Green tree monitors (playlist)

         
This is a playlist of all my Green tree monitor videos.  It starts from when I got Emeril as a baby 4 years ago and ends with videos of his baby:)

My first Green tree monitor (Varanus prasinus) hatchling!

So the day has finally come where I have succeeded in hatching out a Green tree monitor!  It's been about four years since I first got my pair of Greens as a baby and a juvenile.  The first two years I waited for them to grow up and the next two years were spent collecting eggs and trying to hatch them.  It has taken a long time to hatch a baby because my pair only lays eggs about every six months, and only three eggs are laid at a time.

 My first clutch died when I failed to remove the eggs fast enough and the male ate them.  The second clutch died when I had a power failure one winter.  The third clutch died right before hatching when I added too much water to the incubation medium.  It was starting to dry out and I got nervous.  My forth clutch I did the exact same thing as I did with the third, I'm lucky all the eggs didn't die.  This forth clutch I killed two eggs but the third egg survived and hatched:)   Lesson learned...NEVER add water to the incubation medium, even if it is drying out!  

In this photo the baby is starting to pip after 158 days of incubation.  Notice the dark spot on the top right of the egg.

                                                   
                                The next day...the baby is resting with it's head sticking out of the egg.

Later that night after hatching...some photos of when I first put the baby in it's cage.  It still has parts of the egg and incubation medium stuck to it's back.

Already, not even 5 minutes in it's new home it is trying to run around and get out of it's cage hahaha!

             A day after hatching...I stuck my hand in the cage and just like it's parents it crawled out:)

               
                                                          Chilling out on the cork tube...

A few days old.  I added a dozen small crickets to his/her cage...came back and they were gone!  Look how fat his/her belly is hahaha!

This little baby is the cutest lizard ever!  I look forward to raising him/her up just like I did his/her parents:)

 

Here are some videos I put up of the baby.

Emeril and Jade had a baby:-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUHqLcZQ2DA&list=UU1BDaeqhRD3LXBSk2xYXgPA&index=3

Baby in his cage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWPL4YA_AYs&list=UU1BDaeqhRD3LXBSk2xYXgPA&index=2

Baby walking in my hands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCdKdU9XVlo&list=UU1BDaeqhRD3LXBSk2xYXgPA&index=1

Tiniest Chameleon, Brookesia Micra, Discovered On Madagascar Island

The smallest chameleon in the world (Brookesia micra) is so tiny it can sit on the head of a match!  It's so adorable!  Click on the link below to read about it.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/15/tiniest-chameleon-madagascar-brookesia-micra_n_1280151.html

Lizard fossil provides missing link to show body shapes of snakes and limbless lizards evolved independently

Click on the link below to read how snakes evolved and are closer related to monitor lizards than legless lizards.

Lizard fossil provides missing link to show body shapes of snakes and limbless lizards evolved independently

 

Image of the nearly complete fossil of Cryptolacerta hassiaca. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Toronto)

Turtles win greater protection at CITES meeting

A WIN for the turtles! Yay!  Click on the link below to read about it.

Turtles win greater protection at CITES meeting

 

Freshwater turtle in Sumatra. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.
Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0308-cites-turtles.html#EGt418fmABQKumQ9.99

Madagascar's chameleons came from African mainland

Chameleon awesomeness!  Click on the link below to learn about how Madagascar's chameleons came from Africa years ago.

Madagascar's chameleons came from African mainland

 

Parson's chameleon in Madagascar

 

 

Peyrieras' Pygmy Chameleon (Brookesia peyrierasi) in Madagascar
Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0329-madagascar-chameleon-origin.html#Q1TmLSiUuIGt8hXZ.99

 

Panther chameleon in Madagascar

 

 

Juvenile Elliott's Chameleon in Uganda

 

 

Calumma crypticum chameleon in Madagascar

 

 

Furcifer pardalis chameleon in Madagascar

 

 

Over ten percent of a species' total population found in smuggler's bag

Reptile smuggling is a serious threat to reptiles.  For those of you who do not know, reptile smuggling is only second to drug smuggling worldwide.  It's really sad that there are people who don't care that they are wiping out populations of wild reptiles.  The only thing they care about is money:(

Take some time and click on the link to read about a smuggler who got caught.  Yea for the tortoises!  I hope they live long enough to be relocated back to where they came from.

Over ten percent of a species' total population found in smuggler's bag

 

Ploughshare and radiated tortoises confiscated in Bangkok. Photo by: P.Tansom/TRAFFIC.
Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0325-hance-ploughshare-trafficking.html#8H5TLUHrKGoEQzrL.99