Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have either a Desert Horned Lizard or a Coastal Horned Lizard. I am not sure. I've had it for about 2 months. I know it is frowned upon to catch them in the wild, but we really saved it - it was caught on a target range (impact area) on the 29 Palms Marine Corps Base. My daughter and I have been feeding it crickets, fruit flies, and harvester ants. It has been eating well, and has noticeably fattened up a bit. The other day it suddenly shed its skin. Then it seemed to slow down a bit, and has been eating more reluctantly. I am sure it is getting cold out in its original habitat, and I was wondering if it should be hibernating. Is that why it is slowing down? I have no idea on how one hibernates a captive horned lizard. Can anyone point me in the right direction for information or provide the steps?

Also, do you give horned lizards water separately from their food, or do they get what they need from the food alone?

Thanks very much for your help, Chris

Hey! I would check out cable's site phyrnosoma.com

Well, mostly I think that HL's get the water they need in their food, however sometimes you need to give them water with an eye dropper or offer a water dish. (I keep a plant in the cage aand mist it with water every other day, hmine drinks from the leaves) I think it depends on the type. can you post a pic? That might help. I've only had my Hl for a few months, but this forum and cable's site have been lifesavers! So check it out and let us know how it goes! The most important thing I think is that if you keep them inside, they need a really good uv light. There in lots of info on the site about proper setups.
Good luck!
Sherry

Sorry! spelling difficulties! It's late here!

phrynosoma.com

Sherry

your captive caught HL may be preparing for hibernation, but,
I would not advise you try anything to initiate it until you gain some knowledge and experience. that is unless you have previous herp experience already. though if you have an adult
or juvenile HL it is much less risky than if it were a hatchling or yearling. the fact that he is eating well and you have access to harvester ants is very good!

generally HL's prefer to drink by rain harvesting from spraying a mist of water on them or by licking it up from the rocks, etc. though I've seen a few which will drink from a dish.

beware though if you're in California and you do have a Coastal HL ( Phrynosoma Coronatum ), they are listed on one official Cal. site as protected/endangered:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/endangered/reptile.html

another area of the same dept. of fish & game cites them currently as a species of special concern:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/hcpb/cgi-bin/more_info.asp?idKey=ssc_tespp&specy=reptiles&query=Phrynosoma coronatum frontale

so I'm not quite sure of the current listing in Cal.

phyrnosoma.com is a good place to start.

http://www.desertusa.com/april96/du_hliz.html
also has a few useful bits of info on the two possible species
and their ranges.

fireside3@hotmail.com

Horned lizards do slow down, but if you choose to keep the tempretures up 100 to 105 on basking site he should stay active, even if he lows down a bit. If you lower the lights down some he probably would hibernate, but in captivity as advice has been given previously if you don't have much experience I would opt for not hibernating him. If you could post a picture we might be able to give beeter info. I seriously doubt this is a Coastal as the range is the pacific mountians and your in 29 Palms area is pretty much deseret Horned lizard (platyrhinos). One very easy way to tell is if his nose is somewhat blunt and striaght up and down, and the sides should have a row of fringe scales. If it's a Pacific it would have two rows of scales on each of the sides, the Desert has only one row of fringe. A picture would help identify. As everyone has intimated, spray some plants in the cage from time to time, but most of the moisture comes from the insects and ants, you can use very small crickets and small superworms as well. I assume you have UVB/UVA FLourescent light or a Mecury Vapor spot bulb like the Zoomed product? I would use a 20L as a minimum for the lizard. BAsking site shoul be 105 degrees or so, and 85 or so on the other side. The lights should go off at night and whatever house temps are he will be fine as long as there is a warm up the next morning. A good substrate is home depot playsand, do not use silica sand....PLease go to:
www.phrynosma.com for more info.......CHeers!

Sdficklin, Fireside3, and Reptoman, thanks for the info. I've been consulting this forum and a local reptile pet store (LLL), so I've been informed about the UVA/UVB light, and I have been feeding the harvester ants.

When I first took him in, all I had was a study lamp with an incandescent bulb. I noticed that he kind of slowed down and his appetite dropped off - even for the harvester ants. Then I consulted this forum and other sources and found out about the UV light. He had gone about 2 weeks, without real sunlight. When I put the UV light in place of the incandescent, he perked up noticeably.

In addition, it seems he really needs some ants in his diet. I had run out of the harvester ants early in the week last week, and after a few days without ants, his appetite really dropped off for the crickets and fruit flies (which was all I had left). Then, yesterday, the ant shipment arrived. As soon as I put some ants in, he swept the cage clean. He even resumed the tail wagging thing when stalking his food. I was half expecting this because he did this same thing one week in 29 Palms when I had run out of harvester ants. After a steady diet of crickets and fuit flies for a few days, he started turning his nose up at them favoring the ants instead.

Thanks for the advice about the plant for water. I'll try that.

Also, I'll try to get a photo posted. Is there a post in any of the forums describing how this is done?

Thanks, Chris

Hey! the easiest way to post a pic is to scroll up on this page to where you see the photo gallery icon. click on it and select "lizards", then "horned lizards", then "upload photo". Then when you post a message, at the bottom of the screen there is an option to select an image from your photo gallery. select one and it will load onto your message. Hope this helps!
and glad your HL is doing so well!
Sherry