We’re very excited to welcome our newest residents to Butterfly Creek – our Lace Monitors Inala and Banjo!
These amazing lizards are native to Australia and are mostly found in the eastern ranges and plains. They’re named for the beautiful, lace-like patterns on their skin, and each one has a unique design that helps them blend into their surroundings. They are one of the largest lizards in the world, growing up to 2m in length, most of which is their tail. They use their tail for balance and swimming as well as posturing to rivals and even as a whip for defence!
Lace Monitors are carnivorous scavengers, meaning they eat a variety of small animals like possums, rabbits, and wallabies, as well as insects, eggs, and even some human rubbish they find. These clever lizards can travel up to 3km in a single day looking for food! While they usually like to be alone, they get together in spring and early summer to breed.
Lace Monitors are super smart with a great sense of smell and taste, excellent vision, and acute hearing. They’re mildly venomous, and the males have a unique way of fighting by standing on their hind legs and wrestling. Come and check out these fascinating creatures for yourself!
Get up close to these unique reptiles
Don’t miss our fantastic new lace monitor exhibit, with a custom-build environment and carefully controlled conditions to ensure our lizards stay happy and healthy.
Did you know…
- Lace Monitor scales don’t overlap like most lizards and snakes, instead they’re situated against one another giving a pebbled appearance
- The Lace Monitor has a forked tongue like a snake, which they flick in and out of their mouth to learn about their surroundings
- These mighty lizards mostly live in trees, coming down to mate or hunt.
- The tail of a Lace Monitor can be up to twice the length of it’s body
- To fight off rivals, a Lace Monitor will stand up on it’s hind legs and grapple it’s opponent
- A Lace Monitor’s pattern is unique, and they typically feature narrow bands of dark and light bands along their body, while a smaller proportion of Lace Monitor’s may feature wider bands of dark and light (referred to as Bell’s Phase Lace Monitors)
