On September 6, we said good-bye to Glinda Dragon. Yes, on my birthday.
Glinda was a 2019 Mothers Day adoption, about three and a half years after Sandy, our first bearded dragon passed away at the age of 13 1/2. She was less than half of his age.
A week before her passing I had a friend ask if I knew someone wanting to adopt a beardie as hers needs to be rehomed before their baby arrives. Within hours of Glinda passing, another friend asked if I wanted another dragon because she has a friend who needs to rehome hers.
The short answer is "no." I'm not ready for a replacement.
It was a lot of fun having Glinda, but I'm ready for a new stage. We took her tank out of the bay window and filled the space with flowers and herbs. Each time I hear a noise I had associated with her moving around the tank I think it must be her ghost reaching out. It is almost always one of the cats.
A couple of months ago she shed for the last time. It was rough. Some came off nicely, but others ended up creating bare spots. Calls to the vet suggested soaking her, which we did, and which did help, but she never felt the same after that.
With a female dragon, we worried about when she would drop eggs. It only happened twice, but it looked so painful. Since they have to bury the eggs, we needed to provide a place for that to happen. We discussed having taking her in for surgery to make sure it didn't happen again.
A couple of months after adopting her, we took her outside to roam around the patio while we ate dinner. The next day I left for Israel. Before my plane landed she looked near death, so Don took her to the Vet ER (NorthStar in Robbinsville) and spent days nursing her back to health. I didn't hear about it until later. After that, we didn't let her roam around outside.
Sandy was mellow and traveled well. Glinda was never as cuddly. Rarely she would stay on us while we read, but often she preferred being near us, or scampering to a favorite hiding spot. She had several.
About a week before she died, she turned ghostly white and had a black beard. We kept an eye on her, and her color improved. It happened a couple of more times.
Less and a week before her death she ran around the house and bravely stood up to Mimi Kitty -- who was an angel. A couple of days later she sat on Don's laptop while Mimi was also on the couch.
I think she had a good life. She spent her first year living in a pet store watching other dragons become adopted. Maybe she put a hard shell around her heart afraid to let anyone in? Maybe she wasn't as healthy as we thought. We'll never know.
Her regular vet sent a lovely condolence card, signed by the entire team. It was sweet.
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