Posted by: dortibarrett at Thu Aug 19 22:32:16 2004 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]
Hi there,
you've come to the right place for help with your new HL friend.
First of all, if you keep an HL under the right conditions, it will live for many years, some living over 13 years are not unheard of. If you know what part of Nevada your lizard came from, you can identify it to species, and that will certainly help as to specific care. I am aware of only two HLs living in Nevada, them being the Desert Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) and the Pygmy Short-Horned lizard (P. douglassii)
The Desert Horned lizard (DHL for short) is generally associated with desert-like habitats, sandy flats, alluvial fans, along washes and on the edges on dunes. You should keep it in at least a 20 gallon long tank designed like its natural habitat.
The Pygmy Short-Horned Lizard (I'll call it PSHL here) is found in more mountainous regions, such as pinon-juniper woodlands, open pine forests, to places of bunch-grass and sagebrush. You'll want to set it up in a similar sized cage as the DHL, but more like its natural habitat.
The DHL is can be fairly large for an HL, reaching 2 5/8"-almost 4" from the snout to the vent, while the PSHL gets up to 2 1/2" from the snout to vent. Search down the forums for pics of the DHL and PSHL. Like two post down there are pics of DHLs and a couple months back there are PSHLs.
Both lizards' diet in the wild is comprised of cheifly ants, and they will also eat beetles, mealworms, and moths, but ants are probably the best food for them, and they can eat a large quantity (up to, and sometimes in excess of, 100 a day) Don't dump all the ants in at once, as this will stress the lizard and will make it run away. Some of the more seasoned keepers put the ants in a plastic bag (Ziploc is fine) and put them in the freezer for a little while. The ants become rather lethargic, and the lizard normally laps them right up. 10-15 ants at a time might be ok, depending on how big the enclosure is. Spray your lizard with water once a week, but provide a water dish as well, just in case.
The last thing to address is lighting. DHLs need it hot. plain and simple. You want to get a Desert Lizard basking light one they use for Bearded Dragons or Uromastyx will probably do(available at most pet stores) and put it on one end of the tank. The other end should have a nice place to get out of the heat, perhaps something to hide in as well. You want the basking area to be at least 95-100 degrees F, and the other end to be a bit cooler. The PSHL doesn't need it as hot, I think I read somewhere that it shouldn't get over 90 degrees at the hottest point. Its very important that you identify your HL so you can properly care for it. One other thing, there is no substitute for the wonders of the sun. If it is nice and warm, consider taking your new friend outside and let it get nice and heated up. The colors it shows will be well worth it.
It may seem tedious and difficult at first, but HL keeping is not Rocket science. You CAN do it, and we are here to help if you have problems. Follow the guidelines I gave you, feel free to E-mail me directly, and keep asking questions here. Good luck with the HL.
-Phil Clevinger
PS. some good books for these guys (and other reptiles) are
1) Horned Lizards of North America by Wade Sherbrooke,
2) Peterson Field guides Western Reptiles and Amphibians by Robert C. Stebbins
a good website is Cable's home. click on any post from Cable_Hogue, and follow the link to his home page. He has cool pics, movies, and a very good care sheet.
