WEEK 30!!! This week is an Aussie leaf tail gecko aka Saltarius wyberba!!!!!

So another day another dollar, another week another species on the Raw Dog Weekly!!! So here is a incredible example of a leaf tail gecko coming from the granite outcrops of Australia. This beauty has a flat physique with a carrot shaped tail, and is a mottled grey color that is excellent camouflage in it's native environment. This gecko prefers to be kept humid and is a hardy captive that will lay about 2-4 clutches per season in captivity. The S. wyberba is a large geckos that will devour most any insects and is no picky eater. Here's a few snap shots.......enjoy and have a safe, healthy, productive, happy, and successful new years people!!!! Oli

WEEK 29!!! Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukkah, Happy Kwanza!!!! This week is the week of the Namibian web-footed gecko ie.Pachydactylus vanzyli

OK, so now I'm hypin' up the countdown with a specie from Africa, the second Pachy of the countdown in fact! This gecko is an inhabitant of the Skeleton Coast of Africa where it lives it's life in a desolate and harsh environment far from any civilization of man. This gecko must endure the extremes; from very hot to very cold in a matter of hours! It closely resembles the Pachydactylus rangei, but lacks the webbing on it's front legs and is much more uncommon in the hobby. These geckos were once called Palmato geckos, now being re-classified in the genus Pachydactylus, enjoy the pics and have a safe holiday!!!

WEEK 28!!!! The Uroplatus henkeli leaftail gecko!

Another beauty coming straight out of Madagascar this massive gecko species likes to rest on bark with it head down awaiting it's next meal. Almost totally camo'ed out it bears frills to conceal its' shadown where it's posterior meets it's anterior and almost appears bearded. These guys are just another impressive example of beauty, their eyes are intense, looking like complex artwork inside of a glass bead. Savage feeders, these animals are known to dive bomb prey with the intensity of a ferrel rabied rottweiler! Preferring cool and high humid environments these animals can vary greatly from animal to animal...Here they are:

WEEK 27 @ THE RAW DOG WEEKLY The Galiswasp Skink a.k.a Diploglossus lessonae!!!

Now I'm bringing to you a skink that I can really get down with. Unlike last weeks beasts, this skink is much more low key in that it resides in the leaf litter in jungles and scrub forests of Brazil. It's young, which happen to be birthed, come out with black and white striping which has been said to be the doppelganger to a viscious and poisonous centipede and therfore dissuading potential predation to an extent. They grow into a really pretty smooth looking skink, with a nice orange patch on their side, and they are strictly carnivorous. I have pictured some juveniles as well as adults, so you can see the baby, a transitional animal, and an adult for reference to how they change throughout their lives. These skinks can live to be around 10 years of age.  Here you are folks, only on the weekly countdown of the coolest reptiles and amphibians in captivity will you find this kind of greatness!!! Until next week!!!!

WEEK 26!!! The shingleback skink aka Tiliqua rugosa!!!

OK, so this week is the week of the skink, even though their will be at least one other on the list. This is one of the most sought after animals in the reptile community, and it demands quite a hefty price.  Commonly referred to as the bobtail skink, or sleepy lizard, this animal is slow and feasts on mostly snails, and vegetation. This lizard can grow to lengths of 25 inches and it can also birth from 1 to 4 live young per season. Another interesting fact about this animal is that they are monogamous, and that the juveniles remain with their parents for several months after birth which is very uncommon of any cold blooded species! Here are a few pics for your fix.....

WEEK 25 Behold the feared Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum)

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As we creep up to the half way point of this series, The Cold Blood Weekly, we come across one of the only venomous lizards in the world, the Gila Monster aka. Heloderma suspectum cinctum. A very close relative to the only other venemous lizard the Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum), the Gila displays an armored exterior with bone fragments surrounded by scales to protect it's person (or lizard should I say). Dining mostly on eggs, and rodents this beast burrows tunnels, and is known to eat it's fill during only 3 months of the year! It enjoys moist and cool environments and can be tamed quite nicely with a little cautious handling...Enjoy

WEEK 24, This week is the first turtle of the countdown, the Geoemyda spengleri!!!!

Commonly known as the Vietnamese Leaf Turtle this species loves cool and humid environments, and can not tolerate heat all that well. They will eat a wide variety of prey items such as crickets, snails, earthworms, pinkies, etc and the list goes on to include vegetables and fruits. I have noticed that G. spengleri are aggressive and savage feeders when fed crickets. They actively stalk and attack prey items which is really cool to watch. As you can see from the pics, they have long necks, a hooked snout, and big bulgy eyes which make them have a really funny appearance. They enjoy soaking in a water bowel, but they are mainly found chilling out on a mixture of peat, sand, and leaf litter which is constantly moist. They can lay only 1 or 2 eggs per season, and they only reach a maximum of 4.5 inches in length making them a really nice compact species which are really entertaining to observe. Well here they are......

WEEK 23!!!! That's right, this week we got one of the hottest geckos on the planet!!!! Paroedura masobe!!!! You knew they were coming!!

So you ask, why another gecko on the countdown??? Good question really, but for that we got a simple answer, because we're biased and partial to geckos over here! The first time I saw a photo of this gecko  I was truly in love! I hear all the time that pictures don't do an animal justice, but this is truly the case with the paroedura masobe. Truth be told, this is just another fine example of the beauty that comes from madagascar....Here they are without further adi`ew

WEEK 22, The legendary Green Tree Python...

These magnificent creatures are just a splendid example of how truly cool a snake can be. Being the first snake of the countdown I wanted to make this a massive ordeal, so here are some pictures of the nicest GTP's that I have ever seen. Special thanks to David Bellis for taking these pictures and allowing me to use them on this site, as they are his animals! I got my eye on the little juvie Canary GTP, so hopefully she will be coming to the rawest collection of cold blooded martyr's in the near future to be added to what is becoming one of the most beautiful assortment of reptiles, and amphibian congregations to date!  Too di lew, til next week!!!!

WEEK 21 This week I'm listing a general group of amphibians, the poison dart or arrow frogs!!!

OK, so technically I just can't keep this post to just one specie of PDF in captivity as there are soooo many cool species all varying in color size and personality. I have a love for these small frogs, and just can't seem to get enough of them and their looks! They are just so cool to watch eat and hop around. Coming from numerous areas of S. America these frogs were originally known by their poisonous skin excretions that tribal people would use to lace up their arrow tips with to kill humans or their food. Not a frog to be licked people! Fortunately though these frogs do not have poisonous characteristics in captivity as they do not feed on insects that consume toxic plants as they would in the wild. Pictured are some of the individuals that I have at my residences as of today (and the terribilis were pictured at a friends facility ;)....enjoy.

WEEK 20! Fiji Island Iguana aka Brachylophus fasciat

This stunning iguana is just amazing looking! This animal, being arboreal by nature is highly endangered and isn't exactly common in collections. This picture was taken at the Hamm show in Germany where there were several individuals being sold for massive sums of money.  Due to the fact that they require Cites paperwork makes them very difficult to traffic back to the US for myself or others interested in this magnificent animal.  Plus, if one were to somehow get them back, they are very illegal to have in the U.S.  You will have Fish and Game officials at your facility in no time.  This iguana is endemic to the islands of Fiji and Tonga and is a very isolated specie of the iguana family only growing to about 2 feet in length. Diurnal by nature males are striped like the individual pictured, and females are a solid color and both can change their skin colors to match their surroundings with the quickness. Here's a pic:

WEEK 19!!! The gaboon viper!!!!

OK, so it's been a little while and I apologize for the delay in some visual pleasures, and I apologize as well for those facebook fiends that have already seen some of these pictures, but I can only produce a certain amount of photo's. I'm not a photographer as you can see, but all aside I enjoy snapping a pic or two of some beautiful animals that I encounter here and there. This week I'm putting up a picture of one of the deadliest snakes on this earth. This lucrid has been known to have the biggest fangs proportionately to any other venemous snake, and can get as thick as my thigh! They can grow in excess of five feet in length, and their color, pattern, and sheer head size is pretty impressive to say the least. Not to mention that they have horns as well! This personal snake has NEVER refused a meal yet. I have fed her rat after rat after rat on many occasions and she will just eat one after the other just like they were a box of McDonalds chicken nuggets. I think at one feeding I fed her 6 adult soft furred rats over the course of an hour, and she had no problem devouring them all. Well, enough said, here she is the West African Gaboon Viper!!!

WEEK 18 This week we are introducing the Strophurus ciliaris ciliaris!!!

Hello again, this week I'm taking off to the Hamm Germany reptile show and figured I would throw up a specie which is quite common in Europe, but not so common here in the US. Unfortunately genetics on the spiny tailed gecko have become non diverse here in the U.S., and not so many people are producing them like they once were. At one time this was one of the most common of the strophurus in the states, but now it is hard to get your hands on some quality individuals that will produce viable offspring. I'm off to Germany to get my hands on some new genes to contribute to the local US gene pool, and to take some pictures of some other sweet animals so I can throw them up here on the countdown!!! Hopefully I will be able to post again next week from the EU, but only time will tell!!! Til next time, teu di lou....