Flying Dragon @ Ulu Geroh, Gopeng, Malaysia.

Flying Dragon @ Ulu Geroh, Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia
http://cyrenization.deviantart.com

Several species of "flying dragons" may be observed in the forest around Ulu Geroh but these yellow ones were by far the most common. The "dragons" are part of a diverse group of lizards in the genus Draco that are endemic to Southeast Asia. While they are generally relatively unremarkable in appearance, these reptiles possess a most unique ability to extend folds of skin stretched out between its modified ribs to create a set of wings that enable them to glide from tree to tree. While not exactly capable of sustained flight, some species of "flying dragons" have been observed to be able to obtain lift in the course of their glides and a total gliding distance of up to 60 meters has been recorded, although the average is commonly about 8 meters or so.  Unlike the rest of their bodies - which are commonly drably colored to aid in camouflage - the wings of the dragons are usually brightly colored and patterned. Both male and female dragons also possess a colorful fold of skin under their chins called a dewlap that they can extend at will for display purposes.  Despite their small size, the dragons are highly territorial and males will defend their respective trees from the intrusion of outsiders. In Ulu Geroh, dragons can sometimes be seen dropping from the tops of trees, gliding in a circle, before landing at the base of the tree and slowly making their way back to the top on foot. They are insectivorous and feed on a variety of insects though from my observations it would seem that they are particularly partial to a variety of ants.

Geckos and Toads.

Hey ya'll 

It's been awhile since I last checked back here! Work has been pilling up and so have the butterflies on the spreading board. Unfortunately, until I can find the perfect shadow box to display them in (I'm looking for something large, that will accommodate all of Khalid's donations, and some of my own besides) they will just have to wait. Last week one of the specimens fell apart though, a beautiful arhopala sp. that had striking purple colored wings. As you can imagine I was simply crushed! Perhaps as crushed as the disintegrated body of a beautiful butterfly gone to waste! Such is the problem when spreading specimens dating several years back! You never know what sort of pests (psocids in this case!) have gotten to them! Oh well, Khalid assures me that he has more spares and maybe the next time I go visit he will be kind enough to donate another one (fingers crossed!) 

In the meantime, I've been getting my amphibian love on! I received, for my birthday, a pair of very beautiful Oriental Fire-Belly toads (bombina orientalis)! The toads, which are really a kind of frog, are green and black on the top and striking red, orange, yellow and black on the bottom! their markings, in fact, are very reminiscent of the markings of Japanese firebelly newts and Paddletail newts but I assure you the species are in no way related. As you might imagine, the brilliant coloring of the toad's underbellies signal to predators that the toad are poisonous, and when attacked, the toads can secrete a milky poison from their legs. When threatened, they have a very interesting behavior of flipping on to their backs to display their brightly colored bellies! They seem to be saying "eat me, and you just might croak!"  (ps. I do NOT lick them! They're NOT that kind of toad!) I initially started out with two toads, but have since gone and gotten a third. Their names are Kermit, Redtumbles, and Greentumbles (you can "credit" Ray for the last two names!) and although they are all male, seem to thoroughly enjoy mounting each other on a fairly regular basis! Kermit would often object to such an intrusion of his privacy with bark-like croaks but have since been fairly compliant. 

The boys

Planted terrarium with a makeshift "pond" that is their current habitat. More plants have been added since taking this photo. 

Aside from the toads we also have one relatively new addition to our family. Another leopard gecko, that was ALSO presented to me on my birthday! She came to us rather small and dull in color (I suspect it might have been the shock of being boxed...) but have since blossomed and grown in leaps and bounds! She's not as friendly as our previous gecko, Evil Keneevil, but she has a certain charm that is unique in her own way. We have named her Penelope Petite (credits also go to Ray). 

With all the new animals joining our household, though, I feel it is my duty to remind the average reader that pets do NOT really make good presents! An animal is a living creature with unique wants, needs, and requirements and purchasing one should never, ever, be taken lightly! These pets were gotten for me not on a whim but with the knowledge that I in fact already possessed the necessary equipment, knowledge, and skills to care for them. So please, obtain pets responsibly, and let's all do our best for our animal friends.

Cheers,
Cyren.

Happy Year of the Snake

Hey y'all

I know the New Year's just came and went not a few months ago (just one month and a few days to be precise) but its time for some of us to celebrate yet another new year. The Lunar, or Chinese New Year. The one time of the year where it is "okay" for a person to pig out on cookies, tidbits, and junk food in general without feeling guilty or being made to feel feel guilty about it! If you're Chinese, anyway... but maybe the same rules apply to everyone else too. I don't know. ANWAY, I know I've not been updating that often so I thought I'd take the time to just come out and wish everyone a prosperous and fortuitous year of the Snake.

Ps. I know Evil isn't really a snake...but he's the closest thing we got to one living with us.

Babysitting Turtles

Hey y'all

I've been back in KL several weeks now and I'm still adjusting to not being on holiday. Meanwhile, we have a house guest on extended stay. Ray's turtle, Shelldon, will be living with us until he gets back from Sarawak sometime in December after The Chinese New Year. Which is good news for me because I really miss taking care of turtles! Oh how I love them! He's truly living the lap of luxury here with basking lamps, reptile supplements and even, occasionally, a slice of apple or other sweet fruit for a treat. Oh how I'm going to miss him when I give him back. Who knows, maybe it's time for me to let another reptilian friend back into my life.

Cheers,
Cyren.

To Kuching and Beyond

Hey y'all

It's me, your friendly neighborhood conservationist and amateur lepidopterist signing in on my last day in the great city of "cats" and "roundabouts", Kuching, Sarawak. It is incidentally also my first time here and I must say I have already begun to like this town (enough to miss it anyway) during my relatively short five day stay. Belatedly I also realize that this is the first time I will be blogging from my phone so I hope you will excuse any fault in layout that might crop up as a result.

My trip across Sarawak thus far has been most eventful and I must say that I have never quite seen so many wild animals in one place as I have seen here. But because it is getting late and I must get some sleep before I catch my buss in 8 hours or so, I will let my photographs do most of the talking. The photos are uploaded in chronological order (I can't seem to upload and caption them individually from here and am currently too tired to try and figure out how) and detail my journey to the Wind Cave, Jong's Crocodile Farm and Zoo, Semmengung Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and Sanctuary, Matang Wildlife Center, and last but certainly not least, the waterfall trail at Kubah National Park.

No specimens were collected this trip (these are protected forests that I ventured into and I have nothing but respect for conservation laws). We were also quite lucky in being able to spot the orang Utan and her baby despite the fact that it was raining on that day and that we arrived in the height of the fruiting season (the Orang Utans venture further and deeper into the forest during these rainy months) but were not so lucky during our search for the Rafflesia. Apparently we missed the blooming by just a few days. Oh well, I guess we can't always be lucky. But there is always Miri.

Anyway, until I get to our next pit stop in Sibu (and hopefully, a proper computer with which I can write with), goodnight and peace out.

For more timely updates, follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

Cheers,
Cyren.

Evil Keneevil

Hey ya'll

I'm changing his name... from Archimedes to Evil Kineevil. I'm sure from the proceeding picture that you can probably guess why...

I'm surly and I know it

Meanwhile, Evil molted for the second time yesterday since I got him and I must say that besides increasing quite dramatically in size, he's also started to develop those wonderful spotted markings that give these amazing geckos their names. Also, besides the markings, is the increasing vibrancy of the yellow in his skin! Wonderful!!! I guess a leopard can change its spots!!! When it is actually a reptile, that is. 

Cheers,
Cyren

Meet Archimedes!!!

Hey ya'll

Owning a reptile as a pet has always been one of the things that I've always wanted! Since I was a young boy I have asked my parents for various scaly animals I could keep as pets with varying results. I asked, for instance, when I was seven or eight, for a pair of red eared sliders from our local aquarium shop. These were readily given to me by my father who was no doubt reminiscing about his own childhood catching these things in the rivers and lakes in our hometown. When I was twelve it was the Indian Star Tortoise (these were not protected back then so we could get them fairly easily and for really low prices) which was later given to me as a Christmas present. Then, when I was thirteen I asked for an iguana and was refused on the grounds that it was too 'exotic' and I was too young to handle the responsibility of an animal with such diverse needs (I didn't see it then but I see the wisdom of my parent's decision now). And these animals just got wilder and wilder with each year I grew! At fifteen it was a snake (refused), at sixteen I asked for a pair of frilled lizards and a chameleon (refused again on the same grounds as the iguana from four years back), and finally when I was seventeen I tried my luck again for the iguana and quite nearly got one until my mother learnt from the shop assistant that the iguana could eventually grow to several feet long (six feet, was her precise guess) and this was probably a good decision too considering how I cannot even see how we could ever have the space to house a six foot long reptile and continue to fulfill all of its giant-sized needs!!! It began to be clear that perhaps reptiles weren't meant for me after all!!! Or so I thought until... 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a little cutie isn't he!!! I wonder who has lost their pet? Or whose pet has escaped and started reproducing in the wild (though I shudder to think of the environmental implications of this, it is perhaps fortunate that they do not thrive in exceedingly humid environment like the tropical rainforests of Malaysia). Well, whatever it is, he lives with me now and has been christened Archimedes, because of the contemplative look he has when he rests on his log (actually I think he's just being drowsy or sleepy). 

As you may have surmised, Archimedes is my first gecko so any help or tips that you may wish to contribute would be awesome! Right now he lives in a medium sized glass tank in my room (with the screen top and the swinging door from Exoterra), gets access to a heat source on one end of the terrarium (moonlight night heat lamp and thermometer to moniter the temperature from Exoterra also) and is fed daily with water, calcium supplements and mealworms (which are all placed in bowls in a corner of the tank for him to munch at his leisure. I hope I've not left anything important out but if I have, as usual... feel free to send me a shoutout!!! 

Cheers, 

Cyren 

Lizard in my Pot

Hey ya'll 

It's been awhile and while I certainly have a lot of butterfly posts stored up in my 'drafts' section just waiting to be published, I thought of sharing this funny anecdote with you instead. I was supposed to make rice today, nothing fancy about it... just plain white rice. Problem was, it's been quite awhile since I last made rice and so even though I knew the general principal of it, I wasn't sure how much water needed to go into the rice pot. Trying to play it safe I decided to go with one inch of water over the layer of rice. Turns out, one inch was way too much because when I next checked to see if it was done, the rice was.... well, somewhere in between rice and porridge, that is to say it was pretty sticky! But no harm done, I just cooked the rest of the dishes and we had a delicious dinner of prawns, omelet and very sticky in-between-rice porridge (which really wasn't that bad!). 

Problem is... we're infested with lizards right now. Under the fridge, in between the cabinets...they're everywhere! Always have been for the past couple of years../ and I suppose, we've been housemates for so long that the little guys have started to get extremely comfortable living with us. Meanwhile, while we were having dinner, I suppose this is my fault because I forgot to close the lid on the near empty rice pot and our little housemate must have lost his grip from the cabinet overhead and fell right in! Normally I'd say lizards are natural acrobats and can climb on almost any surface, but I suppose the fall must have dazed this one because it didn't leave. In fact, not till I was about to wash the pot later did I notice it in there. 

I tried shaking my pot to see if he would climb out but I realized then that he had gotten quite stuck, trapped in the hardening mire that was my sticky in-between-rice porridge. I suppose most people would have freaked out at this but me being, well... me, I felt more sorry for it than anything and spent quite awhile removing the bits of hardening porridge from his limbs so I could extricate him from his predicament. I was quite gentle, I think, and he rewarded me by not shedding any appendages into the pot. Before long the lizard was out, no worse for the wear but in slight need perhaps of a good wash.

Upon Weiyan's insistence, we have named him Gummy, before promptly releasing him back into the household. 

Cheers,
Cyren.

Shelldon meets Ariel

Hey ya'll

We bought another turtle recently, one to keep our current baby boy Shelldon company as he seems content... too content to sit in his cave all day mulling about whatever it is turtles mull about. We were going to pick one out from the auntie who sells fish and other marine things in her little plastic bags and containers in Sunway Pyramid but I opted to go check out another aquarium shop instead to scout out for better prices (ten ringgit is a little too steep for a baby turtle, in my opinion). We ended up getting the new turtle from an aquarium shop in SS17. Only seven ringgit, I imagine, and they were a lot smaller than the ones which were being sold at the place in Sunway Pyramid which is good for Ray because apparently he prefers raising things from when they are of that size/age. Eitherway, would you just look at the two of them...

Aren't they just adorable!!!! Which is much more than I can say for the ever-growing snake-headed monster Miju in my room. Nah I joke, we love him too!!!

ps. I decided to name her Ariel

OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!

Or the unfortunate Charaxinae butterfly that lost hers

Growing Up Creepy - pt. 3 - Of Bugs and Gym Class

Hey ya'll!

I made another trip to the forested area again today - as a sort of semi-reward for finishing my Marilyn Monroe essay ahead of schedule - because I was hoping to see, amongst the familiar faces of golden orioles, zebra doves and eggfly butterflies, some other forms of life there and sure enough, the forest did not disappoint. That is not to say, though, that there were animals and insects simply crawling up to me to be observed, photographed, and identified. But rather, I knew from all my years of experience, that underneath all the 'obvious' sort of living things that make a huge song and dance about their presence in the area - the boisterous birds, for example, or the flashy, drunken butterflies - there exists a whole different sort of life in the undergrowth, one that for the better part of its life, keeps to itself, hiding, living and breathing in their own secret and private world just waiting to be discovered by someone like myself. I must say, armed this time with a tub of roll on mosquito repellent, I was not attacked so much by the horde of mosquitoes that seemed to guard the forest area jealously from anyone who may intrude upon it (for whatever the reason!) although I suppose it was only expected that one or two would get through my defenses. So giddy on blood they must've been that I could just callously put my finger over them, pressing gently as the blood - my blood! - squirted out of their abdomens. At any rate, the mosquitoes were the last thing on my mind - a small hinderence at most - and I daresay I must have developed some immunity to them by now. Soon though, and before I had any time to go about on all fours poking tentatively at the debris in the undergrowth, a flash of color already caught my eye - a beautiful Painted Jezebel (delias hyparete) on its rare sojourns below the forest canopy - and I briskly whisked out my net, and started after it!

The Painted Jezebel Butterfly (Delias Hyparete)

However, let's go along a different track today for I do not wish to bore you anymore about my natural exploits in the "forest area" - and indeed there have been many over the span of a few days - rather, I suppose you would prefer instead to know of something which I had recollected from my childhood earlier today, in between chasing my butterflies and dodging the armies of mosquitoes (who truly seemed out for my blood despite the copious amounts of repellent I'd slathered on every exposed part of my body, yes. Even my face!). But I digress. Now, I suppose from the accounts of what I get up to during my free time and the sort of activities I like, you may assume that I do not consider myself in anyway anything of an athletic person. That is to say - though in my defense I would say that I am fit enough to perform most of the physical tasks required of one who likes to traverse these forested areas in search of anything with more than four legs - I have never quite enjoyed taking part in actual athletic abilities. Team sports, for example, and other things like that. The reason for it? - well, I suppose I have none. I believe it is one of those things, like Chinese food - you either like it, or you don't. It really is quite as simple as that, and so while actual physical exertion has never been a problem for me, I used to try my best to weasel my way out of any sporting activity, you might imagine the school used to make us take part in, on a weekly basis. Besides, there were more interesting things to do while everyone else was buzy chasing a ball around the field, like observing the dragonfly larvae accumulated in the stagnant ditches, or chasing those tea-saucer sized spiders down their nest holes.

The anecdote begins sometime when I was around the age of ten or eleven. It was physical education again and as usual, the boys had all gone off to play football, or soccer or something and the girls, volleyball. Trying to get out of it - so that I could go off on my own to search for my bugs - I purposely hid my sports attire in my school bag claiming to the teacher that I did not have the proper gear to play. Needless to say, he didn't take that too kindly, but instead of just letting me go with a sort of disappointed, resigned grimace on his face, I suppose he decided to punish me this time. Or at least, he meant to. So anyway he said to me (and of course, I do not remember ALL of what he said word for word, but it went something like this); "So, you like spending so much time digging for bugs huh? Well, guess what! I'm going to punish you now. In one hour, you better return with at least 30 different kinds of insects, or you will have to stand in the middle of the field, in the hot sun for the next period! (Yeah, they used to come up with punishments like that back in the days before child abuse became an issue). Needless to say, what he meted out as punishment, I took upon myself as a personal challenge and upon completion of my deadline of one hour, I returned to him with no less than 28 different specimens, butterflies, moths, dragonflies and their nymphs, grasshoppers, crickets and even spiders and very small scorpions, and as he picked them up - each in their own individual containers as they waved their legs, stings or antennae indignantly at him - I could look, bordering almost on respect, on his face. It was priceless. "Well you still are short of two!" he said, and I waited for the punishment to be executed promptly. Instead, all I received was a stern, "Now go back to class!"

Male of the Lemon Emigrant butterfly (Catopsilia Pomona)

Certainly one of the high points in my early childhood but if you will allow me now to direct you momentarily to the present, I will boast on my catch of the lemon emigrant butterfly (catospilia pomona) a most beautiful species with a handsome yellowish-greenish-blue tinge to its wings which I have been chasing for the past few weeks! I also saw several species of swallowtails there today, possibly the common mormon (papilio polytes) and the common rose (pachiliopta aristolochiae) but didn't manage to catch any. And before I left - sidetracked from my original mission to search for other unseen species by the colorful butterflies - I did manage to spot a particularly colorful lizard, what I believe is the oriental garden lizard (Calotes Vesicolor)

A very interesting species, the male Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes Vesicolor) develops a bright red and orange coloration during breeding season - to intimidate other males and to impress the ladies - leading them to be called, in Ceylon, by the name "bloodsucker"

A kiss may be grand but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat, 

or help you at the automat. 

My Manic Menagerie

Hey ya'll

three posts in one day! That must be a record of some sort!!! Anyway, following my completion of My Family, and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrel, I decided to make a headcount of all the pets I've ever had. Of course, I use the term 'pet' here rather loosely as it also refers to the various other animals I've taken care of for varying periods of time (my butterflies, for example) and then released into the wild. Because I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of them... I shall make it as brief as possible.

1. Dogs

Blossom and Buffy, my two shih-tzus have been the two animals who have been with our family the longest. Although it's been some nine years since they came into our lives, I still remember how we had decided - quite randomly - in my opinion to one day adopt a dog into our household. Of course, the moment between deciding to have one, and actually getting one took some time (we wanted to make sure we got the right dog) but eventually settled on a shih-tzu. Supposedly for easy maintenance. Boy were we wrong. Either way, Blossom and Buffy, for all their attitude and flaws have been amazing additions to the family and can diffuse any tense situation with their antics (unless they're the cause of the situation in the first place)

2. Rodents

Our house has seen quite a large number of its fair share of rodents during its time. And no, we did not have an infestation or a problem, we just had a little boy (namely me) who cannot resist adopting any creature he's come across. From the first pair of white mice Terri got me for my birthday (luxuriously named Chanel and Dior by her), to the ones I 'rescued' from being dissected at science labs, and finally, my darling single-mother of a mouse, Dandelion who gave birth to up to thirteen young, all of which survived to adulthood, mice have been welcome additions in this house and instead of trapping them with cages or cruel glue-lined papers, we have come to see these rodents in new perspective and light.

But the favorite rodent in this household, was arguably the only hamster we ever got. Strawberry, the female, Syrian hamster that was given to me by Robyn and Nigel when Dandelion finally succumbed of old age. Strawberry - unlike most hamsters - has always had a very sweet temperament and would never bite a person - not even a stranger. In fact, she loved humans so much, she would be content by simply curling up in one of the family's laps for her afternoon siestas. Throughout the three years of her life, Strawberry never ceased to entertain and amaze us. From learning to pick the locks to her cage, to performing simple tricks for our (and presumably her) amusement, she must be one of the most intelligent hamsters I've ever seen. In fact, her presence was so cherished that, when she at last left us, we made a small monument out of tiles and wax in the front garden to bury her. We sometimes bring flowers to that spot till this very day.

3. Turtles

Turtles have been very much loved in our household on account of their 'good luck'. We currently still have three of them, the tiny one, Shelldon (who is currently living quite happily at Ray's) and the other two colossal giants from a forgotten point of memory in my childhood. 

4.Fish

Fish have always been a particular favorite of my father and so, we have had quite a history of fish living with us. From my earliest memory of possessing a common siamese fighting fish (betta splendens) to our large tropical fish tank of angel fish and discuss, to the outdoor pond of goldfish and guppies, we have always enjoyed the serenity and calm watching fish swim around seem to invoke on some of those lazier days. Of course fish, being fish, don't live very long, but it has always been that when they die - indeed if they do not have offspring to replace them - that they would be almost instantaneously replaced by a quick trip to our local pet store.

5. Birds

As I may have already stated elsewhere here, birds have always been a particular favorite of mine. Generally, I admire birds for their beauty, their ability to create complex vocal sounds (singing, in some people's terms) and not to mention their beautiful feathers and their capacity for flight. Unsurprisingly, therefore, I have kept many different species of birds from the point of my childhood till I grew up. Some of the earlier species of birds I kept were common fowl. Jungle chickens and pheasant chicks and the like, until I eventually moved on to rescuing baby birds in nests which were abandoned by their parents, or upset during a storm. I recall in particular, the chick of a yellow vented bulbul which we raised quite succesfully. All these birds, however, were released into the wild upon recovery and although I would love to play the romantic and say they have constantly frequented my garden, I never saw many of them again since. Things took a change though, some few years ago when our garden saw its first budgie visitor, an injured bird we subsequently named Tweety (mostly because of his incessant vocalizations) but I've already talked about that and you can read more about him and his family here, and here, and here. (or simply go to the homepage, and click the link "birds" on the sidebar whereby you will be presented with every single ornithological related post I've ever written here) At any rate the result is that we have a pretty large outdoor aviary at the side of the house now which - I hope - will soon house a beautiful white Java Dove I have named Snow White. 

6. Frogs and Toads and other amphibians

Aaaah, the lovely amphibians with their interesting life-cycles. Unbeknowst to most of you, Trevor was not my first - and most certainly won't be my last - amphibians. Since I was a boy growing up, I've always had a soft spot for amphibians (and almost everything else that crawls, creeps, jumps or flies!!! But I digress) and some of my earliest memories in school was of me crawling in mud-filled ditches, scooping up their tadpoles by the palmful to be kept in plastic tanks to adulthood whereby they would be released in my garden with hopes that they would someday reproduce in our pond. Nothing came of it, though, and I never did see a single tadpole. Some species which I'd previously kept include the African clawed frog, and a pair of lovely fire-bellied newts which I had rescued from a rather forlorn looking establishment. I was, by all accounts, extremely fascinated by their life-cycles which reminded me greatly of the metamorphosis of butterflies as well

7. Insects and Other Invertabrates

Which brings us to the height of my passion. The magnificent insects! Growing up, I've had a very mixed relationship with the world of insecta. But despite my ill-feelings towards certain species (grasshoppers and cockroaches being the top two), insects under the order of lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths, have always capture my fascination and wonder and thus hold an extremely special place in my heart. This blog, is perhaps the biggest testament to that and you only need scroll through my posts to see why it is so. I do breed butterflies still, and raise them, but while some individuals are kept within a netted enclosure on the outside of the house, most are released so that they may return to populate the wild. 

Praying mantids are another breed of insects I like. Mostly because of their fascinating mannerisms, their (sometimes) brilliant coloration and their infamous reputation, they are perfect specimens that I use in my bid to educate people on the fascination, usefulness and integral roles insects play in our lives and ecosystems. Being mostly tame - except when she's hungry or angry! - my latest mantis, an impressive female specimen by the name of Artemis, basically sat in a cage on my office table to this effect until quite recently where she's recuperating after producing me a particularly splendid Ootheca.

Also, who could forget Hector, the walking-leaf insect (phyllium bioculatum) that was so difficult for me to procure. to read more, click here.

I've also raised a wide assortment of land-hermit crabs of various names which I can't quite recall now... 

And of course, who could forget the scorpion... Sting. Which caused quite a stir when he first appeared.

And though I must admit that all these animals were had in different points in time of my life, we are able to identify at least 8 different main groups here (not to mention the various individual species under each category I've raised) which really leads me to wonder, should I really counter people with a cutting remark, the next time they make the obvious comment "Cyren!!! You've got a ZOO there!" or not? Either way all these animals have brought me many good experiences, yes, and it was an extreme charm and challenge to raise them all... but for warning's sake, I must confess that raising animals can be quite a chore. It is an incredible responsibility to take upon oneself... placing another creature's life in the palm of one's hands (literally!) and I definitely would not recommend it to anyone on a whim. And really, at my high point, I barely had any time for a social life - what with the ammount of cages that needed cleaning, mouths that needed feeding, growths that needed charting and the like... which is all fine and good for an animal enthusiast like myself. But I daresay it is not for anyone. And now, before I go, truly, and leave you for your amazing weekend and Hari Raya celebrations, it seems I have managed to forget one last animal that is dependant on my love and care.

9. Human Being

Teeehee!!! Just joking!!! 

Selamat Hari Raya and Happy Holidays ya'll! 

Leapord Geckos need Good Homes

Hey guys!

I know when the word cute and adorable comes to mind lizards are generally the last thing one would ever think of. Myself, I usually think of cute little baby birds, all naked and blind in their little cozy nests... but I digress! Personally I've never been a huge fan of geckos. Sure I leave a few grains of rice out for them to eat every now and then but let's face it, they're soft, they got creepy eyes, they stare at you and their tails fall off! Also let's not forget that they eat butterflies too, which can't be good! Which made it all the more alarming, that when Weiyan showed me these lovely little darlings I couldn't help but feel immediately taken to them! Without further ado, meet the broood


The two males. Eublepharius Macularius

By the way these are leapord geckos, so named for the lovely spots on their backs. These are the two males, they get along really well it would seem and don't you just love the tiny little one in the back!!! I know he's my favourite!!!

female leapord gecko

And this is the big mama of the group (literally), that is to say she's large though not necessarily the mother of the other two since I was told that they breed and you know THAT would be disturbing, but look at her, look at that expression! Don't you tihnk she's got a sorta don't-mess-with-me-I'm-a-queen *cough*Jabbathehutt*cough* look about her? Perfect for Star Wars fans by the way!

Anyway I must admit that I have an ulterior motive for showcasing these little lovelies here on my blog today. You see, they won't be having a home much longer as their owner can no longer keep them in a bit and so, he's really desperate to find good and loving homes for all of them. So here's the deal

- 3 healthy and breeding leapord geckos
- Full sized glass terrariums

for a low, low price of RM400!!! And that is a low low price and if you think I'm cheating you, you can go check out the prices at your local pet store! Seriously though, if you are interested at all, drop by Daniel Wong's facebook page and leave him a buzz.