I adopted a defective lizard from a breeder for a 20$ fee. This particular defect often results in culling the animal, as it is often too expensive and time-consuming to care for. Because of this, not much is known about its care.
I now am one of the most prominent “experts” on caring for this particular subset of creature. Though no one but the most experienced keepers should own one, I am still happy to give information to folks who may have to care for one, either from rescue or purchasing one before knowing exactly what they’re getting into.
Aside from being able to give advice on keeping these creatures alive, that’s not all the value: the real value is my stupid lizard. I got him literally just a couple of weeks before the pandemic & lockdowns started. He’s an absolute angel who has brought me so much joy in my darkest times. He’s sweet, gentle, goofy, and is a wonderful companion animal. He now has complete freedom in the front of my home (when he’s not in his vivarium) with his own heatlamp, ramp, and a view of the road where he love watching all the cars go by.
I love my stupid lizard. ❤️
In what way is he defective ? because he’s yellow ? Beautiful creature regardless
They’re supposed to have scales and spikes and look like this.
My boy nekkid.
omg no he’s perfect just how he is! He’s adorable. I love him…what a wonderful story!
He’s definitely the opposite of perfect, but he’s perfect to me.
Thank you!
I love your sweet boy, what’s his name? I had a buddy with a bearded dragon named Mothra and I loved that little dude. RIP Mothra, you were taken way too soon.
Thank you! His name is Pączki. Pronounced like “Pawnch-key” or the more common American pronunciation “Poonch-key” is also cool. He doesn’t mind, either way. Americans will recognize it as “the donuts they sell before Fat Tuesday/Lent/Mardi Gras.”
I’m sorry to hear about Mothra. Loss is never easy. Bearded dragons are such wonderful creatures. Definitely not for everyone, but, personally, they’ve made my life so much more vibrant with just how sweet and goofy they are.
I used to think that people who owned reptiles were crazy (they still might be, but for different reasons lol), but when a bearded dragon was suddenly thrust upon me one day… it took a while, but I came to absolutely adore them.
I love my dumb, goofy boy.
Punch key
Did you have to figure out how to care for him on your own or did you have help? What special treatment does he require since he doesn’t have scales?
TL;DR at the bottom. But do note that you SHOULD NOT set out to own a scaleless bearded dragon!! Aside from their crazy difficult care, they are often NOT produced ethically, resulting in sick dragons that often suffer and meet an early end.
I used to foster dragons, so I already knew tons about their ideal care & conditions. However, when looking up care for this particular defect (they’re referred to as “silkbacks”), a ton of it was/is just people parroting information they’d only heard thirdhand, as there is barely anyone who actually owns one/has one that isn’t a rescue of questionable origin. Because of that, tons of myths and misinformation are online now about silkback care. I essentially had to start from scratch on care and use trial-and-error to figure out what was true or not. It’s not malicious misinformation, though! It’s just ignorance.
Let me be clear: the reason barely anyone owns one is not because they’re rare! They’re actually very easy to produce. It’s just that most ethical breeders do not sell them to the general public, for a very good reason. It’d be like someone selling one-legged puppies and advertising them as “rare.” My breeder genuinely produced Pączki by accident (genetics are crazy), and separated the pair afterwards. They only offered him up to me after I brought up my credentials/experience while attempting to purchase a different dragon from them (who was sold before I could get them, unfortunately).
Owning one of these is bearded dragon ownership cranked up to “Nightmare Mode”. The dragon can grow up fine, but it takes a ton of time, energy, money, and dedication to do so. I’m an idiot who decided that I had all of that, plus a curiosity to see the difference between the silkback vs. normal dragon care in case I decided to foster again and found myself in possession of a rescue.
Here’s an abridged list of extra care requirements: no rough surfaces or sharp edges in their habitat, no bugs that risk bites (so no crickets, which are a common staple), slightly reduced/farther placed UVB due to higher eye sensitivity since they are prone to blindness/eye issues, same heat requirements, weekly/biweekly baths IN CONJUNCTION WITH: specialized lotion, aloe, massages, shed “help”, etc.
They will injure themselves, no matter how safe you make their environment. The injury may also stem from you, as I’ve even accidentally gouged him with my fingernail before. They’re not extra-fragile or anything, but they do require careful handling. It’s basically like human skin… but much slower to heal and much more prone to infections because of that– it’s a trait of cold-blooded animals.
TL;DR: I basically had to figure out care myself, due to widespread misinformation from folks who have only heard thirdhand.
Their care requirements is a lot of buying extra things and constantly paying attention to prevent & treat any injuries that may occur because of their skin.
There’s a lot more, but those are the basics. Hopefully that helps!
Again, DON’T GO SEARCHING TO GET YOURSELF A SCALELESS BEARDED DRAGON!!! If you want a less prickly dragon, look for a “leatherback” bearded dragon! Their care is the same as a standard dragon and they still have all their scales.
That is really cool you were able to do that!!
Thanks! I’m just a sucker, tbh. He was on the cusp of being culled if he wasn’t taken by someone, and, even though he wasn’t what I was looking for, I was in the market for a dragon, so…
But I’m glad I did. He’s my best buddy, and we’ve helped to inform more people about dragons and their care. I’m happiest when I’m able to help people.
When I was doing research on getting a reptile pet I thought about getting a bearded dragon. But they really need a set temperature, in a big enclosure, and eat bugs. I got a ball python instead.
I’m happy to hear you did you research and got yourself something you feel you were more capable of handling!
If you ever feel like showing off your noodle-boy, definitely post them up here or in a reptile/herp community. I’d love to see them!
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As someone who has never tried a bidet, but has one shipped and is arriving next week I’m very curious to see if my experience will be the same.
I couldn’t turn my family to the bidet cause but I love mine. I usually use a bit of toilet paper to dry my ass because I haven’t made the leap to a towel, but if I run out of toilet paper I simply let my ass air dry. It’s amazing. It also feels so much more clean.
Vasectomy.
By far the best purchase I have ever made for myself. Seriously.
I didn’t even have to pay for mine, and I’m American. Go figure…
A computer when I was still a kid. I wouldn’t be the quant and maths PhD I am today without it, that shit literally shaped my life.
I just kept messing around with it when I was 7 years old. I learned to write
.batfiles and create DOS bootable floppy drives for my games at that age (you needed to play around with Soundblaster drivers and DOS extenders at the time). Then at the same age I quickly discovered BASIC thanks to the fact that MS-DOS used to include QBasic. Then learned some basic assembly using MS-DOS’s includedDEBUGtool. Then my father got me floppy disks with Turbo Pascal and Turbo C++ on them and then I learned that shit again just by fucking around and looking at the examples, all at the age 7~8.I coded like a monkey but I still coded and at a very early age I already knew what people usually learn first in university computer science classes.
By the age of 14 I already knew how to write my own minimal bootloader in assembly and a basic 32-bits kernel in C. (then later on math ironically won me over, so ended up formally pursuing applied math with a tiny bit of computer science because I just didn’t need it and the whole exposure to programming at a very young age helped me a lot)
All of that was just thanks to the little spark I got when I first got that Pentium MMX computer.
This is Ann awesome story. I started early too but all that got me was into some sketchy early aol rooms lol.
That’s almost exactly how I got started, except instead of Turbo C++ and Turbo Pascal it was whatever free or bootleg programming language I could get my hands on. I remember when I first learned Java I used an online compiler where you just plopped your code in a text box, then I found some compiler called not
javac, butjc. I pointed it at the directory for the Java class library in Netscape and I was off to the races lol
The paid version of Sync for Reddit. I paid $1 and used it for 13 years.
Same for RiF
Same. I’m sad I got a bit out priced on the Lemmy version but at least liftoff is great too.
Ya, he’s learned his lesson. Sync for Lemmy is 🇦🇺$25.
I’ll probably still pay it, he is asking about tools for mods and that’s the killer feature I need.
I went back to college at 30. That set me up for a career I actually enjoyed and a wage that was double the dead end job I had at the time.
What subject/degree?
I didn’t get a degree. I got enough skills to get a job.
Database stuff. I write SQL for a living. Data analyst or report writer would be the generic entry level job titles.
A really nice kitchen knife. I use it daily and it makes cooking so much more fun, which translates into eating less junk food and take out, saving a ton of money and being more healthy.
What brand did you choose. I always want to get one but they are 200-300 bucks here.
Unless you want to learn everything about Japanese knives the victoriaknox fibrox is the best in terms of value for a western style chef knife.
It’s sharp out of a box, decent steel with decent edge retention, very comfortable handle and good geometry and thinness so it passes through ingredients very easily. I wouldn’t seriously consider most other knives unless they are Japanese style knives (what I use) or a certain shape that you want.
It’s only 30$. It sounds too good to be true but most of the characteristics of a good knife purely come from good design (comfortable handle, blade geometry, thinness, etc).
I’ll say right off the bat that my roomba i7 self emptying vacuum cleaner has been a game changer for me. 2 big ass dogs and the dirt/fur that comes with it made me loathe sweeping/manually vacuuming. $700 well spent.
My sewing machine. I (m) wanted curtains, my wife didn’t want to sow them (no sewing machine didn’t help).
Bought it last year (€270), made curtains troughout the house, monthly energy bill went from €630 to €230 a month due to savings on heating. (And I learned something new, always fun)
By Grapthars hammer, what a savings.
Thanks, especially the front door was a huge problem, lots of cold coming from there. Also the huge windows in the livingroom and kitchen on the 1st floor (ground floor is garage) were a huge advantage. Especially the gas bill went down a lot, not to much saving on electricity. The moment it starts to cool down, curtains close. (keeping the warmth in) Gas for heating costs loads more then the few cents extra for lighting.
HOW? I have a sewing machine I bought primarily to hem pants for my short-man legs. I’ve purchased the fabric to make curtains but after an hour of struggling to get it to lay straight and cooperate with me, I gave up. It’s just too big to deal with 😩
Curtains are a lot easier, especially when you start with pre-fabricated ones that need to be sewn together for wider windows and made shorter.
- Fit curtains
- Get loads of needles and make the roughly to size
- Cut the bottom so you have more then enough fabric to correct mistakes
- Curse as you forgot that the fabric slides of the table while cutting (leaving you wiuth a few cm left in 1 corner)
- Hang curtains again to see what you can salvage and correct
- Decide the curtains in the kitchen won’t reach the work top, just the bottom of the windows.
- Sew everything together and hang the curtains
- The slight tilt is ‘by design’ and be done with it. (They cover the windows and keep the cold out, that was the main goal)
Curtains are visible for only me and my wife, so great items to start with. (I won’t touch clothing for a while, I know I’ll mess it up)
A subscription to the now defunct children’s magazine 3-2-1 Contact. That magazine would sometimes include the code for simple BASIC computer programs. Eventually I figured out they would run on the (then common) Apple II classroom computer at school, tried one (a simple guess the number game with a preset answer), figured out how to change the answer and tweak the code, and got hooked.
Ultimately this led to a degree in software engineering and a job in IT that I quite enjoy, especially when writing scripts or working with code.
My playstation 4, I’ve had it who knows how many years. Not only do I have countless hours of gaming, but it’s also my primary media device.
Have an original N64 from like 98, no idea how many hours of enjoyment I’ve gotten out of that.
Ceramic skateboard bearings I bought in 2001, as well as a pair of grind king trucks from maybe 97 that I still ride.
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and lost a lot of weight.
I like that you included value beyond just immediate monetary
Phones are expensive but…
I mean I think my screen time is at like 5-6 hours a day. I can do almost all the things with it.
It is fragile tho. Probably won’t last more than a few years.
…still, landslide victory in the cost/utility category, despite the high cost.
I bought a $700 acoustic guitar when I was 17. That thing is now old enough to buy porn.
Dutch settlers purchased Manhattan from the indigenous Americans for beads and other goods valued at 60 guilders (about $1,000 today).
At best that’s a myth, at worst it’s whitewashed history to hide a genocide. The Lenape didn’t have a concept of land ownership, they didn’t believe a person could own the earth, so they couldn’t have had anything to sell.
Hell, if somebody offered to give me $1000 for the Grand Canyon, I’d congratulate him on his new canyon.
Agreed, thanks for clarifying.
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A car.
Freedom of mobility is huge. Not worrying about how to get groceries home. Being able to go to a doctor when necessary.
Recreational aspects, took a drive through Washington State, up the Olympic Penninsula and down through Seattle and Everett.
I’ll tag onto this- not because I think my option is better, but because it’s a complimentary thing that hits a lot of the same points in different situations.
My bike has given me joy, fitness, new activities, and new friends. When I didn’t have a car it got me to work, gatherings, shops, etc. The enjoyment of riding got me out exploring nature around where I live. I’ve done multi-night bikepacking trips. I’ve met friends on rides. I’ve made new friends at work when we discover we both ride in sometimes. I chat to people at the bakery about their bikes.
All that, with a side effect of keeping me healthy and fit.
