Never Say Never

Reptile Prohibition has been repealed! (Well, not entirely. Snake  Prohibition remains firmly in force.) Believe it or not, we talked Eric into allowing Nathan to use his own money to purchase a bearded dragon. I think Eric may have thought Nathan would forget about this before successfully saving enough money. No such luck.

The dragon, named Norbert, is very sweet. If you can call a reptile sweet. He looks rather shifty in the photo, though, don't you think? He's very calm, easy to handle, and easy to clean up after (compared to Mako), but he does have one negative quality. He is VERY expensive. Let me repeat... VERY expensive. Way more expensive than the cat. So, if any of you have been considering a bearded dragon, forget the college fund. I'm resigned to this now, but originally had evil thoughts of an early demise for Norbert.

Why is he so expensive, you might ask? Well... first, we had to purchase a $40 tank (which will need to be replaced in a year or so when he outgrows it); then the tank needed a lid, which was $13; then he needed a special UV light bulb, which cost $19; then we had to purchase domes for that light bulb and for the light that provides heat--$34; reptiles need a calcium supplement (who knew?)--$8; two thermometers to ensure we are heating the tank properly--$8; AND, as if all that wasn't enough, we have to feed him, too! He eats crickets. Lots and lots of 10-cents-apiece crickets that are always escaping and roaming free through the house. This has really affected my vision. Whenever I come across this:

I actually see this:

The kids hear me yell, "Quick! There goes a dime! Grab it!" One evening I captured 70 cents and put them back in the cricket keeper. Earlier today, that scaly little money-pit ate 12 crickets in a row. That's $1.20 for that one meal! Plus tax! Mako eats about $7 worth of food in a month.

So we're adding this to our list of things we said we would never do, but have now done:
Buy a mini-van
Get satellite TV
Buy a game system
Own a reptile

Oh - and the final kicker? The CRICKETS need food, too! And a cage...