I Thought This Was So Cute

[Thunder380Lady]

Hi all,
Just wanted to share with you all something Lenore did today. I had her out of her house and decided to take her for a walk. (I was holding her of course).
I saw a couple of small dandelion flowers in my yard and picked one. As I held it up to inspect it for bugs, Lenore saw it and opened her mouth. I thought she was wanting to bite me at first. Then she started stretching to try to get closer to the dandelion. As I started to put it closer to her, she put her head forward and in one bite the dandelion was gone!
This is the first time she ever willingly took food from me. And she was so anxious to get hold of it.
I knew she liked dandelions, but I didn't know she liked them that much!!! ;D
I just thought it was so awesome how she took it!
Then we came in and I sat here at my computer holding her and she fell fast asleep, laying on her back.
She slept that way for 2 hours!! She can be such an angel at times!

Karen

[prism_wolf]

You should have gotten a picture on his back like that. It would have been SO cute!

[Thunder380Lady]

I did take pics of her sleeping, but unfortunatly I am not "smart" enough to figure out how to post pics here. I tried so many times but I just can't get them posted. Tesa was nice enough to post the first pics I sent in of Lenore.

Karen

[Diane]

It sounds like you are getting along famously with your Ig! However, i was under the impression that it is quite dangerous to have any reptile on it's back?? Can anyone else here on the board clarify? i was under the impression that this actually puts them in a 'state of shock'?

[Thunder380Lady]

Oh my gosh~yes please let me know if letting Lenore sleep on her back is dangerous. I never knew it might be a danger to her. I have never read anything about it before. She just seemed so relaxed that way. I was holding her like you would hold a baby.
She would close her eyes and sleep if I sat still with her,but if I moved she would open her eyes to see what was going on, then if I sat still, she would close her eyes again and go back to sleep.
She even tilts her head back so I can rub her neck.
But if this is dangerous to her I won't hold her like that any more. Please let me know if anyone else thinks this is bad.

Thanks, Karen

[Kerrydaktyl]

Aw thats sweet! ;D
Ive not heard that, but I would imagine it would be uncomfortable for an ig to lie on its back?? Very strange, never seen Don do it!

[Diane]

This is directly cut and pasted from Melissa Kaplan's site:
The Basics
Respect the reptiles' natural inclinations and fears:

Don't turn them upside down.
Don't dangle them in the air.
Don't hold them with two fingers.
Don't squeal, no matter how weird or creepy it feels.
Don't hold a prey animal in front of or in line of sight of a perceived predator.
Don't relinquish control when passing the reptile to someone until you are certain they are holding it properly.
Don't smell like prey.

i know i have seen something else about this as well, but for the life of me can't remember where!

[Tesa]

I've also read not to lay them on their backs. I believe it interferes with proper breathing
I can't remember.
I don't have the Igs for Dummies book anymore, but I think that's where I read it.

[VegasIguana]

Tesa said:

I've also read not to lay them on their backs. I believe it interferes with proper breathing
I can't remember.
I don't have the Igs for Dummies book anymore, but I think that's where I read it.

www.icomm.ca/dragon/dragontips.htm


"My dragon does the cutest thing when I turn him on his back- He goes to sleep!

No, your dragon isn't sleeping! More likely he's suffocating!

Lizards do not have diaphragms. The diaphragm in a human is located under the lungs. It helps our lungs expand and contract to bring in air or expel air from our lungs. The diaphragm in humans also helps keep the abdominal organs from getting into the lung cavity.

Reptiles don't have this so they use the their ribs to expand or contract their lungs and fill them or expel air from their lungs.

When a lizard is placed on it's back the abdominal organs may displace and apply pressure to the lizards lung cavity and rib cage. This may make the act of breathing very difficult for your lizard. So when you turn your dragon on it's back and it closes it's eyes, it's probably not sleeping ... it might be zoning out to some degree though ... it's most likely concentrating on breathing.

A reptile left on it's back for a period of time will often die of suffocation ... and in some cases exposure such as a turtle turned on it's back that cant right itself, baking in the hot sun.

"