it ain't easy being a lizard

A week ago, I drove in rush hour traffic over to my reptile shop - the one I bought Boo from and the one at which the owners custom designed her new terrarium - to buy a new light bulb to replace the old one. It had burned out one morning, so it was imperative I drive that evening to replace it. Just so you know, these bulbs cost $75 dollars and only last between nine months and a year. They are also critical to a little dragon's good health. The right light provides not only warmth for the terrarium but broad UV light (the UVAB or whatever) as if to mimic real sunlight. Without it, dragons, who are cold bloodied and need sunshine to live, can fall ill quite quickly since sunshine helps regulate their metabolism, digestion, sleep, etc.

Well, at the shop, the male owner insisted that I only needed a 100 Watt bulb for Boo's terrarium, the one he helped design. His girlfriend, Ashley, immediately reminded him that Boo's new terrarium is 18" high - considerably taller than her old terrarium. He shook his head and said, "No. She needs the 100 watt."

"Um...are you sure?" I remember asking. "That new terrarium is pretty big."

"Positive," he replied, just before ringing me up and sending me on my way.

I should have followed my gut and insisted on the 160 watt bulb, but trusting him, I drove home to install it. Right away I was struck by how small the bulb was in comparison to the old one. I still trusted, stupid me, plugged it in and have had it as Boo's only source of light for a whole week.

At this point, you should know where this story is going, right? It involves the wrong light, one now-on-the-edge of being ill little dragon, and my losing my temper. I think I may have even had smoke come puffing out my ears I was so angry. You see, after seven days of crappy light (that didn't heat her terrarium at all), Boo has grown more and more lethargic, not eaten anything or pooped once. Also, she only blinks one eye (truly concerning) and has dark circles under her eyes. I suspected she wasn't moving at all during the day, so this morning, I put her on her branch and combed the sand beneath it smooth. Sure enough, when I got home tonight, I noticed that the sand hadn't been disturbed. This means my little Boo, who depends on me for everything including proper heat/light, didn't move at all today! That is truly upsetting to me.

With my blood pressure through the roof, I threw the light bulbs (old and new) as well as both domes into my car and drove through rush hour traffic again to my reptile store. Both Ashley and her boyfriend were there. When I walked in, without saying a word, Ashley immediately frowned.

"What is it?" she asked.

I was shaking mad. "It's not good."

"I can tell," she looked to the back of the store with a 'get your butt up her' expression to the BF.

I then went on to state (as calmly as possible) how upset I was, what was going on with Boo, what I suspected, etc. Ashley immediately tested the recently purchased light bulb and looked at the old one. Yup...wrong size light for the terrarium. Her boyfriend was very apologetic and said he didn't realize how low the 'low end' of her branch is. Then, without any argument at all, they replaced the light bulb with the correct one (160 watts). My balloon of hot, fury filled air deflated, and all is good again with the shop. But my having to drive over there tonight ruined my evening, for sure (hate the frickin' Friday night traffic out here). I really wanted to do other things the night before CAM 11 then drive to Burbank, but I couldn't fathom Boo going one more day without proper heat and UV light. As it is, I'm still worried about her.


Right now, I have her wrapped in her blankie and she's out like a light on the couch. Poor little thing. It ain't easy being a lizard, you know? Especially when all you have is a FatHead looking out for you.