SaveDarwinsFrogs.org, Blog of the Chilean Amphibian Conservation Center

Still more plumbing! It's easy to see why plumbers make good money--this is a lot of work!

Miles and miles of pipe and tubing!

Try to remember: the drains go in the lowest part of the floor!

Getting late. Time to stop and tidy up a bit.

Can't even see what we've done.

The zoo staff pitched in and helped us haul out all the trash.

Our neighbors to the North, a pair of Green-winged Macaws (Ara chloroptera), were fascinated by all the activity.

Bernardo (middle), who will sculpt a ginat Darwin's Frog for the exhibit, comes to see what is happening.

Everyone, it seems, has an eye on the new facility!

Housing Authority...time to make shelters for the Rhinoderma, and to do this we use coconuts. First we drill them to drain the milk.

Andy makes the supreme sacrifice and helps get rid of the coconut milk...delicious!

How to cut these things? Nope, a table saw won't work.

That's better!

Next, it's time to put in doors.

Cut, drilled, and ready to dry in the sun so the coconut meat can be popped out easily, then on to the terrariums.

All the cutting and drilling drew the attention of a lizard (Liolaemus tenuis) living by the woodshop.

The trek to the woodshop took us past some interesting zoo inhabitants like this Degu (Octodon degu).

And the noise even woke up a nocturnal Chinchilla.

Time to wire and install the fluorescent lights.

This is when tight quarters require SMALL hands!

Finally the lights are done!

Even the Blue-and-yellow Macaw likes the look of things.

If only we had more access to the internet......

This is how we mix the matrix for the Collembola colonies.

A little plaster of Paris, a little carbon, and a little water is all it takes.

It's a little messy at first, but you get used to it.

Poor Andy gets stuck with the dirty work.

Well, maybe not ALL the dirty work.

The scenery makes even this task easy.

"Those are the craziest gringos we've ever had at the zoo."

"Hmmm, I wonder if Collembola taste good?"

"Jaime is right, those ARE the craziest gringos we've ever had here."

Now, to let them dry overnight.

"You see, Jaime? They only LOOK crazy."

"And to our left we have the zoo's newest arrivals...crazy gringos."

Please go home and let us get some sleep.

…and we STILL cleaned glass.

How to get a strong handshake: we clipped the shelves to accommodate the terrarium drains.

This steel is HARD! Let’s get this right the first time.

Time to ease the terrariums into their new homes.

Where’s a plumber when we need him? Time to install drain lines.

No margin for error. PVC pipe is a tight fit.

This is less fun on some shelves.

Why did placing the bottom shelf so near to the floor seem like such a good idea?

NOW it’s starting to look like a frog room.

Yes Marcela, we’re really going to finish the job!

A new arrival at the zoo. Andrés holds a “chuncho,” an Austral Pygmy-Owl, Glaucidium nanum.

A close-up look at the chuncho.

Our neighbor to the east, a Peruvian Pelican, Pelecanus thagus.

This place has cool plants (Aloe arborescens).