They say to overcome phobias, one must face their fears.
While you could question why on earth you’d need to rid a fear of cockroaches, rather than just rid the cockroaches themselves, Shepparton’s Kelly D’Andrea had a legitimate reason to condition herself to their presence.
She was terrified of the radiation-resistant creepy crawlies, but if she were to keep lizards for pets like she wanted to, she had to get used to them.
“As someone who has always been terrified of roaches — in fact, I cried the first time I had purchased some to feed the dragons and I just couldn’t go near them — I now have my own colony of roaches for feeding purposes,” the mother of dragons said.
That’s not the only Game of Thrones reference this story inspires, but it’s the most fitting given her lizard pets, Dex and Puff, are central bearded dragons.
Like Khaleesi’s love interests, Mrs D’Andrea’s reptiles are best kept apart to rule their own territories.
“Both have separate closures in the house as it’s not advised to keep two bearded dragons together as they can be very aggressive to each other,” she said.
“They do go outside on a nice sunny day and spend some time in the sun.”
The four other animals in the D’Andrea household, which includes two adult and two teenage humans, are all cats, and are not permitted to be in the company of the dragons either.
Of course, that doesn’t stop a cat’s curiosity.
“For safety reasons, the cats and dragons do not mingle, but the cats love to sit at the tanks and watch the dragons move about their cages,” Mrs D’Andrea said.
The cats aren’t the only ones who are mesmerised by watching Dex and Puff go about their day.
The cockroach caretaker Mrs D’Andrea enjoys plucking a few of the armour-backed bugs from their colony and transporting them to her ravenous reptiles, Menulog driver-style.
“It’s incredibly satisfying to watch them get so excited when the bugs get delivered to their tanks,” she said.
Incidentally, eating roaches is the dragons’ favourite pastime, too.
Bearded dragons are known for their distinctive flap of spiked skin under the jaw that they push forward to make a beard in an attempt to deter potential predators when they feel threatened.
They’re often mistaken for frilled-neck lizards, but bearded dragons’ frills are much shorter and spikier.
Aside from showing off their beards, dragons have a cache of other clever, amusing and aggressive behavioural traits for courtship and defence, including head bobbing, arm waving, head licking, pawing and biting.
Impressively, they can also change colour and puff up their bodies to appear bigger.
Though Dex and Puff are both central bearded dragons, they are two different varieties.
Six-year-old Dex is a leatherback who came to the D’Andreas as an adult lizard when a family friend needed to rehome him.
He has a smoother appearance than his non-biological spikey sibling.
Puff is a little younger than Dex at 5, but has been with the family since he was only a month or two old, so they’ve been able to witness his evolution from hatchling to saurian.
Mrs D’Andrea said bearded dragons made “very sweet little pets”.
A popular choice for Victorian animal lovers, a basic wildlife licence is needed in order to keep the lizards.
“They are very docile and are quite happy to sit on your shoulder and chill,” Mrs D’Andrea said.
“But before getting one, it is important to research their lighting and heat requirements because if they don’t get the correct lighting they can end up very unwell with growth and bone problems.”
Dex and Puff’s wide smiles will tell you the mother of dragons has certainly put in the effort to ensure they’re treated like royalty.