The Curious Compendium 2023 Tour Finale: Peacocks and first ratites!

Thank you everyone!

@Kiki, yes I plan on getting the Papo and CollectA sometime, just haven't gotten to it yet! I repainted a komodo chinamal to be a megalania, but this IC one stands on for it too.

@Andreas, I don't know the maker of either model but the blue monitor is indeed a repaint done by myself.

My monitor is still my Papo, I foudn a new owner to the Mojö Fun despite liking it so much. Sure I have the Southlands monitor, it is a masterpiece.

Great monitors! I love your repaint

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Thank you everyone!

@Kiki, yes I plan on getting the Papo and CollectA sometime, just haven't gotten to it yet! I repainted a komodo chinamal to be a megalania, but this IC one stands on for it too.

@Andreas, I don't know the maker of either model but the blue monitor is indeed a repaint done by myself.

Thank you, so i believe i know the figure. A unknown treasure, but i have it.

Lovely lizards!! Monitors are so cool, and so intelligent. I love that AAA(?) model, and the tiny safari is one of my favorites, even though he's pretty simplistic. Great work on the blue monitor custom, that's a difficult pattern to reproduce, he's beautiful!

The blue monitor story is so sad, the Turtle Survival Alliance guys were saying that releasing information on a new species has to be done so carefully because locals paid to collect from the wild will be out there within days, and probably already knew the animal existed and where but it simply wasn't in demand yet for the pet trade because it wasn't recognized officially. A nightmare. The pet trade is overwhelming to think about.

Nice collection again!

Thank you everyone! The tale of the blue monitors is indeed a sad one. I only just learned of them too, gorgeous animals and while I do appreciate captive bred populations, I also wish people would learn to just leave well enough alone.

Basilisks!
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Green crested basilisks can stay submerged in water for up to 10 minutes (quite a feat for such a small animal). Their name comes from a Greek root and for a Greek mythological monster (Basiliskos meaning "little king" or "little snake").

Beautieful

Thanks Andreas!

Geckos!
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The group of leaf-tailed geckos (14 species) evidently sleep in a way to mimic whatever camoflage they have chosen. I.e. the species that mimic falled dried leaves, will sleep in curled positions while those who mimic plant stalks, will stretch kut in a more or less straight line.

Beautiful geckos.What brand is the white figure with the yellow spots and the larger day gecko?

Really cool basiliks, they are such a neat species! And really love all your geckos, and I think the Toymany one is actually much smaller than I thought it was, uh oh, I maybe have to get that set after all. It's about the best one of the group!

@Andreas, that is a Wild Republic figure, part of a set.

Thanks Jill. :)

Mixed lizards!
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For draco lizards, there are 42 species! If you didn't know, their specialized "wings" are highly adapted extended rib bones with a skin flap covering. The undersides of their wings are usually color coded for males (blue) vs. females (yellow) [although coloration does change a bit with 42 different species].

Nice again

Lovely lizards! The Safari Toob frilled lizard is one of my favorite toob figures. Love the beardies too

My collection is poor in reptiles at least in the most common sense. So many species I don't have. I'm quite impressed with your assortments of each group, every single one seems to be very well represented in your collection.

Thank you everyone!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], my collection for reptiles was quite poor also until recently (the last 3ish? years I started to focus a little more on it).

More mixed reptiles! 
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Gila monsters are one of the very few venomous lizards we know of! Their venom is injected through grooves in their lower teeth and has to be "chewed" into the prey item. This venom is actually very medically important as it is used in diabetic medications today. A peptide in this venom makes a gila monster digest items more slowly, and this resembles human insulin that lowers blood sugar.

Nice again

Love these guys, who are the two horned lizards in the front?

I have that greyish green one in the back from when I was a kid and I always thought it had eyeshadow on.

Thank you both! 

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], the two in front are Safari toob figures, the left is repainted. And yes, the other one has very nice makeup  

At least I have one gila monster. The Safari model and I like it very much. I tend easily, regarding reptiles, to favour crocodiles, je ne sais pas porquoi.

More mixed lizards!

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Blue-tongued skinks belong to one of the largest reptile families!  They spend a lot of time in burrows and are known to displace native burrowing spider species for such accomodations. Theu have even been known to share such spaces with roommates of the same species; something rather uncommon for most reptiles.

Your reptile collection is really beautiful, very eclectic and colourful

What is the big green guy on the top of your mixed lizards pic ?

And the Gila monster in the right corner is a Safari Ltd ?

The green lizard is a rubber K&M and yes that's a Safari gila. :)

Last of my mixed lizards.
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Green anoles are native to the southeastern states. Sadly, brown anoles from the Caribbean are slowly encroaching and outcompeting them there. I had two of the former (at different times) in my life, green anoles are great pets IMO.

Very nice lizards

Thank you Andreas!

Tuataras!
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Tuatara is a Maori word for "back with peaks", referring to its dorsal spines. It is believed that they can live as long ad 100 years in the wild! While they can regrow their tail, their teeth are not separate structures and once lost cannot be replaced. They have a double upper row of teeth with a single row of lower teeth that fit between the upper rows when their mouth is closed.