Hagrid: Full Body Portrait

 

Hagrid

Hagrid: Scratch Board In Process 2

 

I scratched out more of the light areas and defined certain areas.  

I added some color.  

She has orange markings on his face.  

Here is a detail on her face.

Hagrid: Scratch Board in progress

 

Hagrid Beardie is quite beautiful. She has the well known feature of spikes scales on her beard area and around the back sides of her head.  The spiky scales are on her sides too.

Her face has orange, and then there are black areas and light orangey brown area down her back.

I thought it would be good to do a scratch board portrait of her.  

I started the other night, to scratch out the light areas.  

I plan to add color.  

Here is what I did the other night.

In progress.

Hagrid Growing and Shedding

Hagrid is happily in her new larger enclosure.  

Hagrid is showing signs of growing.

Like snakes, a new layer of growth and skin pushes the older skin away.  The old scales dry out and fall away. 

At different points, the scales can come off as little pieces that remind one of dandruff. At other times, the scales can come of as fuller pieces of skin.  

One day we notices a piece of skin that had pulled away from her arm.  The piece of scale skin matched her upper arm, elbow and part of her lower arm.  

Another time, we noticed her eye was looking bulgy.  The scales had pulled away.  The old scales looked like the area around his eye.

Hagrid's old scaly skin.  

Hide and Seek

Children enjoy playing Hide and Seek.  There's mystery and surprise in the game of Hide and Seek.

There are are advantages to the game that are vital to an animal out in the wild.  The instincts are strong in animals.  Hiding to protect oneself.  Hunting for the next meal. It is ingrained in their DNA.

Kenji, a domestic rabbit,  does play Hide and Seek.  He is drawn to places that are like a den.

under the bed

in a box

in a corner

Yet because he has gotten to know us, he does come out to see us.  

I go upstairs and he may or may not be visible.  If I don't see him, I call his name, "Kenji, Kenji bunny".  
I look in the places I know he goes: under the bed, in a box.  

Then suddenly he comes out.  

"There you are."  I say.  

I let him smell my hand and pat him. 

We can be sure he will come out when we have his favorite treat, a banana. 

Hagrid, our Bearded Dragon  is a predatory animal.  

She will move as a predator does like in the wild. She will stay really still and keep low and hide behind a plant or branch to approach her prey, crickets.  Stealth and timing is key.  

Hagrid: Pencil drawing

Hagrid Beardie is about 6-7 months old now.  

I've noticed as she grows that her coloring and patterns on her body are becoming more distinct.  Her features are more prominent.  

When most people think about bearded dragons, they picture a sandy-colored reptile. But many people may be surprised to discover that bearded dragons can come in a variety of different colors, patterns, and something referred to as morphs or mutations.

Hagrid is a Standard morph.  Her face has orange markings.  Her beard area has black lines. And her body has a  a sysmetrical pattern along her back and down her tail.  There are browns, blacks and light color areas on her back.  

Shee has the familiar spikes feature on her beard area and along her sides.  

She is pretty cool to look at.  

I did a pencil drawing of her yesterday while she basked.  

Around the Yard with Kenji

 

At first, Kenji wasn't sure about going outside.  

But once out in the yard he really enjoyed

himself.  

We would follow him with the leash around the yard.  

He would check out things around the yard.  

Rub the short log.

Smell the grass.

Exploring the yard was intermitted with sitting in one spot.  

Under the playset near the old tire.

A dirt mount under a bush. 

Hiding in the leaves at the maple tree.

Spurts of hop hop hopping, covering lots of ground.

Burrowing in the soil.  ( the house sparrows use his little hole in the yard to take a dust bath)

Surveying the area.

Good Morning, Hagrid

 

We would enter our youngest daughter's bedroom to peak in on Hagrid Beardie. 

Hagrid chose to sleep in her cave.  Shee would curl up inside and got to sleep.

In the morning she would come out when she awoke.

One morning, I peaked in the cave to see her just peaking out of his cave.

"Good Morning, Hagrid".  

She would go to the hotter side of her enclosure to warm up.  Once she was warmed up, she was ready for breakfast... of crickets.  

Good Morning, Kenji

 

Our family's routine has changed a little since getting pets.

It has become common for us to go see Kenji Bunny upstairs in my older daughter's bedroom.

The girls liked to have Kenji on the bed to pet and talk to in the morning.  We set up pillows so he could hop up on the bed easier.  

Kenji found pillows very comfy.  

He would sit on one on the bed and let us pet him and say "Hello".   

Beardie: research and reward

 

Our youngest daughter decided she wanted a bearded dragon for a pet.  

There was much research to do about bearded dragon lizards.  

Bearded Dragons are found in Australia.  Yet they are bred in places as the USA.  

Why a breaded dragon? 

Well my daughter has always been fascinated with Mythical creatures.  And likes to draw them.

Dragons are reptilian mythical creatures.  

There are many cultures that have dragons in their lore, or as a symbolic icon, like for example in China.  

My daughter didn't like the stories where dragons were portrayed as evil and sought after to kill.

We found a place in Cumberland, RI that specializes in reptiles, named Sabrina's Reptile Kingdom. The owner of the place talked to us about bearded dragons.  Amanda was to read five reference sheets with information on bearded dragons before purchasing one.  

We needed to know what we were entering into for caring for this reptile.

We read about a bearded dragons needs, care, feeding, etc.

Reptiles are cold blooded and need an external source for heat.  We would need heat lamps to regulate the temperature in the enclosure.  They need a spot to bask and then a place to go when it doesn't need the extreme heat.  

They eat live crickets and certain vegetables.

We had to look for a 20 gallon tank to start with a young bearded dragon.

We also needed a place to put the live crickets.

We slowly started to find the items we needed: the 20 gallon tank, lamps, accessories for the tank to create an environment for the bearded dragon. 

And a cricket keeper to have a place for the crickets to live.  

One day I took Amanda to the Reptile Kingdom and we bought a young beardie.  

("beardie" is the shortened name for them)

We settled her into her new home. 

Baby Bunny: Inside and 0ut

 

While it was still winter, we introduces Kenji to different rooms in the house:  

The Living room

Our youngest daughters bedroom 

Our bedroom

He liked to explore the bed's soft blankets and lay down.  He would sometimes do burrowing on the blanket.  Then settle to rest in a spot.

Once on the floor he'd go under beds, zooming in and out.  He was using those long back legs to move. "And Boy, Could he move."  

We set up pillows and cushions so he could climb up on the couch or a bed.  He was excited to explore.

Once the weather warmed up we decided to introduce him to our yard outside.  

The first harness leash we got was soft rope.  

He wasn't so sure about it at first.  

Rabbits do not like being picked up really.  

Even when we got it on him, he managed to get out of it.  

We order a different harness leash that had Velcro and a click.  We did eventually get that harness leash on.  The smoother and faster we did it the more he was able to be OK with it.  

Then we opened the door.  As with any new thing, he hesitated.  We placed him in his carrier and carried him outside.  We unzipped the carrier bag.  He came out slowly to explore.  He would venture out farther and farther around the yard.  

The small garden plot

The longer garden plot

The playset

We noticed he would mark things with his outer cheek.  

A Branch

A small log

An old tire

The Maple tree: touched with a foot

His walks in the yard consist of stop, look, surge ahead hopping.  Then stop again. Sit for a time.  He  could sit for 5-10-15 minutes.  Look around, then clean himself.

He noted dogs barking behind the fence.  When he moved to the front of our house, he noted cars going by.  At first he bound off and we'd steer him to the back yard.  Yet he started to become accustom to cars going by...he would flatten himself until it was gone.  

We try to mostly stay in the back yard.  

He found a small dirt pile near a bush he likes to sit on.  He marks things around the yard.  

He did do a little burrowing in the dirt in the yard, but nothing to be concerned about.  

He likes the bushes too, for he feels safe there.  

  

Baby Bunny: Burrowing and Boxes

We started out with shaving for bedding.  But we found disadvantages to shaving.  They seemed to end up every where and on everything it was near.  

Granted with any pet you're going to have to clean and refresh bedding, water, cage.  

Yet we looked to another way.  

We tried newspaper.  Kenji shifted the paper around and gnawed on it.  So we got rid of the newspaper.

In the end we just chose to have hay so he could graze through out the day.

As far as peeing and pooping, Kenji chose specific spots to do his duty.

Rabbits do burrowing activity and like a den like place.  It is a natural instinct to burrow.  His cage has a covered area that is similar to a burrow.  It makes them feel safe.

Kenji became fond of a red soft towel.  He'd do a little burrow movement, then stretch out to relax. Sometimes he'd fall asleep for a time there.  

We discovered that Kenji also loves Boxes.  They're are den like. Yet they are also a place to hop on and off of.

We started with just a couple of boxes.  Kenji checked them out first.  Then he would hop on one.  And hop off .  

There was a ottoman in the room.  Kenji found he could jump on that.  

It was a soft place to rest, too.  

There was the time I ordered a new comforter for our bed because it was getting worn.  I ordered it online.  When it was delivered I brought the package in.  Kenji had been hanging out in the living room. As soon as I came in with this package, he came over to me and sniffed the box.  :D

My daughter brought the box up stairs and made a bunny box house for Kenji.  She placed the soft red towel inside.  He loved it.  

It was entertaining to watch him move around the room to different spots.

Kenji would hop back and forth with excitement.  

Baby Bunny Kenji

 

My daughter set Kenji's cage up stairs in her room.  

We put shaving in the cage and a water bottle on the side of the cage.  It seemed OK, yet we knew he would grow.   

We looked around at cages in a couple of stores.  We couldn't find a larger cage in stock in a store, so we order a larger rabbit cage online from chewy.com.  

When the large package arrived we brought it in and opened it up.  It took a bit reading instructions and setting it up.  We called the support line to help us.  They helped and we were finally able to finish putting it together.  Whew.  

Kenji seemed to like the bigger cage, yet still went to the other cage to drink water and poop.  So we kept the other cage.

A little bit about Kenji: 

In the beginning Amanda and Jan watched Kenji. He didn't really do much at first, and didn't step out of the cage. After a few days, he finally stepped out and explored. His personality is friendly, but little timid. 

He loves running around, hiding, and exploring. He would mostly hide under the bed, and sleep. 

He has an energetic side, and a calm relaxed side to him. When he's energetic, he would run around a lot, and be entertaining to watch as he explores the room. When he's calm, we are able to pet him, he usually sleeps when he is calm. 

He eats Timothy and  Alfalfa hay, and pellets which is his main meal. We give him bunny biscuits, bananas, and salad as a treat. He especially loves bananas.  

We looked up breeds of rabbits to learn more.  

There are 49 breeds of Rabbits world wide.  We looked at the different breeders of rabbit to find what Kenji was.  He is part Lion Head.  They have hair that is similar to a lion's mane, hairs fluffs out around his head.  He is very fluffy and soft.  The description of his breed mentioned that they are good family pets though a little timid, as he is.  They mention not so good with young children who's energy is very high.  

Our girls are teens and love learning about their new pet.  

Illustrations of Kenji eating.  

His ears were small, as he was just a baby.  

He does seem to like to put his front paws on the edge of the  bowls.  

A Bunny and A Beardie

Our daughters wanted a pet.  

When they were younger we got a Beta fish (Japanese Fighting fish) for our oldest daughter.  It was a dark reddish fish.  She named it Sophie.  It was nice.  We saw to it she fed it every night.  I cleaned the bowl each week.  Sophie lived for about 2 yrs.  They don't live very long.  

Next we got our youngest a Beta fish.  This one was blue.  She named it Bluey.  The fish lived for about a year.  We enjoyed it for the time.

But now they wanted a different pet.  

Cats were out.  I'm allergic to cats.

Dog.  We weren't sure...lots of "hmmm, we'll think about it."

It would be a new member of the family, care, expenses, food.

Guinea pig. no  

The subject kept coming up here and there.  

My oldest daughter started working PT and earning some money.

Then one day she told us she's getting a bunny.  

I was like "hmm, OK."  

I didn't know about rabbits.  Yet we could do our research. 

A friend's sister had two rabbits, male and female.  They had had a litter.  

So we jumped into researching about Rabbits.  Breeds, Cage size, food, needs, etc.  

One day in January, her and a friend went to pick up her new pet, a 6 to7 week old baby rabbit with a cage.

They came home and brought in the cage with this little fluff ball of a baby bunny. He was so cute. 

We sat with him in the living room for a short, before she brought him up to her room, where the cage would be.

Of course the rabbit was a little nervous being in a new place.  We let him just see and hear us.

Over time we got to know him and he got to know us.

They came up with a name, Kenji.  It was a start to us embracing our new member of our family.

To be continued...:)

Animal Whisperer

 

I'm presently working for  UCP.org at a location in Johnston, RI.   

I had been in Johnston before, a time ago.  I had volunteered with a therapeutic riding program.  The therapeutic riding program was there for a number of months, but then moved to another barn.  Things had started out Okay but then went awry.   

I would continue for a time volunteering with the therapeutic riding program.  

I enjoyed working with the horses.  This was an opportunity for me to delve into working and being around horses.  It was hard work, yet there were payoffs.  

I got to know the horses and they got to know and trust me.  One of the horses, I would get to ride.  I developed a bond with that horse.  I would work with him: grooming, ground exercises and riding.  I loved our time together.  

I have many wonderful memories of connecting with him.  

Riding in the ring relaxed and easy in the late afternoon.

Grooming him.  He loved the attention and relaxation of just being there in the moment.  I didn't  ask much of him during grooming.  I just wanted him to relax and enjoy our time.  

Working in the ring, I would ask him to do some bending and stretching.  I worked on walking and trotting for conditioning the muscles.  Then a cool down at the end.  

For me being there was a chance to:

Decompress

Be in the moment, the present

Enjoy and relax

Be calm and courageous 

Recently, I chose to go to the location in Johnston to just see.  

The twin willow trees and stone entrance wall were still there.  Nature seemed to have started to grow over the parking lot.  

I got out of the car.  I looked and noticed no sign any more.  A neighbor noticed me.  I started to walk up the parking lot toward the barn.  A pine tree, tall and green, was still there near where the riding ring would have been.  The neighbor came over to me and asked me if I could use some help.  I mentioned there had been a horse barn property here.  

He said, "Not any more, and for the best."

I had figured as much.  

Like myself, I now felt like I had entered into a new chapter in my life.  

The last year or so: COVID19, lay off, job searching, becoming employed again.

writing, art, bird watching, walks/hikes

One thing I note is my sensitivity that lends to my ability to relate to animals.  Some might claim it as Animal Whispering.  

For me it's always been about relating to beings and things around me.  

From the birds I feed and watch in the back yard.  They see me as I go to fill the feeder and stay nearby.

The stray cat that if I hadn't had an allergy to I would have taken it in.

The dogs I've met here and there in my life.  

Presently: Our neighbor's puggle "Kota and cattle dog Teedo.  A street over "Pepper" dog.  

The Horses I have worked with.  

A new Chapter has arrived,  spurred by my daughters wanting finally to have pets.  

We are now a proud family with a rabbit and breaded dragon lizard.