The tables have turned...

So perhaps it is not Ivy who is dominating Jack...

Whilst sitting here with one eye watching the lizards, one eye on the computer, I watched Jack make his way, branch by branch, from one side of the terrarium to the other, where his goal was Ivy's head! Cheeky little thing! She was sitting there minding her own business, and he launched himself at her. He then tipped off her and fell in the pond underneath, which served him right really.

So perhaps Ivy has just been defending herself against Jack's advances... it's very hard to tell, because as soon as they know you're looking at them they tend to freeze. We may have to set up a surveillance camera a la Meerkat Manor!

September Weigh-In

It is now time for Jack and Ivy's October weigh-in, but this is the first chance I've had to post their September measurements, so I might have to do a few posts all at once!

I must firstly apologise for the crappiness of the ruler I was using to measure the lizards - there weren't many options available..

First up we have Jack...

Weighing in at a massive 12grams, this is up 2 grams from last month. Come on Jack, you can do better than that!

Ivy's turn...Ivy has become very domineering over the last month. Jack will look at his food for a while before deciding whether or not he wants to eat it, and before he makes up his mind, Ivy has usually pounced on it and eaten it for him. Henceforth, Ivy has increased her weight from 9 grams last month to a whopping 14 grams this month. We may have to start separating them at mealtimes. Poor Jack!

As for their length, you can't really read the numbers on the ruler, but I think Ivy is approx 20cm in length, (nose to tail tip) and Jack is about 18cm. Ivy's tail is quite a bit longer than Jack's - must be all that extra food!

September Weigh-In

J & I were due for their monthly weigh-in a couple of days ago - with all of the excitement of moving location, this seems to have been overlooked. Stay tuned for a weight and length update, will do ASAP!

Growth Spurt

We have been noticing how much Ivy has been eating lately - she used to sit back and let Jack have the main share of the crickets and cockroaches, but over the past few weeks she has basically wrestled him for food, and at one point was trying to eat a cricket out of Jack's mouth! All of this eating has led to a big growth spurt, and Ivy now appears to be longer than Jack - at least her tail definitely is - and it has meant that she is now shedding her skin again!! Jack is showing no signs of shedding, but Ivy has now almost completely shed all of her skin. Here is a photographic journal of the highly attractive process that is the shedding of skin...

It begins with a bit of shedding on her tail...

Her tail has finished shedding, now it's her legs' turn..

Oh dear...this is how I found her when I came home today...
her legs and tail have shed their old skin, and now her whole torso and head are shedding, it's really quite freaky!!

Poor Ivy...she won't be winning a dragin beauty pageant today

A fully-shedding Ivy in her favourite tree

Handsome Jack looks on with amusement..no signs of him shedding any time soon...

J & I's New Home!

Aaron and I are housesitting my parents' house for a month while they are away, so Jack and Ivy kindly agreed to pack up their terrarium and accompany us to our temporary abode...of course, being the superstars that they are, they didn't help with transportation at all, and Aaron and I had to lug the 40kg terrarium down all of the stairs at our apartment block, then up the stairs at Mum and Dad's. Those dragons had better appreciate what we do for them! 

Jack and Ivy have a nicer view and get more sunshine during the day from their new position than they did in our apartment (they also have their own TV in their new room - I'll have to put King of the Lizards on for them, or maybe How to Train Your Dragon, I'm sure they'd love that, but I guess they might feel a little insecure after watching it seeing as they don't have the ability to fly - well, not that we have seen yet anyway!!), so I am hoping they will agree to move back to our apartment once our stay is over.

Sunbaking

Whenever they can spare some time in their busy schedules, Jack and Ivy love to chill out and catch some rays. They don't get much access to sunlight in their terrarium, so whenever possible they venture to the window sill in the study and bask in the warmth. I may have to investigate the possibility of getting some lizard coconut oil to help them develop their tans...

Hi Jack!

I thought this was a cute pic of Jack, peering over Aaron's hand. This perspective also gives you a good view of the shape of their heads - hence the name Angle Headed Dragon. :)

 Peeping Jack

Rock-a-bye Baby in the Tree Tops....

Another pic of Jack sleeping...just because he is so cute!!

He seems to love cuddling up to the stick at the front of the terrarium...doesn't look very comfy to me, but he likes it!

Just Because...

I am just posting this photo because I like it. This was the day I had to be home for the plumbers to fix our bathroom, so I was killing time by playing with the babies...

Weigh In Time - 3

Well another month has passed, and you know what that means...weigh in time!!

Jack and Ivy have upgraded their diet from small to medium sized crickets, and they have been eating more cockroaches lately as well.

All of this eating as led to a lot of growth, as the following pictures demonstrate...

Jack weighing in at a massive 10grams. Fatty boombalada!

Jack, measuring approximately 14-15cm in length.

Ivy weighing in at a slightly lighter 9grams.

Ivy measuring approximately 16-17cm in length.

So as you can see, while Jack is still a bit of a fatty compared to Ivy, the Ivestar has caught up in length and her tail seems to be a bit longer than Jack's.

They spent the afternoon basking in the sun today and were quite hard to catch to put back in their terrarium because they were full of energy. Lizard energy = lots of running and jumping!!