Please, let me introduce myself.  My name is Don Juan. I am a lizard and I am looking for love.

Oh what a fine day for romance.  The birds are singing.

The air is sweet.

The scenery is breathtaking.

SHE is breathtaking. Oh my, just look at how her scales glitter.

Her eyes shine like tiny amber stars in her sleek arrow shaped head.  Her stripes, did you see her stripes?

That yellow!

Oh, she has the brains to go with those gorgeous stripes.  She has impeccable taste.

Just look at that delectable brilliant emerald green cadydid leg she is crunching on.  What strong, fast legs she must have to catch such prey.

I must go talk to her.  I must tell her how I feel.  What a beautiful creature she is.

“Oh creature of my heart; jewel of my eye.”

“I am known as the great Don Juan.”

“Just look at my strong claws; my brilliant blue flash of scales down my side.”

Hey!  Where are you going?

Come back!

I did not mean to frighten you little lady.

No, no I do not mean to eat you!

Please, just give me a minute of your precious time.  I heard you were interested in laying some eggs over there underneath the pineapple plant.  I wish for you to consider me to assist you with that.

I am known to be the largest and strongest lizard in these parts.  I am able to catch the tastiest and largest of all the insects under the banana tree.  My legs are strong and fast.  My tail quick and flexible for balance.

Just look at my blue scales, they are as beautiful as the noon sky.

Have you seen any lizard more handsome than I?

Just take a moment to consider.

Let me know your decision.  I assure you there is no other lizard better suited for your needs.

They are also known as the Black Ctenosaur (pronounced Teen -oh- soar).  Ticos call them, Iguana Negra or black iguana.

The black iguana is much like his better known cousin, the green iguana, in many ways.  They both love to hang out in trees to catch the rays.  Or on a roof as with this iguana.

Both iguanas have spikes on their backs and can use their tails as whips if you get too close. They lay eggs in the ground and can live in many different habitats.  During the dry months, both iguanas eat lots of flowers and fruit.  During the wet season, both types of iguanas eat leaves, but Ctenosaurs also eat meat.  That’s right, green iguanas are strictly vegetarian.  Black iguanas are omnivores eating crabs, eggs, bugs, rodents, bats, and even other lizards with their salad!

What is this guy up to?

There seems to be no leaves on this tree, only flowers.  That must mean it is the dry season.

Oh look, he is climbing up that thin branch!

Maybe he is going to go and smell the flowers.  They look so pretty together.

I thought I counted more flowers.  Where did they go?

Hey!  You naughty iguana you ate all of the flowers!

Well, that was yummy.

Find out more about Costa Rican black iguanas here:

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/flora-fauna/reptile/black-ctenosaur

They would hang from the ceiling, crawl along the ground, skitter under my feet, sneak under the table tops, stick to the light fixture, plaster themselves to the mirror, and chirp happily while clinging to the mosquito netting above my bed.  They also joyfully consumed thousands of little insects that were out for blood, my blood.

This little Yellow-headed Gecko (Gonatodes albogularis) greeted me in the morning at the top of the stairs.  Most of the geckos in Costa Rica are nocturnal, but these guys enjoy sunshine. Only males have the nice yellow head.

Don’t you just love his blue lips?

There were many lizards that peered at me from the walls.  The most common were these little guys.

I had trouble spotting these lizards until they moved.

Really nice camoflague there buddy.

This beautiful rusty red creature is an anole.  There are over 400 different species of anoles.

Perhaps someone out there will tell me which one this is?

He lived in my cabin.  The entire building was his domain.  I would wake up in the morning with him sitting on the open windowsill, catching the morning sun.  Sometimes he would sit at the very edge of the handrail waiting for me to return from my shower.

Mr. Red had no interest in me, however.  He was looking for love.

Hey!  Is that a girl anole over there?

I better get her attention!

That brilliant red gem of a flag fanning from his throat is called a dewlap.  Mr. Red’s dewlap is quite impressive.  I have no doubt that the scaly girl he was trying to woo noticed this handsome display.

Different anoles, different dewlaps.

This anole reminded me of agate I used to polish in my rock tumbler.  My favorites were always the small bursts of color encased in a glass clear drop of transparent rock.

Everywhere I looked there was a lizard resting in the sun, sitting in the shade, munching on a bug, or trying to attract love.  I would sit for hours just watching them go about their lizardy business.

At night they seemed to disappear, replaced with nocturnal geckos chirping from hidden places among the palm fronds.  Following the sound, I would not find the gecko, but the anoles fast asleep.  The gecko would chuckle his chirps at me from his new hiding place.

It is time for me to find my own frond to snuggle up on for the night.

sueños dulces

The blog posting for today has been delayed due to high pollen levels.  My body seems to think the trees are more interested in attacking me than reproducing and thus has begun strapping on its battle gear.  I am attempting to talk it down with high levels of capsaicin and hot tea.

Keep sticking to that tree you gecko, You.

I croched down with my camera poised for a picture of the blur, now hidden under a many leafed bush.  My husband taps my left shoulder and guides my eye with an outstreached finger to the opposite side of he trail. There, on a fallen log streatched out among dappled light with his regal head held high was the elusive king.

He did not move and neither did I.

I nearly forgot the camera cradled in my right hand.  He stayed frozen as a statue as I framed and shot picture after picture.  All while struck in complete amazement as this skittish creature simply relaxed not 20 feet from me. The brown basilisk or jesus christ lizard is an easily frightened creature, dashing away at the slightest hint of danger.

Basilisks may be found in forests across Central America and northern South America often climbing expertly along branches.

They are omnivorous, dining on delicious bugs, animals, and vegetable matter.  Perhaps this lizard now staring me in the eye is resting after a nice meal of sweet tree flowers and the nutty crunch of insects.

Basilisk translates from latin, the language of science, as ‘”little king,”

perhaps derived from the little crown of scales on the back of his head. To me, this animal looks like something that has not existed since the Permian age.  With the huge sails on its back, this three foot long lizard looks more like a miniature Dimetrodon than an iguana’s cousin.  Scientists believe the sails on the dinosaur Dimetrodon’s back were used for temperature regulation. Perhaps this is what the basilisk uses his scales for in the tropical rain forest.

As impressive as his sails are, it is his feet which makes this lizard famous.

This handsome lizard can run blindingly fast to escape hungry predators.  The Costa Ricans or Ticos, call this lizard Jesus (Hey-soos) Christo (Cree-stow) for his amazing ability to run across the surface of water.  Any animal this size would immediately crash into the water on the first step.

This ability has be described in detail in a 2004 study by Shi-Tong Tonia Hsieh of Harvard University, as a vertical slapping of a foot directly onto the surface of the water forming a bubble of air around it.  This is followed by a horizontal push backward to propel the creature forward before the leg is pulled up to the body, ready for another slap downward.

Each toe is surround by a fringe or flat flap of scales thereby increasing the foot’s surface area and preventing it from breaking the surface tension of water.  This fringe also enables the lizard to become an expert climber.

The gorgeous basilisk ensured I had some very nice photographs of him before simply sliding off the side of the fallen tree and beyond my vision.

I thought this would be my only basilisk sighting for the trip.  However, only a few days later,  I heard a rustling noise on the edge of a gurgling stream.

Baby basilisks only slightly resemble their parents.  The triangle shaped head and bright yellow stripe above the eye helped me guess the species of this animal.  I would have thought this youngster would be even more shy than the adult.  This one became the perfect lizard photo model posing lizard pozes as I crept forward snapping nearly 30 pictures before he tired of the game and dove into some dense brush, out of sight.

Pogona vitticeps

Reptiles Alive name: “Mr. Beardie”

Hissstory: Mr. Beardie was an unwanted pet that came to live with us in 2006.

RA Diet: Mr. Beardie likes to eat: crickets, super worms, roaches, dead mice, greens, fruits and dry food made for bearded dragons.

Natural Diet: Bearded dragons are omnivores – so they eat both meat and plants.  Insects, small animals, greens, fruits, and flowers are all part of their diet in the wild.

Range: Central Australia.

Habitat: Bearded dragons live in the “Outback” – desert and open woodland where they bask on branches and rocks.

Size: Bearded dragons are medium sized lizards that can grow to 16 – 22 inches long.

Lifespan: Bearded dragons can live over 10 years.

Reproduction: Female bearded dragons lay 11-30 oval eggs in a shallow nest dug in the sand. The babies will hatch about two months later.

Conservation: Australia has banned the exportation of its native wildlife for the pet trade, so any bearded dragons sold as pets in the United States have been captively bred here.

Cool Facts: When threatened, bearded dragons puff out their spiky bodies and throat so they become bigger and spikier!  Predators will usually avoid the sore throat they would get from swallowing such a prickly meal.

Tiliqua scincoides

Reptiles Alive Name: “Mystique & Tiliqua”

Hissstory: Mystique was an unwanted pet that was sent to us in 1997.  Tiliqua was sent to us by Alexandria Animal Control in 2003 after she was  found as a stray – either a lost or abandoned pet.

RA Diet: We feed our blue tongues: greens, fruits, vegetables, crickets, super worms, roaches and dead mice.

Natural Diet: Fruits, flowers, insects, carrion, fungi, and invertebrates; especially snails.

Range: Australia.

Habitat: Semi-arid savannas, woodlands, tropical jungles, and urban backyards.

Size: Blue tongue skinks are some of the largest members of the skink family.  They can grow to 23 inches long.

Lifespan: Blue tongues can live over 20 years.

Reproduction: Most lizards lay eggs – but not blue tongue skinks.  Females give birth to about 10 live young. The baby lizards are on their own the moment they are born.

Conservation: While once widespread, they are becoming more rare in certain parts of their range due to human related activities:  dogs, cats, lawnmowers and busy roads.

Cool Facts: When confronted by a predator, blue tongue skinks open their mouths, stick out their blue tongue and hiss loudly.   This display is usually enough to scare off their enemy.

Rhacodactylus ciliatus

Reptiles Alive Name: Rhacodactylus (aka Rhacky)

Hissstory: Rhacky came to us as an unwanted pet in July 2010.

RA Diet: Crickets and fruit.

Natural Diet: Insects and other invertebrates plus fruit and nectar.

Range: New Caledonia.

Habitat: Cool and humid tropical lowland rain forest from the understory to the canopy.

Size: 6-7 inches long.

Lifespan: 10-20 years.

Reproduction: Females lay 1 or 2 eggs which hatch in about 2 months.

Conservation: Crested gecko habitat is threatened by: deforestation, nickel mining, and the introduction of exotic predators.  Most of the crested geckos available for sale as pets in the United States have been captive bred.

Cool Facts: Crested geckos were first discovered in 1866, but were later thought to be extinct.  However, in 1994, two herpetologists on expeditions to New Caledonia “rediscovered” the geckos.

Gekko vittatus

Pilau the White Lined Gecko

Reptiles Alive Name: Pilau

Hissstory: Pilau was an unwanted pet left at a nature center.  The nature center sent Pilau to us in April 2010.

RA Diet: Crickets.

Natural Diet: Insects and other small invertebrates.

Range: India, Indonesia (Java, Timor), New Guinea, Oceania;Belau, Admiralty Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Rennell;Bellona, Santa Cruz Islands.

Habitat: The canopy and understory of tropical rain forests.

Size: 5-8 inches long, including the tail.

Lifespan: Probably 10-20 years.

Reproduction: Females lay 1-2 eggs at a time by “gluing” them to surfaces such as leaf stalks.  The eggs hatch in 3-6 months.

Conservation: Most of the white lined geckos for sale in the United States have been collected in the wild and imported.  Most geckos (and other wild animals) do not survive this process.  The few that do survive to be sold as a pet are usually very ill.  If you are thinking of getting a gecko as a pet, we recommend you adopt from an animal rescue organization or purchase from a legitimate breeder.

Cool Facts: Like all “true” geckos, white lined geckos have microscopic scales in the shape of hooks on the bottom of their feet. These scales grab on to microscopic imperfections found on every surface. This enables them to walk vertically or even upside down on almost any surface! Scientists are studying gecko feet in order to develop super strong tape, and maybe even gloves and shoes you could wear to walk up a wall. Just like Spider-man – or GECKO MAN!

Varanus salvator

Splash the Water Monitor Lizard

Reptiles Alive Name: “Splash”

Hissstory: Splash was either an abandoned or escaped pet.  He was found hiding in a drain pipe in the city of Alexandria, VA.  An animal control officer was able to capture him and then called us.  We received him in July 2006 and he has been just a ton of fun ever since!

RA Diet: We feed Splash a varied diet including: roaches, crickets, super worms, cooked chicken eggs, and his favorite:  dead mice.

Natural Diet: Monitors eat carrion, fish, shellfish, small reptiles (including baby crocodiles!) and mammals, eggs of all kinds, and insects.  Pretty much, they will eat anything except their vegetables!

Range: Water monitors are found in southern Asia, from Bengal in the west to the Philippines and the Indo-Australian islands.

Habitat: Water monitors like to live anywhere  near water, including swamps, woodlands, and riverbanks.

Size: Water monitors are one of the biggest species of lizards on Earth.  They can grow almost 10 feet long and weigh up to 75 pounds.  Whew – that is BIG!

Lifespan: Monitor lizards can live for over 20 years.

Reproduction: Water monitors  will take advantage of termite mounds as well as rotting logs or stumps to lay their eggs.  Females lay 20-50 eggs which take about 6 months to hatch.

Conservation: Water monitors are listed as CITES Appendix II, meaning they are becoming endangered.  Their biggest threats come from habitat loss, the skin trade, and the pet trade.

Cool Facts: The largest living lizard in the world is a monitor lizard commonly known as the “Komodo dragon.”  Water monitors are very closely related to the the Komodo dragon, and just like the dragon, the water monitor is very intelligent.  Some scientists believe monitor lizards may be the most intelligent groups of lizards.  After working with monitors, I would say I agree.  They are fast learners and they are VERY curious.  There really is something going on behind those dragon eyes!