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Hey, what's going on? I got Guapo on my back. We got a lizard on our backs here today. We haven't caught up with Guapo and Lola in a while. So, today I thought I'd let them wander around and we can see how they interact with each other and just give you an overall, well, update on how these two Cuban rockers are doing. Here we go. The majestic guapo. There he is. Now, a couple years ago, you guys will remember, he actually got in a fight with Rocky, and he got torn up really, really badly. And uh unfortunately, it took a lot of work in this side of his face. He had a lot of bone exposed. He had uh some maggots. It was really brutal. He was cut all over, and he was not looking good. And it looked real
dodgy if he was going to pull it out or not. But fortunately, we were able to get him dialed in because we went to Dr. Mike Gillan at PG Animal Clinic and we got Guapo back on the track to help. Now, you'll notice here a little bit of saliva right there, a little juicy stuff. I think uh one of his salivary glands was damaged in the fight. So, he therefore uh has a little bit of a drool these days, but that's fine. You can see some scarring right here, but it's really doing well. And if you guys remember, this was just not good at all. This guy was in really, really bad shape when I found him. On this side of his face, he's looking good. No drama. He
had a large abscess underneath his deap that has healed up. And so, I'm really happy about that. Now, you'll notice he's missing some toes, and that's because of his gal way over there making a poop. There's Lola. And Lola had some issues as well. Now, I got both of these guys way back in August of 2004 for the first year I lived in Florida. And you'll remember we didn't see a lot of pooping out of her last year because she was impacted because she had some follicles that got messed up. So, her ovaries unfortunately uh she was becoming egg bound and she wasn't able to pass any food. Uh she was in real bad shape herself. These are the things that happened with female lizards. As you can
see, no issues now making the poops, which is good. There's some urates, the white stuff, that's uric acid. And then, of course, uh the fecal matter. So, this lizard was in bad shape. But again, Dr. Mike at PGA Animal Clinic, he's a reptile lover. Uh he was able to remove the offending ovaries, and unfortunately, she's never going to be able to breed again. But that doesn't matter because, you know, it was kind of interesting. I wondered why she never really wanted to deal with guapo at all. Right? And that's because she probably knew, hey, I can't breed. I'm not functioning correctly. Why would I even tolerate a male at any point? They used to cohabitate. She had one clutch of
eggs. We brought them to term. Uh so we did have some babies uh way back in like 2008. Um let's not put it in deterred there. Uh so anyhow um they really just uh stopped being interested in each other way back when and unfortunately uh that was that I have to keep them in separate enclosures. So uh that's what I do now. These guys will live to be about 60 years old uh barring any other health problems. And um you know that's a long lived lizard to be perfectly honest. Uh they are found in Cuba. Uh there are many different types of cycllora all throughout the Caribbean and they were the largest animals on their respective islands. So each island in the Caribbean had its own type of rock iguana commonly known as the
cycllora iguanas and um basically you know these guys are adapted to the Cuban uh island and then you'll have Jamaican iguanas, you have the Grand Cayman iguanas, you have the rhino iguanas, the uh figy from the Bahamas. So, there's quite a few different species of rockaguana. Who we got here? Hey, what's up? We got one of our uh beautiful red foot tortoises coming in to say hello. They'll probably eat that poop to be perfectly honest. Uh but anyway, I just wanted to get them out here because I like to get them out. I wanted to see them. We haven't seen them in a while. I love seeing them interact with this
ecosystem here. Uh they never really go in the water, which is fine, but you know, they're going to eat some of the weeds uh that are popping up here and otherwise just get some nice basking time in, which is super important for them. These guys love hot temperatures, high temperature basking areas in the hundreds. Uh they'll just lay in colonies in their respective uh habitats. I'm getting bit by this guy. Can you not bite me, please? Here, let's move you along. You keep moving along, little lady. Um yeah, so these guys, you know, they have their own little territories and one male will probably have a few females that overlap. Their
territory territories overlap um you know, the male's territory. So he'll probably breed with more than one female uh during a given time. But uh you can see that she's just kind of looking good thankfully. Oh, she's going to bask a little bit. She was a little cool when I picked her up out of her enclosure. And then of course there's Guapo looking on. So, it's going to be interesting to see what these guys do in a kind of uh m well kind of a neutral territory. Um, I put him on that Universal Rocks cooler and uh he likes being up high. He can climb down off that no problem. She's already basking. So, that's kind of what I wanted to have happen. I wanted these guys to kind of chill out, enjoy
themselves. We got the curly tails here doing their thing. So, what I'll do is I'll just bask along with them. just kind of get an idea of their behavior. Um, it's fun to let these guys wander around. They're very tame. They don't freak out. They don't run away. Uh, which is a good thing. And, uh, that means that I'm able to kind of keep them while babysitting with them. Now, I have had experiences where I let guapo walk around and my Dumas, uh, forgot about him and uh, I couldn't find him and luckily I found him the very next day.
It was a heartbreak. I was so devastated, but I got them. Uh, and I'll never let that happen again cuz as soon as this video is over, they are going right back in their habitats. Uh, but I just want them to enjoy themselves and just wander around. And I want you guys to see how they behave as they do that as well. Um, it's fun to kind of have your own little reptile paradise here because these guys really do get the best of the treatment here for reptiles. You know, I really want these guys to display all their natural behavior. I want them to have enrichment. Um, they are my pets. They're my family, and I really take care of all of the animals here, but there are some that you just
interact with on a more uh frequent basis. And ones that I've had such a long time that they really have wormed their way into my heart. and Guapo and Lola, Slinky, Nostradamus, Phantom, uh Rocky, uh Pebbles, uh Pro and Petra. They are all really um you know, really just amazing animals. Now, I mentioned earlier that Rocky got in a fight, but then I was mistaken. It was Pro. Actually, we didn't have Rocky at the time. Um so, I'm glad that everything worked out okay with him because, you know, the rhino is such a robust and tough animal. Um, I wish I was able to kind of, you know, get at them quicker
before they hurt each other really bad. And even Rocky had a really bad laceration on his side that had to be stitched up. But Guapo got the worst of it. Um, even though Guapo was a little bit bigger than uh Pro. Um, you know, it's still it was quite the ordeal. Um, like I said, when I found him, it was funny because I actually was out helping someone else locally who had a galop, excuse me, an aldabra tortoise that was in need. Um, so I was helping them and then when I came home, I realized that the latch for the dividing door between the cages uh was unlatched and uh unfortunately pro got into Guapo's enclosure and they really went at it. So, these guys can be very tough and if there isn't a place for the uh loser to get away quick um
then they're going to fight to the death and that's unfortunate. So, we were able to kind of save them both. Um I'm glad there he is. He's just looking amazing. Uh this is just in fact I'm going to take a photo of this because it's just the coolest guys. Let's get a nice photo uh for the Graham here, shall we? Let's see. Let's do portrait mode. What do you think? I think that just looks amazing. Let's Let's do this. Get it in there. That is tremendous. Excellent. Very, very cool. Um, when these guys are looking so regal, it's important to, uh, you know, exploit that, if you will, or take an opportunity, take an opportunity to, uh,
to exploit the, uh, moment, if you will. Uh but then again, here's some red foots. They're all wandering around. There's Lego right over there. Uh so they're all wandering around. Summer is in full swing here in Florida. Um and I'm I'm really thrilled by that. If there was a way that I knew I could keep these guys contained in the backyard, like if I had some kind of dome or screenhouse or something, um I would absolutely um keep these guys closer to me. I think they're just amazing pets. um rhinos and Cubans. Uh if you guys get a chance to get them, they're awesome if you have the space. They're really just some of the best reptile pets you could potentially own. But you got to have space and you got to
have the knowhow. Um you know, if you've kept green iguanas, you can keep a cycllora. Uh I actually have two babies. Let's go check them out. We've got two baby rhinos. Uh and they're doing well. They're from the hatch that happened in October. And uh we've got another Lego type friend right there with a goofy looking shell. But if we come over here to the nursery, these guys have been out here with the Burmese star tortoises for a while now. So let's have a look. Oh, we'll lift this up gently. And there is one of the babies right there just hanging out. Looking good, shedding, looking plump. And we'll just shut this easily. Let's see. Where you going,
No, not there. But I'll bet you Oh, wait a minute. I got to look up here. Yep. Here's a baby right here. There it is. Look at that. This is the larger of the two. Uh, and they're just becoming more and more docile, which is fantastic. So, they'll eat out of my hands. They're letting me pick them up. Um, so that's really cool. They get to be just amazing little pets. So, I highly recommend them. They're beautiful. Uh, again, you've got to have you got to have the space. You got to have a larger enclosure. Um, maybe not the best if you're in a cold area. Um, but I do have friends up in Long Island that keep them. Um, so not
impossible and truly like dogs in the way of their interaction with you, which gets me pumped. I love them. So, right now, they're going to warm up. We'll let them do that and then uh once they get on the move, we'll be right back. All right, Guapo's decided he wants down. Probably wants to lay on that nice hot pavers. Those nice hot papers rather. That's proper English. Or he could be looking to start trouble with our lady. He's uh pretty interesting. Let's see what he does. I like to see all their behaviors. This is how you learn about your animals. Uh yeah, he's doing some head bobbing. He hasn't seen her in
quite a while. So now that she's not necessarily um a potential mate, uh I just don't know. Oh boy. Oh jeez. Oh gosh, it's a lot of liquid. Very well hydrated. Oh, excuse you. Good grief. However disgusting this may be, this is all part of good husbandry. You want to see them pooping. You want to know things are working properly in their digestive system. And uh clearly that's the case. You notice how he pulls his tail to the side. He don't like dropping his tail in that poop. Uh so they're pretty clean. Look at that. What a guy. Uh not yet. And so he hits the turd anyway. Uh he tried. You're getting a forer effort,
kid. Um, but yeah, so he's kind of checking things out. Oh, look. This is definitely some posturing here. Look at this. Oh, boy. And she happens to be the tough one. So, this is why I can't keep them together any longer. See this? This is what's going to happen here. I'm going to allow it to happen a little bit, but if it gets really violent, we're going to stop. He's got a little purchase on her. Look at this. He's wrestling with her. This is sometime. Oh, this is Oh, boy. Yeah. Let's go. Let's get them separated. Yeah. Interesting. Very interesting stuff. So, this is why I can no longer keep them together. It's kind of a bummer. Even in
a large enclosure, that would be a problem. So, we don't want it to get too out of control. I think he's going to go back. Hey, be good. Come here. Look what we got here. Look at this. Instead of fighting, try food. Look at this food. Come here. But you see, she's pretty tough. She is no joke. Uh, she can defend herself. Come on. Look at this. I wonder if I have any flowers. Oh, yeah. Here. Here's a hibiscus. This is just part of their behavior, and you got to be tough. You got to be able to handle it and see what they're up to.
Um, they didn't break the skin and that's good. But look, he's got teeth and they're pretty darn sharp, man. I think he's going to try and go back over there. What a pain in the neck. This experiment may not last so long. Yeah, he's definitely kind of aggro. He wants to chase her out now. He views her as another male. That's clearly what's going on here. Because they don't breed anymore. That's kind of my guess as to why they can no longer cohabitate. It's because there's just no reason for them to cohabitate anymore being that he can't breed with her.
She's now just another competitor for resources, things of that nature. Let's see. Oh, look. Here's a nice red one. I know he likes a red. They must taste better. Oh, but we got to look out for a Come here. Look. Oh, look at that. Hurry. Better hurry. Oh, man. The red foots are going to get their red hibiscus. Oh, you snooze, you lose, dude. You snooze, you lose. Is he going to go under there? H boy, he gets worked up. You sure do get worked up, Guapo. So awesome, though. Um, we do this, like I said, from time to time. Haven't done it much with the rhino iguanas. Not that they couldn't, I just haven't done it. So, it might be fun to do that with
them. I know we've had Slinky out here. You guys have seen Slinky walk around here and eat the odd snake and cane toads. Oh man, we got to get those cane toads out of his mouth. He is just a mental case. He'll eat absolutely anything. Uh, but there she is. She just really wants to warm up. But did you see how the tip of her tail was really wagging back and forth? She was wiggling that tail pretty aggressively and that's another sign when they're super agitated. You wouldn't think their tail is able to articulate that much, but they can move it right down to that last vertebrae. So, uh, very, very cool. Now once the tail breaks through codal autonomy um when the new tail grows back
it actually does not have any vertebrae in that new tail. So they don't have the same kind of control over it. So uh unfortunately uh it never looks as good either. I think he's going to poop again. That's good. Lots of poops going on. Maybe just one little turd left in there. Ah this is something interesting too. They love to rub against things. I think they get their scent on it. Look at them rubbing. Look at this. Look at that behavior. Really, really cool. Cool behavior to witness um from our Cuban iguanas here. They'll rub against me. Uh they'll mark me as territory when I squat down in their enclosure. Uh but yeah, look at this guy.
You I thought you'd be done fighting, Guapo, with everything that's happened in the last couple of years. I thought you'd just be over it. But I guess you're still got a lot of spunk left in you, don't you? Still got some spunk in you. Watch this. Hey there. It's so fun to pet the animals. Now, I want to show you something else. See all these crows? These crows are very intelligent birds. And what they're doing right now is they're whiting or they're looking for uh eggs that have been laid. They're digging up the nests and they're eating them. Now, most of the eggs that they're
getting are fortunately just Oh, look at this. I'm going to go stop them. Hold on. I think I see eggs on the ground. This is how I know sliders have been laying. Hey, get out of here, bird. I'm a scarecrow. Go. This is why I put the fence up so I can kind of keep the turtle legs kind of contained to where I'm going to be able to put some kind of covering or netting over it to just to keep the crows from having too much of a field day. Not that I want to breed so many of these sliders, these yellow bellies, but the fact that I can save some of them is important. I thought I actually saw, look at this. They're digging this up and they use their beaks
to get in there. I don't feel anything. I think they've gotten everything out. Yeah, seems like they've already gotten all the eggs out of this one, but you can see their beaks go down deep. They're able to really do a number on this. They kick up all the dirt, soil, and you can kind of see what they've been doing. Here's another one. Oh man, it's non-stop, okay? You're always trying to figure out the best way to save the turtles and keep their eggs going, and you're battling with some very smart creatures out there.
Raccoons, possum, coyotes, we've got bobcats, we've got birds. Um, and of course I love all those animals, but you know, we're trying to do a turtle sanctuary here. A reptile. Oh no, I got to go back. Oh my gosh, I saw him running after her. God, he's a jerk. Oh my god. All right, that's it. That's enough. That's enough, guys. I think you're being a jerk. Oh, come here. Oh, take it easy. Let's get him back. We ain't playing around. I'm not going to risk either of them getting hurt. H. You got to take your eyes off these kids for one second and it turns into bedum. Oh my gosh. Hey, stop squitching. Stop squitching, man. Holy
smokes. All right, buddy. Oh, there you go. Oh, God. That's it. It's just Lola now. Hey, man. Can't play nice, can't play. That simple. What's our girl doing? She can now relax. We can just enjoy her for a little bit. But uh yeah, there's always something going on here. If it's not the crows getting my eggs, it's two lizards fighting on the back patio. Whatever. All right, there, Lola. You can relax now, sweet pea. In fact, let's see. Yeah, I know. I've got some food in here. Let's see.
Couple of nuggets. What do you say to that? In the mood? Not even. Not even in the mood for a little food. Holy smokes. She is the coolest. But boy is that hot. That's got to be 100° right there. And she's just handling it right on her belly. No big deal. Warming up that body. Watch. She's going to spread on out. All right. You not in the mood for food? Probably still a little bit upset. No problem. Ah, so awesome. really durable animal, too, because it looked like there was a pretty good bite uh that they got. I'm glad I ran over here quick enough. Good grief, man.
There's always so much going on. Let's sit on this 100°ree pavement and burn my butt. But yeah, I've had these guys a long time. I love them dearly, and I enjoy moments like this with all my animals, and I love sharing them with you guys. I love just to see um what they're up to and how they behave. They're great and I am so fortunate that I get to work with these guys and that I've had them for so long and that we've gone through some health drama. Uh but we keep on trucking. You know, we've got a good vet in place in Dr. Mike and uh that's all you can ask for, you know. So, when you keep a lot of animals, you are going to have sick animals or animals that are wounded. It's just going to happen and you have to attack
it headon. You have to be reactive, proactive, uh, and you have to learn a lot about animal uh, triage and husbandry. So, you know, it's a practice. You know, you're continually learning and getting better at it. And, um, this camp has grown over the years. Look at how happy she is. Look at how happy. I absolutely love when I see her just kind of relax. Now, she's breathing a little heavy from that little scuffle, but she's going to calm right down and enjoy this weather, which is so cool and important. Well, there you go, friends. Lola Guapo, two of the camp's oldest residents, two of their biggest stars. Thanks so much for watching. I'll see you guys again on another episode. Don't forget to go to patreon.com/campkennon
and you can see more footage of me behind the scenes, plus a live chat with me every Thursday, 400 p. p.m. Eastern. I'll see you guys soon. Right to you.
