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happ new 2 u 2, snek

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Took my son to see Santa! He was a very well behaved🧡

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Leucistic Ball Python study. Based on a leucistic morph breed.

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destruction

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we persevere. it's gonna suck though

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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.

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.

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This my vivarium 🏠

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lick

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she's so cozy

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patchwork son

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Behold, the most boopable of snoots!

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Voigt is wearing her Manners and her Tall today! She would Very Much like to discuss Snacks!

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Now I know why he's been so skittish, even with 90% humidity the dingus likes basking too much and ends up getting himself too crispy to shed properly. He got a stuck eye cap. Time to make spaget

Dropping them in the bathtub full of water is a bad idea, but sometimes your snek will be dumb and get crispy no matter how high the humidity is, and will need some help. His soil is moist, digital readings at 85-90% throughout the day, it just happens when they nap too long in the heat (his temps are fine too, 95-75 °F across the enclosure). I can't raise the humidity any higher to where it would make a difference in what already occured, and it's causing him stress to not see out of one eye.

A snek sauna where you saturate a towel in warm water and put them in a tupperware or pot if they're too big with the lid cracked for air lets the shed hydrate with minimal stress, and they rub it off themselves without much invasiveness. Even if it doesn't come off while they're in the pot, they'll probably rub it off in the enclosure. If not, can repeat for 10-15 mins a day until it does.

If you notice them freaking tf out, let em out, but it's not that stressful usually

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wonderous plobby

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Spring means dandelion hats for Marble