Pizza Night Surprise: Shrek & Fiona Move Up-Town!
We’ve been teasing the idea of a new resident in our Zoo Med Skyscraper terrarium ever since we mentioned it in our Potato (yes, our beloved gargoyle gecko) blog. Originally, Dad flirted with the notion of filling it with an array of colorful poison dart frogs - if only wingless fruit flies weren’t a deal breaker! What else could colonize this miniature Empire State Building?
REPTILE FAMILY
AJS
2/12/20253 min read
The Mini Monitors
Our sights shifted to the charming Emerald Tree Skinks we encountered at NEHERP while picking up Potato, and the supplies for his would-be Skyscraper terrarium. These little critters were cute, active, and downright attention-seeking, and Clint’s Reptiles (one of the coolest, most informative reptile enthusiast on the planet) had even ranked them as one of the best pet lizards. But fate had another twist in store for us as the pair at NEHERP were not for sale at this time.
Enter the Green Keeled Belly Lizard - another stellar recommendation from Clint’s Reptiles. Dad had long been intrigued by the sleek Green Tree Monitors, but let’s be honest: they require a bit more space, and some more research – we don’t think he’s given up on that dream. Clint suggested these little lizards were like mini monitors, boasting a long, prehensile tail that accounts for nearly 70% of their body length and giving them an uncanny resemblance to their larger cousins. Native to the lush coastal forests of Kenya and Tanzania, these vibrant reptiles are as striking as they are agile. With their bright green (or sometimes bluish green) hue and a dash of turquoise along their limbs, they immediately captured our eyes.
The Surprise Arrival
After a bit of research and a lot of excited chatter, we decided that a pair - a male and a female - would be the perfect duo for our Skyscraper terrarium, with hopes that someday we might even incubate a batch of tiny lizards ourselves. One early afternoon, Dad made a mad dash to the nearest FedEx hub, grabbed our new arrivals, and raced home. His mission? To introduce our new pets into the terrarium before Kiley returned from school.
And what a day it turned out to be! The terrarium is situated right next to Kiley’s desk - a prime spot during our special Pizza Night. Picture this: Mom and Dad, armed with slices of pizza and our best undercover skills, sat down as Kiley munched on her pie and tuned into her favorite episode of Snake Discovery. All the while, our two new residents were exploring their new domain just a foot away from her.
Keeping a secret in our household is nearly impossible. Dad tried every trick in the book - like casually pointing at a “spider on the wall” - to get Kiley to glance at the terrarium. Sure enough, her eyes widened in shock and amazement when she finally spotted them. Dad, with his best poker face, insisted it was just a couple of leaves moving about in our growing terrarium. Kiley wasn’t buying it for one second, and within minutes, she had named the pair Shrek and Fiona. And honestly, for these colorful green lizards with their long, monitor-esque tails, the names couldn’t be more fitting.
Now, Shrek and Fiona are settling into their new home, bringing a little extra magic (and a touch of mischief) into our everyday life. Who knew a pair of tiny, exotic lizards from the forests of East Africa could steal the spotlight on Pizza Night? Stay tuned for more adventures as the journey of Shrek and Fiona is just beginning!
How we care for Shrek and Fiona
No, we don’t have them eat human eyeballs, make ear wax candles for light, or bathe them in mud, although occasionally we think they bathe in their grub pie. Actually, come to think of it, maybe they are like Ogres!
Diet: We feed them a mixture of small Dubia roaches (dusted with Calcium with D3) and Superworm twice a week, along with a mixture of grub pie every other day. That may even rival a Shrek meal! We offer a bowl of water but also mist the tank once or twice a day to keep a range of 60-70% humidity.
Heating & Lighting: We have two Value Grow LEDs, may as well be spotlights, at the top of the tank. These are needed to reach the bottom of the 36” high Skyscraper terrarium. There is also a 12” Arcadia Shadedweller for UVB, and a small 75W basking bulb for heat. Their basking zone, towards the top of the tank is around 84-90 degrees. While the ambient heat in the rest of the tank ranges between 75-80 degrees.
Enclosure & Décor: The Zoo Med Skyscraper is 18”x18”x36” tall. The terrarium is fully decked out Bioactive with a drainage layer, NEHERP v2 substrate, leaf litter, plants, cork bark tubes, and clean-up crew (isopods & springtails) – all provided by NEHERP. We added a few sanitized back yard branches, along with a Thyme plant – which makes the tank smell delicious!
(Kiley's first production video!)
Great Resources:
Bioactive Supplies – NEHERP or The Bio Dude
Care Guides – Clint’s Reptiles and Daffy’s Reptiles
