Ninja Dragon

05/19/2025

In Memory of Ninja Dragon
2015 – 2025

Ninja Dragon, my classroom bearded dragon, passed away peacefully in her sleep early this morning. She came into my life in the fall of 2017, rehomed by one of my biology students who could no longer care for her. From that moment on, she became a daily presence in my classroom — curious, calm, and always a hit with students.

Ninja especially loved it when we moved to the bigger room I'm in now. She’d come out each day and make her way across the desks, soaking in the attention. Students would feed her blueberries and hornworms, take funny videos of her adventures, and she quickly became part of our classroom culture.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Ninja was an unexpected but wonderful motivator for my distance learning students. She’d pop up during Zoom calls and gave students something familiar and comforting in an unfamiliar time.

After we returned to school, Ninja began to show her age and started to slow down. I brought her home, and for the past three years, she’s lived a quieter life — sunbathing in the backyard, enjoying warm baths, and mostly napping in her cozy tank. We believe she was about 2 when she first came to me, which would make her around 10 years old — a long life for a bearded dragon.

Ninja was a good dragon. A gentle soul who made my classroom feel more alive and brought joy to so many students over the years. She will be deeply missed.

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10/28/2023

Yup, I'm still alive! I've been lazy at the house this semester. Mrs. S gave me a bath today and stuffed me with some food. Hi Capt. Frank !

01/08/2023

01/08/2023

Happy New Year.. I'm still at home. Not ready to go back to school, maybe in a month or so.

10/09/2022

It's been a very long time since Ninja posted anything. She's been home recuperating for almost ten months since the eye infection. Today the eye looks better than ever and she is responding to movements like she was in the past. We are going to watch her a few more days and maybe bring her back to school for a while and see how she does.

07/22/2022

It's been a while since Ninja posted. She is still recovering from the eyeball thing. She has been sleeping mostly for months. Every once in a while she moves around. Mrs. S gave her some papaya today and she perked up a bit. School starts in a few weeks but I don't think we should take here in just yet.

We are getting the feeling she was much older than we were told when I got her in Fall of 17. If that's the case she could be as much as 8 or 9 years old, which is when they start to really slow down.

But she is happy today!

05/02/2022

Back at the vet for a check up.

02/14/2022

After a few months of recuperation Ninja is back in the classroom!

01/28/2022

Update: Ninja's eye is remarkably well healed. She will go off antibiotics, but stay on anti-inflammatory for a while. Her weight is up 15% and doing well. She has been cleared to go back to school. So we will bring her back next week sometime.

01/23/2022

Ninja Dragon is doing remarkably well... this is the bad eye. She is seeing again, blinking, and hunting worms!

01/13/2022

Feeling better, eating a lot, and starting to play! Mr. and Mrs. S have been taking really good care of me! ...

01/07/2022

Check up at the vet!