Do I have a song about lizards playing in my ears by a band that is named after an aquatic creature? You bet I do! And it only seems appropriate to tell you about the little creature that I happened to rescue and in turn she rescues me every day I look into her wonderful little face.

Say hello to my little bearded dragon friend, ZZ! Named after the bearded legends themselves ZZ Top naturally.

So how did she find herself being my roommate. Well it’s all thanks to two very curious and gentle insulation repair men that showed up to re-insulate our attic. By our I mean mine and my fiancee’s, but I suppose it it ZZ’s now as well. They came in to tell me their progress and then asked me the type of question I live for in life; “do you want to see this cool critter we found?” I was out in the yard asking “where is it?!?” before they even got the box they had placed it in out of the truck. They explained they were driving down the road and saw it laying in the middle of the street and almost ran it over. They instead pulled the truck over, grabbed a box out of the back of the truck, and removed it from what it thought was probably the best place to sunbathe for the day.

When I first saw it, you guessed it, I squealed and told her how cute it was! Then all the practical stuff ran through my head; what kind of lizard was it? was it wild or someone’s pet? can I pick it up or will it be too scared? what should we do with it? The lizard rescuers had some of the same questions, and already answers to some. They believed it was a bearded dragon due to one of the men’s sister being a vet that had already been FaceTimed. They also believed it was a pet because it didn’t even attempt to run when they approached it. This made sense to me, so I decided I should keep it and put up signs to see if anyone would claim their lost reptile.

And thus I had a new roommate and a lot of homework to figure out how to best care for an animal I had never cared for before. Fortunately it was not a very finicky little thing, (and still isn’t which is why we are such good friends), and I was able to get it all it needed to be comfortable for the short time I assumed I would have it. I mean why would someone not be sad their pet was gone?

The next day, my nephew and I made signs and posted them up all over the neighborhood and let the local reptile stores to let me know if anyone came in looking for a lost bearded dragon. I felt so much sadness for the owner and the beardie, but I also secretly hoped no one would claim it. My fiancee has a terrible allergy to fur and dander so we couldn’t have conventional pets and I never even thought of owning an exotic pet. Well a couple days went by with no calls, then a week, then a month, and I knew we could give it a name and call it our own.

Now I keep referring to her as “it” during this time because there is not a clear way to gender a bearded dragon. There are some clues to make a very good guess, and wouldn’t you know it, initially we guessed wrong. We called our little girl our little boy for almost a year before her first visit where they informed me he was actually a she. Good thing the name we chose could stay the same, but I still call her bubba from time to time.

While we still had her in a lackluster terrarium, we knew it was time to give her a proper home that she would have plenty of room to make her own. She was a part of our household. I no longer had an office, ZZ just let me use her room part of the day to get work done. And boy does she own that room! We leave her enclosure doors cracked open and she runs in and out and all about all day long. Well until she tuckers herself out and snuggles up to her favorite log or rock to go to bed.

Let me tell you though, while I can’t play with her, cuddle on her, or have her welcome me home like a dog or cat would, I would not change owning her for the world because she is the best pet to have for so many other reasons. First of all is her very calm demeanor. There are other beardies out there that seem to have a lot of energy, but she is always cool as a cucumber. This has helped me a ton as someone with anxiety disorder. No matter what it is I am stressing about, I can visit with her, stroke her back or give her little beard a little pet and it instantly starts to calm me down. Also she trusts just like any other pet would that you are her human. You can lay down next to her and she may crawl up and rest on your belly, or she might just decide to snuggle up next to you for warmth. Whatever she decides to do, it isn’t cumbersome and interrupts anything, and it just feels right sharing a moment with another living creature. And damn it she is just funny. Whether it is thinking the rocks embedded in the pavement are bugs that she relentless tries to munch on, laying in her tank like she wants you to paint her like one of your French girls, or dancing with the window panes to get outside, she knows how to be one goofy entertainer.

I love this little orange bearded critter (yeah she’s a Phoenix Suns fan for sure!) with all of my heart and soul, and I hope for any other exotic animal owner out there, your critters bring you the same amount of joy!

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