Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, We have a fully organic backyard with many features like ants of various species, sow bugs, spiders, water ponds, sand, dirt, plants etc. We did not use any chemical in the last 5 years.
We have salamanders, toads, dragonflies and common lizards. We would like to introduce the horned lizard since it is native of this desert climate and feeds mainly from ants. we have too many ants of various species. the lizards would feel like at home here. I have a couple of questions. First, is it lawfull to purchase HL's in Arizona, then, do you think they would like to be released in the backyard for free roaming. We have sandy places, hot places, rocks, dirt, plants, and animals like cats, Chihuahuas, Chickens, salamanders, toads, fish, chipmonks, birds, hawks, owls etc. Temperature is now 110 but it can go as low as 32-35 in the few cold winter days we have. We do not have a clue of where to get lizards like the Horned Lizard that is native to the desert and would be comfortable in the wild.
On another token, we also would like to introduce geckos for night patrol. We have been told that there are geckos native to Arizona, but again we do not know where to find them. As we have a lot of bugs out there, they would be very happy here and probably make our place their home. I saw tonight a yellow lizard I have never seen before. It had rounded pawns fingers and eyes a little bit outside his head, however it was so quick that I could not really look at it. I am not sure it is a gecko, may be just a lizard I never saw before? We have a lot of common lizards here with size ranging from 3" to 10".
So Are we allowed to buy these kind of animals, where and is it a good idea?
I thank you in advance for your sound advice.
Philippe

from what i understand, buying reptiles from a certain state that you live in, is illegal, so you wont be able to buy the arizona varieties of horned lizards, but you can find them away from the city and into the desert, ive personally found them in phoenix and even flagstaff, walk slow and look carefully at the ground, they rarely run, they rely on their camoflauge and hope you wont notice them, once you do, you can basically just reach down and pick em up,

also, from what i understand, they eat only one kind of ant (carpenter?), high in acid which they need, they are difficult to keep in captivity, but they might do fine in your backyard,

as for geckos, what you probably saw if it was on the side of your building, was a mediterranean gecko, introduced and not native to the us, arizona has very cute banded geckos, which will roam the ground,

pick up the audubon society feild guide to reptiles, it will identify virtually everything in the us, great pictures too..

My Lizards

Hi, Thanks for the advice. I have asked the local ADLA if this would be lawfull to buy and or possess HL. I also ordered a book
University of California Press
Sherbrooke, Wade C.: Introduction to Horned Lizards of North America ISBN: 0520228278.
So I can know better the HL and proceed if it is legal and not harmful for the lizard.
I am not sure we have carpenter ants. We have a lot of differents ants but they are pretty small, 2mm to 10mm some black, some red and some with the body black and the forehead red (might be the compact carpenter ant). There are fallen trees outside our property, we guess a lot of bugs come from these. Not sure if I wrote it but they are also many insects like black widows, praying mantis, crickets (2-3 species), roaches, butterflies carterpillars, sow bugs, giant beetles, aphids, mites, africanized bees, recluse spiders, pirat bugs, ladybugs green lacewings, mosquitoes, dragon flies (orange, green and red), milipedes, Carpenter bees and some lizards ranging from 4cm to 12cm (it is rare to see them that big). They are occasional chipmonks and ground squarels. We also seen herons (we lost our fish to them). And coyotes are not too far away (we lost a cat to them). The Cactus Wrens are bold, they get in the house to steal cat food then walk out. We also keep the chihuahas home at night. They are great owls out there (1 to 2 feet tall) That's the neighborhood. We just want a natural way to control the excess ants population. War between species? a Tamanoir or traps with molasses and or apple jelly? Boiling water over the nest, glue collar at the base of tree truncs?
Any animal that would eat ants and thrive in this very hot desert environement would be welcome. Ants can create a nest everywhere in just a day and simply move if disturbed. So HL would be at home. I will try to post here my findings.
Regards,
Philippe