Crystal was just a thumb when we brought her home. Dec 23rd - the third one of our original group of Bearded Dragons. She was named after Swarovski - my husband and I started buying the animal series when we were first married, and traditionally we always bought one piece in December. Well, we could not afford both Dragon and Crystal - so we bought the Dragon and called her Crystal - for she was more precious than the stone.
"Thumbalina" as Craig called her. "My Thumbalina". She taught us so much. She would hang onto Craig's thumb with her tail curled for support. Once Craig left her out of the cage and on the open window ledge for sun (something we still do for the lizards). The deal is though, that you have to watch them - especially when they are young, adventurous, and small enough to fall through the vents and get lost in a gazillion places. Ahem, Craig did not watch. And Crystal wandered. To the point of total dismay and distraction for Craig. He hunted high and low, up and down. Little did he know she had the best seat in the house. Well, the best pole in the house - she was quietly holding her tiny body around the top pole of our staircase - one false move and one deadly fall - enjoying the sunshine from the portal front vestibule window. I swear she was laughing! Once caught there though, she eyed us as if to say "who, me?" in all innocence. That was the kind of lizard she was.
Her attachment to Craig was apparent in many ways. She started in a tank in our bedroom. Strangely, once she was moved into a vivarium with the other adult lizards, she never forgot her home. Often she would escape from her living area - and find her way past the stairs, past open doors, and into our bedroom - but not only that - she went to the exact spot her tank used to be in! All that might detract her would be Craig's dirty laundry - THAT she would snuggle into as the best security blanket ever invented! I'm still investigating "homing lizards"!
She taught me how to approach my teenage daughter. As Crystal grew, her sleek, slim, tiny body grew into that of a woman - for a lizard, remember. Wide sides, big butt (umm, no other way to put it). The sleekness of youth far behind. Crystal never did adjust to this stage. She felt awkward and she let us know it. She insisted on trying to perch on her favourite branch - which was way too small to support her adulthood. As my daughter grew from child to adolescent to young adult - I was constantly reminded of Crystal's denial and final acceptance of her changing body shape - and this helped me to help my daughter in these stages.
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