REMOTE WORK A WIN FOR REGIONS
SIX-YEAR-OLD FIGHTING FOR LIFE
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GEM OF A PET By YVETTE AUBUSSON-FOLEY THERE’S nothing quite as a uniquely Australian as a pet blue tongue lizard called Opal. The pride and joy of Dubbo woman Grace Jones, ‘Opal’ is probably a girl (it’s hard to tell) but she likes a night in front of the telly with her family. “She can see the living room from her tank, and what she’ll do is stand as tall as she can on her four feet, like she’s standing on tippy-toes, and you can see her watching you as you watch TV from across the room,” Ms Jones (pictured with Opal) told Dubbo Photo News. “She definitely pines to come and spend time with you. When I do get her out, she’s quite funny. She likes going up people’s sleeves because it’s like a tunnel for them. So I can sit comfortably watching TV with her up my sleeve and I sometimes forget that she’s there and think, oh, why is my sleeve so heavy.” Opal got her name not just because it had to be Australian, but also because Ms Jones figured “you’ve got to dig in the ground to find an opal, and I often have to dig in the ground to find my Opal in her enclosure”! Fed on a diet of greens like
endives and spinach, Opal also gets live mealworms and crickets sprinkled with calcium and super foods, designed just for Blue Tongues. “That’s to make sure she gets a whole diet and is the best lizard she can be. Her absolute favourite is little bits of banana,” Ms Jones said, giving lizards as good pets her stamp of approval. “The initial set up can be pretty expensive but then feeding and maintaining them is pretty easy. Blue Tongues are hardy, and they don’t have a lot of health problems if you take care of them properly, so I highly recommend them,” Ms Jones said. If you love your pet as much as Ms Jones, here’s great news. From next week’s September 3 edition of Dubbo Photo Newss, we’re running our annual Pet’s Month photo competition. See inside today’s paper edition for details on how to enter and the fantastic prizes on offer.
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1300 STUDENTS EVICTED Music hub still searching for new home
By LYDIA PEDRANA
DUBBO’S Macquarie Conservatorium of Music is still on the hunt for a new home. The Conservatorium’s current premises on Bultje Street is owned by the NSW Department of Education, which is taking back the space in 2023, but the Conservatorium currently has nowhere to go.
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