Many of you are familiar with the Giant Green Iguana like our animal ambassador, Juan Amigo.  Few have met a different kind of iguana, The spiny tailed iguana of Costa Rica.

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

I enjoyed one of the most beautiful scenes of a jungle on my trip to Costa Rica.  We were high in the mountains above the Pacific Coast rain forests surrounded by beautifully maintained gardens.

Every morning I would watch the clouds rise from the valleys into the sky.

And every evening settle down into the valleys for a long rest.

Many of the mountains were very high.  These ones rise above palm plantations.

The trees were amazing.  I tried to hug a few, but they were too big.

Many of the trees have enormous buttress roots.  They help hold up the massive trees.  People used this strategy when building huge buildings before they were built with metal and concrete.

Is this where chocolate comes from?

Not only can the canopy be delicious, but also fun. The animals climb along the massive branches in the dark canopy.  We prefer to fly, zzzzzzzzzzip!

Down from the emergent layer in the sun into the dark unknown.

Under the canopy in the understory and forest floor, it sure is dark!  No wonder baby trees take so long to grow big.

Down here there is plenty of water.  Just not enough sun for many plants to grow on the forest floor.

Speaking of the sun, I think it is time it went to bed.  All of this exploring has worn me out.

Good night!

Jennifer Houha Pennington

Curator and Wildlife Educator

Reptiles Alive Name: RattlerJen

Hissstory: RattlerJen spent her early years leading her terrified mother  around the reptile house at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Her mother kept her eyes covered the entire time.  Jen also spent many hours after school exploring the desert around her home for snakes and lizards.  She was very careful not to bring any home, however.

RA Diet: It is well known that RattlerJen will eat nearly anything.  Except canned peas, those are just gross.

Natural Diet: Jen is a bit of a foodie. Her favorite foods are flavorful cuisines from around the world.  Sushi, curry, linguine, pho, steaks, ribs, gyros, and especially green chile cheeseburgers. Her favorite foods are cooked by her awesome husband, who cures and smokes his own sausages and bacon from local free-range, humanely raised, organic, heritage animals and includes herbs from her very own garden.

Range: RattlerJen has been away from New Mexico for over a decade now, but she still considers it her native home.   She is completely enamored with the DC area as it has everything.  (Although she believes you can have your traffic DC)

Habitat: You might encounter RattlerJen performing a show at a school or special event.  She can also be commonly seen driving the reptiles to shows.  When not in public view, RattlerJen spends time working on the Reptiles Alive website, the Reptile Ranger Certificates, and assists with managing the office and the animal collection.

Size: Fluctuating.  (See natural diet for further details)

Lifespan: Depending on bacon intake, she could live for 80 years or more.

Reproduction: Early on in their dating relationship, RattlerJen’s husband lost track of her while on a hike in the desert. He found her standing on the side of the trail with a live rattlesnake’s tail in one hand with the rest of it happily looped over a branch held in her other hand.  She was talking to it as if it were an adorable puppy while moving it to a safe place off the trail.  From that point on, he realized he was not allowed to be afraid of anything.

Conservation: Before coming to Reptiles Alive!, RattlerJen had a huge amount of experience working with reptiles and other animals. She worked as keeper and educator at the American International Rattlesnake Museum, home to the largest collection of live rattlesnakes in the world.

In 2000, she transferred to Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida. While at Busch Gardens, she gained experience caring for a variety of animals including: crocodiles, giant snakes, giant tortoises, and Komodo dragons. In 2001 she moved to Northern Virginia and became the curator at the Reston Zoo.

Cool Facts: Most of RattlerJen’s free time is spent hiding in the woods from search and rescue dogs.  She is a member of a wilderness search and rescue group as a dog handler.  Jen is training her dog Grom to find lost people in the woods.

Did you know she also is training many of the animals at Reptiles Alive too?  Gary, the plated lizard, knows how to sit up and beg.  Splash, the water dragon, is learning to do her taxes.

Last Saturday morning, March 20th, I packed up the Reptiles Alive van full of great animals including Sunshine the python, Logan the Nile monitor lizard, and B.A. the alligator.  We  drove across the Chesapeake Bay down to Pocomoke City, MD – home to the Delmarva Discovery Center.

Pocomoke is a historic Eastern Shore town located right on the Pocomoke River. Last year, the awesome new Delmarva Discovery Center (DDC) opened to the public. The DDC features exhibits that tell the story of the Delmarva’s natural and cultural history.

As we set up and got ready, we had a huge crowd excitedly waiting to see the first show.

We started each of the three shows that day with a couple of animals native to the Eastern Shore: Lucky our black rat snake and T Rex the snapping turtle.

Then we featured an animal from the other side of our planet: the Australian blue tongue skink, Mystique. Next, we learned why we should all be really grateful there are no mommy pizzas when we met Logan the Nile monitor lizard.

The alligator B.A. (which stands for “Bad Attitude” helped us learn alligator love songs. Last but definitely not least, we met Sunshine, our albino Burmese python. The audience, as usual, went wild for Sunshine.

Big thanks go to the Delmarva Discovery Center for hosting this fun reptile festival. We are hoping to make this an annual event, so start planning your trip to Pocomoke City for next year.

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September is a busy month in the office at Reptiles Alive.  After a super busy summer filled with performing shows at summer camps, fairs, libraries and more, we are ready for the change that fall brings.  Summer is very intense – there are many days where all of us start work at 7 am and don’t finish until 10 pm.

In September, the number of shows we do becomes much more reasonable.  Fall festivals and birthday parties still fill our weekends, and scout meetings eat up our nights, but the weekday school programs are just getting started, so we have time during the day to catch up on all the office work we couldn’t get to during the summer.

As soon as the school year starts, our phone starts ringing and our email inbox fills with requests for school assemblies, classroom visits, and after school classes.  Since we work as animal keepers in addition to working in the office, there are many times that the phone starts ringing right when we are opening the door to a large python or getting ready to feed an alligator – YIKES.  There are even times when we answer the phone and take an animal with us, so while we are talking to you, we might have a snake in our other hand.

Most people only think about the shows they see us perform, but a lot of work goes on “behind the scenes” to get ready for your show.  And don’t worry – we will be sure that none of the animals eat the paperwork for your booking.