It's Lizard Time @exceptionalreptile - Tumblr Blog

Much belated pictures of Zeiat and her eggs. These are from just over a month ago, and she is currently laying a second batch. Here’s hoping it’ll be the last one for this year.

#zeiat #bearded dragon

exceptionalreptile

Please enjoy these pudgy chipmunk cheeks.

fafmir-the-vile-wyrm

How old is this mans?

exceptionalreptile

He’s about six years old.

exceptionalreptile

Breaking lizard news: Zeiat has burrowed under my aloe vera and is currently laying eggs. This is unexpected.

exceptionalreptile

Update: she laid a total of 21 eggs over a couple of hours. I’m honestly baffled- she’s been restless and digging a lot over the past week, but I was convinced she wasn’t gravid because she wasn’t showing any physical signs. No weight gain, no lumpiness in her belly, nothing. She somehow managed to fit a golf ball’s volume worth of eggs inside her with zero visible changes.

I’ve put a proper lay box in her tank in case there are any more still to come, and I’ll be upping her calcium intake. Got to do some more research on what else she might need nutritionally to recover- if anyone has any tips I’d love to hear them.

#in case it wasn't obvious- the eggs are infertile #no baby beardies around here #i'll post pics later #zeiat #bearded dragon #text

Breaking lizard news: Zeiat has burrowed under my aloe vera and is currently laying eggs. This is unexpected.

#zeiat #bearded dragon #text

Please enjoy these pudgy chipmunk cheeks.

#I added a new heating pad to his enclosure #he REALLY likes it #so relaxed i can put the camera right up to his face and he doesn't even care #Figaro #green iguana

Big yawn

#lemonade #Leopard Gecko

Fio decided to ring in the new year by going Full Murder Boy.

For anyone unfamiliar, this is what an aggressive iguana looks like. Note the extended dewlap, wide eyes, raised dorsal crest, and body flattened vertically so he looks larger from the side. It’s not as clear in the picture, but his color has also gone lighter than usual, especially on top of his head. He was head-bobbing and lashing his tail intermittently while I was taking this picture.

It’s incredibly important for anyone who interacts with iguanas to know how to recognize these signs, especially when dealing with males in season. These animals do not make idle threats- an iguana in this state will attack if approached, and they are 100% capable of seriously injuring a person. I ended up herding Fio back into his cage with a broom, and he bit at it the whole way.

(What set this whole incident off? He saw a guy out the window wearing an orange safety vest. This is the first time in nearly two years he’s gotten this aggressive, so I’m hoping it was just a fluke and he’ll have calmed back down by tomorrow. He’s definitely not going near the window again until he’s out of season.)

#btw i highly recommend the broom trick #it's soft enough not to hurt him #and too slippery to climb #i just sort of slid him across the floor like a hocky puck #right back through the cage door #anyway happy 2021 guys #Figaro #green iguana #The Fio report

Found some older pictures I’d never gotten around to uploading. From the reptile rescue.

#grey-banded kingsnake #burmese python

This may sound strange to anyone who hasn’t spent a lot of time around reptiles, but one of my favorite things about lizards is how intelligent and expressive they are. Not necessarily “smart” in the way we associate with mammals, but very aware and engaged with their surroundings.

Zeiat may spent all day sitting in the same spot, but once you know what to look for it’s so clear that she is alert and reacting to everything around her. Her eyes are always moving, and there are so many subtle ways she responds to what’s happening around her. With Fio, obviously people talk a lot about the dewlap being a big part of iguana body language, but there’s just as much information communicated in how he positions his body, where he’s looking, how wide his eyes are, etc.

I just really love lizards and I think a lot of people miss out on just how complex and nuanced their behavior is.

#i mean #this is true most of the time #right now zeiat is brumating #and is thus basically inert #which is exactly what got me thinking about how expressive she usually is #lizards #text

Fio in his enclosure: Good arboreal boy. Has not touched the floor in days.

Fio the second I let him out: Time to crawl under the furniture and eat cobwebs.

#thank you lizard #for reminding me to vacuum more often #he is so dusty #figaro #green iguana #The Fio report #text

exceptionalreptile

Fio has mouth rot again. It’s very mild and he’s going to be fine, but this time the vet prescribed an oral antibiotic. So that ought to be exciting.

exceptionalreptile

Update: we did it! Seven days of antibiotics. Fio is very very upset with me, but I still have all my fingers and am thus prepared to call this a victory.

#his mouth seems more or less back to normal too #I'm going to send the vet a picture tomorrow just to confirm everything looks okay #but I think he's fine now #text #figaro #The Fio report

Fio has mouth rot again. It’s very mild and he’s going to be fine, but this time the vet prescribed an oral antibiotic. So that ought to be exciting.

#i've given zeiat medicine with a syringe before #but never fio #he's also getting ssd cream but he did fine with that last time #figaro #the fio report #text