The St Louis Aquarium Island Lizard Experience Was Amazing! I Went Behind The Scenes!

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]We're in St. Louis, Missouri at the aquarium at Union Station and we're here for a special experience kind of behind the scenes tour called the Island Lizard Experience. And so we're going to find out just what that entails.

[00:00:20]While we're waiting for it to start, we're standing here in the hall and we can enjoy the light show on the screen.

[00:00:30]But we're excited. Uh cost us $30 a piece, you know, plus tax. And it's this guy's birthday, so it's going to be fun. We're not sure what we're in for.

[00:00:43]>> Kiss. I don't know. We can go a little kiss on the cheek.

[00:00:46]>> Kiss from the lizard. Oh my gosh.

[00:00:48]>> High five.

[00:00:51]>> We'll find out soon. We're going upstairs now. a team members leading us to whatever area it is we need to go.

[00:00:59]So, we're going back in this area.

[00:01:05]>> Reptiles and >> so is going to be working with Bonsai here and she'll kind of give you >> the instructions. So, she's a girl.

[00:01:16]>> Yeah. So, the way that you guys can tell with these um it is a little tricky as for a lot of reptiles. Um, she has these little horns. She's very itchy. So, that's what that is. She's shedding right there. So, she's very itchy. So, she's a little twitchy. Um, but these guys have small horns for females. Males have horns that can extend pretty big.

[00:01:36]Um, they're a lot more noticeable, much larger, and in general, they're going to be a lot bigger than she is. So, bonsai is around 10 lb. That's pretty average for females. Males can get up to even 20 lb.

[00:01:49]>> Wow. So, >> hi sweet girl.

[00:01:53]>> And and what is she?

[00:01:56]>> She's a rhinoceros iguana.

[00:01:59]>> Hey. Hey. How >> curious are they?

[00:02:02]>> Because of the horn then >> why she's twitchy >> her name.

[00:02:05]>> Oh, from Yeah. Yeah. Cuz they have a horn that resembles a rhinoceros.

[00:02:09]>> That is cool.

[00:02:09]>> And how old is she? Did you say >> she's around 7 years old? Six or seven.

[00:02:15]>> And how old do they live? So, they can live generally about 18 to 20 years.

[00:02:22]Now, they can live longer than that. Um, but that's about the average. The Irwins actually had one that was around 40 years old.

[00:02:29]>> Wow.

[00:02:35]>> And that's again because she's itchy.

[00:02:37]>> Oh, trying to scratch it.

[00:02:39]>> Yeah, cuz she's shedding >> now. Did you guys want to try petting her a little bit?

[00:02:44]>> Yeah.

[00:02:44]>> It's up to you.

[00:02:46]Do they have teeth?

[00:02:48]>> So, they do have teeth. Um, it looks like any animal with a mouth, they can bite. She's pretty sweet about it. Um, >> and there's a certain >> So, with her >> where you would normally >> Yeah. So, with her, it's generally just going to be down her back. We try to do this for her so that she knows that we're going to pet her. That's kind of her sign that we're going to pet her.

[00:03:10]Um, so if you want to come to this side, of course.

[00:03:16]So, we'll just go ahead and give her this sign.

[00:03:19]>> Just do that with your hand.

[00:03:21]>> Yep. And then you can pet her along her back.

[00:03:25]>> Good job, Bonzo.

[00:03:26]>> Go down very far or not very far.

[00:03:28]>> It doesn't matter. Just a little bit.

[00:03:30]>> Okay.

[00:03:31]>> She likes scratches. She is pretty itchy right now, so that's why she's a little bit distracted.

[00:03:36]>> She likes scratches.

[00:03:37]>> Is it because it's the spring of the year? Like they almost like they get allergies?

[00:03:42]>> No, it's cuz she's shedding. M.

[00:03:44]>> So, if you notice that on her nose at >> the same time behind my hand, >> if you notice like right here where it's a lot lighter, that's where she's shedding. And she'll be shedding up here, too. Um, and she'll shed her whole body. Um, but with unlike snakes who usually shed in like one full motion, she sheds in pieces.

[00:04:06]>> So, do you put cream on them or >> We don't. Um, generally we will give her soaks once a week to help with that. Um, we'll mist her sometimes. She's a little bit better with that than the soaks. Um, but then we also will Bonsai, where are you going? But then we also will um use what we call it's called shedetties.

[00:04:26]It's kind of like a oil that you put in her soap and it'll help loosen up that um shed as well.

[00:04:33]>> And how long has she been here in St. Louis?

[00:04:36]>> Um she's been here since she was a baby.

[00:04:38]>> Oh. So, I think she was around 6 months to a year old when we got her, but she was very small still. Um, so she's gotten pretty much this whole length while she's been here.

[00:04:48]>> And if you see this red dot on her, um, that's just nail polish. Right now, we put that on her so that we know where our vet will draw blood. Um, and we're working on a blood draw behavior with her, which is basically we let her know we're going to say, "Hey, poke." And then we'll poke it. And then we go ahead and reinforce her with food. What does she feel like? Does it feel like leather?

[00:05:11]>> Just a little rough.

[00:05:13]>> She's smooth, but she's also kind of rough. So, we can get her to Target. So, I can be like, "Target."

[00:05:21]She says, "No, I don't feel like it."

[00:05:24]Do you want to go home that you saying you're finished?

[00:05:27]>> Now, is that her actual home is right there?

[00:05:30]>> It is.

[00:05:31]>> So, yeah. Unfortunately, she's ready to go home. So, we do listen to her cues when she's ready to be done. Um, and but yeah, this is her home. She has this pen with different things. She'll bask in the sun when the sun shines here in the morning and then she spends her evenings in there. Um, where we can kind of control humidity and we get a little stuff or they used to really hot.

[00:05:53]>> They're used to really hot temperatures.

[00:05:54]So, they're from Hispanola, which is Are you coming back?

[00:05:59]>> We're coming back. Um, so she's from Hispanola, which would be like Haiti in the Dominican Republic. Um, so she's used to very, very hot temperatures. Um, the general temperature of her enclosure has a cool side, so that'll be around like 70 to 80°, and then the hot side around 100, and her basking can be up to like 110.

[00:06:22]>> Oh, wow.

[00:06:23]>> So, yeah. All right. Well, we are going to have you guys move on to our next animal friend. It's Clementine. She is a chameleon.

[00:06:33]>> She's ready to go. So, I'm gonna come towards you. We're going to hang out on this tree here. This is Clementine. She is a panther chameleon.

[00:06:41]>> Um, so unlike what we see in movies where they change a lot of different colors. Um, these guys have a set of colors and they can change hues within that. So, we're not going to see any blues or yellows or reds from her. She kind of has this pinky orange color. And you might be able to see those little those little uh darker splotches on her.

[00:07:03]She can make those darker. Um she can get really really pale. Um if she is like right now, she actually has quite a full belly because she's getting ready to lay eggs.

[00:07:15]>> Um and so when we've got a rumbly in our tumbly, sometimes um we uh turn really really dark. Um, but this is her just calmly exploring, figuring out a new friend, saying hi. Um, really cool thing about chameleons is they're able to individually move their eyes.

[00:07:33]>> Oh, wow.

[00:07:33]>> And so they are not fixed like ours are.

[00:07:36]And so she can see almost uh almost 360.

[00:07:41]So almost entirely around her body except for right behind her head, but it's almost 360. It's a incredible uh vision range here.

[00:07:52]Um, females are a little bit more dull in color. Uh, the males are usually, we see the really, really bright colors to encourage the ladies to come over and say hi.

[00:08:04]The males also live a little bit longer as well. They live about 7 to 8 years.

[00:08:11]And then for egg laying females, it's about 3 to four years. And she just had her third birthday. Um, she's an egg laying female, but she has shown no signs of slowing down. Um, so she's uh she's doing really really well with us today. We have some meal worms for her.

[00:08:27]She is she does have that full belly, so we'll see if she's interested in eating any more, but meal worms are her absolute favorite. So, we'll see if she'll take some. Um, you're more than welcome to uh to feed her some, but we're in a weird position right now.

[00:08:39]>> And how many eggs do they lay?

[00:08:42]>> She's laid anywhere from like 16 to like 24.

[00:08:47]>> Wow. ish. Yeah. So, it's quite a few quite a few eggs and they're about the size of a jelly bean.

[00:08:53]>> Um, so they're quite small, but she's a small lady. The the males are um typically are bigger and longer, but you would like to. Now, we can use tongs or you can hold them in your fingers if anyone's interested.

[00:09:08]>> You want to see? You >> want to do tongs?

[00:09:09]>> Do tongs at the end of it.

[00:09:11]>> What do you do?

[00:09:13]>> So, all you have to do is just pinch right here. Yep. And then you're going to hold it up right above my finger.

[00:09:18]Let's see if we can get her attention.

[00:09:20]She's climbing. There you go. You got her. Oh, well done. Yeah. Good job.

[00:09:26]So, that tongue is going to shoot out really, really far, really quick. And that tongue can be up to about twice the length of her body.

[00:09:34]>> That's crazy.

[00:09:35]>> Yeah. And it's just going to come back in there and then just get ready for a couple chews and then ready for the next bug.

[00:09:40]>> Okay.

[00:09:41]>> But very sticky saliva as well. Really good for catching bugs. These guys, could they catch bugs out of the air?

[00:09:47]Yeah, they probably could. Um, a funny thing with her is sometimes we feed these uh these guys fruit flies and once in a while they get out and so we can see some tongue marks on her house so she tries to get them.

[00:10:00]>> Mhm. Is anyone else interested? You want to stand here? It's both of their birthdays. Oh, happy birthday.

[00:10:06]Absolutely. Please do.

[00:10:09]>> And they can't get you. They're meal worms, so they're nice and gentle.

[00:10:14]So, right above my finger there. Sure.

[00:10:20]>> Yeah. So, she's using that tail as a prehensile tail. So, she's able to wrap her her tail around those branches, really stabilize her up there. Now, she's not really going to swing from it um like we see with some primates. But, if she happened to fall and lose grip with those hands, she could use that tail to uh stabilize her back up. But, she's got interesting feet here. They're kind of split into two, but she still has five digits. It's just split into two and three.

[00:10:48]>> Okay.

[00:10:49]>> Very strong grip. A lot stronger than you might expect from a little lady like this.

[00:10:54]>> Let's just see how she does.

[00:10:57]>> Wow.

[00:10:59]>> Look at that. It's amazing.

[00:11:00]>> Pretty cool, huh? So, she's so little.

[00:11:03]Do you have to restrict how much she does get to eat a day?

[00:11:07]>> Yeah. So, we do um different feeding um um days with her. So, some days she'll get a little bit less, some days she'll get a little bit more. Trying to mimic that natural >> three times a day like a human.

[00:11:19]>> No, she gets fed once a day. Um some days she gets three bugs, some days she gets 10 bugs. But it's also it's based on her. So, some days, you know, you might you be like, "Hey, it's it's dinner time. Why am I not hungry?" And she's like that, too. She's able to regulate her body just like we can. Um, especially like with that big belly right now with those eggs in there, sometimes certain bugs just aren't feeling it. So, we feed her a variety of different bugs. Meal worms are a special treat uh for when some some friends come join her or we're doing some um medical exams, something like an X-ray, she'll sit here nice and pretty. We can get her X-ray done. She'll get some tasty mealorms for being a good girl. Um, we'll also give her things like crickets um and roaches as well.

[00:12:03]>> Oh my goodness, >> roaches. I know. as little as she is.

[00:12:07]>> Oh, yeah. But the roaches are quite nutritious. They're called dubia roaches.

[00:12:11]>> So, it's almost like they have more protein or something.

[00:12:13]>> Really good fiber, pretty good protein as well. Um, and so, um, but they're because they're the more nutritious bug, they're not the favorite. Um, so the worms are more fatty, so they're going to be more of a favorite food item. So, that's why we do it for uh >> Wow.

[00:12:29]>> for days that could be a little bit more stressful for like a medical exam, things like that. We want to make sure that we're, you know, reinforcing that.

[00:12:37]>> What's the gestation for the eggs? Like, do you know exactly the day they're coming?

[00:12:41]>> We don't. Um, we can see changes in her behavior. Um, we can usually tell about a week and a half to two weeks out. Um, so she'll start to get that belly a little bit big. Um, and then she'll start, um, she won't eat as much. She won't be as excited about those bugs, especially the doobie erosions. Um, and then, uh, usually once we start to get really really close, she'll actually start digging to lay her eggs, um, in the dirt in there. Um, so we've been seeing that, um, the the last 2 days or so, that digging behavior. Um, but we also always check on her cuz she really likes to just crawl out and hang out with everybody and watch everything that's going on. So, >> I wonder like, do they like to be petted like a kitty cat or >> Each individual's different. Um, so just like some of us like hugs, some of us don't. It's the same with these guys.

[00:13:33]Um, Clementine, um, she joined us, I don't know how old she was, probably when she was around around a year. Um, she she joined us, so she's been with us for a long time. And her trainer, her primary trainer, Josh, has worked really hard with her on making her nice and comfortable. We actually like to put this tree um right here, and we do some guest feeds with her. Um, we've uh learned that the stage is a little too loud, a little too uh a little too overstimulating for us. Um, so that's okay. We put her in this window. It's a little bit calmer of an atmosphere and people can start to see.

[00:14:07]>> Do you guys have any other questions about Clementine?

[00:14:09]>> No, she's very interesting.

[00:14:11]>> And how old do they live to be? I'm sorry.

[00:14:13]>> Females live about 3 to four. Um, males about 78.

[00:14:17]>> Wow.

[00:14:19]Yeah, there she is. So, we're going to get this little lady back on home and then I'll pass it over to uh to Kate with another fringe for you.

[00:14:28]>> Thank you.

[00:14:29]>> Absolutely.

[00:14:32]>> Get Clen out of your way this way.

[00:14:37]>> Oh, wow.

[00:14:38]>> So, this is a pretty cool guy.

[00:14:44]Sorry.

[00:14:46]>> So, that Clen's not Clen's not the biggest fan of me. So sometimes when I'm in the room, she doesn't want to do things for other people.

[00:14:56]Um, so this guy's name is Xan. Z A N.

[00:15:00]And he is called a prehensellet tailed skink.

[00:15:04]>> Wow. So um, they are a lizard. They're found only in the Solomon Islands.

[00:15:10]>> So because of that, they're also sometimes called a Solomon Island skink or um, also a monkeytailed skink because of that prehensel tail that they have.

[00:15:18]um one of the few lizards that do have prehensel tails. Chameleons being one of them. These guys being another. Um so they spend their whole lives up in trees. They've got this nice extra limb here.

[00:15:30]>> The branch.

[00:15:30]>> Yep. And they have some really sharp nails and really long toes as well. So they are excellent climbers.

[00:15:39]>> Wow. Um he's also got a pretty cute face, but that's just my personal opinion. Um, but they will eat mostly leaves. Um, not a whole lot of anything else just because that's going to be what's readily available to them.

[00:15:56]They'll get a little bit of protein from some bugs that might occasionally be on the leaves that they're eating. They're not going to spit them out. They'll just eat them anyways.

[00:16:07]>> This is a little bit of hard-boiled egg.

[00:16:09]Um, I just mixed the yolk with a little bit of water cuz he's not so good at eating off of tongs like some of our other animals are. He prefers to just lick it off of the syringe. So, we let him do that.

[00:16:22]>> And then if it's egg, he gets protein then that >> Yep. He just gets that once a week. So, um, the rest of the time he's getting lots of leafy greens, um, some veggies, tiny little bit of fruit, although it doesn't seem to be his favorite. So, um, they are going to be strictly herbivores typically, except for those few little bugs that they get every once in a while.

[00:16:46]>> Can he see straight on like she was saying?

[00:16:49]>> Um, I think he can. Um, he can see pretty well. And again, they're not like hunting anything really. Most of their food is stationary, so they don't have to have the best eyesight. Um, but they can see well enough um to at least recognize I think he can recognize different people. Um, I've noticed that with him >> occasionally. Where are we going?

[00:17:14]>> Knows you pretty well. I imagine >> I have been working with him since the day that he arrived. So, how is he? He is 6 years old. He's only been here with us since I want to say about August of last year.

[00:17:30]Um, where are we going? That's my arm, not a branch.

[00:17:34]>> Well, and then I wonder too, like there's oil in your hand, so are you really not allowed to pet them? Like, is that safe for them?

[00:17:41]>> Um, so these guys, being that they are a reptile, not an amphibian, it's okay for us to touch him. He's not entirely thrilled about it most of the time. Um when he came to us, he had been strictly an exhibit animal um at a zoo um at Oregon Zoo actually. So he had been just in an exhibit kind of only being like caught up once a year for his exams. So the only time he really ever associated hands was with something scary that was happening. So um we did a lot of training with him to get him more used to us being that he's going to be an ambassador now. Um, so it's been a long road, but he does like his little branch. So >> that's what I was wondering. Do you ever go out, any of the girls or guys go out to schools with these?

[00:18:33]>> Um, not with these guys. He probably would be able to do that. Bonsai probably not so much. Um, but he goes out on the stage as well. And, um, I can walk around with him on this little perch and he seems totally chill. Um, and he uh every once in a while if I start to scratch his butt, he'll like lift his tail up and kind of wiggle his butt back and forth, but I can't I can't tell if he really likes it or if he's just like I don't know about that.

[00:19:03]What was that? Excuse me.

[00:19:06]But his favorite snacks seem to be the egg. So if I do something that's maybe not his favorite.

[00:19:12]>> So now how big is their top? Um, theirs is not very large. It's um proportionately about the same size as like what ours would be. Like it it fills kind of fills their mouth, but they're not using it to really like grab anything. Um, they will he does kind of like lap things up. It kind of laps backwards a little bit. So, they will lap up water off of trees or off of leaves. They'll um even lick like nectar out of flowers or something. But, um, for the most part, lots of lots and lots of leaves. But they are very skilled climbers and they use that tail or not use their tail. I guess if you want to just be a pro and only use your hands, that's fine, I guess.

[00:19:53]>> Yeah, cuz man, those hands, he's really good.

[00:19:55]>> Yep. And the only reason we don't handle him really much is because his nails are super sharp.

[00:20:01]>> So this is where it would make your skin bleed.

[00:20:03]>> Yes. This is a much easier way to present him.

[00:20:07]>> Um and kind of gives him more choice. So if he didn't want to get onto his branch today, he didn't have to.

[00:20:13]>> So isn't that right?

[00:20:14]>> And how old do they live to be?

[00:20:16]>> They can live 15 to 30 years on average.

[00:20:19]Yeah. Um can definitely be longer than that if they have really good care and everything that they need. But >> pretty cool lizards.

[00:20:28]>> Have you seen one of those at school before? Like in a science book? No.

[00:20:34]>> They can reach Let's see. I have a mark on this branch somewhere. Females of this species can reach up to 2 and 1/2 ft long.

[00:20:41]>> Wow.

[00:20:42]>> Which is about the length of this. Aha. From this. So about where my finger is to the end of the branch is about as long as females can reach. Um so he's not going to get that large, but he will probably grow a little bit as he ages. Um, but he's considered almost middle-aged if we're looking at the low end of average there.

[00:21:08]So, um, he's not going to get too much larger, but typically for them, females are going to be the larger of the species because they are going to have live birth. So, the bigger the body, the more he like to bask in the sun, too, like this one. He does have a little basking spot. Um, normally they're going to be in the tree canopies, so they can regulate their body temperature by going into the sun or into the shade pretty easily. He does spend a lot of time in the shadier areas, but he likes his little sunlight spot every once in a while.

[00:21:42]>> He's pretty chill.

[00:21:44]>> He is. Yeah, he's he's really cool animal.

[00:21:48]>> Always kind of looks like he's smiling a little bit.

[00:21:51]>> Don't get too intimidated. And he'll look.

[00:21:53]>> Yeah. Do they have >> he'll look straight into your soul?

[00:21:57]>> Straight.

[00:21:58]>> I feel that.

[00:21:59]>> Very penetrating.

[00:22:00]>> Black and white cat. Our tuxedo cat. He always looks like he's judging you.

[00:22:05]>> And do they have like a zone where they get uncomfortable if you like a stranger gets close?

[00:22:11]>> Um not as much when he's like out of his habitat, but even with me like they can be very territorial over their space. um which is why a lot of times in human care they are housed by themselves but um in the Solomon Islands in large trees you'll find huge family groups of them um and they won't >> they'll still have their little territorial things but I think I find it pretty interesting that they are kind of kind of a social lizard outside of human care. So >> um kind of just >> shows us that they need a little more space. So but they are really cool lizards. You guys have any other questions about them?

[00:22:47]Do you have any questions for him?

[00:22:50]>> And is this always the color they are?

[00:22:52]Do they ever change color?

[00:22:54]>> He is mostly always this like olive green color. Um, right before he gets ready to shed, he kind of gets more like grayish brown. Okay.

[00:23:04]>> But for the most part, he's usually very green. And right after he sheds, he's just a little more vibrant. But >> And how often do they shed? He has been doing that about once every threeish months or so since he's been here. So, we've had about three sheds with him.

[00:23:24]So, >> yeah. About right. Very cool.

[00:23:28]>> He's very cool.

[00:23:30]>> Yeah.

[00:23:31]>> All right.

[00:23:31]>> That tail wrapped around >> around there now. He's using it. He doesn't always use it, but I think he's just really confident in his >> climbing skills, right? He said, "Yeah, I don't need it.

[00:23:43]See, >> see you show us. I can do it without it.

[00:23:48]>> All righty. Well, I will go ahead and put him back and then I can take you guys back out to the aquarium so you can hang out longer if you like.

[00:23:59]>> He's just kind of basking in the sun over there.

[00:24:02]>> Do they take a nap then? Like you come over and see him napping? Like can you even hear him snoring?

[00:24:07]>> We haven't heard snoring. Um, if she could, she probably she would. Um, when in the morning when the sun's coming in, that platform gets real toasty and she literally will lay completely flat.

[00:24:21]>> Um, and sleep >> like a pancake on the >> Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They're very good at jumping.

[00:24:26]>> Very good at jumping.

[00:24:27]>> Very good at jumping.

[00:24:29]>> Really? I wouldn't have guessed that.

[00:24:31]>> I would know if they expected that. We have to uh we have to be careful of how close we put some tall things next to the edge of this barrier with her.

[00:24:38]Sometimes >> she'll try to jump out.

[00:24:41]>> Really? Oh my goodness.

[00:24:43]>> Not because she wants to escape, just because she wants to hang out with us.

[00:24:46]It's like most of the time that happens when we are in the room and she can hear us and nobody's paying attention to her.

[00:24:52]>> She needs it to be about her all the time.

[00:24:55]>> I wouldn't have guessed that they were jumpers.

[00:24:58]>> Very strong.

[00:24:58]>> So, can they run fast, too?

[00:25:01]>> Oh, yeah. Yeah, >> iguanas just as a group of lizards can be very fast and >> um >> what's the word I like rather sturdy also like >> um they can they can handle like long falls. They're they're built to fall basically.

[00:25:20]>> Um so when she jumps and doesn't make it, she's like, "Okay, I'll do it again."

[00:25:25]>> Shake it off and just keep going.

[00:25:26]>> Yep. So it's not like they have bones where they would break these. They can.

[00:25:31]Um, but they are very muscular around those bones as well. So, >> okay.

[00:25:38]This >> Yeah, we're talking about you.

[00:25:40]>> Is there certain smells like are you guys told don't wear perfume? Like that they don't like?

[00:25:47]>> Not so much with reptiles. Um, it it kind of depends. We have to be a little bit more sensitive around our mammals.

[00:25:54]Um, they have some sensitive sense of smell. Um, but for reptiles, not so much. Um, like we all wear deodorant. We all, you know, make sure that we're taking care of that. Um, but we also don't douse ourselves in perfume and things like that. So, >> right. For their sake.

[00:26:12]>> Yeah.

[00:26:13]>> I think Bonsai is just she just wants the scratches. That's just what she's interested in.

[00:26:18]>> Yep.

[00:26:19]>> Well, this has been really interesting.

[00:26:21]>> Thank you, guys.

[00:26:22]First.