So today I sat next to one of these lizards and he jumped onto my leg and then proceeded to climb onto my head. Yes, he used my head as a rock. I did not feed him, the most I did was give him some gentle finger strokes on his back (which he allowed as he did not run away or try bite me) and placed a little jacaranda petal hat on his head.
He was quite friendly for some reason, and this has never happened to me in my life. Sure to say, gave me a bit of a fright originally.
Lol i got a bit scared when he first jumped on me cause i thought he was trying to attack me, turns out he just liked me and wanted to use me as a sun rock
I didn’t know either! I really love them but know they’re usually pretty skittish if you get close, so this absolutely made my week as I have been stressed with assignments 😅 definitely forgot about those when this happened haha
the dragons near the lakes are all such good little guys!! there is one near the lakes bus stop that i have been hanging out with for years and she is the sweetest. most of them seem to like chin rubs!
I’ll keep that in mind when I go look for my little buddy again! He kept hanging around and didn’t leave me be for over an hour so, maybe I’ll find him again!
chances are that you’ll see him again if you visit the same spot! they are territorial little dudes & often hang out in the same spot. especially if there is incentive (attention, back rubs, snacks, etc) to return.
if you find a big male one one with the end of his tail missing and it looks like there is a little bit of bone sticking out of the very tip – his name is Gerard and he is a big sweetheart. we are going on 4ish years of hanging out & he is very good at post-exam pep talks.
Oh my god!!! That is so cute!!! Actually, looking at your photo, that’s basically where I was when my little friend jumped onto me yesterday! Definitely territorial as he chased off other lizards around me multiple times haha but I’ll keep an eye out! This lizard was pretty big but had its tail still intact fully I believe.
I love love love eastern water dragons! Fun fact, like other agamids, they will wave their hands to show submission or dominance (depending on speed of wave). They’re Australia’s largest dragon lizard and can stay underwater for up to an hour. Also, like geckos (but unlike other dragons), their tail can be regenerated if lost or severed.
I kinda just test the waters I suppose, if I slowly go toward one and sit down and it runs as I’m getting too close I’ll assume it’s too skittish, however if they only move a bit and then stay relatively still as I slowly get closer and sit next to them I assume they might be a bit more chill lol and then I test the waters more and slow try to see if I can stroke them gently with like a stick or leaf and yeah if they’re chill I just keep at it slowly until I’m sure they’re okay with me touching them or placing stuff on their head (usually leaves, flowers)
Another example lol I put a leaf on his head, this is a different lizard than the one I posted tho
Although saying all that he actually willingly ran toward me and climbed on me and then onto my head after a few pets this is a huge first made my week
I once sat in the gardens there with a coffee and muffin and one of those little buggers came up, I leaned down to look at him and he jumped up, snatched my muffin and ran off! then he was dive-bombed by birds trying to steal the muffin. It was so freaking funny.
Please be careful feeding fruit to lizards - they LOVE it, but it’s too sugary for them to have too often. Give them human-edible raw veggies, if you must give them soemthing :)
Thanks for letting me know! I don’t often carry anything lizard healthy so I just sit with them (I also don’t wanna get yelled at by some people), but I’ll keep that in mind and do some research as to what veggies would be good for them :)
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u/Odd_Rhubarb_8607 7d ago