Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought horned lizard on Su. 4/23/06. The person i bought him from said he was about 6 mo. old. He told me to feed him small crickets and meal worms. I have ordered harvester ants for him, but they have not come in. I have him on sand with a rock cave. He has a water dish. I am confused on the temps that he should be kept at. Can someone tell me what temp and time schedule is best. He also has a 8.0 repti sun light. Any other advise would be great. Here is a picture of him.
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Hello Rich (assuming that's your name)
Looks like you have a Desert Horned Lizard there (phrynosoma platyrhinos). From the picture I would suspect your lizard is at least one year old, give or take, I don't think 6 months sounds even close judging by it's size. Before I can answer your heating question effectively I need to know what size it's enclosure is. Normally what you want is a 50-100watt incandescent light fixture hovering over one side of the enclosure pointing directly down to the substrate. General rule of thumb is 100 degrees on the hot side and 80 degrees on the cool side. The person you purchased the lizard from is most definately wrong about it's diet. It does in fact need ants to thrive and be in good health. You can mix in a few one week old cricket's, and a wax worm every now and then. Ants should make up the majority of it's diet.
Check out the www.phrynosoma.com and read through the husbandry pages for p. platyrhinos thoroughly as these lizards are relatively difficult to keep healthy in captivity. There is some very useful info on that site and should answer most of your questions. You must be very commited to this lizard in order for it to live a long healthy life!
Good luck!
-Ryan

Thanks for the repy. I currently have him in a 10 gallon tank. I realize he needs a biggger one and I plan to get him one this week. How long will he be ok in the 10? His temps were 143 degrees.I have it down to 90 now, I am working on getting the temp right. It has been 90 degrees all day, however every time I turn out his lights, he becomes more active. I have 3 bearded dragons, one was not suppose to live, but she is almost a year now and I got her when she was a week old.I am very dedicated to my lizards. I know however, this one will be a challenge. Since Eragon, my horn lizard, has made it to a year old and assuming he is captive bred, does that raise his chances of survival? I bought him at reptile show. One more question, since I have a 8.0 repti sun uvb, can I use a regular household bulb for heat?