2meke Posted April 6, 2011 (edited) most of this is at the ti point reptile park north of auckland. well worth the drive on a sunny day for auckland members. apart from the chameleons, bearded dragons and tortoises the lizards are native to nz giant galapogos tortoise auckland green gecko rough geckko pacific gecko forest gecko forest gecko gettin some pohutakawa nectar. it's their fav duvaucel gecko otago skink i think tuatara. feeding these guys was so much fun chameleon babys beardys? Edited April 6, 2011 by 2meke Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FancyPants Posted April 6, 2011 (edited) Aww the geckos and baby chameleons are so cute! I'd also love to see a Tuatara in real life, it's incredible how old they are, like crocs! (Edit: Thanks for rekindling my interest in dinosaurs and living fossils, I'll be spending hours now surfing the 'net looking at this stuff ) Speaking of incredible reptiles, I was watching a doco on the Serengeti migrations and after some lions brought down a water buffalo and the pride was chowing down, a monitor type lizard waltzed over and started digging into the carcass. The lions backed off! A whole pride backed off from a fresh kill because they were scared of it! Edited April 7, 2011 by FancyPants Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2meke Posted April 6, 2011 yeah the tuataras are so cool. that one is about 9 years old and they still don't know the sex at that age. yea i saw a pretty big monitor in the bush in WA. they are dam scary Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bogfrog Posted April 6, 2011 holy shit that must be the coolest thing about auckland! other than maybe coro cacti we have been thinking bout getting a pet lizard they are like dinosaurs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2meke Posted April 7, 2011 (edited) haha. yea they're both pretty epic. the forests and pacific geckos are mine. you can keep them with a permit from department of conservation. soon i'll be aplying for my next permit so i can get the duvaucels. they're our biggest gecko. once you have your permit doc will put you onto a breeder that will give them to you. then you can breed them and trade them with other permitted breeders. buying selling or taking NZ lizards from the wild is highly illegal so do it the rite way. unless you want some aussie ones then you dont need a permit, wich is crazy. australian lizards are a pretty big threat to our wild life if they escape. i was lucky enough to see one of my forests give birth to twins this year, live birth too wich is handy! Edited April 7, 2011 by 2meke Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted April 7, 2011 Shit, at first I thought you had a Galapagos tortoise as a pet! Beautiful geckos. Love the tuatara too. I used to work at the Australian Reptile Park, where there were a few Galapagos tortoises. They're beautiful creatures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted April 7, 2011 Speaking of incredible reptiles, I was watching a doco on the Serengeti migrations and after some lions brought down a water buffalo and the pride was chowing down, a monitor type lizard waltzed over and started digging into the carcass. The lions backed off! A whole pride backed off from a fresh kill because they were scared of it! Sounds like a Komodo Dragon( which is a monitor/goanna). Now that would make an awesome pet/guard dog. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
random Posted April 7, 2011 With a nasty bite to match! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted April 7, 2011 ^ mine would be trained , of course, . @ 2meke, Great hobby. Do you have any other funky pets? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
solomon Posted April 7, 2011 (edited) Wow 2meke, I never knew you could get that kind of permit from DOC.. I will have to look into it. Love geckos! and the chameleons are wicked too. Will have to check it out next time I'm up there I recommend Life in Cold Blood and the Reptiles & Amphibians episode of Life. Reptiles & Amphibians shows a Komodo hunt.. very cool. edit: Lol at the hungry chameleon on the Kawa Kawa Edited April 7, 2011 by centipede Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2meke Posted April 7, 2011 nah no other cool pets... yeah that shot of the chameleon is my favourite. you can only keep chameleons and tuataras on a zoo permit tho which i hear is very pricey. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wameron36 Posted April 7, 2011 Some beautiful critters there. I havn't seen a photo of tuatara in a long time, forgot how cool they were. Do you keep any other reptiles? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moses Posted April 8, 2011 nah no other cool pets... yeah that shot of the chameleon is my favourite. you can only keep chameleons and tuataras on a zoo permit tho which i hear is very pricey. pretty much the same for aus, if it aint australian you cant have it. they dont give out many zoo permits and it takes a few years to be able to apply, you need to slowly hold progressively higher permits and be "sponsored" by someone that has a permit higher than your own. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sheather Posted April 8, 2011 Sounds like a Komodo Dragon( which is a monitor/goanna). Now that would make an awesome pet/guard dog. I believe Komodos are only native to some Indonesian islands, hardly the area that would be inhabited by hunting lions. But yeah a big monitor... Scary. Just being close to the 1-1.5m long ones that are about gives me a bit of a rush. I wonder if you even can train a dragon? (Heh, reference) Baby chameleons are adorable! And most of the other reptiles are very cute too. Thanks for sharing, I wish I lived around there now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mac Posted April 8, 2011 (edited) very cool My brother has a Nice sized diamond python & my son has a pet bearded dragon that we nursed back to health after being attacked by a dog will get a couple of pics & post them sometime Edited April 8, 2011 by mac Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bℓσωηG Posted April 8, 2011 WICKED ! the tortoise looks like hes really enjoying the interaction.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted April 8, 2011 (edited) Sheather said.... I believe Komodos are only native to some Indonesian islands, hardly the area that would be inhabited by hunting lions. But yeah a big monitor... Scary. Just being close to the 1-1.5m long ones that are about gives me a bit of a rush. I wonder if you even can train a dragon? (Heh, reference) :End Quote I don't really know the distribution of the Komodo Dragon, but can't think of any other lizard that would intimidate lions. Monitors and other lizards can be tamed and somewhat trained, not quite to guard dog standard though, Edited April 8, 2011 by Amazonian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2meke Posted April 9, 2011 yeah blowng when you first go into his enclosure he is frightened and withdraws but the keeper just strokes his legs for a while untill hes comfortable. then he stands up as high as he can and puts his head back like that and lets you do whatever. they do this in the wild and the birds get the parasites off them. he's a cool dude ay and hes had a hard life... he was originaly at auckland zoo untill he got an infected dick and it had to be amputated. since he cant mate anymore he gets jeleous when the others get it on and does what he can to sabotage their attempts. so afew years ago he was gifted to ti point. i think hes around 40 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moses Posted April 9, 2011 I believe Komodos are only native to some Indonesian islands, hardly the area that would be inhabited by hunting lions. But yeah a big monitor... Scary. Just being close to the 1-1.5m long ones that are about gives me a bit of a rush. I wonder if you even can train a dragon? (Heh, reference) Baby chameleons are adorable! And most of the other reptiles are very cute too. Thanks for sharing, I wish I lived around there now. I don't really know the distribution of the Komodo Dragon, but can't think of any other lizard that would intimidate lions. Monitors and other lizards can be tamed and somewhat trained, not quite to guard dog standard though, yes Komodos are only situated on a number of islands. you probably saw a nile monitor, 7 to 9 foot long with quite an attitude when needed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted April 9, 2011 (edited) According to Daniel Bennetts book on Monitor lizards, the Nile Monitor averages around 6 ' (74cm snout to vent) . The aggressive nature/attitude ,I suppose would intimidate lions. Edit: looking at google images, the Nile monitor looks pretty meaty (robust). I can imagine it freaking lions out. Edited April 10, 2011 by Amazonian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moses Posted April 11, 2011 According to Daniel Bennetts book on Monitor lizards, the Nile Monitor averages around 6 ' (74cm snout to vent) . The aggressive nature/attitude ,I suppose would intimidate lions. Edit: looking at google images, the Nile monitor looks pretty meaty (robust). I can imagine it freaking lions out. anecdotally i've heard a nile monitor of equal length to a croc is more of a handful because of their agility. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites