No, they aren't here in my area. I'm in Houston. We have anoles, geckos, salamanders, and snakes, but not any type of fence lizard or spiny that I know of, and I am kinda stuck at the moment as far as taking a trip to catch wild lizards!

I thought that I might want to breed them with the idea of conservation in mind. I see so many wc reptiles for sale, and thought that breeding some might lessen the need for collecting from the wild. I am building an education program and have friends who are in education, and planned on holding back either two females or a nice male and buying a non related mate or two, and passing the rest on to education programs. I belive in captive breeding programs if we are going to keep animlas as pets. I think they just do better in captive settings if they are born into them, and I would hate to see animals become threatened or endangered in the wild because of the pet trade.

I am now rethinking this idea, at least as far as the spinys go. I will breed desert iguanas and try my hand at chuckwallas, but I don't think that these little guys make good pets. They are so stressed with handling. They are beautiful, and their behavior is interesting. I just think that they probably do better and have better little lizard lives in the wild, especially if keepers don't give them plenty of space. That can be debatable for potentially interactive lizards that can be taken out of their vivs for visits and a change of scene on a regular basis. Does that make sense? The desert iggies and chucks, and even the collareds adjust well to captive settings and being handled.

I could be totally off base here. Let me know if I am, please!

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