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| Doug in his Pyrex pie plate |
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We've had Doug for over 12 years, long before the cats and dogs. A drummer friend had his cage in her basement practice space; Doug used to come over to the side of the cage, stand on his hind legs and wave his front feet whenever we had band practice. I'd never seen such a friendly lizard, and the minute she mentioned finding him a new home we took him!
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| Mr. Cute Face on his old jungle gym |
Doug is a Solomon Island Skink, we have no idea how old he is, or even if he is really a he or a she. The vet said that the only way to tell is if you put a known male or female in with him and they fight, they're the same sex, and if they start "making out", they're the opposite. Or the vet could perform an autopsy, but we like Doug alive and don't care what sex he/she is. Skinks tend to be very long lived, there are some skinks in the New York City Zoo that have been there since the 1970's!
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| Doug hanging out. |
Luckily he's a vegetarian, his favorite food is defrosted frozen french string beans from Trader Joe's, followed by romaine lettuce. It's too bad that we can't let him wander around the house anymore since the cats and dogs are a little too interested in him, but his 96 gallon aquarium will have to do for now. Though we'll probably upgrade his pie plate to a lasagna pan...
Not really sure why I named him Doug, he kind of reminded me of Douglas Adams, the author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series.
I didn't know that lizards COULD be friendly! Doug sounds like he's really cool.
ReplyDeleteHe's much cooler than I expected. He loves to listen to music with lots of bass, he'll head right for the speakers!
Deleteomgoodness....if i ever saw DOUG up close, i cannot imagine the ruckus I might cause! What an interesting fella!
ReplyDeleteit is insanity on the deck when I find a teeny tiny little tree frog...
those things fascinate me:)
Us too, the cats like watching lizard tv.
DeleteNice to meet Doug at yours and glad he is not at mine as ditto Scrappy. Have a great Thursday.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Molly
Our dogs would probably go crazy if they saw him outside and didn't already know him.
DeleteI probably should not admit it, but I have never heard of a skink before & we would never have imagined that they could have such long lives. We love learning about new creatures.Doug is very pretty & we hope you feature him again soon :)
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of a Solomon Island Skink before I met him, only a Blue Tongued Skink. Doug has a prehensile tail; if I pick him up by his tail he can swing his body up onto my hand. They're also known as "monkey tailed" skinks, he can hang by his tail like a monkey!
DeleteHe looks like a Doug may you all have many great years
ReplyDeleteI think he really does, thanks!
DeleteWow ! I love your Doug , I think he is so beautiful. I once have small lizard ( well I call him mine) he always stare at me in my garden unfortunately when we move to another house I could not find him.My hubs wanted me to bring him with us , but when I go look for him he was not there. But yours was really amazing... He is so Handsome!
ReplyDeleteand I like the idea that he is vegetarian.
Hugs licks and woofs all the way from Phnom penh Cambodia
myfurryplace
Thanks! Doug is about 24 inches long, supposedly he won't get larger than about 32 inches. Too bad you couldn't bring your garden lizard with you, hopefully you can find a new one!
DeleteI didn't know you had a skink! How funny! And he is very cute for a little green thing. :) Plus he has something in common with my pups--love for beans from Trader Joe's. :)
ReplyDeleteI know some people are freaked out by lizards and snakes, so I wasn't sure about putting him on the blog. It wasn't fair to leave him out, especially as we've had him so long. The reaction has been great, pet people are awesome!
DeleteIt's funny that your dogs eat green beans too. Duke likes them, Maggie thinks they're gross. She's such a picky princess.
DeleteThere is so much win in this post I don't know where to begin? Let's start with female drummer = yea!
ReplyDeleteMoving on to the Douglas Adams reference, Leslie "Likes" this. :)
96 gallon tank!?!?! Holy moly, that's big! How big is Doug? He's very cool. I've never seen a skink before - well, not in captivity - and not that big!