Through the Natives Elective at Monarto, I had a really cool opportunity to set up new, larger enclosures for the Pygmy Blue Tongue Lizards. The first thing we had to do was build the enclosures out of some sheets of metal. We got 2 pieces and attached them together with a drill and rivet gun – which turns out is a bit easier said than done. After some crazy drill antics, we came up with 6 new enclosures for some of the lizards.

We then checked all the tubs they were being kept in to see if the lizards were in there by using a torch. Once we did that, we set to work fishing those guys out with some crazy crickets. We held the cricket above the hole they were hiding in and coaxed them out, then BAM cover the hole and catch it!! Once that was done, we put them in a bucket and started on digging holes for the new enclosures to sit in so the pygmy blue tongues couldn’t escape. As we were digging, we spotted some nice-looking grubs which were pretty cool.

Then we were all done. Before we released the pygmy blue tongues, we needed to identify them. We did that in a pretty crazy way, by counting their toenails. Previously some of their nails had been cut so we could identify which one was which. Once we worked this out, we got to do the best thing, introduce them to their new homes!!!

Jade, YATZ member