Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So after the winter started wearing off out here, I was treated to the first sighting of my little male DHL in my outdoor pen a couple days back. Hope he goes back under because we're expecting snow......lol......Anyone else seeing any activity at home or in the wild?

-Phil

All my HL's are up now and have been for a while. Of course I have them indoors. I lost the adult female DHL you gave me last summer and also one of the baby Solare from Mark.
Not sure what happened to them, they both came out at different times and died within a few days of coming up. The others are all thriving, I'll post some pics soon!
Ryan

Hey Ryan,
Hope you don't feel too bad about that solare. They just don't all make it.
TTYL
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www.Phrynosoma.Com

Yes, I rec'd 2 Solares from Mark and they passsed as well - one just wouldn't eat and one guy went down and came up a little later and was emaciated and couldn't bring back. I will have to post pics of my DHL's which are up.

I also just setup a terrarium - 2 spotted salamanders, 2 western tree frogs, 1 alligator lizard, 1 golden gecko and a 6" milipede and everyone is happy!

~mitch

Sorry to hear about your Solare Mitch. Did you choose to hibernate them or did they go down on their own with the temps in their tank still up? The reason I ask is that I don't think it's a good idea to hibernate hatchlings if you can help it, just for the simple fact that they are so small that they don't always have enough body fat/nutrition to keep them healthy throughout the hibernation. I would think that in the wild, a good percentage of hatchling HL's probably don't make it through their first winter. Maybe Someone (Mark, Lester??) has done a study on this topic and can weigh in with their two cents?!
Ryan

I haven't done any formal studies, but I have to agree. Don't put hatchlings down. Two of my cornutum hatchlings went down for a couple of months inside. I didn't cool the tank at all, but it is large enough to have cool places in it. The solare stayed up all winter and keep eating.
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www.Phrynosoma.Com

Well that is where I figured I messed up. I put the Solares in my DHL cage - which is 4' long and 1½' wide and was had been slowing down my DHL's getting them ready for the winter. When I rec'd my Solares I kept lights up more and one fed and one would not and passed away. My DHL's were also going down for short periods of time as was the Solare that was remaining - I cut the main lights had lights on one end - as the room they are in does cool down in the winter - just in case someone needed to stay warm. I didn't see the little guy up for a few and figured he went down and one day he was just on top not doing very well. also one of the DHL's came up around the same time and I turned on the lights and brought my DHL's back up shortly after to prevent them from the same all thought they are not hatchlings but are not that big either and just wanted to be safe.

Hey Phil,
I had one modestum, one solare and my little DHL (not so little now) wake up last weekend. Pretty cool to see them out again.
Thanks for the post!
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www.Phrynosoma.Com

Here are a couple of mine that just came out no worse for wear, were put down Novenber 15th as it was rather warm here in Texas.
The horned lizards began eating right away, the fringee is just starting tot ake some food, but is still a little lethergic, he'll get up to speed in a day or so...Cheers!!

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Phrynosoma.com

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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]

Here is the fringee forgot to include in previous posting

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Phrynosoma.com

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signature file edited. [phw 11/14/04]