Henrietta

June 2007

On a sunny afternoon, I went with my family to the pet store. I wasn't looking for anything particular, but I just wanted to look at all the different creatures they had. I was particularly drawn to the reptile section, especially the lizards. The anoles were dancing all around the cage, while the geckos were all snuggling with each other. After watching those particular lizards for a while, a lizard with spikes caught my attention.

This tank of lizards consisted of pastel and grey colored skins and was very energetic. They were bearded dragons. However, there was a much smaller lizard than all of the others in there, who was getting beat up and bitten. I told the cashier about this and he said he would separate them.

I went back a few days later, saw the same cashier, and saw that he never did separate the lizards. I was most appalled when I told him and told him I will speak to his manager. Meanwhile, I took the little tiny lizard out of the cage and held it. I asked another employer to give me the sex of the lizard; he said it was a male because of his pastel skin color. I bought the lizard and took him home. I had a beautiful tank set up for him, with a cave, natural foliage, swimming pool, water fountain, and a giant log in the middle. He loved it in there and eventually became very social. I decided to name him Henry.

I took Henry out quit often to run around the house. Even my cats started to play with him. He would run up to there tail and "tag" it and run back. Then my cats would chase him. They all did this for hours.

I would give Henry a bath now and then and from watching him, you would expect he was a marine animal, the way he splashed about in the tub. From then on I would leave him in the tub for hours and check on him periodically. He would sleep in the warm water all day. So I decided to put him in the stream outside with his leash on. Again he would run up and down the stream and sometimes he would go into the pond to swim with the goldfish.

One day, there were eight giant white oval things in his tank. I asked my mum what they were and she said either really large kidney stones or eggs. I thought eggs came from girls. So I researched on how to sex a bearded dragon and to my surprise she was a girl. I then changed her name to Henrietta. Unfortunately, her eggs were not fertilized, so she never had any baby bearded dragons.

Henrietta some nights became very moody with her food. I would feed her

Romaine lettuce, bearded bites, crickets, and meal worms dipped in calcium. Before she was about to lay her eggs; which she did monthly; she would become a very picky eater. I would hold the meal worm in front of her, like I always did, and she would turn her head as if to say, "I'm not eating that thing." Henrietta was a character though.

Unfortunately, not everything can last forever, especially if they have been breed many times. Henrietta was supposed to live for ten plus years, but a few weeks after her fourth birthday, she became very ill and passed away. I tried to do everything for her, taking her to the vets, giving medication, but I was too late. I will never forget my little girl, Henrietta.