Lonely classroom lizard in need of some loving

Larry the central bearded dragon is having a serious case of mating season blues. Luckily Larry is the classroom pet in Ms Rita Roger’s Year 3 class at Parap Primary School in Australia's Northern Territory, where the students have taken on the roles of mini-matchmakers.



Brodie Miller, 8, and Abbey George, 9, said they realised Larry was lamenting the lack of lady lizards after lumps appeared on his hind legs. Their classmate Cloudie Callow got her mother, veterinarian Sue Callow, to check Larry’s lumps. “Cloudie’s mum said the lumps weren’t infected, they actually let off smells that attract a girlfriend but to us they would smell disgusting,” ­Brodie said.



Once the students realised Larry was trying to attract a girlfriend with his pheromones, they decided they should help. The students made up posters about Larry’s search for love with slogans such as ‘I like dem hot from the desert’ and ‘all I want for Christmas is a girlfriend’. And they are appealing for help to find Larry a lady love. Abbey said the class had decided Larry needed a friendly, good-looking girlfriend who was a five-year-old central bearded dragon like him.

How the NT News promoted their front-page story.


Brodie said the lizard deserved a “good” girlfriend because he was handsome and would happily share his mealworms and grasshoppers. “Larry can be shy but sometimes he does yoga – he stands against the glass (on his hind legs) and stretches,” Brodie said. And the whole class are keen for some baby bearded dragons. “We want 22 because we have 22 students in our class and everyone wants a baby,” Abbey said.