Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I just got these guys/gals??? I have been a regular in the turtle forums for a while now and since I got these guys I thought I would come see whats up in this forum... I got these guys at a local pet store.. not sure if they were wild caught or not, the lady never gave a clear answer to that... they are youngsters I can tell by the size. They are very active and eat very vigorously. I know the pic isnt super clear but I was hoping you experts could maybe tell me more about them? I have a basking light in there but not sure what the basking temp should be, I know they need ants to eat and they have been eating some black ants that were around the place here but I was wondering if I should be feeding them the red type ants that are out in their natural inviroment... thanks in advance...

Hi Turtlefancy,

I can't really see the lizards that well in the pic, so I'm not sure; but they look like they might be Short-horned Lizards, Phrynosoma hernandesi. As far as conditions and diet, there is loads of great info on the old forum, which you can still see, plus Jeff Judd just recently posted some advice to a new HL owner under the thread "RE: Horned Lizard Diets" just a few posts below yours.

Good luck with your new lizards. Oh, by the way, they are almost certainly wild-caught. Very few HLs in the pet trade are captive bred. Short-horns are legal for commercial collection in Nevada.

Gary

Thanks,
I found out that they were indeed wild caught. I remember having them as kids, by the way I live in Wyoming. I done some research on line and according to what I found out our wyoming short horns are Phynosoma Douglasii... ?? sound right? I am not good with scientific names, just learning here. I had a female once that had 11 babies, but I could never get mother or children to eat so I turned them loose. These two seem to eat pretty good ... They are alot smaller than the ones I have found that I knew were adults, therefore I assume they are sub adults. I have them in a 40 gal aquarium with gravel in it, I am getting some sand for them to hide in tomorrow. Thanks so much for the help...
Becky

Hi Becky,

Since you're in Wyoming, if they were caught locally then they are short-horned lizards, P. hernandesi. They used to be called P. douglasii, but scientists studying them decided that one of the subspecies is actually a separate species that they now call the pygmy horned lizard. They let the pygmy horned lizard keep the name P. douglasii, and changed the name of the short-horned lizard to P. hernandesi. So that's what you have there.

The sand is a good idea. They love to burrow, especially at night. I'm glad they're eating well. Keep feeding them lots of ants!

Gary