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W von Papineäu
at Sun Aug 13 19:58:54 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by W von Papineäu ]
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WLS-TV (Chicago, Illinois) 09 August 06 Feeding Faust: Shedd's Komodo dragon draws crowds (Frank Mathie)
Faust, the Komodo dragon, arrived at Shedd Aquarium four months ago. Since then he has helped bring in record crowds who just can't seem to get enough of this giant lizard.
Faust is the king of his new exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium-- but that doesn't mean he eats like a king. No gourmet meals for this 8' long and 140 pound monster-like lizard. His diet is frozen rats that have been thawed to a delectable tenderness.
"He's going to get four extra large rats. He gets fed once a week. Generally this is the amount we're giving. About a month and a half ago we did an exam on him and he had actually gained fifteen pounds. So we're cutting back ... we were giving him six," said James Clark, Faust's Keeper at Shedd Aquarium.
Komodo dragons are famous for having mouths full of about sixty different kinds of killer bacteria. They can smell their prey from as far away as seven miles.
These komodo dragons are amazing creatures. In the wild, if one of these dragons takes down a 100 pound pig he can eat about 80 pounds of it at one sitting. Then, he doesn't eat for a month. For Faust it's one week between feedings.
"Put the tongs out there and click them five times," said Clark.
And, here comes Faust. Every Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. he hears the meal tongs click and dinner is served. One. Two. Three. Four big rats in four big gulps.
"Good feeding. He took all four of them and he's actually swallowing right now down into his stomach. He looks like he wants one or two more, which he's not going to get," said Clark.
Faust is full-- until next week.
Feeding Faust
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 IL Press: Feeding Faust - W von Papineäu, Sun Aug 13 19:58:54 2006
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