Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 3 Roundtail Horned Lizards that suddenly lost interest in their food a little over a week ago. They were used to about a dozen harvest ants each in the morning and about 6 to 8 small crickets apiece each evening. I dusted their crickets with Rep-Cal 2x a week and Miner-all 0 once a week - plus Herptivite once a month. They get about 12 hours of direct sun each week and I have a Repti-Glo 8.0 UVB light over their terrarium which is on 12 hours a day.

During the past week I can only get them to respond to eating a cricket or two each day - they have no interest in the ants anymore.

One more thing I noticed today....the female and one of the males appeared to be in the midst of a courting behavior that I've never seen displayed before. Are Horned Lizards sexually mature as early as six months old? And could a mating period be an explanation for their abrupt lack of appetite?

I would truly appreciate any information or thoughts on this matter.

Thanks very much

Many HLs will start to lose their appetite at this time. They are ready to go down for hibernation. I would reduce both the light exposure (8 to 10 hours) and the room temperature(to the 70s F)until November. 2 weeks before November stop feeding them. In November turn off all heat sources and keep them in a room with temperatures in the 50 s or low 60s. I would hibernate them until March.

HLs will usually display to each other outside their mating period. Your RTHLs look healthy so they should mate agter you hibernate them. Many HLs mate and successfully reproduce at 1 year of age.

Jeff,

Thank you very much for responding to my message. Your information and advice on HL hibernation is very much appreciated.