BACKGROUND 1998
It all started when me and Peter visited his sister in California in November. We felt in love with her Bearded dragon "Drayco" at once. At the time, Draco was about 4 months old and very tame. As soon as we got back home to Sweden, we checked if the pet stores here carried Bearded Dragons, and they did!
We bought all the things that we needed, a 96 x 40 cm terrarium, basking lights, UV-lights, rocks etc. etc. One week later, we were ready to pick up our own Beardie.
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  Tuesday 17 Nov 1998
In the pet store they had 3 BD:s, two of them were already sold, but the one that was left was the qutest one anyway. He was 2 months old, and we had already decided to call him "Elliott". When he came home, he immediately started to explore his new home, and it seamed as he liked it. Compared to the size of him, it´s a huge home!
Our labrador "Carrera" was very curious - "What the heck is that?! That thing doesn´t look like a puppy at all...."
Elliott wasn´t scared at all, and they sniffed at eachother with the glass between them.
We fed him a couple of small crickets, he seamed to be quite hungry. I don´t think his bearded fellows from the store who were two months older than Elliott, let him have very many... We picked him up a couple of times to let him get used to us. It seamed like he didn´t like to be still, he would much rather be running around! I guess it will take some time for him to get really tame, he is still so young .
When we shut down the lights, he found a perfect spot in the sand under a piece of cork-tree to snuggle under.
Nite nite Elliott !
 
  Wednesday 18 Nov 1998
Today me and Peter learned that Elliott can JUMP...
We wondered how he could get up on the clay statue of a man which is standing in one corner of the terrarium, but it didn´t take very long until he showed us how he jumped from the lava rock and then up on the man... But then he had some trouble getting down, so we had to give him a hand.
Besides the crickets, we are feeding him cabbage, carrots, broccoli and peas. So far he seams to like the broccoli best.
Today when I picked him up he was MUCH more relaxed, and felt asleep on to of my belly while I pet him on the head. What a qutie!
I found this great place on the Internet, the Bearded Dragons Help Forum, where I have recieved LOTS of answers to my questions about Elliott. I strongly recomend you to go there!
 
  Monday 23 Nov 1998
Elliott is getting tamer and tamer every day. Now he doesn´t mind to be picked up. As soon as I start to pet him on his head and on his cheaks, he shuts his eyes and goes to sleep, I think. He just LOVES the crickets and the mealworms. It seams like he likes green vegetables the best, for e.g. peas and broccoli. He takes the most wierd positions when he goes to sleep, and last night it was just too much when he went to sleep STANDING on the head of the statue, holding on to a wire in the corner with his "hands"...
We just had to turn on the lights again to wake him up, and the put him on the sand instead...
 
  Monday 7 Dec 1998
Elliott has grown a lot lately and he seems to be doing really good. During the day he is still a bit fuzzy when I try to pick him up, but when it´s close to bedtime, he gets much calmer. He usually falls asleep in my hand. He is about to change skin for the first time, and it is quite a irretating process, I guess it tickles.
When he lost the skin on his feet, it all came off in one piece, and it looked just like a glove laying in the sand !
He sleeps standing like he does in the picture above almost every night...
 
  Monday 28 Dec 1998
Hi! I guess this will be the last note this year! Elliott´s still doing great, eating a lot of veggies and growing a lot. He is very lively, and I was getting worried that he would never get tame again ( he was very calm some weeks ago...) so I asked in the pet shop. They said that they have these phases just like kids have their " terrible two´s", after about 8 months he will get calmer and tamer. Good! I can still take him out of the cage, but he will not fall asleep in my hand anymore.
* * * * * * * *HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ! * * * * * * **
 
  Monday 4 Jan 1999
Elliott is getting BIG now, before he weighted nothing and now he is really heavy in your hand. He is now too big to sleep standing. He seams to like his Christmas present - a nice hammock placed under the basking light.
Elliott would be VERY happy if you took the time and signed his guestbook!
That´s all for now, see you soon !
 
  Wednesday 20 Jan 1999
Hi ! Today we got a couple of photos from Amy ( thanks ! ), showing her Bearded dragons.
You can take a look at them here !
Otherwise Elliott is doing just fine. I let him run around on the floor every other day. I think he likes to be out of the cage, but what he doesn´t like is the slippery floor - he can´t run as fast as he wants.  
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  Thursday 28 Jan 1999
We got some more photos, this time from Veronica, showing her beardies Sol, Micro, Sand and the others. Thank you ! Please take a look at them here!
Elliott got his first bath in the bathtub a couple of days ago. I don´t know if he exactly LOVED it, but at least he didn´t dislike it. I guess he just got to get used to it a little bit more. This isn´t just a thing you do for the fun of it, I´ve read that it is good for their digestion and for their skin when they are shedding. Just remember to put lukewarm water in the tub, not cold. I also put a couple of rocks in the water for him to bsit on with the feet and the belly in the water. Some pictures of this event is coming up !
 
  Tuesday 2 March 1999
It´s been a while since last time! As you can see on the new pics Elliott has grown a lot. We had to get him some new, bigger sticks for his home to climb on. You can also take a look on him taking a swim in our bathtub. He has only done this twice, last time I was going to put him in there he got "hysterical", so I had to pick him up again... There is also a pic of him in his home where you can see how we have decoreted it. We have been considering getting Elliott a friend, but the ones we looked at were so small that we would have to "split" the cage until the new one grown bigger. Plus I don´t know if the cage is big enough for two. If anybody reading this has any experience of adding a beardie, please email me if you have any suggestions on what to do!
 
  Monday 21 June 1999
  I know...it´s been "a while" since I wrote about Elliott... But he is still doing well, getting really big and muscular ! On this pic Elliott is surfing the Internet and answering all emails he recieves from all around the world! Thanx!
   
  Friday 13 August 1999
  Lastest news: We are planning on moving to California this autumn and Elliott is really excited about it! Nothing is definitely yet, but that is what our plans are so far. Of course there are a lot of things that has to be well prepared, like how we can make the transport as smooth as possible for Elliott and our dog Carrera. I had no clue how you transport a lizard on a plane, so a put a message on the BD help forum yesterday. I just read the answers, and "Joan" gave me a tip of an excellent site to visit: Sammy the giant green iguana There were answers to all of my questions! Thanks!
   
  Wednesday 17 November 1999
 

Everything was arranged with our move to California a week ago. I had checked with KLM so that it was OK to bring Elliott on the plane, wich it was, so I booked a ticked. Then last week I got a note from my travel agency that KLM suddenly had a new regulation concerning lizzards and all of a sudden I can´t bring Elliott! I am leaving for California Sunday and I am doing everything to solve this problem right now.

... to be continued...
   
  Friday 19 November 1999 
 

Ok, today was a tuff day... I had to give Elliott away, not for ever but for 6 months... Since I coulnd´t bring him on the flight with KLM and since they changed their mind only a week before my departure, this was the best soloution for him that I could come up with. And it turned out to be GREAT! From a tips from Magnus who runs "Tropikariet" in Helsingborg, I contacted "Tropikhuset" ("the Tropic House") in Malmoe, Sweden to ask if they could helpme in any way. I talked to a wonderful person who said that she could take care of Elliott until I get back for 4 weeks next summer! So, today I went to Malmoe with Elliott and the first thing they did at the "Tropikhuset" was to check Elliott´s sex; he is a she!!! I guess I will have to refer to him as "Miss Elliott" from now on! Anyway, the person who is going to take him home to let him stay with her other 3 beardies is a wonderful person and I have no doubts what so ever that Elliott will be and loved very good taken care of! She promised me that she will send me an email if Elliott gets pregnant!

Now, don´t stop to visit this site, I will continue to report how Elliott is doing and then I will arrange for his move to California next summer instead since I am leaving for California this Sunday.