Andreas

Andreas is doing so well in our new home. I don't really know that much about taking care of lizards, even though he's been with me for 6.5 years now. I've done a ton of research, but there is conflicting information, and stuff that doesn't pass my gut check. I read about what people said about parrots in the early days of bird-keeping, and it seems similar, in terms of saying that they don't want attention, for example.

Andreas never seemed to want attention in our old home. However, since he's been with just me, he's really turned around.  Since he seems to be thriving and his vet is pleased with his progress, that's what I'm going to use as my gauge to whether I'm taking care of him properly or not.

One thing I'm really excited about is that his entire tail has molted!  It only took six years...  He had a very sad first part of his life.  He's wild-caught, so he had to endure unspeakable travails being caught in Africa and transported to America.  (He had parasites that only appear in wild-caught specimen.)  I don't know any more details, other than he was in a pet store, in terrible conditions and on colored sand, when Thomas bought him.  Parts of his tail had molted, but until recently, his tail looked like this, partly still colored from the sand.

Now, it's entirely black and healthy:

He is more personable than ever -- when I was married, he ran into his hide when we were home (perhaps he could sense something was wrong when even I couldn't?)  But now, he seems to crave attention.

He enjoys scratches, and seems interested when I put Max by his cage (she always yells "hello!" at him, even though he never responds.)

He also likes to take food from my hands -- possibly because he thinks it's dandelion heads!  I like to tell myself it's because he likes me :)