Blue Tongued Skink

packing

Art

I'm not sure still need to raku fire stuff and coat the sphinx

Animal

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8007281@N08/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

The blue tongued skink (Tiliqua scinoides) is a 2ft skink from Australia. As their name implies they have a bright blue tongue which they use for threat displays. When threatened they will puff up their body to appear larger and stick out their alarming blue tongue. It is thought that their display may also mimic a death adder's as they are similar in coloration and share the same range. Blue tongued skinks are omnivores some have a particular fondness for snails. They give birth to live young after the eggs have developed inside their body, some give birth to more then 10 offspring at a time. They are very common in the pet trade and commonly captive bred. Most of the ones I've met tend to have good natures and they tend to be reasonably hardy.

Video of a blue tongued skink eating peas

Texas Threadsnake

Art

waiting on the kiln

Animal

Photo by LA Dawson

The Texas threadsnake (Leptotyphlops dulcis) is a small burrowing snake from the southwest United States and Mexico. They are well adapted to life underground and only surface when their habitat floods. Their eyes have been reduced to vestigial eyespots. Eastern screech owls will catch these snake alive and release the in their nests. The snake prey on larva and nest debris in the nest that might be detrimental to the baby owls. Owls with a threadsnake in their nests grew faster and had a lower mortality rate.

Malagasy Rainbow Frog

I may be posted in a not very regular manner for the next month and a half. We are doing a long distance move soon and I will likely have a few periods where I have no internet connection. (It is also going to cut into the Art quite a bit). Things should get back to normal after that.

Art

work on ceramic parts of rabbit and not flower but soldier fly

Animal

Photo by Franco Andreone

The Malagasy rainbow frog (Scaphiophryne gottlebei) lives in narrow sandy canyons in the Isalo Massif area of Madagascar. They burrow in the sandy substrate much of the time and will climb the vertical rocky walls of the canyons they live in for several meters. Tadpoles of this species have a psammonektonic feeding behavior durning the day the sit along the bottom at a 45 degree angle and filter feed on the substrate then at night they swim freely feeding as well. They are critically endangered for a variety of reasons habitat destruction logging, fire, and overgrazing being the big one. There is also a great deal of concern about sapphire mining activities in their range. It has also been determined that a significant cap needs to be put on the number of individuals collected for the pet trade the Edge suggests no more then 1000 individuals per year. While they recover very well from individual predation their range is too small to sustain the level of collection that currently occurs, so it is currently very damaging. While they have not yet successfully bred and fully reared in captivity it is thought that there is reasonably good potential that they can be bred in captive conditions, it is the hoped that extremely limited collection will allow a breeding captive population to be established.

Link to the Edge amphibian and weird mammal conservation charity

McGregor's Tree Viper

I've had a really bad internet connection the last couple of days. I passed the Network + it was awful.

Art

assemble cricket and cory cat

Animal

Photo by Alumroot

The McGregor's Tree Viper (Trimeresurus mcgregori) is a lovely colorful snake with variable marking from two islands of the Philippines. There was some debate as to whether it is a full species or a subspecies of Trimeresurus flavomaculatus. It is a venomous snake with a very painful bite, but it is not deadly. It was discovered by a bird specialist Richard C.Mcgregor in 1907, and upon discovery the snake bit him, so he also learned about the potency of it's venom. Unlike many snakes, these snakes are actually very dependent on sight most snakes get most of their sensory input through smell and heat.

Giant Frog-eyed Gecko

I dropped the figure with the Anubis mask and fairly throughly destroyed it. I will recreate it but I don't think I will be able to finish it before the move so I will probably have to wait until after. I started some small pieces that might turn into something.

Art

carve cory cat and cricket

Animal

Photo by Lydiat

The Giant Frog-eyed Gecko (Teratoscincus scincus) is an adorable burrowing desert gecko from the Middle East. It would be a poor idea to cuddle them as they have exceptionally fragile skin that can be torn quite easily and they are very nervous geckos. It's possible rough handling could partially flay them. They have some of the thinnest skin of the geckos that do not use skin loss as a defense mechanism.

Common snakeneck turtle

Art

goal for the week 16hrs

today

work on floor tiles

make clay

Animal

Photo by Joachim S Muller

The common snakeneck turtle (Chelodina longicollis) is an Australian turtle with a neck as long as the rest of it's body. It also has potent musk glands which give it another common name "the stinker" which they can spray up to 3 feet when threatened. They for some reason not uncommon as pets in Australia, perhaps they are difficult to frighten badly enough to spray.

Here is a link to a picture that better illustrates the unusually long neck

feathered tree viper

Art

Goal for the week 17hrs

try to finish the sphinx

Animal

Photo by Al Coritz

The feathered tree viper (Atheris hispida) is a small strange viper from central Africa. They have these long scales that bristle off their body in a way that one usually only sees in drawing of dragons and not so much in actual reptiles.  Like the Amazonian snail eater I mentioned a few weeks ago these also seems to specialize in soft bodied invertebrates. They tend to hang out basking on the very tops of trees. They do very poorly in captivity with a very high mortality rate even among experienced keepers.

Close up of their dragon-like head

Video of someone fussing over several feathered tree vipers and the vipers doing threat displays

Red spotted newt

In the network + 2009 book I've been reading they go a bit overboard with the security section. They start out perfectly reasonably with firewalls, various network set ups, and encryption and then they moved to mantraps, 8ft fences with razor wire, and guard dogs. I suppose hackers would not be expecting a guard dog in the MDF. They open the dog suddenly an angry German Shepard flies out at them. The night crew and I at work then talked about other animals what could guard and MDF. We went through the usual big cats, poisonous snakes, and crocodiles. We eventually decided that the Cassowary might be the best choice as they would first confuse and then eviscerate the intruder.  

Art

Goal for the week 17hrs

work on the sphinx.

Animal

Photo by Janet.powell

The red spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) is a mildly toxic newt that has an interesting life cycle. They start out aquatic like other amphibians, then they go through a very cute terrestrial stage where they are tiny bright red newts that disperse to other ponds, and once they find a pond they return to a fully aquatic stage as adults and loose most of their bright coloration. The red spotted newt's range some how just misses us, but they can be found in northern and southern illinois.

The Golden Toad

Art

Goal for the week-not happening 

Today 

Work on the sphinx

Animal

The coming climate change is likely to be causing quite a few extinctions, the golden toad (Bufo periglenes) has the honor of being the first extinction definitely attributable to global warming. They bred in mass in small pools in the cloud forests of Costa Rica. The effects of an effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation caused these pools to dry up for several years killing all of the toad's young. They have not been seen since 1989.

Black Tree Monitor

Art

Goal for the week 19.5hrs

work on the sphinx

Animal

Photo by Robert Lawton

The black tree monitor (Varanus beccarii) is a 3 or 4 ft arboreal monitor from the Aru Islands of New Guinea. It was once thought to be a subspecies of the green tree monitor but is currently considered to be a separate species. Locally they are called "Waweyaro" the Kamoro supposedly do not eat them though I can't find a reason why. They have prehensile tail that assists them in climbing. It has been commented that they are reasonably intelligent for lizards. They are sometimes found in the pet trade but they are uncommon and the individuals tend to be wild caught as they are difficult to breed in captivity. 

Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman

Not feeling well tonight I think I'm coming down with something. Went to the goth event thing at c-street last night.  It was probably Greg's last time DJing in Champaign. They randomly had some guy eating fire and walking on broken glass it was a friend of Jill's I think. 

Art

Still off

Animal

photo by Grufnik

Cuvier's Dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus) is the smallest of the crocodilians only reaching a length of about 3 feet. This make them quite popular as pets as unlike other crocodilians they stay a somewhat manageable size. They tend to be very aggressive for crocodilians in captivity, but have bred in captivity and can live up to 40 years. They tend to live in rivers and streams in north eastern South America it is theorized that their small size helps them to navigate through faster running water. They have the most bony plates of any crocodilian and they have some of the strongest stomach acid found in any known vertebrate.

Picture of a skeleton

Amazonian snail-eater

The cockroach living room disappeared. 

Art

Goal for the week 18hrs

Today work on the sphinx

Animal

Photo by James I Watling

The Amazonian snail-eater (Dipsas indica) is a small snake from tropical South America. They have unusual eating habits in that they specialize in slugs and snails. To find their mollusk they generally find a slime trail via chemoreception and follow it. The teeth on their lower jaw are long and well adapted to help them deal with viscous prey. For snails they will constrict the snail and then use their lower jaws to work snails out of their shells. They also have a serous gland in their lower jaw which may secrete a substance that helps them in removing snails from their shells. It is also thought that with their unusual jaw structure that they can triangulate their head to resemble a more dangerous snake like the pitviper Bothrops jararaca.

Ajolote Lizard

 Art

Goal for the week 18hrs

Today

Work on the sphinx

Animal

The Ajolote Lizard (Bipes biporus) is a two legged Amphisbaenian (worm lizards sort of the odd group out in the snakes and lizards of Squamata). They are found in California and Mexico. This reptile spends most of it's time burrowing, often near mesquite shrubs using it's legs to do most of the digging. They will occasionally leave there burrows at night to hunt surface dwelling insects, but they tend to be awkward on the surface. They eat mostly ground dwelling invertebrates and they have fairly large teeth (Here is a skull). Their ears are unusual for Amphisbaenians in that they have extra folds of skin and fibrous tissue that may be related to what developed into the epihyal bone found in the ears of mammals according to Ernest Wever and Carl Gans. It seems that this ear set up also gives them better hearing then other Amphisbaenians.

Video of one moving around

Tentacled Snake

Stuart is participating in creating some sort of mass rpg-blogger campaign setting.  He has a few fun civilizations planned. 

Art

Goal for the week 18hrs

Today

Lop off Serenity's arms

Wrap Serenity in bubble wrap

Drill into the base and add the weights

Plug up the drilled holes with apoxy

work on the sphinx

Animal

photo by djwudi

The tentacled snake (Erepeton tentaculatum)from Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam has several unusual features. It is the only reptile that has two heavily muscled moveable tentacles on the front of it head. There tentacles are theorized to be sensory organs not unlike the barbs one would find on a carp. They are venomous, but have short rear fangs and venom that does not have a long lasting effect on humans. They are fully aquatic and have developed an odd J shaped strike pose that gives them maximum power underwater. As an adaptation to underwater life they also are ovoviviparous, meaning that their eggs develop fully internally but their young are fed with a yolk rather then from the mother's body. Their eyes are also very dorsally located for a snake.

A video tentacled snake going into the J shaped strike pose and eating a large goldfish

Red headed agama

Art

Today

work on sphinx

Animal

Photo by Jason Pratt

The red headed agama (Agama agama) inhabits sub-saharan Africa, and is invasive in Florida. They have adapted to life around human habitations reasonably well and so are fairly common. During the breeding season the males are very brightly colored and can become even more so if agitated. They also become very territorial and will often fight for good elevated positions. Red headed agamas have sticky mucus glands on the tip of their tongues that help them to hold on to prey. They also have relatively complicated teeth with with both canine like teeth for grasping and molar like teeth for crushing. Most of the red headed agamas in captivity tend to be wild caught, though they have bred in captivity, this makes them a poor choice for inexperienced reptile keepers.

Rubber eel

I talked to my roommates and I think we will be still doing the April fools party thing for Loki this year. I might end up having to do it the weekend after the day to get more people though.

 

Art

Goal for the week 20hrs

Today

make clay

poke the guy with the Anubis mask access what needs to be done

work on the sphinx

look into how ventriloquist dummy heads are put together

Animal 

photo by Brian Grandwicke

The rubber eel (Typhlonectes natans) is not a fish at all but is an amphibian from a group of amphibians called Caecilians. Caecilian are a somewhat poorly studied group as most members of the group live underground or are fully aquatic. In the case of the rubber eel, it is is fully aquatic. Rubber eels do much of their respiration through their skin, but also need to breath air.  Like other caecilians they have a second set of jaw muscles to help them keep their mouth closed while burrowing they also have a small tentacle between their eye and nostrils that acts as a chemical sensor. Their teeth are small and hook backward to help them grip their prey you can tell that they are advanced highly evolved caecilians as their mouth is below the center of their head. Earlier caecilians have a mouth that is centered at the terminal end of their head. Rubber eels give birth to live young and embryonic rubber eels have natal teeth that they use to bite the oviduct wall of their mother to cause them to secrete a nourishing substance. They seem to be not uncommon in captivity and I found quite a few care sheets while I was looking into them.

Somewhat long video about these caecilians that shows a variety of their behaviors

Minute leaf chameleon

The sewer smells seems to be mostly taken care of. We had some drama at game last night, I will have to talk with one of my roommates.  

Art

Goal for the week 20hrs

Today

work on the figure with the Anubis mask

start the modeling clay sphinx figure.

Animal

photo by glowingz

The minute leaf chameleon (Brookesia minima) is a tiny chameleon from the island of Nosy Be off the coast of Madagascar. They are one of the world's smallest reptiles at just a little over an inch long. Like other chameleons they can change their coloration they tend to be a very dark brown when calm and almost white when agitated. Their prey includes tiny insects like fruit flies and springtails. When in danger they first rely on their camouflage to escape if this does not work, they feign death, and if they are gripped they will vibrate at a high frequency. They have been bred in captivity but their eggs are so tiny that the preferred method is to incubate them in the enclosure.

Clip from a Jeff Corwin documentary featuring B. minima

A good clear picture of one

Egyptian Cobra

I put up a post about Lunacon in the Necropolis Studio's blog I also put up some pictures of recent big pieces. 

Art

Goal for the week 16hrs

Today

Lunacon do the forms so that I can mail it out

find a new con for April

work on the guy with the Anubis mask

Animal

Mythology 

In ancient Egyptian mythology the Egyptian cobra (Naja Haje) plays a nearly opposite role then the horned viper. Probably the best known association in Egyptian mythology with the cobra is that with the goddess Wadjet, who represents lower Egypt, she is generally depicted with Nekhbet the the vulture goddess of upper Egypt or alone on the king's headress as the uraeus. She is also depicted as the eye of Horus, or the Wadjet eye, and she was combined with Bast and Mut on occasion (in the later periods when they were sticking gods together). The cobra was also associated with the goddess Renenutet who was often depicted as a cobra with a woman head or a goddess with an entire cobra as a head. Renenutet was believed to bring the Ren part of the soul "the true name" to a new born during the first day of their life. She also had associations with fertility. It is also likely the case that this  cobra would have been the snake Cleopatra killed herself with rather then an asp, as we would think of one as this snake was also called an asp during that period.

Depiction of Wadjet and Nekhbet you have probably seen before

Picture of Renenutet

Blue crested lizard

The Comptia website has very fast shipping. I got my book in less then 12 hours of ordering. I think that is a record.

Art

goal for the week 12.75 hrs

today

really need to make sketches

work on dragon 

Animal

photo by travlinman43

Ok, this one is a bit of a "look pretty shiny lizard" article, they do not really do any tricks, nor biolumenese, they are not the sacred to the god of corn. It is shiny isn't it. The blue crested lizard (Calotes mystaceus) is a 15 inch bloodsucker agamid from southeast Asia they are also occasionally seen in the Florida everglades as an invasive species. No one can really agree on a common name for this lizard I've seen at least 6 in use so far. They are arboreal insectivores and the males tend to be more brightly colored then the females. They can also undergo a color change when stressed or excited. They are strangely not at all popular in the pet hobby despite the popularity of agamids. They have been occasionally found to be infected with mud fever (Dermatophilus congolensis), but this does not seem to be a common occurrence. 

European cat snake

Art

Goal for the week 11.75hrs

today

still sanding

buy a few (3 or so) little boxes for skull boxes

Animal

photo by hyperviper

The European cat snake (Telescopus fallax) is found mainly on Greek islands and also the island of Malta. They are mildly venomous but are rear fanged and poses little threat to human. Lizards are their main prey, particularly geckos, which they inject with their rear fangs and then follow until the prey is subdued. These snakes have also gotten associated with an Orthodox miracle. On the island of Cephalonia, in the village of Markopoulo during the festivities to the Theotokos between August 5 and August 15 these snakes are said to come in numbers to the temple. The legend goes that nuns being attacked by pirates in 1705 prayed and were transformed into snakes to escape the pirates. I'm not sure if the nuns were supposed to have stayed snakes. (For former Necropolitians and House of Thornes in the know, the randomness of this miracle has a feel somewhat similar to "the miracle of the Christmas bats and the reasonably priced alcohol". Have you considered a reoccurring element?)