Day Thirty-one – You Didn’t Miss Anything

Yesterday was blah…so I’m just gonna forget it happened and go on to today – FRIDAY!  That automatically makes a better day, right?

Hatched 7-1-2011

Most of the morning was spent taking care of lizards.  This includes checking the incubator for newly-hatched, precocious green anoles.  They are checked every day as there is no food source in the little jars of vermiculite in which they hatch out.  And today I found this little guy.  Yes, it’s a boy, and no, it’s not easy to tell which is which at this age.  The male has a pair of scales on the underside of the tail base which are larger than those on a female, but it takes a good light, a magnifying glass, and practice to really be sure.  Fortunately, they will be rechecked at 30-days-of-age to verify…and probably several times after that, too, so if I’m wrong on any of them it can be corrected before it becomes an issue.  I just hope I haven’t traumatized any of them by misidentifying their gender.  That might affect any other behavior studies in the future…. Wait, these are just lizards…sheesh.

These hatchlings and juveniles (some of whom will become delinquents, I’m sure) are fed crickets and fruit flies.  I’m sure you can tell from the pictures that they can handle the fruit flies, as you know how small the normal fruit fly is.  But these are not normal fruit flies – these are flightless fruit flies (say that three times real fast…lol).  They have a genetic mutation which prevents their wings from developing and allowing them to fly.  This enables the baby lizards to catch them and prevents the flies from escaping the tanks to become pests.

The crickets are something else, though.  They are what are commonly called “pinheads” because that is about how big they are.  These are newly hatched nymphs that are small enough for even the baby lizards to eat.  And they do!  Dump a few of these into a tank and all the youngsters appear from wherever they were hiding.

Normally I have help with the lizard care, but my partner was tied up with something a little more important today than spraying tanks and feeding lizards – she is getting married tomorrow!  She tried to say she would come in and help, that she didn’t want to leave me to do it by myself, and I (and our mentor) told her “NO WAY! Get out there and enjoy the big day coming up!”  I want to wish Michawn and Charles a fantastic wedding day tomorrow and a long and happy life together!

I’m going to go find a new spot to eat supper and then retire with my copy of Concrete Savior by Yvonne Navarro (also available as an ebook) for the night.  Have a great, but safe, holiday weekend!