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

Posturepedic branch?

This is how we found Ivy sleeping the other night..kind of looks like a lizard yoga pose..



Posers

This is how I found Jack and Ivy when I got home from work today...they crack me up!



Jack...this is also where he slept last night, in a hammock of bamboo leaves - cute!



Ivy, stretching out her legs. Her super long tail is a help at times like this!





Just chillin'

I always find it amusing when Jack and Ivy sit like this...all relaxed, just chillin' out...

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!!

Never wake a sleeping dragon

I got home tonight to find our babies fast asleep at the front of the terrarium, it was the cutest thing ever!! I was very mean and thoughtless and turned the light on, not realising they would be sound asleep, and this is what I saw... (Ivy started opening her eyes at the bright lights, sorry Ivy!)

Little Jack, sound asleep.