littlekaijus - Tumblr blog

[littlekaijus]

Frog and cranberries it must be fall.

[littlekaijus]

It’s so fascinating to me that we’ve only been breeding Komodo dragons in captivity for thirty years. In that time, our understanding of them has actually really revolutionized the way we understand the social lives and behaviors of lizards in general, and it’s mostly thanks to this lady right here, who was born 30 years ago on September 13, 1992.

Kraken was the first Komodo to be bred in captivity. She hatched out at GMU, but was raised at the National Zoo. Her parents were wild-caught dragons- there’s still WC dragons in the AZA today- and this one specific individual probably did more to revolutionize lizard care in professional settings than any other individual lizard throughout zoo history.

Until Kraken, social enrichment wasn’t a thing people thought about. It wasn’t something anybody felt was necessary for lizards, because they were just… lizards. Sure, some keepers would play with their favorites, but it wasn’t until the National Zoo started documenting what she was doing that anybody realized how much Komodo dragons like to play with us too.

undefined

Kraken’s not in that video, but she’s the one who inspired all of the social studies that have been done on captive Komodo dragons. When she was at the National Zoo, her keepers  started getting curious when, for no apparent reason, she kept gingerly stealing things from peoples’ pockets and tugging on their shoelaces. So they started giving her stuff- Frisbees, blankets, soda cans, anything she showed an interest in.

She played with them, just like a mammal might. The way play behavior is described in psychology is a given activity that’s voluntary, repeated, and conducted under “relatively benign” circumstances. Keeper staff found that her conduct during the study met all of these criteria. “Kraken,” they wrote, had clearly demonstrated “play-like behavior with objects and even with humans (tug-of-war).” Moreover, she “could discriminate between prey and nonprey” while showing “varying responses” with different items (rubber rings, shoes, etc.). (There’s an excellent book on Komodo dragons that has an entire chapter devoted to her.)

Kraken died several years ago, but her legacy continues today. There’s several of her descendants still in the AZA, and the intelligence and social needs she demonstrated led to the improvement of life for these guys- and other lizards. The Komodo dragon program has been an eye opener, not just for reptile conservation, but for understanding reptile intelligence and how this incredible clade of animals functions.

[littlekaijus]

This is my new friend i have grown unreasonably attached to today even though I only found him on the stairs a couple hours ago and put him in the bushes outside. Hes so cuuuute I hope he lives a long snake life outside even if i really wanted to keep him as a pet.

[littlekaijus]

[littlekaijus]

dandelions are Not weeds they are literally yellow...

[littlekaijus]

can i jsut say… isnt it insane that polar bears go underground like imagine just walking along with a shovel and u start digging a hole and a bear is in there

[littlekaijus]

so today i noticed my snake’s cage was unlatched and he was missing, i was freaking out tearing apart the whole room, looked under/inside everything that he could’ve gotten into and more, he absolutely was not in the room. panic.

so i went to the next nearest room which was a linen closet, pulled everything out from the floor and still couldn’t find him. then i looked on the bottom shelf

and his ass is just

motherfucker. you stupid idiot bastard. son boy why are you in here.

look at his fucking face!!!

[littlekaijus]

Things That Like Carrots are lurking in the waters and are for sale for only 15$ on Facebook marketplace.

[littlekaijus]

[littlekaijus]

My brother is still small.🐌👀 僕の弟はまだ小さい🐌👀

[littlekaijus]

This woman always feeds a squirrel, and that squirrel returned the favour by leaving a cookie for her.

[littlekaijus]

Happy pride to her specifically.

shocked bystander at sydney, australia’s annual mardis gras pride parade (1994)

[littlekaijus]

NO YOU CANT DO THAT

[littlekaijus]

Do you like her grass skirt?

She is asking what those boxes are because she is very curious about everything new, and those were not there yesterday. Anything new in the room, she notices and wants to investigate. I tried to explain they are her new adult enclosure/stand/spacer/sister's enclosure, but I'm not sure she understood. But she listened either way!

In the jungle!

She knows these are her plants. The tips got a bit brown so I took them out, not sure if moisture or nibbling isopods were the issue. She knows these are hers though, and goes out of her way to lay on them. I hope her laying on them isn't crushing and killing them. She really really loves nestling in her live plants, she knows her plastic decorations aren't the same.

[littlekaijus]

Made french against his will and got hit with the inexcapable artistic miséri and nòstalgia