Budgie Buddies

Native to South America, tegu (tay-goo) means “lizard”. The first lizard known to be warm-blooded, tegus can warm their bodies during the breeding season. Growing up to 4 feet long and 20 pounds, they eat insects, fruit and small mammals. They spend most of the time sheltering in burrows, but come out to bask in the sun.

In warmer months, our tegu makes special appearances around Zoo grounds – keep a look out! Or find him in the Discovery Hut next to Budgies.

Also native to South America, the iguana grows up to 6.5 feet long and 17 pounds. It likes to eat tender leaves and flowers of trees, and shrubs, and spends much of the day basking in the sun on tree branches to stay warm. But an iguana can move quickly when threatened and will dive into water to escape predators.

In warmer months, our iguana makes special appearances around Zoo grounds – keep a look out! Or find it in the Discovery Hut next to Budgies.

He’s spiky, with fledgling horns, skin like armor and physique like a Hummer.

No, he’s not a baby dinosaur – but he sure looks like one. He’s Titan, the Zoo’s new rhinoceros iguana.

Rhinoceros iguanas (Cyclura cornuta) are native to the islands of Haiti, the Dominican Republic and surrounding West Indies. They’re primarily herbivores, munching on fruit, leaves and flowers, occasionally eating insects and larger prey. Dusky-gray or olive-green, they get their name from the three horny bumps on their snout, plus two large fat pads hanging over their temples like fierce eyebrows.

Adapted to survive the rocky scrub and cactus thickets where they live, their skin is thick and rough, and they have a ridge of sharp spikes running all the way down their spine to the tip of their tail.

Right now Titan is still a juvenile, measuring out at 36 inches. But by the time he’s fully grown at around eight years old, he could top out at four feet long, with those horns looking way more formidable.

Find him in the Discovery Hut, near Budgies.

Barn owls live around farms and fields in the Pacific Northwest and on every other continent except Antarctica. They are nocturnal hunters, catching rodents with powerful feet and sharp talons.
Our barn owl Apollo often goes out with a keeper to meet Zoo visitors. For proper training and handling, Apollo wears special equipment. On each ankle he wears a nylon strap called a jess that the handler holds onto for the bird’s safety. Apollo often rests with one foot tucked under his feathers – when he does this, the jess on the tucked-in foot can sometimes be seen sticking out.

Find Apollo in the Discovery Hut near Budgies.