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Thread: Horned Lizard

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Monterey, CA
    Posts
    61

    Default Horned Lizard

    So after being picked up and abused by some kids boyfriend rescued this little guy from them. So I thought I would share some pictures with you.

    He's a tiny tiny little horned lizard (horny toad) and after much debate-- I now have a 5 gal tank set up for him in out kitchen to monitor him and make sure the kids did not damage him.

    I'll post some pictures later of his enclosure, I have him on ground walnuts with a couple hiding logs and some fake plants. Ordered some harvester ants online and in the meantime he's eating pinhead crickets like a champ.

    Enjoy!
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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Tampa, Florida
    Posts
    51

    Default

    Aw, he is adorable! So glad you guys were able to rescue him... that is heartbreaking :(

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Citrus Heights, CA
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    815

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    Oh holy bananas... that little guy is CUUUUTE!!!! Good for you for rescuing him.
    "Why do blessings always come in disguises? If I were a blessing, I'd run around naked."

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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Maryland
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    915

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    I love those guys. My very first reptile was a horned toad, bought illegally from some guys at a reptile show. But hey! I was only nine. It was funny, a few minutes after we left the show, some cops walked in. lol
    1.0.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
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    1.0.0 Albino Burmese Python
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    0.0.1 Cane Toad
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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Monterey, CA
    Posts
    61

    Default

    He's very adorable, he seems to be doing just fine and doesn't seem to be hurt in any way, luckily since the kids we're tossing him between each other hand to hand.

    Yeah, I have more illegal pets than legal pets now /: 3 axolotls, 1 horny toad, and 2 ferrets. Ahh CA laws.

    enigma do you have any care tips for me?
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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
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    9,505

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    Awww. He is so cute and so small . Thank you for rescuing him. I love his tank setup . He is very lucky to have you.
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Earth
    Posts
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    From what I see there, you have a Phrynosoma hernandesii, the short-horned lizard. First thing I'd warn you about is those ants. You read in all the books these guys are ant specialists and need the ants to survive. I've kept numerous Phrynosoma sp. without offering much in the way of ants and they seemed to be doing just fine, then one time after hearing out I could indeed order ants from the states (in Canada, it is illegal to ship most insects across the border) I placed an order, probably from the same place you did (they advertise specifically to supply ants for food for Phrynosoma), took a rather long time to get the order, and my lizards gratefully gobbled up the ants. Next day, EVERY ONE OF MY HORNED LIZARDS WAS DEAD. I also had a number of other lizards that were known to eat ants and had offered them a few, and they were all paralyzed. I don't think my shipment was deliberately sabotaged, but I do believe those people collect the ants from the wild with NO CARE OR ATTENTION to whether they have been nailed with pesticides or not. I got ZERO response from them when I inquired about their practices and told them of my loss. DO NOT OFFER A LOT OF ANTS TO YOUR LIZARD at once. Only offer a few a day. I would also "quarantine" the ants when you receive them. Don't offer them immediately, set them up in an enclosure, feed and water them for a week before offering them to the lizard.
    I had a lot of success keeping horned lizards on a diet of mostly pinhead crickets and wax moth larvae. I occassionally supplemented with a very weak (<1% concentration) solution of formic acid. While almost all do really well with a loose, sandy substrate, take heed to my next tough learned lesson: aside from the ant massacre, I only ever lost horned lizards through one other common death - they would love to dig under rocks or other objects in the terrarium which would shift on the loose substrate and pin them. Beings as you are using a small set-up, if you are going to use rocks or other objects, I advise adhering some sort of "legs" to the rocks so that they protrude through the substrate to the bottom of the enclosure, preventing them from shifting. This is no joke, I never had horned lizards die from starvation, disease, or anything like often befalls these sort of exotics, only poisoning from ants and squishing themselves under rocks.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
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    OMG. I'm so sorry to hear about what happend to your reptiles. Thank you for the warning.
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Monterey, CA
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    I'm sorry to hear about your ant shipment, thats horrible :( I received my first shipment in (only got 30 just in case from lllreptile) and they're WAYYY to big for him anyways. So I'll stick to the pinhead crickets. I have a ton of flightless fruitfly cultures going, I was thinking of trying those. I'm also always very paranoid about them getting crushed by any decorations, so all rocks/wood structures are pushed all the way to the bottom of the enclosure-- I had a close call with my beloved western fence lizard when I was a wee 7 years old (first lizard) so ever sense I've always erred on the side of caution.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Monterey, CA
    Posts
    61

    Default

    Thank you everyone for all the support/interest now the hard part is letting him go haha

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