Stop the Press!

There comes a time in a young dragons life where he has to grow out of his skin...literally. That's right, Jack is shedding! I think it is quite gross, he is reminding me a bit of a zombie with flaky bits of skin coming off him, but it is also quite fascinating at the same time. What is even more fascinating is the fact that the new skin that is peeping through seems to be quite patterned. Female dragons are typically more patterened than males, so i'm very intrigued as to what Jack will look like after his transformation is complete.

Will he have to change his name to Jacqui?

If you click on the photo you can see a larger version of the picture to see the shedding process more clearly. Isn't it lovely? Look at where his legs attach to his body, his knee, foot, and his left forearm. Turns my stomach when I look at it, so just thought I'd share and see if anyone else had a similar reaction?

 Since the taking of this photo, he has shed the skin on his arms, legs and tail. Photos to come...the suspense is gripping, isn't it?

Dinner time!

Every afternoon Aaron comes home from work and feeds the babies. Ivy's favourite foods appears to be crickets, and Jack prefers cockroaches.  The insects are coated in multi-vitamin calcium powder to ensure Jack and Ivy are receiving adequate nutrition.

Tonight Jack was being very greedy, and ate one of Ivy's cockroaches - he is definitely a boy.

The following pics are of Ivy polishing off a cricket.

Warning - the following content contains some graffic images and may not be suitable for faint-hearted people or those who get upset at the sight of a lizard eating a cricket...

Yum! Crunchy crickets:

Down the hatch!

All gone!

Flexibility

One thing that always makes me laugh is the interesting positions that the dragons get themselves in to! I don't know much about dragon anatomy, but they seem to be extremely flexible, and they also seem to be quite happy resting with at least one of their legs dangling in mid-air.

Ivy...

Jack...

Adventures with Aunty Fea

Jack and Ivy managed to fit another visitor in to their tight schedule this week...Aunty Fea! She had not had a chance to visit them since their arrival and was very excited to finally meet them!

Terrarium Life

Just some pics of everyday terrarium life for Jack and Ivy. Life is pretty cruisy for them. They lounge around during the day chasing the sunlight, and then they are hand-fed in the evenings...oh what a life!

Ivy posing for the camera...

Jack and Ivy chilling out amongst the foliage... Jack is on the left....

A visit from Nan

Nanna came to visit the babies last week, and they had a lovely time sunbaking on her shoulder. She hadn't seen them in a month and commented that they had grown a lot since she saw them last. They are definitely well fed and have nice fat bellies on them :)

 

Hello!

When I got home from work the other day, Ivy was sitting at the bottom of the terrarium with her hand up on the glass, looking like she was waving at me. I got that feeling you get when your dog runs up to you all excited to see you when you get home... ;)

Wet and Wild Adventures!

Once Jack and Ivy finished their sunbaking they needed rehydrating. They love water and everyday their terrarium is sprayed with warm water. Due to the babies being so active after all of that sun, they had a great time playing with the water and drinking it off leaves, rocks, and toadstools!

Jack sipping some water off a leaf...

Jack got a little over-zealous when Aaron was spraying the tank, and reached a little too far when trying to quench his thirst...

Going...

Going...

 Going....

Gone!....

(Don't worry, he landed safely in the soft dirt on the bottom of the terrarium)

Some more drinking shots...just coz they're cute!! Ivy is in the background drinking water off the rock. Jack gets a bit camera-shy sometimes, so has frozen in this picture..

Jack having a drink at the local watering hole...

Fun in the Sun

Jack and Ivy love natural sunlight, so we try to get them out of their terrarium and into the sun whenever we can, so they can catch some rays. Once they're all nice and warm and have developed a healthy tan, they become very active and love to run and jump around. This behaviour warrants close supervision, as they will gladly jump off your hand or shoulder on to the ground when least expected!

Jack and Ivy sunbaking...

Adventure to the Scales

It is difficult to tell if our dragons are getting bigger, so we decided to begin weighing them to monitor any growth spurts. This was an exciting adventure for Jack and Ivy, as they had never before ventured to the land of the kitchen!

First leg of the journey: escaping from the terrarium:

Jack displaying some nice hanging skills on the way to the scales:

First up, Jack, weighing in at a whopping 5grams and measuring approx. 12cm in length:

Next up, Ivy! Weighing in at, you guessed it, 5grams and measuring approx. 12cm in length!

After all the excitement of weighing in time, the babies were hungry and sleepy. They polished off a few crickets each and are now tucked up in the trees ready for bed :)

Terrarium Adventures

This is how I found Jack today when I got home from work -  sitting up proudly on the stick at the front of the terrarium, like the King of the Castle.

We aren't actually sure of the sexes of the dragons yet - they are too young to be able to tell - we are just assuming they are male and female. Jack definitely displays behaviours more typical of a male. He puffs his throat out, opens his mouth and flares up his neck spikes when you try to touch him, whereas Ivy will just sit there happily and let you pat her. Jack will also lunge at his food and tends to be more of a hunter, whereas Ivy is perfectly happy for you to hand feed her. Though I suppose most males would probably be happy being hand-fed aswell, so that last comment doesn't really help with my argument. ;)

Coffee Table Adventures!

One day, Jack left the safety of the terrarium to embark on a risky voyage to the coffee table, in the land of the living room!! Whilst there, he stumbled upon a similar-looking friend who was born somewhere in Asia.
Jack tried to make small talk with his new friend, but didn't get very far...

Feeding time

This was one of Ivy's first feeding adventures in her new home. Jack and Ivy love live crickets and cockroaches (unfortunately). As you can see, Ivy is hunting down her prey in a very natural-looking environment (a jumper sleeve).

If you are observant, you will note that in the following picture Ivy's mouth is slightly open -

indicating that she has caught her dinner and is half-way through her meal! Well done Ivy! ;)

Coming home

On May 8th 2010, we picked up our new babies, Jack and Ivy: three-month-old Angle Headed Dragons, also known as Southern Forest Dragons. They are very cute and on the way home in the car they seemed very keen to investigate the world outside of their travel container:

I think Ivy is on the left and Jack is on the right. Jack is a little bit bigger and is lighter in colour than Ivy.