DeNile

OMG! I went to step out into the garage to bring laundry out and a 4 1/2 foot Komodo Dragon Lizard was on the entry ramp!

This was my Aunt ReRe's Facebook status update Sunday night. I laughed when I read it. She lives in SW Ranches in Broward County, FL. I figured it was an Iguana or a Basilisk.

I must apologize I stand kind of corrected.

While a Komodo Dragon would be CNN worthy (or America's Funniest Videos worthy), when she sent the picture I was surprised to see a Nile Monitor next to her A/C unit. Monitor's are the smaller cousins of the Komodos. We have an unfortunate population of them in Cape Coral on Florida's west coast, but I wasn't aware of any on the east coast. The USGS reports regular sightings in the Coral Springs and Tamarac area just north of SW Ranches.

In Cape Coral the monitors feed on the eggs of native Burrowing Owls and Gopher Tortoises as well as other reptiles, birds and mammals. Supposedly they help control the feral cat (and domestic cat?) population in Cape Coral. Score! (Since domestic cats are the #1 cause of songbird decline in the U.S.)

The big lizards are native to Africa

and are highly adaptable, living in a variety of habitats that have a water source nearby. Similar to Alligators, they have sharp teeth as juveniles and blunt powerful teeth as adults. They also have nostrils on the upper side of their snout which means they're good to go in the water. Florida Fish & Wildlife suggest removing them from the wild here in the state might not be feasible.

I walked my aunt and uncle's property on Monday and turned up nothing. I've yet to see a wild one.

Good news for my aunt - this one is probably a stray - maybe an escaped pet - and a small one at that - they can grow another 2 feet reaching lengths of 6 1/2 feet. I'm used to 4 inches Geckos outside my apartment. If I stepped out and saw a Nile Monitor I'd probably wet myself...and then wonder how it climbed the stairs.

Chicken Protein Shakes and Snake Wraps

When you're an endangered reptile in captivity, hunger strikes are not acceptable. Indigo Snakes are endangered not only due to loss of habitat (dry, pine and palmetto forests) but because they are so docile in temperament and incredibly beautiful that people illegally remove them from the wild and sell them as pets. The male Indigos shimmer with crimson and obsidian iridescence as if created by a glass blower. The females lack the red but are equally gorgeous. This one was removed from a Gopher Tortoise's burrow (a typical place they cohabitate) by an ignorant farmer and became too sick to be returned to the wild. But after several months it still has not eaten and it was time for us to step in and force feed him.

The snake is nearly 6 feet long. To get the tube far enough down into the stomach, I would have to hold the snake and prevent him from straighting out.

The tube must go down the esophagus. Food or air into the lungs would kill the snake.

The food is a delicious blend of pureed chicken and eggs, which is fairly close to what they would eat in the wild and in truth is remarkably foul smelling.

Once the stomach is full, the snake must be relaxed and held upright to allow gravity and a little massaging to help the food stay down.

Snakes feel more comfortable when they are draped or wrapped around something. (normally a tree!!) In this case, the Indigo coiled up into my shorts and than came back down the other leg and wrapped around. That should give you an idea of how long the snake is. And how comfortable I was. It really didn't bother me until the snake decided to uncoil by backing out of my shorts. I wanted no part of that and we enticed him to come back out the way he went in.


Really....what can I say for this one?

This should keep the Indigo healthy for many weeks to come, but hopefully he'll learn to eat on his own again.