Spikey, our Bearded Dragon, died yesterday after a long illness. The vet believes that he was born with a virus that made him quite sick this past year. After seeing him deteriorate over the past months, it is striking to look at old photos and see how vigorous he used to be.
He was just a lizard, but he had a great personality. He liked to climb....
... to look out the window...
... and find cozy places to chill out.
He started off as Paul's pet but after we moved to Boulder I set up his habitat in the living room where he could be in the middle of things and keep an eye on us, and he became a family pet.
He liked to keep me company in my sewing studio.
And often made us laugh with his funny positions.
He loved raspberries and once licked at Dawn's toes, thinking they were the red berries!
He was a good traveler and seemed to enjoy the car trip from Maryland to Colorado. (We love this photo of him looking at himself in the car door handle on that trip.)
He got along okay with Fetcher. They mostly ignored each other, which was just fine.
As a pet he had many virtues; he didn't bark, wasn't emotionally demanding, didn't require extensive vet bills (since there's not much that a vet can do for a lizard), and he was generally a blank slate onto which you could place your own feelings and thoughts. His main vice was his love of live crickets, which meant we had to keep live crickets in the house, which was a pain.
He was one cool lizard and a pretty darned good pet. Rest in peace, Mr. Spikey.
Oh, so sorry. Spikey really was a great companion with an obvious personality. We were amazed how small he was and how you didn't step on him by accident. we'll miss following his adventures. RIP.
ReplyDeleteMy grandson had a dragon but he did not have as long a lifespan. He was rather a fascinating creature. I'm sure there's a big vacancy that will be hard to fill.
ReplyDeletewow Mary. I love how you wrote the story in pictures. I bet this would be a terrific article for a pet magazine, that others would be touched by showing the life shared between people and the dragon. Think about sharing this with the world... bet they'd appreciate all the pictures like I did. What great captures. You know I was enthralled by him, surprising even myself at that.
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