Terrarium Stand

J & I's new mansion was too heavy for the little table we kept the old terrarium on. We did a bit of research into terrarium stands, and found all the ones online to be quite ugly and expensive. Our awesome friend Mark came to our rescue, and custom built us a stand/cupboard. He did an amazing job, thank you Mark! The lizard in the door was a pleasant surprise, and a nice touch , I think! :)

The stand just after Azz stained it.

New terrarium on new stand. Lucky lizards!!

J & I enjoying their new home.



Reptile Expo

A few weekends ago, Aaron and I visited the Reptile Expo in Castle Hill.

There were heaps of snakes, a few frogs, and lot of lizards there. We saw Jack and Ivy's close relative, the Boyd's Forest Dragon, but unfortunately there were no Angle Headed Dragons.

Boyd's Forest Dragon

I think this cute little guy is called a Spiny Knob-Tailed Gecko.
He has a funny little runt of a tail that he was flickling back and forth.

Jack and Ivy turned one in February this year, and for their birthday they received a new house! I call it the 'mansion' as it is considerably bigger than their last home. We bought it at the Expo, so we managed to get it a bit cheaper than normal, which is always a good thing!

Here is the new terrarium. It's base is a bit bigger than the last one, and it is 30cm taller, which J & I seem to appreciate as they are tree-dwellers. They spend most of the time at the top of the sticks.

February Weigh In

The 9th of Feb was weigh in day for Jack and Ivy. First up was Ivy. She wasn't overly happy about being removed from her home and venturing into the kitchen, and she jumped off the scales several times. You think they'd be used to the process by now!

Ivy put on 4grams in the last month, and is now 38g.

As per usual, it is difficult to get accurate length measurements, but I think she is around 27cm.

Next up was Jack. He has gained some ground, and is now the same weight as Ivy. Go Jack!
 He must be asserting himself a bit more in the terrarium and challenging her for the food.

Jack is still a little bit short in length than Ivy, I think his tail is still a tad shorter.
He measures in at around 26cm nose to tail.  

2011 So Far...

I have been incredibly slack so far this year re: keeping the blog up to date, but I have managed to take lots of photos of our babies!

This post is a bit of a photo collage of Jack and Ivy's goings on over the past two months...



Jack received a visit and a pat from Aunty Bree, lucky Jack!



That's the spot!

Ivy being cranky - quite a common evernt in the life of Ivy

Jack using Ivy's head as a foot stool - possibly the reason Ivy is cranky so often!

I got your back Jack, you can do it!

Tree huggers: Giving each other a hug around a tree.

We had a very hot summer here - Ivy was clearly checking the temperature out for herself, and was probably wondering when her next spray bottle shower was due.

January Weigh-In

Last week Jack and Ivy had their first weigh in for the year. They don't seem to be getting any happier about being put on the scales every month, and pretty soon they won't be able to fit on our little scales anymore!

Ivy continues to be heavier than Jack and is now a healthy 34grams, an increase of 6grams from her last weigh-in.

It's difficult to tell, but I think Ivy is still about 26cm in length.

Jack is now 31grams, 5grams up from his last weigh-in, which is an increase of approx 20% of his body weight.

I didn't do a very good job getting a clear pic when measuring Jack. I think he's roughly 24cm in length, which is the same as his Dec length. Perhaps he's a few mm longer now.

Feeding time at the Zoo!

Because we have been hand feeding the lizards, they now associate a hand coming into the tank with food, and like to nibble on fingers! So to mix up their meal time routine, we fed them out of the terrarium...

    

Jack was so desperate to get to the meal worms he literally climbed out of the terrarium...



Where are you going to go now Jack??

 





Ivy, checking out dinner..."hmm, I think I want the one on the left..."



Jackzilla ready to attack!



December Weigh-In

Well the past month has flown by, and it is now time for J & I's December weigh and measure...

Jack is catching Ivy...he is now 26grams!

Jack's measuring at around 24cm in length. It is sifficult to get an accurate measuremement as they never lie flat!

Ivy is still a bit heavier than Jack - a massive 28g.
She has also started shedding again, so she is going through another growth spurt.

Ivy is still longer than Jack, I reckon she's around 26cm nose to tail. It's all in the tail!

Ivy on the left, little  Jack on the right.

Profile shots ;)

Profile shots

November Pics

November has been an eventful month for Jack and Ivy, and here are some happy snaps to document some of the more exciting events... ;)  

Jack's new trick - he will walk all the way up Aaron's arm and jump into the terrarium.

Nap time - Jack and Ivy cuddling up to go to sleep. Jack is using the top of Ivy's stick as a pillow - comfy!



Jack, perching on the door rim at the front of the terrarium...it was really quite cute - perhaps you had to be there...



Ivy, taking a dip in the new swimming pool. This was the first time we had seen either of them use it for swimming (they normally just poo in it) :)

Hi Jack! Jack being cute on Azz's shoulder.

Jack finally shed his skin! He is a few months behind Ivy, we were wondering what was going on.
He basically shed all of it in one day. He should now have a bit of a growth spurt.
In this pic he has put his front foot on his skin and is pulling it off his head and neck. Pretty gross eh?

Jack post-shed. He still has a bit of old skin around his nostrils, but he definitely looks happier in his new skin (as happy as a lizard can look, anyway).



November Weigh-In

Our babies are growing up! We missed their October weigh-in, but managed to get our butts into gear to measure J & I this November. First up was Ivy...

It's hard to tell in this pic, but Ivy's about 24cm long. Her tail has grown so much, Jack's looks quite dwarfed in comparison.

Ivy's a fatty! Weighing in at a massive 22g, Ivy nearly broke the scales! And this was before dinner! Ivy has put on 8grams in 2 months!



Little Jack's turn was next. He measures in at approx 19-20cm in length.
His stumpy tail lets him down in the length stakes.



Light-weight Jack came in at 19g, an increase of 7grams over the past 2 months. 

The other day Jack was eating a cockroach and Ivy jumped on him and tried to take it out of his mouth.
Azz came to the rescue and saved the day. Though Jack has also previously tried this trick on Ivy, so I guess he got what was coming to him!

Terrarium Makeover

On a recent trip to Canberra, we stopped in to an awesome reptile shop to pick up some pressies for Jack and Ivy. In NSW pet shops aren't allowed to display live reptiles, but some reptile species are allowed to be displayed in shops in the ACT, so we had a great time checking out the different dragons and turtles etc.

Anyway, whilst there we picked up some new artificial ferns and an upgraded swimming pool for J & I. When we got home their terrairum received an extreme makeover, and they seem very happy in their new habitat...

Just chilling out amongst the foliage...

The upgraded pool - haven't managed to catch them having a dip yet.

Ivy's fav position on the new ferns

Jack on the new ferns