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My 2004 Captive Born, Antless Diet DHL's are now breeding

My antless diet experiment continues. The two largest of my 2004 offspring, which have been raised strictly on crickets, are now attempting to breed. I say attempting, because the male is showing he’s quite the rookie. He gets very excited and mounts the female multiple times an hour, but doesn't seem to know exactly what to do next. On the other hand, the Female acts like an old pro. She pretty much lifts her tail now every time he mounts. One interesting behavior to note is the female starts rapidly shuffling her front feet when he mounts. Excited anticipation I assume. Been going on for about a week now. Keeping fingers crossed. As a side note, the largest male of the 2005 captive born offspring is also showing interest in the female, I just haven’t witnessed any mounting yet.

Roger

Great to hear Roger. A couple question though:
Did you keep any data on growth rate vs. lizards from the same clutch that are on an ant diet? Indoor or outdoor enclosure? Do you have any photos you could post or email? Did you lose any of the antless specimens? Are you using any type of supplements along with the antless diet? I would be very interested in reading any notes you may have taken from this project!
Keep us informed.
Thanks and good luck!
-Ryan

Maybe it's the formic acid in the ants that gets them their sexual drive - that would be a finding!

The formic acid that ants produce is an aid to metabolism and chemical balances within the digestive tract to maintain proper pH and microflora. Formic acid, like any venom, is a predigestive/digestive enzyme.

The horned lizards have a blood factor that detoxifies the ant venom and the yield is complex carbohydrates and water. Horned lizards also have teeth that are specific to the diet of ants.

Lester G. Milroy III
Conservation Biologist
Horned Lizard Research and Conservation

Ryan,

When I plan on providing my data when the study is complete. But in the mean time:

Did you keep any data on growth rate vs. lizards from the same clutch that are on an ant diet? ANSWER: No. I only have antless diet growth rate data. One control group at a time is more then enough for me. These guys eat like pigs and are costing me a small fortune. After next year, maybe I'll switch to the other side and then I can see how they compare. Till then, one set on an antless diet is all I'm able to handle.

Indoor or outdoor enclosure? ANSWER: Both. Indoors all year long (no hibernation yet...will do this year). Outdoors during the summer months.

Do you have any photos you could post or email? ANSWER: Yes I have many photos. I'm not emailing them though, don't have the time for that, but maybe I'll post a few if I get them time.

Did you lose any of the antless specimens? ANSWER: Yes. Survival rate seems to be at ~ 66% for both clutches I've attempted. There are many factors involved in this number, and I'm not sure that this number is normal or abnormal regardless of the diet. Conversations with others indicate they are experiencing about the same survival rate for DHL's raised on ant diets. Would like to know this myself.

Are you using any type of supplements along with the antless diet? ANSWER: Yes. Occasional dusting (1 or 2 times a month, or less) of crickets with RepCal. Crickets are maintained stricktly on carrots, romain, some fruit, and lemons/limes/oranges used as their water/vitamin source.

I would be very interested in reading any notes you may have taken from this project! ANSWER: Plan on releasing all my data to anyone who's interested, probably at the end of next summer, that is after I get them through a successful hibernation.

ONE SIGNIFICANT NOTE: Anyone attempting this should do so using strictly pin-head crickets. Every time I've tried to jump to 2 week olds, they offspring start loosing weight within a month or so, and putting the weight back on has been a real challenge. The ones I've left alone have faired the best. There's clearly an issue with prey size involved here. Pretty much if they can't lick up their prey, then they will eventually go down hill. Slowly...but surely.

Roger

Update: During the heat wave between 7/7 & 7/28 the 2004 female started digging with her back legs. Daily searches for eggs produced no results. Then a day after our hottest day, the day I didn't search for eggs (it was 95F in the house!), I found 4 dried and shriveled eggs on the surface of the aquarium. My guess is that due to the males inexperience, they were probably infertile, but I'll never know. He's trying to breed with her again. Might get another chance at them this year, but what I'm really hoping for is next year. Keep you posted.

Roger