“Oh… are you back?”“So you left the country, heh? This is not fine by me!

Saw a lot of other lizards, hmm? Also, this is not fine…

oh… and equatorial sunshine time without me?

– Not cool.”

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Have a bit of a story:

I was dubbed “The Lizard Whisperer”

I proclaim I am not such because I can’t figure this crap out!
Am I over-pampering?
My lizards just decide one day to not be self-sufficient in the realm of self-sustaining!
They will not eat on their own. They desire to be hand fed.
Oh, how I have tried to spread before them, a medley, a feast!
I’ve laid out before them multiple dishes sometimes, with so many options, surely something would be eaten. Nope. Not happening.
I finger-shape food piles into a pyramid for easier biting ability… alas, my efforts to visually entice are in vain!
Copper, Murph’s Beardie sister, starved all day until I hand-fed her after work. Lil’ Murph here has taken it a step further, I now make him smoothies for the nutrients he requires AND HE WILL ONLY EAT FROM A DROPPER! Apparently food tastes better from my hand. IF ANYONE HAS RESOLVED SUCH AN ISSUE PLEASE 🙂 and PLEASE CONTACT US AT: lizardryordeath@gmail.com or the contact page herein. This is ridiculous!

Murph was having some potty issues for some time before my departure to a foreign land, he also wasn’t eating well. This made leaving worrisome. However, he was his normal ‘bouncing baby boy’ self. I felt I could somewhat relax (but with guilt) leaving his life in the trusted hands of others. I had 5 sets of eyeballs seeing to his care (some eyeballs saw monetary compensation, some saw my in-coming hugs and deepest appreciation). I dispersed many house keys! These understanding souls had a notebook page (front and back) full of instructions to refer to if needed. I took some folks around the house to show where Murph’s food, purified water, extra blankies, pillows, and, um, shall I say “bibs” (soft cloths he tolerates with which to clean food from his face) are located.

I showed them how to have him swim, discussed here: https://lizardplanet.com/2018/01/10/poo to encourage a poo & where his bath towels are. I had a “Poo Log” and recorded therein the recent month’s activities for them to continue so all parties knew what was going on & when/if they needed to be concerned & take action. I also left $ for fresh food.

I prepared a baby food, oil, calcium powder medley, discussed here: https://lizardplanet.com/2018/03/24/still-waiting of which his care-takers would administer as per my directions via a syringe. One special someone, um, turns out, gently force-fed (not recommended) thin apple slices and such. All is well, this wonderful soul, who hand-fed & loved Copper, introduced here: https://lizardplanet.com/2018/02/19/converting-the-masses-to-love-lizards-too was used to hand-feeding a pampered lizard due to Copper.
This is how it went down:

Departure day: So, after sleeping with Murph in my hands (not recommended, my maternal subconscious is highly attuned) and kissing (yep, don’t judge me, he’s cleaner than a cat or dog) him countless times, I laid him in his bed within his enclosure. I positioned his blankie to just over his eyelids, told him I love him and fought tears as I readied myself for the airport. The dog got a kiss too, just one on his nose. I do love the dog.

Home-coming: Murph is depressed. He is listless. A week away from return I was informed of his sad state. It was said the light was out of his life. After a few days of my waking him with kisses and his acclimating to life with Mommy around again, he began to perk up. We’ve had a lot of outside time together, He’s pooing more frequently!! Dang it about that eating thing, but I will feed him in this un-natural manner the rest of his life if that’s what I must do. Murph is all happy now. I think I am forgiven for taking that sort-of a vacation!

Here is a link to make smoothies for your lizard: https://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=97107

Murph eats/drinks his smoothie until he’s full 2x daily. They consist of (liquified) roughly 3/4 banana; 5 grapes; handful of kale; splash of purified water; 1/2 an avocado; very small handful of spinach and aragula; small bit of frozen peas and carrots; and a light blanketing of calcium powder – for now because that’s what I’ve had around. I store this in a small container sealed with a lid in the refrigerator. I make fresh about every 4 days. Alongside this is a wee bowl with the dropper wrapped in his afore mentioned “bib” and yep, a baby spoon to stir the smoothie for optimal up-suckage into the dropper. I stated in the past I make up my own words, they make perfect sense! *note: Best to not give too much spinach or frozen produce and NEVER citrus.”

“Give me Lizardry or give me Death!” – Dawn Renee