After lunch yesterday I decided I missed Beaker so I stopped at home and brought him to work for the rest of my shift (3 hours). He did very well and kept quite. I think 3 hours is a bit of a stretch though. He started getting a bit cranky and sleepy. But he did have a good time munching on some grapes and drinking from my coffee mug (with water, not coffee). We might try again some day but I want to have a spare perch with water and food which he seems to want almost hourly. He normally is asleep when it gets dark out so he was up past his bedtime so I can't blame the crankiness.

Tags: Update

This isn't Beaker related but there were a bunch of these neat green beetles on my front lawn. Just had to get some pictures. Bugs are so neat. I've seen quite a few rather large beetles here in PA so this guy isn't huge but still quite cool.



Green June Beetle (Cotinus nitida)

Description : 3/4 - 7/8" (20-23 mm). Robust, elongate, somewhat flattened. Head dark, with a horn. Pronotum and elytra are metallic green with brownish yellow on the sides; the underside is glittery green and brownish yellow. Tibiae green; femora are brownish yellow. Larva, to 2" (50 mm), is yellowish white with brown head.

Habitat : Gardens, orchards, open woods, and crop fields, particularly above sandy soil.

Range : New York to Florida and Gulf states, north to Missouri.

Food : Adult drinks pollen from open flowers, such as hollyhock, and devours ripening fruits, especially peaches, and the foliage and fruits of many trees and shrubs. Larva eats roots of grasses, alfalfa, vegetables, tobacco, ornamental plants, and many other plants.

Life Cycle : Grayish, spherical eggs are laid in soil with high organic content. Larvae often emerge after a prolonged rain, crawl on their backs over soil or through sod, and over winter deep in soil. Larvae develop in earthen cells near soil surface and pupate in the late spring of the 2nd year after hatching. Adults emerge June-July. 1 generation a year.

Adults fly noisily at night in search of food. This beetle is often an agricultural pest because its larvae destroy the roots of valuable plants, especially tobacco.

Tags: Bug, Beetle

Today he got a pedicure and a beakicure. The craws were quite long and now he's oh so pretty (and less deadly). I'll have to see how getting nibbled on and groomed feels now. He can bite hard if he wants to but really hasn't put much effort into it on me.

Oh and he's learning to say "whatdya doing?", "Ruff" like a dog and will make kissy sounds if you say "kisses". How nice. He still won't say "Arrrrgh" or "Where's the gold" or "Aye Matey!" yet. Working on it.

Tags: Update

13 new pictures of bath time and new living quarters in the Photos section. Wee!

Tags: Update, Freeze Frame, Beaker

The living room where I had Beaker was pretty dark. Even with windows open not much sun was able to light up the place. I kept the lights on during the day for him and for the webcam. Decided it would work out much better if I move him to the walk-way. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It used to be an outdoor porch but was converted to an indoor porch. You enter the house through it and has separate doors (with different locks) into the main house. There are some nice advantages to this move. Beaker now has 6 big windows which will allow natural sunlight and UV for him to bask in. The room has independent heating controls from the rest of the house so that during the winter I can keep that one room heated while not worrying about paying hundreds of dollars each month trying to keep the entire place heated. I'd like to get some big ass plants in there too to give it that jungle feel. Pictures of this too will be posted.

Tags: Update

Got some good pictures which I'll post (as soon as I have time) of Beaker's bath time which I do every Saturday. Also got a few of him on my hand to gain a better perspective of his size. He's not real fond of bath time but he doesn't put up that much of a fight. Poor guy looks so pathetic all wet and stuff. Nothing a good sun bathing won't fix.

Tags: Update

I knew it was just a matter of time. Beaker had been nibbling on my necklace from day one and this morning finally sliced through it. Beads and things all over the place. No more necklaces for me unless they are hard leather or solid titanium or something. I've never been fond of jewelry (on me) any how. Just as well. If he starts nibbling on my ears then I guess I will need to get something new to distract him.

Tags: Update

Had my first doctor exam today and all is well. Plumage is great, heart sounds good, eyes check out and I'm good to go. I'm being fed well and taken care of. I do need to go in next week for a beak and nail trim though.

Tags: Update

Really wanted nerdbird.net/com but they were taken. Ohwell. Moved the site to nerdbird.org now. Beaker gets his own domain instead of a sub-domain. Joy!

Tags: Update