Oh, my gosh! Last week was the best week! I had an egg. Well, not me, exactly. One of my Mossy Leaf Tail Geckos (Uroplatus sikorae) at the zoo where I work laid an egg in December, right around my birthday (thanks, little buddy!). This species is from a cooler part of Madagascar, in the rain forest, and putting the egg into our standard incubators at 84 degrees would cook it. 74 degrees is the highest temperature, but finding a spot that stays 74 degrees is tricky. I found a ledge in a building that stayed 76 this winter. The building is made of stone, so the ledge stayed somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-74. Unfortunately, with inexact temps, hatch dates are hard to predict. 90 days is typical. 90 days came and went. I was beginning to give up. And then I got an email from my boss on my day off (of COURSE it was my day off). I almost skipped out on Good Friday activities with my family to go and visit my new hatchling. I didn’t. I did take my camera the next day, though. You’re welcome.
Can you see him? Or her?
Could you see it? There’s a reason they’re called mossy leaf tails.
How about now? SO TINY!
They have a little fringe around their faces so they blend in perfectly. How tiny is it? This tiny:
17mm total length. Impressive.
But how does 17mm translate into real life? How small is this critter?
That’s my thumb it’s sitting on!
This hatching is the first of this species for me. It’s not endangered yet, but is threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture. It isn’t unheard of for a species with stable numbers to be suddenly found to be endangered a couple of years later.
One last shot for posterity.
My forefinger. Check out that expression! the eyes look white, but that’s because the pupils are contracted. At night, they dilate, and those eyes are solid black!
This will be the only time I handle this baby for a long time. Their skin is very thin, and they are easily stressed, but they need to be weighed and measured for our record keeping. How much does he weigh? 1 gram. It would take three of him to equal the weight of a penny.
What exciting things happened for you this week?
Becoming Cliche 
Beautiful! And holy crap, that is some camo. Took me longer than I want to admit to find it. Congrats!
Reblogged this on ugiridharaprasad.
Oh that baby is so special. What talent! You must be over the moon. My week was nothing like yours. Nothing to brag about. I love the comparison with the penny to gecko ratio. 💜
Over the moon is the best way to describe it!
AWESOME! I’m totally going to share this with my wife; she loves lizards of all kinds. And you know what? Believe it or not, I woke up this morning thinking “I wonder how that blogger that works with turtles or such is doing.” Good to see and hear from you.
Lizards are kind of awesome.
I saw his head, but then he just disappeared. If he closes his eyes, he is probably invisible to critters that might want to eat him. Tho at this stage, he would be a meager meal. What a fun job you have.
He is so, so difficult to see!
Wow, that’s very cool. And if it’s unique in your world, imagine how the rest of us feel. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
WOW. Thank you for once again, making me fall in love with a tiny amphibian. (Or reptile? I’m really bad at this.)
Hope you’re feeling better! I decided to celebrate this week by getting desperately ill and not leaving my bed all day. At least it’s better than last week, which I celebrated by quitting my job. Guh. I’m just gonna think about this cutsy-patootsie lizard baby now… 🙂
Oh, no! Alice! DM me if you want to talk!
Squeeeee! That baby is so darn cute! 🙂 and wow the camouflage!
I KNOW! It’s almost impossible to see unless you know EXACTLY what you are looking for!
That is the most gorgeous thing ever! Well done you for persevering and finding such a natural source of the right heat.
Thank you!
Wow! Just made my day. Sooo tiny and so dang cute. Love that tattered skirting. Bet other lizards wish they had it!
Intentionally tattered is all the rage in the animal kingdom.
Amazingly simple and effective. With eyes closed there would be no spotting him/her!
Aww congratulations on your gorgeous new arrival. Is it strange that I’m feeling clucky over a tiny baby lizard?
It’s not strange at all! I’m smitten with this little darling!
Are you kidding? This kiddo is so tiny and perfect and interesting and weird that Henson would have wept tears of joy to see it. And then it’s doppelganger would have made an appearance in one of his movies.
Well said! So tiny, so perfect!
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Oh my gosh, that is so darn cool. Perfect cammo to that branch.
Isn’t he amazing? Sometimes I walk in and I DON’T SEE HIM, even though he is right in front of me!