Introducing ... Glinda the Girl Dragon

Last night we welcomed back the pitter-patter of little feet -- little dragon feet that is. After a two month saga, Glinda the Girl Dragon joined our family.

Friends remember hearing stories about Sandy Claws Dragon, our beloved dragon who died 21 months ago at the age of 13 1/2. We have known for a while that we wanted another dragon, but were having troubles finding one. I did not want a baby dragon. They are too much work and too fragile and eat way too many crickets. Sandy was 8 when we adopted him.

Two months ago we were in Petco in Mercer Mall and saw Glinda. She seemed full-grown to us, though they were insisting she was only six months old. Hmm... I brought Don back. I just wasn't ready yet. A week later I returned, only to find out she was not there. I was told she was in the back with a suspected case of tail rot. They took her to a vet.

Every so often either I called to check on her (pretty convinced she is a girl dragon because of the lack of spores on her under side) or they called to give me an update. A couple of busy months later (planning my first gala, Ashley's college tours, the spring play, etc. etc.) and Paige from Petco called me to say I could pick her up. Paige (the in-house animal handler) suspects it is not tail rot, only a kink, possibly an injury when she was younger. She also said she is over a year old -- has been there the whole year she has worked at Petco. Petco refused to pay for more testing, but nothing has changed with two months of observation in the quarantine zone. We will take her to our vet soon to get a baseline on her.

We put Glinda in Sandy's smaller tank, but will probably put her in the larger one soon. Glinda is a great climber. She eagerly snatched up the crickets today. She is cute and cuddly, loves to latch on to whoever is holding her. We are cautious around Kitty Lucy and Charlie Cat, but so far they seem to remember that Dragons Rule.

Yes, she does look a lot like Sandy, but is much smaller and has a full tail. She is probably also considered a "fancy dragon" with the diamond markings on her back.

So far she is ignoring my salads even though I've been told she is a good eater. Holding out for more crickets? Eating when I am not looking? Trying to adjust to the new space? Am I not cutting the food small enough? I should just give it a few more days.