Meet Scribbles!!
Just when I thought I’d brought my last baby home, we brought home a baby Bearded Dragon last week.
Jon David kind of loves him. Can you tell?
Now, before you get all screamy, “No you DIDN’T girlfriend, over my dead body will a lizard be up in MY house”, just hear me out. Because I was the same way.
Jon David has wanted a pet for a long time. But with me being pregnant, and now having a new baby, I haven’t been up for anything super high maintenance. I know a lot of you are dog people, but I just don’t have the energy for that right now.
Well. Jon David kept begging for a pet, and I kept saying no…and finally I realized that a compromise was in order. I am a firm believer in setting rules and enforcing them, but I also know that just because I don’t want something, doesn’t mean I should deprive my son of having certain childhood experiences.
So we made a deal.
I told him that if he could do his chores and responsibilities (homework, shower, etc) WITHOUT me nagging him for 30 days in a ROW, he could have a pet. This was NOT to bribe him to do chores, because he has to do those regardless, but to make him learn to take care of himself before he took on the responsibility of another life.
Well. It took months. He’d do good for a few days, and skip a week and start all over…and do good for a week and then skip a few days and start over…finally he realized that he was getting nowhere (and still doing all the same work, just with me nagging him) and decided to really work on doing better.
Finally he went a whole month without me nagging him once. And then he decided he wanted a lizard.
At first, I was dead set against a lizard. But it turns out, they are very low maintenance, and have a longer life span than a hamster or gerbil.
And hello, goldfish are kind of boring (No offense, gold fish).
Jon David originally wanted a Chameleon, but when I asked about them on my Facebook page, I got a lot of feedback saying that they are extremely fragile and high maintenance. So many of you recommended a Bearded Dragon, so I did some reading online, bought a book about them, and we went to several pet stores asking questions.
Every pet store person we talked to had nothing but praise for Bearded Dragons — if well cared for, they live a very long life (10 – 20 years), are very tame, easy to care for, and love humans. They actually bond with their owner and enjoy being held.
The set up was a little expensive. But they are cheap to feed, and the maintenance is low, and Jon David is thrilled.
Now I’m just trying to figure out where I’ll hide when he grows. They get to be around 2 feet long.
Jon David has named him Scribbles — I’ll post photos as he grows. Can you believe I have TWO babies now??
Thanks for visiting my blog! I realize you could be doing more important things with your time. Like watching the news or washing socks. I hope you stay awhile. Much more fun than socks, I promise. 
Cute!
I kinda feel cheated. My son is 11 now and still hasn’t asked for reptile yet. Although I’m not sure it would be a good idea anyways, I have two very bored cats that might see one as something fun to eat.
TWO FEET LONG? Yowza. Maybe you can let Scribbles go in the wild at that point. :)
What “wild” would that be?
My kids bring the science class bearded dragon home from school during vacations. I had the heebie Jeeves at first but she has grown on me. She is really sweet, gentle, and toothless :)
gotta ask, how’d she end up toothless…lol…my poor hubby has been bitten once! haha…
And I think that Iis a great achievement on his part, 30 days???? Definitely something to celebrate.
that is cool!! Good for you guys.
As a bearded dragon owner, a tip….make sure he is handled every day, and gets enough calcium! Ours is watching me type, and looking sleepy right now. He’s around 1 1/2 years old, and not huge, close to 16 inches long maybe, so a good size. They really are nice pets though. Fun to watch and be around. We learned the hard way though, they are delicated creatures.
Our first beardie had MBD and died Christmas night. we got LB (Lizard Breath), the following day. After changing the entire set up we had been told to use to begin with, we now have a healthy dragon. My daughter likes to sit in front of his tank (it is huge and sits on the floor) and talk to him while she plays barbie, and he stares at her the whole time. He also loves watching the computer and tv.
I see a bigger lizard cage in your future!
Awesome. What a great pet and an even better name!
This is adorable. Good move on the lizard. I let my boys talk me into gerbils once. They are vile little cannibals. Scribbles looks happy! And so does Jon David.
You are such a great mom!! I’m not sure if I can handle reptiles…at all. Hopefully my son enjoys our dog for a while. lol
That’s a brilliant way to teach him responsibility and help him grow up little by little! Kudos! Glad he was able to reach his goal, reward well earned!
I think I would put “has a longer life span” in the minus column. Just me? Oh well this is awkward. I was kidding. Really, it was a joke… :o\
I’m so glad you ended up with the bearded dragon. He will love that for a pet. Like I mentioned on your fb page, low maintenance except for the gross meal worms, and my little brother in law loved his. But if you take him outside, do not let John David take his eyes off of him for a second! That’s how Joey lost Jengo :( Oh, did you get him a heat lamp? I’m sure you did. Those guys love their heat. LOL! So happy for you both :)
I’ve got two adult female beardies and they are so sweet..I feed mine roaches and not the crickets..if you arent careful crickets will actually bite your beardies and they have a nasty habit of running around the cage and hiding. You also need to gut load them before you feed them to your dragons and believe it or not, the cockroaches ( not the flying house kind,these ones dont fly) are actually cleaner and are a better protein source. I actually raise my own and as a fellow food blogger, Im sure I will have recipes for my extra roaches they can’t eat..lol I’m kidding of course..;)
Hahaha, in my home, with three boys(aged 3, 5 and 34), I’m the only reptilelover. But living in an extremely narrowminded country, it¨s actually illegal to keep them as pets here. But we hope that the goverment approves a list of thirty species :) Till then, chickens and cat will have to do. But I dream of jacksons chameleon, they’re gorgeous! I envy Jon David, Scribbles was gorgeous :)
Congrats on the new family member :) Cheers from Norway!
2 FEET LONG?!?!?!?!?!?
omg, i had no idea… you almost had me until that! Max wants a pet so bad…hello we have a dog and fish, but he wants a guinea pig, and I don’t think I want to deal with little critters…soooo, you had almost convinced me.
2 FEET???
I’m with Shelly – two feet??? That’s pretty big. Also, what do you feed it – I saw in a post crickets and roaches??? Ummmmmmm. No thank you.
So proud of your son for his accomplishment, though! I’ve gotta figure out a reward and try this on my kids (14 yr old boy and 9 yr old girl).
Thanks for sharing! Scribbles is cute now, but I don’t know about when he gets bigger. ugh.
Well, 2 feet is the maximum, so I’m hoping for smaller than that. Get poor Max a beardie, Shelly. He’ll love you forever!!
(they really are fun to watch)
I rarely write on blogs, but I wanted to tell you I LOVE the name Scribbles! People never use their imagination when naming animals and often use human names. Naming pets is the opportunity to be absolutely zany! My parrot was named Kahombo, who is the spirit of good fortune in African folklore. He was an African Grey parrot. Tell your son for me that I think his imagination is amazing!
My 13 yr old son has been an animal lover since his preschool years. We’ve had dogs, cats, gerbils, ducks, frogs, hermit crabs, and fish over the years. He begged for a bearded dragon for a year before I finally gave in. He named it Norbert and I tell you, that thing has been the easiest critter we’ve had yet. It’s quiet, it has no smell, it is clean and dry, no fur or feathers blowing around the place, no slimy skin, its food is cheap, and did I mention it was quiet??? Lowest maintenance pet we’ve ever had. Love your blog! Congrats on the two new additions to your household. :)
Scribbles should meet Lucy Tallulah, our library lizard! We got her because when I got hired I refused to clean out the 50 gallon fish tank, that hadn’t been cleaned in 5 months. Talk about yuck. So we had the kids vote and pick a type of lizard. Lucy is a leopard gecko, so won’t get nearly as big as Scribbles, but that was part of our aim, lol. The kids are fascinated by her! Their favorite thing is to have me feed her mealworms while they watch.
Nice method and good job sticking with it!
Way to go Mom!! Every kid should have a pet to love. I’ve heard GREAT things about the Bearded Dragon. Enjoy him! Have fun Jon David with your new little friend. Just don’t scare your little sister!!
OMG hahahahahah. Um that would NOT go down in my house. A tissue paper version maybe. Maybe not.
My heart goes out to you.
Oh I hope Caleb never asks for a dragon…or anything bearded:)
Just you wait…
Congratulations Jon David! You are a remarkable boy to do all your chores for thirty days straight and never have to be reminded. I think Scribbles is awful cute. Love his name and hope he has a long and happy life with you. Make sure your mother keeps us all updated as he grows up and gets bigger. Maybe a little movie so we can see him move?
My son got leopard geckos when he was about 7 or so. He’s nineteen now and as he is in College — guess who has inherited the leopard geckos. Yes, they’re super low maintenance and pleasant enough companions — I just never expected that I’d be a reptile caretaker. I didn’t realize until just now how OLD they are. Geriatric leopard geckos.
My little brother had a bearded dragon for awhile and she was super calm.
I had her lying on my stomach (When she was about 1.5 ft long) and unfortunately she decided it was a good place to go to the bathroom. I was wearing a sweater with a t-shirt and a tank top underneath and her poop soaked through each layer and onto my skin. I never held “Sarah” again. But I was the only one that ever happened to, and reptiles seem to always poop around me so I might just be cursed.
Hilarious.
Welcome, Scribbles! Two feet long… I guess that will make Scribbles less able to hide in the laundry or something. Which is a good thing.
Scribbles aside, your son is beautiful. I love his smile in first picture. What a handsome boy!
What a great way to teach responsibility. As a tech who used to work at a Veterinary Hospital, I wish more parents would follow your example.
Scribbles is gorgeous but the name surpasses all! Brilliant.
Good for John David all around.
My son Max has been begging me to get him a lizard for a couple years now. I love how you had him learn responsibly BEFORE Scribbles arrived. Great advice, you’re a good momma!
Awwww Beardies are the best! And when it does get bigger you’ll love Scribbles so much you’ll just think of him as a scaled kitty cat lol. But seriously they’re awesome. Congrats on your newest addition to the family :-)
My kids have been begging for a bearded dragon for ages but I’ve always had a strict no reptile rule. I tend to think that the chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits, llama, goats, cow, horses, emus, etc are enough (we live on a hobby farm those aren’t all in their rooms!) BUT you may have just helped change my mind! I had no idea they were so easy and non stinky and not as creepy as their cousins the sssssn…never mind I can’t even type it without getting the heebie jeebies. Anyway, I was doing a little online research and the only deterrent at this point is the “feed them LIVE CRICKETS” thing. That can’t be true right? Surely there’s a little Purina bearded dragon chow or something that you can give them that’s just as good right? Please set my mind at ease and make my children’s wishes come true. :)
AND I’m totes using the 30 day no nagging thing pre purchase. Good thinking!
Okay. So. Crickets — yes.
The babies mostly need them when they are young. Once they are big, you only need to feed them crickets once or twice a week, the rest will be green veggies and fruits. So you can either get a bigger Beardie (they’re more expensive though) or get a baby and feed it crickets daily until it’s bigger.
The crickets are surprisingly not gross. And trust me when I say I hate insects. HAAAAATE. I don’t even step on spiders *shudder*. The crickets are tiny (about 1/4 inch) and they will cling to a paper towel or toilet paper roll, and you just lower it into the tank and shake it out. No biggie. Only crickets 3/4 inch or larger chirp, so you don’t have to deal with that either.
Thanks for the info. I too HATE insects but if you, a fellow bug hater, can deal and not be creeped out by it I bet I can manage. Especially since they’re so small. And who knew that they didn’t chirp until they were 3/4″ longer! That was going to be my next question! You’re a regular beardie expert. :) Thanks again!
Good for you letting him get what he wanted, not sure I could have gone there with this. 2 feet long would scare the crap out of me!
Just testing to see if my avatar will show up. Fingers crossed.
It worked!!!! Technology is terrific!!!! Isn’t my doggie cute? No, he’s not “my sweet doggie” because he isn’t sweet. What is sweet is the expression on Jon David’s face when he’s holding Scribbles or looking at his sister.
Loved this! And the 30 day rule is perfect! We’ll implement this when our 4 year old really, really, really has to have a kitty:( So, I’m thinking another 4 years to go is a fantastic idea! We don’t go an hour without nagging so 30 days is a lifetime at this point.
Neither Ben nor I are pet people, except Ben has informed me multiple times that Judah will get a lizard when he’s old enough to care for it. I wasn’t too thrilled at first, but it’s growing on me. So, I’m looking forward to your updates! Just don’t post anything that will scare me off from the idea… ;)
What a fantastic pet. We had a wild bearded dragon in our yard when we were kids we found him when he was small and he used to hang around in our back yard he did grow very big unless of course there was more than one. Unfortunately we can’t keep them as pets.
Way to go, Jon David! That is awesome. I would buy each child in this blessed home a lizard if he/she would be as responsible. I like lizards, but still. Way cool.
And I believe crickets are nearly the most vile little things. They make me ill… but your info to another poster on how non-gross they can be makes it all seem better. I had a turtle once that ate worms… slimy, but not too bad.
Be thankful he doesn’t like snakes. My granddaughter LOOOOOVES snakes. Eck.
Hi! I’m a new follower and was just browsing your blog when I saw this post. When my hubby and I first started dating he had two bearded dragons that he’d never even named (I decided to call them Spike & Ducky). I wasn’t thrilled about them but when we moved in together they moved too. However, they’re pretty low maintanence and when ours eventually died I kinda missed them a little. I’m so glad I noticed this post because I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them as babies. Kinda cute!
I’m just browsing and came across this looking for inspiration to keep our beardie. We adopted an adult bearded dragon a couple weeks ago, and my kids love it. I opposite-of-love it. Hoping it’ll grow on me, but the smell is unsettling (even though the cage is cleaned well, I can smell the scent when I put my face by it). I dry-heave a bit when I clean up it’s poop. Good for you though! I hope I can toughen up…or better yet find a new home for her.
We have a cat I love (she’s less maintenance than the lizard). So I’m not totally heartless.