’s animals are full-time residents, but the staff try to find homes for those animals that can be appropriately placed. Stubby has been with us for a year now; he likes chasing bugs, taking naps on warm humans, and watching TV. Several of his toes and most of his tail are missing (hence his name) but that doesn’t seem to slow him down any.

Lessons learned:

1. Before you buy a pet, please consider adopting. There are now rescue organizations for just about every sort of animal; use the internet.
2. If you don’t really, really know what you are doing then you probably shouldn’t be breeding animals.
3. You can be missing a few pieces and still live a full life. It helps to be surrounded by people who love you, but that’s just as true for those of us who still have all our toes.