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 his cave.  He would curl up inside and got to sleep.

In the morning he would come out when he awoke.

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

"Good Morning, Hagrid".  

He would go to the hotter side of his enclosure to warm up.  Once he was warmed up, he 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 him into his new home.