Lizard rocks on

By Lilly O’Gorman
BRITTANY Davey and her bearded dragon share a birthday, an appreciation of ’70s rock and roll, and a very placid nature.
They are one cool pair.
So cool in fact, that the lizard is named after an Australian rock legend: AC/DC’s Angus Young.
“I love AC/DC, Guns n Roses, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones,” Brittany said, decked out in her AC/DC T-shirt.
The 11-year-old from Pakenham reckons Angus lives up to his rock star name.
“If I am playing guitar in my room, I look over at the tank and he has popped his head up to listen,” she said.
Listening to music and playing guitar are the pair’s preferred pastimes.
Especially in the cold weather, Angus likes nothing more than to lounge around on Brittany’s shoulders or kick back on the couch and watch TV.
The only time Angus gets a bit excited is around feeding time.
“He eats crickets which we get from the pet shop. He would eat a whole box of about 30 crickets a day,” Brittany said.
“They cost about $6 a box though, so he doesn’t get them all of the time.”
To supplement his bug diet, Angus is also fed dry food mix and a variety of fruit and vegetables, including his favourite, celery leaf.
Mum Amanda says Brittany has been a lizard lover from a very young age, when she used to catch skinks in the backyard.
It was her friend’s pet blue- tongueg lizard, though, that spurred Brittany on to get one of her very own.
Angus well and truly surpasses the tiny backyard skinks in size and will eventually grow to about arm length.
“Some people are scared to touch him, but bearded dragons are not dangerous at all,” she said.
Even his scales aren’t as sharp and menacing as they look.
A quick pat (which doesn’t faze him in the least) reveals that the pointy-looking scales around his chin are actually quite soft and rubbery.
“He has never nipped or bitten anyone. They are well-behaved and very placid pets.” Brittany’s baby sister Charlotte has taken a shine to the scaly critter, although she hasn’t quite learned the difference between giving Angus a hug or a death grip.
It’s only really the cat that remains wary of Angus, but is more than happy to laze on the special heated tank that Angus lives in.
“He is a good pet because he is easy to look after and he is really quiet,” Brittany said.
Which is perfect, because Brittany and her cool-blooded pet prefer the CD player to be making all the noise.