Today I found a water dragon relaxing on a driveway—a day in the life of a suburban reptile! Thanks, Micro.blog for the friends and civil discourse that you bring.

Keiraville NSW 13:08 14/10/20 #adayinthelife

@martinfeld Great find.

@martinfeld this feels very on brand for AUS! 😀

@Burk Haha yes, I’m happy to promote our Antipodean dinosaur descendants!

@martinfeld Too scary for me! 🏃‍♂️

@canion Not a reptile fan? (The picture makes the dragon look bigger than it actually was.) 😀

@martinfeld Only in Australia! (*)

(*) These may not be available in your country...

@maique Haha nice disclaimer! They crack me up. The entire time that I was edging towards it, you could tell that it was thinking, ‘Oh, stupid human... leave me alone. I really don’t want to leave this nice, sunny spot. Wait, if I don’t move, he can’t see me!’.

@martinfeld I would be edging the opposite way! You’re a brave man, these scare me to death!

@martinfeld Such a great capture. Reminds me of the pet iguanas I had as a teenager.

@martinfeld That's a terrific photo. Do you get many water dragons around where you are?

@maique Hahaha thank you, not that brave but I'll take that.

@gregmoore Thank you! That's cool: how many iguanas did you have over time?

@lmika Appreciate it! I wouldn't say that they pop out everywhere but they do tend to appear on sunny days, relaxing on rocks or scurrying through nearby parks and waterways.

@martinfeld I had two. The first one was a large female that I found in my neighbors backyard. My parents let me keep her because we had a very tall fish tank that she wouldn’t be able to escape from. (Spoilers: She escaped all the time!) She mostly slept on her heat rock and ate flowers from our yard. We had a pool at our house and I loved swimming with her. Unfortunately, she escaped to a nearby lake one afternoon when she ripped through the screen of our back porch.

Apparently my care impressed my parents enough for them to allow me to visit a pet store and buy a male. He would be easier to handle because he was far smaller. (Spoilers: He was way more difficult!) I eventually got tired of him drawing my blood and gave him to a high school classmate as long as they agreed they couldn’t give him back.

@gregmoore Wow! That’s quite a story! It sounds like they’re very curious and more energetic than I generally imagine. Would you have more?

@martinfeld They like to be curious when they think nobody is looking. I would rutinely come home to find my bedroom door closed and my mom saying, "She's out again." I definitely would not have another one because they clearly want to live outside. I'll stick with my cats. 😹

@gregmoore You can’t stretch out in the sunshine when you’re inside! Ha, classic... I imagine that cats would be a bit easier.

@martinfeld Cats are loads easier than reptiles. (And they’re also far less bloody to snuggle with.)

@gregmoore Blood! I hadn’t considered that...