I had never owned any sort of reptile until one month ago when I found thorn sitting in a tank in a garden centre pet shop. i had always wanted a lizard, and my lizard of choice was a chinese water dragon. As thorn was not yet up for sale (they like them to feed by hand before they home them), this gave me time to buy and set up a viv for him and learn, or at least begin learning, all I needed to know. I sat up night after night for 10 days reading tricias pages and pages of information.

When I went to collect thorn, they told me he was 3 months old. He seemed to settle in well and he ate quite well, i thought. he ate 8 crickets in one sitting one day......then he didn't eat again for a week. I took him to see a reptile expert after frantically cyberflicking through tricias pages, to find out why he wouldn't eat. he was lively, he was green, and appeared very happy. I asked the expert if he was thin. she told me he was thin and he was not 3 months old......he was 12 months at least! I was panicked and devastated.

I got him a little female friend at this time, Timber, who is 3 months old, the size difference is amazing!

anyway, i got them home and immediately tried to feed them waxworms and they both ate! hoorah I thought, he must have been bored of crickets or lonely. A few days later on a sunday evening, he became very lethargic, wouldn't eat again and went very brown in colour. Within a coulpe of hours he was dead. I have never been more devastated in my entire life. For all I'd only had him for 4 weeks, we had a special bond and now he was gone. I was angry, I blamed myself.

i went to see the rep expert again. She wasn't surprised by my tellings. i told the shop i bought him from, they told me they had had further reports of reptiles being older than they had first been told, and they contacted their supplier immediately. The story from the supplier was that he was feeding them up fast so they were strong enough for travel!!! so they were bigger than normal! Has anyone EVER been able to force a dragon to eat? and if so wouldn't it grow outwards first rather than lengthways and remain skinny?

i have written a heartfelt letter to the manager of the centre begging him to please firstly, change his supplier and then to get at least 2 of the pet staff members to train in reptile care. they need to know what they're talking about. I am waiting for a response now.

I am still heartbroken. I still have Timber, who is doing fine, still falling from her trees while jumping around her house! (where her name came from) I just hope that the centre I got thorn from take me seriously and do as i ask. I will let you know.

Snowy.x aka thorns mummy.x