My DREAM Lizard, the Komodo Dragon!

you want to see something cute probably the  cutest little crocodilian you've ever met in   your life by the way guys we're also going  to be hanging out with Komodo dragons here   so just when this opens she knows it's time  to come in come on definitely oh my God now   for those of you who are a little bit squeamish  I'm just gonna let you know we are going to be   uh staking this rabbit to the ground look at  that and she's pretty much gonna probably dip   and follow this thing hey what's going on I'm  hanging out here with Ron at the St Augustine   Avenue forum and we're gonna get some behind  the scenes of their care for their monitor   species let's do it she's going to be he  right yes this is Victor Victor all right   let's meet Victor we're gonna go hang out  in this awesome enclosure they have for us foreign we sincerely thank all of you happy  campers out there your support makes a real   difference in our efforts here at Camp Kennen  this week's special shout out goes to Kelly Murphy   thank you for all you do and for loving  reptiles hey Victor oh look at him   that's awesome huh so again what's  really cool man the first thing you   notice when you're keeping a large species of  monitor of space is so important okay Target hey Victor you got better pay attention to that  to that Target there it is see look at this guys   they're actually using that red tape on the  end of this explain to me a little bit about   how you guys do that Target Training so this  started off I'm just kind of him coming to the   food on these hemostats and um I decided I didn't  want to always come into the hemostat so kind of   paired this target with the hemostat and slowly  kind of separated them and over time he realizes   that this red color means it's food so that's  awesome never want to wear red shoes in here   how long did it take you to get him to do that  shouldn't say I mean really just over a couple   weeks I mean the intelligence of these animals  is just amazing yeah that's something I'm always   going on about like when I'm hanging out with  Slinky um you know he just knows our routine   yeah and just like you said before we got in here  guys he Ron was like Hey listen this lizard's   gonna be really amped up at first but once it  gets a few bites of the food uh it'll calm down   and that's exactly what happens with Slinky  that food responses they're so motivated by it   um which is probably why you're able to train  them so well you know the fact that they're   food motivated absolutely I mean that's it's  it's so nice that these animals are so food   motivated it makes working with them so much  easier and this species of course guys is from   Australia they're beautiful species um they  they have a pretty wide range in Australia   all the way from the top end of the Eastern  portion of the continent down towards Sydney   um so these are an animal that actually can  experience some cooler temperatures uh which   is interesting because you don't normally think  of monitors being able to tolerate cooler temps   um but these guys will brewmate in you know  tree Hollows and things like that it's not   quite as long as a proper hardcore winter but  they can definitely take some colder temps   um what are some of the things you notice  about working with this animal here   um you know because by the way guys we're also  going to be hanging out with Komodo dragons   here in a little while and so we just thought  we'd start you off with a lace Monitor and kind   of work up into the what I would consider is  the Pinnacle of modern monitor Dome you know   um are you stoked do you do a lot of work here  with these guys yeah so I'm the primary caretaker   for um Komodo dragon and our lace Monitor and I  absolutely love them just the personalities that   they different have and just really again that  training that we get to do with them because   they're so intelligent is just awesome to see and  I just being able to do this training get those   Minds going get them physically active was just  really cool to see with just a simple thing that   you can do just with Target Training and how long  have you been working here I'll be uh close to   four years awesome man and you know for a guy like  you that's you know when you started out obviously   they don't just put you right in with the Komodo  dragon so how long did it take for you to actually   start working with the uh the dragon um so I was  here for about uh three or four months I did have   some previous experience with some larger monitor  lizards that previous use so but luckily when it   comes to especially our Komodo we do a lot of  the things hands off so it kind of lets you   get that uh training pretty quickly on of being  able to safely work with these animals gotcha   yeah and you know guys I always you know you  can find lace monitors in the private uh sector   um there are different phases of them so wait  you just said good job you wanted her to bite   the stick first I'm so I'm working on that so  we uh he's I would like to get it down to him   just touching the stick but he's definitely still  food motivated and um uh biting it so I still kind   of getting him he follows it really well um I try  to reward him when he's just doing something like   that good job very cool now obviously you know  you guys have protocol that you have to follow   here in the zoo setting at home you know I I  don't have any kind of rules and regulations   that I necessarily follow but I try you know you  know with the exception of Slinky well actually   I do I feed Slinky with tongs or hemostats um but  I've noticed that you know they they're such smart   animals that Slinky and some of the other monitors  I have just know the difference between my hand   and the food more so than say a crocodilian  who'll take you right as well as the food now   you know it's just an interesting thing to note  about monitors and I I like you you said they're   so intelligent that's what draws me for them um  they're just fantastic to hang out and work with   and and they're also a show stopper here because  I think the people like watching the mongers is   that it we're done with this and we got all the  food done for him today he got a bunch of mice   how often are you feeding them about once a week  yeah and we do vary his diet so we can kind of go   back and forth between um some sort of rodent and  some sort of bird awesome very cool all right guys   now let's uh we got some more work to do we're  gonna actually go on over to the Komodo dragon   side of the exhibit and this is really going to  be exciting for me because uh Komodo dragons as   I said them in Croc monitors in my opinion are  pretty much the Pinnacle of uh monitor lizards of   course one day it would be amazing to go to Komodo  you know what I mean like that's like the ultimate   um before I go over there though my buddy Lauren  showed me something really cute I'm not gonna   just stick my hands in like I own the joint all  right but I just I know this is a monitor lizard   video but I can't paint not be at the alligator  farm and not show you probably the cutest little   crocodilian you've ever met in your life it's  a baby broad snout came and they are so unique   amongst the crocodilians because they have that  really almost like a bulldog face right like a   pug yeah I know Lauren when I walked through here  earlier Lauren goes you want to see something cute   and there it is how awesome so they had four hats  slings of these and this is what'd you say Baby's   Corner they have baby pygmy rattlesnakes which  are endemic here to Florida and southeastern   United States some baby cooters or the yellow  bellies recruiters Critters I think yep yeah but   you guys want to see a Komodo dragon eat so we're  gonna get moving I'll let you guys get back to it   oh look we know that we know the game the game  is real people shredding up carrots for Critters   um all right so this is fun I'm behind the scenes  here this is not someplace most people get to see   but I bribed them heavily and now I am back here  here we are first thing we're gonna do is she is   on display now so we're gonna pull her back into  her off display safely kind of work in there   not have to worry about a Komodo dragon over our  shoulders okay sounds good so she is shift trained   a couple a lot of different doors here for  safety you want to make sure that we know   exactly where the animal is and we can keep it  in different areas anytime we want to offer it in so just when this opens she knows it's  time to come in yep she hears that door   open and then I usually if she's kind of  preoccupied with something else she'll   wait for her name to be called but she heard  that door open and come on definitely oh my   God earlier in the day so she knows something  good is probably coming this is not her moment   that's awesome you don't understand guys I know  it seems like I do this all the time but this   is I'm like you folks being this close being  this close to a Komodo dragon is really special   and learning how they do things and do it the  right way is just look at her just look at her   you want to come all the way in there we go   so awesome I mean guys just seeing seeing  her live she is a heavy bodied animal   um we're actually gonna get you some really great  footage of her eating today so I'm pretty excited   about that but yeah just seeing her run in she's  like I mean she's buff she's got some powerful   build right they can reach up to 12 miles an hour  in the running so you gotta have some big strong   muscles and then they could take you know they  bite water buffalo goats deer um and they're able   to like just they use all that musculature just  to shred the meat right off the oh we're gonna   be able to see that today yeah this is so cool all  right man I'm getting Goosebumps people I love it   I knew I was gonna have fun today after suffering  all day yesterday on my bicycle I knew there was a   light at the end of the tunnel I was gonna come  to the alligator farm here in St Augustine this   is nuts we're gonna obviously we are not going to  be in there with her but you guys are going to be   in there with her because I'm gonna put a camera  right next to here's the camera thank you Jen Jen   is helping us Jen's the reason we're doing all  this today and uh look at this so we've got some   rabbits it looks like yep a nice uh eight pounds  that's one rabbit I didn't know they made rabbits   that big all right very cool well there you go  so I'm gonna I get it do I have to wear them yeah we're all right no worries I'm just gonna  you'll see what I have to do here in a second now   for those of you who are a little bit squeamish  I'm just gonna let you know we are going to be   uh staking this rabbit to the ground and  what's gonna happen is we're gonna watch   uh as she's really able to feed properly like  this is not just for gratuitous uh stuff this   is enrichment absolutely yeah so I mean like  you said these animals out in the wild they're   gonna be taking out these large prey items and  you'll definitely see Enzo's we do feed smaller   pratims but with just doing that they're not  being able to use those massive muscles that   they have in their neck all the time and really  use those serrated teeth to rip and tear into   flesh so by doing something like this a large  prey item staking into the ground they really   have to use all that muscle and really act like  Komodo dragon eat this yeah that's what we want   we want Komodo dragons to become keep Komodo  dragons Komodo dragons people if you want a   dog get a dog but uh this this is really cool so  again look at this totally working safe no drama   we can go in there unless she had babies through  parthogenesis and we get attacked by the little   ones which is a joke that's not gonna happen so  let's go on in here I don't have to worry about   shutting the door do I no no okay and and also  this is going to be something for the folks out   there in the zoo to see absolutely so this is  really cool look at this enclosure guys I I want   to show you guys a little bit it's it's a little  bit like an episode of cribs for reptiles I like   to call it nests we're going to bring you behind  the Velvet Rope of the most famous reptiles in   captivity but check it out really well done but  I love how they've created an open air enclosure   but look at how the wall Curves in the animal  cannot climb this it's decorated nicely there's   a heated shelter in here or and during the summer  the heat's off but in the winter I'm sure there's   a heating element in there and then of course nice  uh packs of Hatchy grass Sunny area huge log this   is a cool spot look she can dig pretty cool man  all right so I'm gonna be doing some work I guess   yeah so if you want to take we like to kind of  put um something right here so we got these nice   big windows so you can just this uh will just  set up straight through the rabbit we have this   hook on here to keep it over top of the rabbet so  she can't just cheat and pull it right off okay   um so she really does have to kind of work through  it but yeah if you just want to so we want to do   it right there yeah we can do it yeah cause we  got that nice These are nice big Windows here   so everybody can see her the Komodo dragon all  right this is so cool guys I really appreciate   you allowing me to almost get my I'm getting dirty  it's a little bit like dirty jobs today for me   so I'm pretty excited about that we're  gonna go ahead and get a rabbit out very cool oh wow you dude you do need this  Sledge yes yeah you need the sledgehammer   to to kind of feed to get this skull in here you could tell I don't do a lot of hammering I say a lot of people strangely I I would like to recommend  you put a point on the bottom of this   thing at some point it's not easy  this is poor people these these   poor people have to watch me hammer  a rabbit for the Komodo dragon I mean this is terrible there's something  feels wrong about this um you've done this before yeah it works  yeah I've been it through 15 pound turkeys   I gotta do I gotta work out a little bit more I I feel like I'm trying to make fire tell me how you do this show  me this I don't believe him going through hell is it if he did it on the first  try I would be pretty bummed out dude yeah there's   it's not easy you said you wanted to work today I  did want to work I just you know I wanted to work   this is awesome did it go a little bit I don't know if you came  through the other side yet I think we're going   to need Jen to do this what do you think there  we go oh you got it all right well there you go   all right good deal all right again we got that  hook in there to really make sure that she's got   a rip and tear that thing up okay let me uh  make sure that we've got the good shot here   all right good job hey good  job Ron appreciate that buddy does that feel pretty good and just Hammer no no like this let's just  move it yeah see we made a really big hole   now bang it in and it should be a tighter hole  there and that'll work better for us yeah see   I think that'll do it see we're getting  real involved here at the gator farm   awesome man thank you Ron absolutely you roll dude  uh we're gonna go around we're gonna go hang out   with everyone else and watch and see what happens  when we let this lady out for her is it breakfast   or lunch I don't even know but I think this  is the way out it is all right this is so cool feels like I like the Zoom is mine  for today actually feels pretty good   all right yeah us Knuckleheads we're able  to finally get something going there let's   see what happens how cool so this is where  you guys get to see this beautiful animal   and of course it is the Komodo dragon  maybe I should have wore gloves   uh I don't know but we're ready yeah we got  thumbs up he's gonna go ahead and let her out   and let's see just how fast she gets on the  scent of that rabbit now like Ron mentioned   she knows something's up uh something Good's gonna  happen for her this is what they would do in the   wild and the wild these animals are always walking  around they've got the fork tongue they're sensing   their surroundings and looking for any kind  of prey items they can smell live animals dead   animals uh and once a Komodo dragon makes a kill  it'll attract many other dragons from around uh   the area they all converge and what that actually  does is if the animal takes down a buffalo   um that's too large an animal for one Dragon to  consume on its own so it becomes a Feeding Frenzy   they're almost like land sharks there they all get  the scent they all come in and they all just go to   town on that animal and they are the apex predator  of their Island and they are found on Komodo and I   believe Flora is also uh so Komodo and Floors only  two places in some of the small islands that are   around Komodo but they are the largest lizard  on earth there is a longer lizard which is the   crocodile Mountain but they're an arboreal species  they're not as heavy and and as buff as the Komodo   dragon so think of the Komodo dragon as the weight  lifters uh of the monitor world but uh here we go   there she is oh she's awesome and there's the  famous story that the LA Zoo Sharon Stone uh   her husband uh got an up close and personal  encounter with the Komodo dragon but he was   wearing white shoes and uh did not turn out  well for him because that Dragon actually got   look at that and you can see the saliva on her  so she's got a lot of work to do look at this that is awesome look at how she's just circling it is she gonna eat our camera no fantastic nope that's all good I don't mind it  all works Run come on over here man this is so cool man she's she's amazing yeah  we're really up close with a dragon so she's   gone for that midsection and you can see  again the musculature of her head that   back and forth is what's causing those teeth  to kind of cut through all that fur and look   not a problem she's pretty much gonna probably  disembowel this thing yeah there's probably not   gonna be much left of it by the end of the day at  all but how long will it usually take her to eat   um something like this and probably I mean I would  imagine at least within the hour hour and a half   she's gonna really come with it yeah wow that's  actually longer than I thought I thought you know   I mean well that's not true I feed whole  chickens for Slinky and it takes them a   good amount of time but the other exciting thing  about these guys is similar similar not the same   but similar to a snake their jaws uh right here  are pretty flexible yes uh so they open up and   they can actually put a large amount of food in  their stomachs in fact these animals will Gorge   themselves yeah they can eat about 80 of their  body weight in a feeding eighty percent about and   how much does she weigh she's about 35 pounds  35 pounds so that's pretty incredible look at   this that is amazing and so all again guys what  you think's disgusting is actually so important   for these animals nothing goes to waste on these  animals uh on these prey items she went and and   ate the innards there's a lot of nutrients in the  uh liver in the kidneys all that's very important   that's why when you feed you know your monitor  at home whole prey is important absolutely and   you mentioned uh you vary the prey items with  the laces you do the same thing yeah so we can   do we also have large chickens or turkeys that  we can put in here so we can still do the same   kind of feeding but still have that varied  diet with them yeah that's really important   I've noticed that you know there are certain  aspects of their even their skull morphology   or physiology if they're not actually you know  using their muscles they get like a weaker looking   musculature on their heads so the different prey  items and the different sizes enables those jaws   to do a lot of work which is important which  people are trying to drive home for you guys   um oh another minor celebrity of the farm has just  showed up Jen what's up oh we gotta talk Jen is   actually an endurance athlete and I'm trying  to be one and failing miserably so I'm going   to talk to Jen a little bit about how not to blow  up in lap three of my bike race but anyway we're   having fun man this is so cool seeing her do her  thing now is it true that you guys may be getting   a mail soon is that we are we're waiting to hear  some things on that yeah is that okay for me to   say or did I just let the cat we're acquiring a  Denver Zoo male in the upcoming few weeks awesome   maybe I can get back and we can meet that male  because I'd love to see how you guys go about   um you know what the procedure is I'm sure  there'll be some kind of quarantine for a while   and stuff like that he's a very young animal okay  he's going to be in a different scenario okay it   can be quite agile on clients okay so it would be  possible that this animal could easily get out of   that or correct okay there you go we don't want  Komodo dragons running around Saint Augustine   we like them right here at the farm uh look at  this so it's oh man she actually got it right   off yep and so now we're gonna probably be seeing  a lot of head shakes and things of that nature so   let's see if she might bring it back to the  GoPro but that's all right we got the wide   shot here look at her go man that is awesome so  fur bone muscle everything gets consumed uh most   everything gets digested yes I I think fur comes  out fur is going to come back out there's going to   be some fun hair balls for me to find throughout  her exhibit in the next couple days gotcha so uh   but yeah so they'll and they'll and that's pretty  pretty normal for them yeah typically you see not   as much feathers sometimes if you give them Birds  you get a little bit but not nearly as much as   the hairballs gotcha incredible man so when she's  done with this will you guys um like when she does   defecate like how labor intensive is cleaning this  enclosure for bad in here um so especially with   the dirt I mean we can just scoop the dirt out put  some neuter in if it as as time goes on we'll have   to obviously put new dirt in here and then also uh  she will as in her do it in her back areas as well   and again so we're constantly refreshing that dirt  to make sure we can take what we need out I mean   she still has fresh usable dirt in there cool  and the fun thing about keeping animals in such   a situation where it's outdoors large enclosure  is the maintenance uh is easier I've found that   myself with large monitors they require a lot of  space a lot of exercise a lot of brain stimulus   and that's exactly what she's getting in her mind  this this is just firing all those synapses in   her brain like okay I'm working hard I've got  to get this rabbit and I've got to consume it   so I'm gonna drag it back here maybe I'll feel  a little bit more you know comfortable consuming   it away from people or maybe I can wedge it up  against something to make eating it a little bit   easier and I you know listen I'm happy when I get  fed you know yesterday I was starving I found a   really good Ichiban uh buffet was pretty good dude  I enjoyed it Sushi Buffet some people scoff at the   sushi buffet but I'm not scared we have a rabbit  Buffet right now and she looks like she's gonna   take it off exhibit oh look at that quick head  movement really really cool man that is awesome   we'll just let her eat in peace but you guys  get to see some amazing Komodo dragon behavior   and again look at her face um much more blunt that  that skull is much more blunt than Slinky uh much   more of I would imagine a biting force from the  shape of her skull you can just tell that this is   an animal that when it is full size can inflect a  inflict a serious serious bite on whatever animal   she decides to take a chomp out of that's awesome  and what used to be thought as just bacteria   in their saliva it's actually they found that  it's there's actually Venom absolutely yeah so   um they've got to have kind of a two-punch combo  here they do have that bacteria but they also have   venom glands on their bottom jaw that's gonna  um they're gonna get one good bite on uh their   prey item and even that can last a few days that  they're just gonna follow that animal around wait   for all of that to mix in and that animal will  pass and then they've got a good meal for them   yeah that's incredible man and that's a patient  animal also I mean um it might take a long time   for you know a two thousand pound water buffalo  to die um if they do get that heavy I'm sure   they can get pretty darn uh big but again just  watching her do her thing she's not in a rush   she's just taking her time using that back and  forth motion of her neck and skull to kind of   really cut through that tough the fur let's let's  face it people fur is actually a pretty tough uh   defense if humans were covered with fur like  that we would be pretty pretty darn tough man   but uh unfortunately not tough enough for a Komodo  dragon look at if she's moving back now how rad and she's amassed quite a crowd of  it looks like the keepers all love   to watch this also it's kind of fun you  see say let's be honest working at the   zoo is a pretty fun gig because you get to  see this kind of Behavior look at that it's it's way different than my guy  Slinky is like he goes and he starts   really tearing but she's just so almost  methodical about how she's eating this just got a mouthful of steak knives yeah that's  the truth yeah that isn't the truth so you feed   the Lacy um once a week will she get fed once a  week during the hot season yeah during the cooler   seasons do you slow it down not too much because  these animals are gonna be inside they're gonna be   okay still pretty warm environment so not gonna  reduce that diet too much gotcha well all right   friends I'll tell you what we're gonna switch  this to a time lapse I'm gonna say goodbye and   thank Ron so much for his time today it's you  know these guys have a lot of responsibilities   and they're they're kind of shunning them to give  us a really cool uh vantage point of the animals   they keep here at St Augustine Alligator Farm so  if you find yourself in Florida you better make   sure you come check out the farm and when you  come in let them know Ken and sent you because   this is truly my favorite place uh in Florida to  see crocodilians and some really amazing reptiles   so we'll see you guys soon leave a comment below  and let me know what you guys thought of today's   episode and what you think of Aya yeah yeah I'm  bad with names with IA the Komodo dragon foreign

Channel: Kamp Kenan

Views: 178,753

Keywords: kamp kenan, lizard, reptile, crocodile, alligator, iguana, turtle, tortoise, animal, animals, conservation, snake, education, kamp, turtles, reptiles, action, sulcata tortoise, kenan harkin, camp kenan, science, sanctuary, habitat, terrarium, florida, pets, new, backyard, how to, diy, wildlife, vlog, learn, kachhua, caiman, gator, komodo, dragon, komodo dragon, ultimate, monitor, lizards, monitor lizard, monitor lizards, live, dream, live the dream, feed, amazing, amazing animal, favorite, reptile zoo, zoo, planet

Id: MOTW5PMkjd8

Length: 27min 26sec (1646 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 23 2022