Mikey the Bearded Dragon's Bio

   

    Mikey is a four year old bearded dragon. He is fourteen inches long and weighs almost two pounds. He was born on Valentines Day and was purchased from a specialty store in Citrus Heights California dealing in captive bred reptiles and invertebrates. As far as personalities go, if you've read the previous blog, Mikey is definitely a Cuddler.  He's an outgoing, happy little guy who's days are filled with basking in front of his favorite windows, eating delicious food, car rides to go visit with "his" public and quiet cuddles in the evening while watching television.
    A typical day in the life of Mikey starts with waking me up in the morning by climbing on my face if he thinks I'm sleeping in too long. (Yes, the lizard sleeps in my bed with me.) Then we sit together while I check e-mail and we watch the morning news to help us wake up. After the news it's time for breakfast and a shower for the both of us. (Yes, I take the lizard into the shower with me.) Then, if I have work that day, Mikey spends the day in his own fifty-five gallon tank until I come home. When I get off work, he comes out and we spend the rest of the evening watching our usual shows before tucking in to bed. On days when I'm not working, he can be found actively exploring various points of the living room, his favorite places being the sliding-glass door of the patio, the kitchen window or the far corner of the living room for some reason; maybe because he wont miss anything that goes on in that spot. Apart from when I go somewhere that I can't take him, he actually spends little time in his cage. He has the run of the house, and his cage is there if he needs some quiet time alone.
    When not playing as the undisputed king of the castle, he goes on car rides with me to lots of places and plays ambassador to the reptile kingdom while making new friends of anyone he meets. Mikey loves people, for I have taught him from the beginning that people are the source of head scratches and all wonderful things to eat, although he's a bit aloof with men unless they happen to have a piece of cantaloupe for him. He's the perfect beardie to take out in public and changes people's sometimes negative assumptions of what pet reptiles can really be like. He automatically seems to know how to behave when out in public, and is especially calm around people who might be more fearful, sitting nice and still while allowing them to pet him.
He wears a special collar with a fish-bone charm on it when he goes out which funnily enough puts people more at ease around him. I've taken him out with and without the collar on, and I can tell you, for some reason people are much less apprehensive about him with it on.
    His relationship with me is one of closeness and security. He genuinely enjoys being around me in anything I do, and when I go somewhere and I have to leave him behind, he gets very depressed, crawling underneath his driftwood jungle-gym in his cage where he lays his head down and stares at the door until I come home again. It doesn't matter how long I'm away. I've gone on week long trips and left him in the care of family and he neither moved from that spot nor ate. He's most comfortable when in his own house or in the car. If I take him with me to other people's houses, he acts normally as long as he can see or hear me. If I walk out of the room and leave him where he can't hear me, he becomes very insecure and fearful, lowering his head and flattening his body out in an attempt to make him as inconspicuous as possible. Once I'm back in the room however, he returns to his normal happy self. Sometimes though my presence isn't enough when confronted with some of his bigger fears, such as anything resembling a gun-shot, fireworks or thunderstorms. At those times he will climb up to be near my face, which for whatever reason he thinks is the safest place to be. He shows distress when I'm paying attention to my other pets, my boyfriend or anything other than him. If he doesn't feel he's gotten enough attention in the day, he'll try to crawl out of his own little heated bed he has next to my pillow and cuddle up under my chin, something that I don't allow. After a few times of me tucking him back in to his own bed under his little blue towel, he usually gives up and goes to sleep. He may be the most spoiled bearded dragon in the world, but whether he's being Mikey the king, Mikey the ambassador or Mikey the cuddlebug, there isn't enough that can be said for how much joy he brings to me. Spring is almost here, which means new adventures for Mikey, so stay tuned Mikey fans!