Kevin the Lizard

2006-05-25T01:47:00.000-05:00

Just to Update....

Kevin and Widdle are happy and well.
They actually seem quite fond of one another....

Mama Kaila has informed me of a new polly pocket water slide that she has obtained for their enjoyment.
I only saw the item briefly....

undoubtably there will be additional posts regarding this :)

2006-04-20T18:22:00.000-05:00

Man i cant believe it lizards are smart too? You should of seen Widdle on April fools day he so got me. what happen was i woke up and went to turn on Kevin and Widdles light and before i could do that i dont know what is was but i saw Widdles tummy stuck on the tank and i looked closer and for those quick few seconds i thought Widdle was dead so i turned on the light and tapped on the glass and Widdle just jumped off and ran away.

2006-03-08T14:53:00.000-06:00

Oh my....It HAS been awhile now hasnt it??!!!

Kevin and Widdle have moved!
Seems that Mama Kaila's dad picked up the whole family, lizards and all, and they have moved to a new locale. As such, i have been away from the 2 little guys as well as mama kaila for a bit. and thus, little blogging has occured. However, I DO know that Kevin and Widdle are happy, fat and fine. And I will be seeing them again soon.....more later.

In the meantime, I have had to stay in touch via phonecalls!!

2006-01-05T23:11:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone...this is Kaila's blog name...she'll post some more later :)

2005-12-10T21:11:00.000-06:00

Kevin and widdle are getting along quite nicely.

we dont know if this indicates that Widdle is a girl...perhaps he is so little that Kevin isnt concerned at this point.
Boy on Boy lizard action is a BAD combination.

So here are some pics of the happy family...

enjoy!!

Lizard Piggy back rides !!

2005-12-10T20:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, back to the story....

So the big day had arrived. We had them in the same room, Kevin and Widdle, but they had yet to meet.

Honestly we didnt know what would happen but we were really, really, really hoping that there would be no violence...or death.

The moment arrived. Kevin was happy in his newly improved home, complete with plants (fake ones) now. Placing Kevin on a spot where we could observe, we gently placed Widdle nearby. Whoa!! Oh yeah, Kevin immediately noticed the new resident! And out, out, out went the dewflap under his chin. You know, that thing that kinda puffs up on a lizard's neck?? At that moment, the only sound heard was Kaila and I in unison saying "Kevin's a boy".

We immediately poured 25 small crickets into the aquarium. That helped. Within minutes Kevin had found a great big fat one to gobble down. Even tiny Widdle got his hands on one. Of course he didnt know what to do with it because it was about twice as big as his head. But in time he disappeared with it and we believe he discovered a way to consume it.

2005-12-10T20:19:00.000-06:00

well, it's been awhile and there's some catching up to do.

In all fairness, I think I should first tell you that Kevin is NOT a girl as once suspected. He is most definately a BOY.
(hmmmm....I wonder if it means anything that we found him wearing that dress that morning....)

Kevin did well over thanksgiving and was glad when his mom Kaila got back home.

Now then, mention has been made of Kevin perhaps having a new friend. That IS indeed the case. In fact, that is how we found out he is a he and not a she.

Let me back up to the beginning.....

Over the holiday, I noticed my cat, KeeKee, coming into the house with a suspicious gleam to her eye. Upon closer inspection, I saw a little leg dangling out of the corner of her mouth. KeeKee! I yelled....thus, causing her a moment of fright and a chance of escape for one, very, very small brown lizard. He really was tiny.

This is KeeKee.

This little guy...or girl...took off as fast as he (I will just use the male pronoun) could, careening down the edge of the carpet. Of course by this time, KeeKee had caught her snap and realized her little morself was gone. She began prowling about searching earnestly. Well, obviously i couldn't let her have the fella so I trapped him in my hand and picked him up. He was rather spastic as is completely understandable considering what the last 5 or so minutes of his short life had been!!

Immediately, i thought of Kevin. And then Kaila. Kaila had been wanting another lizard. Hmmmm....so i placed him in a box and set about creating a tiny lizard's home in a small 1 gallon aquarium I had sitting in the garage. Luckily I had a wee bit of experience with this thanks to being kevin's aunt and all.
Finally the tank was set up and I went to release the little critter. Of course as I was removing him from the box, the lid accidentally slammed against his neck, causing me incredible anxiety. Had i hurt the little guy?? Now I HAD to keep him...i may have injured him for life! Great, just what I need, a lizard with a disabhility for a pet.

Fortunately in the week to come, little guy seemed just fine. He basically would lay clinging to the highest branch in his aquarium. The small crickets placed in with him seemed to not arouse his interest. Man! do little baby l;izards eat something other than bugs??? THAT caused a bit more anxiety as I set off for a day of surfing (on the web) in an attempt to find out. All I managed to find was one guys site who is so freakin compulsive about his precious anoles that i discovered that everything Kaila and I have been doing up until this point is crueal and unusual torture and certain lizard death!!! I figured that it was best if I let these thoughts go.

Skip ahead....

Kaila meets the new guy, falls in love and wants him home with Kevin. i convince her that he needs to grow a bit more and that we will need to enlarge the 'living accomodations' to better suit the 2 of them. It is interesting to watch the little guy grow. So far he has completely shed his skin 1 time. I am certain he will several more times as he continues to grow. So far the only "grown up" thing about him is his tail. It is incredibly long.

In a generous mood, Kaila tells me that we should name the lizard a name beginning with "A" since my name begins with A. We thought about it....and thought about it...and even checked a baby name site online. I was pleased with the name i picked out.... Armando!! Kaila was appalled.

So Armando stayed at Ali's house for a bit longer while we got Kevin set up. Finally it was time. Driving toKaila's house that evening, with Armando housed temporarily in a tupperwear container, Kaila broke the news to me.
"Ali, we cannot call him Armando...."
"Well," I said, "perhaps we could use my middle initial... 'W' ".
Kaila wasnt encouraging of the idea but we tossed a few names back and forth until at last, we found one.

Widdle .

Yes, our new little lizard's name is officially Widdle.

2005-11-24T17:26:00.000-06:00

Kevin may have a new friend....

more on that yet to come....

2005-11-23T01:47:00.000-06:00

Well, Thanksgiving is indeed right around the corner and it's a week without Kevin for me.

However, I mentioned before about kevin having a wardrobe compliments of Polly Pocket apparel. So I thought I could post a pic or 2.

btw, did I ever mention that Kevin is actually a girl?
really.
it's true.

2005-11-23T01:35:00.000-06:00

Kevin sports one of her favorite sweaters!

2005-11-19T01:16:00.000-06:00

It's the week before Thanksgiving.....
Kaila has left to be with her other parent for the festivities coming next week.
This leaves Kevin with Dad.

Hmmmmm......

.

2005-11-11T22:11:00.000-06:00

Kevin meets Diego

Kevin had a nice day today. He ate one fat cricket and spent a couple of hours crawling around on Kaila and on me and on the couch.

Kevin met one of the neighbors today along with her very friendly and very energetic puppydog named Diego. Diego is an interesting little fellow. Among other things, he enjoys pulling up pieces of grass and then he attempts to eat it. Kevin felt certain that Diego would eat him as well so he maintained a low profile. It isnt that Diego is mean at all.....he is just very, very enthusiastic about life in general!

Kevin followed this "meet and greet" by spending some time soaking in his hottub. Following that, he played for a brief time, then refused any further dietary delights and took a dry sauna (via the aid of a moist washcloth that has been warmed in the microwave) before retiring to bed for the night.

All-n-all, it was a very good day to be a lizard named Kevin.

K E V I N K E V I N K E V I N K E V I N

2005-11-09T21:31:00.000-06:00

Kevin's night out on the town.....

we dont know where it was that Kevin went last night....

All that we know is that this is how we found him in the morning.....

2005-11-08T20:44:00.000-06:00

Kevin enjoys an afternoon of shopping....

compliments of the "polly pocket" franchise

---- image yet to come -------

:) :) :) :) :)

2005-11-06T22:31:00.000-06:00

Kevin goes psycho...........................

2005-11-06T21:16:00.000-06:00

Did I mention that Kevin has his own hot tub??

I'll have to tell you more about it sometime....

I can tell you that there was a terrible riot at the Barbie dream house!!!

2005-11-01T20:28:00.000-06:00

Kevin

with a mouthful

of cricket :)

yum!

2005-11-01T18:59:00.000-06:00

Kevin likes crickets.

$.07 a piece at Petco -- IF you have your PALS card

we call them big macs, super size fries, chicken nibblies and chocolate shakes...

Kevin doesnt care....so long as we give them to him with speed and preparedness....

we use bloodworms mixed with water for those 'cricket-less' times....

and any other available creepy crawlies.

who would have ever guessed that such joy could be found in a swatted fly or less than alive cockroach??!!
and yet it IS a feeling of happiness I feel.....maybe this is what a mama roach feels upon gazing at her offspring..... ok, I'm getting weird here....I'll stop now...

2005-10-31T19:58:00.000-06:00

- Kevin gets a new home -

it's a spooky kind of Kevin monster

2005-10-30T10:50:00.000-06:00

ah yes....to continue.....

forgive the delay and the choppy sentences, but I managed to severely [as in surgery] break my wrist...but i am back, and Kevin seems to enjoy crawling on the splinted arm. Fortunately he is a light weight little critter!!!

now then, back to the story.....

So, I meet Kevin.

And he looks mildly insane due to his recent adventures.

Picking him up proved to be no challenge for me, but Kaila refused to touch him. She would touch him via a dishtowel...but not skin to reptile contact. I explained that she WILL have to conquer her fears if she is to be Kevin's mama. At that point she just stared at me....
it was not a loving or pleasant stare...

On that day, Kaila and I have a serious discussion on pets and taking care of them. Personally, at this point, I don't think Kevin's survival chances are all that good.
We decide to telephone our local Petco for any advice they can give. By the end of the call I was losing hope even faster. But I kept up the pretense as we put Kevin up for the night.

The following day I set off for Kaila's house when, out of the corner of my eye, a fabulous gift for Kevin was sitting out with a neighbor's trash. There, to my amazement and happiness, was a 20 gallon 'turtle type' aquarium with light and a stand!

I think the Hallelujah chorus began inside of my head....

And so I load it all up.
Drive to Kaila's.
Insist she call her dad for the parental stamp of approval.
Receive such stamp.
Unload the set up.
Clean it all up.
Set the tank up after discussing about 20 places it could and/or should (not) go!!

And then we set off to a magical land called......

PETCO

-- TO BE CONTINUED --

2005-10-23T20:25:00.000-05:00

KEVIN THE LIZARD

2005-10-21T23:29:00.000-05:00

Not just anybody gets to be the aunt of a small green reptile!

but call me Lucky!!

well, actually, alicat....but lucky enuf to get to be Kevin's aunt!

Kevin = a small green reptile - an anole - ok, so he's a lizard

for those who care to know more:
http://www.wildtexas.com/wildguides/anole.php and http://www.kingsnake.com/anolecare/index.htm

Kevin resides with the 10 year old girl I babysit. Her name is Kaila and she will be turning 11 next friday.

Kaila found Kevin while staying at her non-custodial parent's house for the weekend. This was about 2 weeks ago. Apparantly, Kevin was found and adopted and then lived in a fanny pack for 2 days. His adoption was done quietly, with no adults in attendance.

Upon arriving back home that Sunday evening, Kaila went about collecting leaves, pine needles, and some muddy globs of dirt to place inside the large plastic storage container that she had now dubbed to be Kevin's new home. The former residents were a jumbo package of colored markers.

Monday comes and I arrive to Kaila's home. There is an urgent note left for me. It instructs me to NOT go into her room no matter what!

Fortunately, Kaila arrives about the same time as I and quickly explains the note by telling me she has a surprise.

Upon following the instructions to close my eyes, I anxiously await to find out what I am to about to experience.

TaDaa!!!
Look Ali!!
It's Kevin!

Kevin....

I am staring at a lizard sitting inside the plastic box.

Kevin does not appear to be particularly pleased to meet me. He sits there, looking up at me. I think I detect a look of quiet desperation in his reptilian eyes.

His name is Kevin? I ask...

what made you pick Kevin as the lizard's name?

Because it starts with a "K" .... explains Kaila