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I am new to HL's but i was wondering if anyone else has seen this behavior. During feeding after each or after a couple of ants my HL's seem to burp??? They open thier mouth and seem to stick thier tounges out a bit.....a burp is the best way to describe this.
Is it normal? If so, What is it?
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Scott
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -Einstein
Normal. Not a burp. They may have dry mouth and throat, or have gotten substrate in the mouth or a stinger in the tongue. Happens on occasion.
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www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HornedLizards
www.youtube.com/user/PhrynosomaTexas
Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue
Mine seem to do it at every feeding
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Scott
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -Einstein
Post a picture of your HLs so we can see their size and species, and tell us what substrate you are using and where you are getting the ants.
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www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HornedLizards
www.youtube.com/user/PhrynosomaTexas
Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue
platyrhinos....adult size i belive I will work on the pics....they are on vita sand fine as i can find....and harvesterants.com
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Scott
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -Einstein
You can upload the pic to the gallery and then insert from the reply page.
There is no such website as the one you mentioned, but it doesn't matter, as long as you are using harvester ants.
The Vita Sand is not one of those crazy pastel colors or glow in the dark is it?
Just make sure to hydrate well also.
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www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HornedLizards
www.youtube.com/user/PhrynosomaTexas
Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue
Yes Iknow how to do pictures just havent gotten around to doing it yet
the website is actually antsalive.com
NO!!! it is very fine WHITE I made it look as natural as posible. I live in FL so I dont have thier natural habitat to go search through to find the right stuff.
I mist them everyday....One seems to enjoy it the other runs away from it
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Scott
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -Einstein
The one HL I got free from a breeder. He actually gave me 4. this is the only one that survived. He said that they werent doing good...but I got her back to much better condition now...she is not so skinny and eating everyday like she should...The other is from the same breeder but i had gotten a year earlier....
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Scott
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -Einstein
You say "breeder", but I doubt very seriously this is a HL breeder. These people peddling HLs at reptile shows and such are selling wild caught. They are never a part of the discussions here, or on any other horned lizard forum...because they are not breeders, and we all know it - just peddlers. Breeders are pretty well known, because there aren't that many, and I have yet to meet one person who knows what they are doing with HLs, that actually sells them at a show. Not one. Of course they will tell you it is captive bred anytime they get the chance to fool someone. I bet they were selling them for about $25-$40? Probably also feeding them crickets.
Also, any "breeder" would have more investment and respect for their animals than to just give them away in poor condition to someone with presumably less experience with them. These lizards are strip mined from the wild in Nevada and sold at shows and stores back east and Europe...probably because selling them here in the west would lead to too much public outcry about it, and any pet store selling them out here would get bad press right away.
The fact that this so-called "breeder" had brought 4 of them in this poor shape to whatever place you met him at, should tell you something. He didn't know what he was doing with them, obviously, and could not even keep his own animals in decent shape? That should tell you something.
The one on top of this rock is in very poor shape. I would suggest you check out my links for care information and what it's going to take to rehabilitate this one. I don't give good odds for her. In fact, when people email me about their HL being in this shape, I have them ship it to me for rehab. That's how bad it is. Maybe 2 weeks or so to live if this isn't turned around fast.
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www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HornedLizards
www.youtube.com/user/PhrynosomaTexas
Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue
All i know is that i was told that they breed these guys....they have them at every show i see them at...and they do feed them ants....and they are usually nice and healthy....the only reason this guy gave me them was becasue they were in such bad shape it was the last day of the show and becasue i have given him buisness before....and i belive they were $15 actually.
The one you were speaking of is doing just fine getting nice and fat and eating everyday as much as she wants....I have had the other one for over a year and i will admit i didnt knwo everything i need to before purchasing her...but i have read your site along with many others....my animals are nice and healthy and will be just fine.
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Scott
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -Einstein
>>All i know is that i was told that they breed these guys....they have them at every show i see them at...and they do feed them ants....and they are usually nice and healthy....the only reason this guy gave me them was becasue they were in such bad shape it was the last day of the show and becasue i have given him buisness before....and i belive they were $15 actually.
Doesn't matter. He's supposed to be a breeder, and giving away HLs in poor shape. Any reputable reptile breeder would not do that, especially with HLs. He did it because it was probably at the end of the day and nobody else would give him money for them, and because they probably represented a loss for him if he spent time or money trying to actually save them. $15 is a wild caught platyrhinos any day of the week. Hate to tell you. CB would go for more than that.
>>The one you were speaking of is doing just fine getting nice and fat and eating everyday as much as she wants....I have had the other one for over a year and i will admit i didnt knwo everything i need to before purchasing her...but i have read your site along with many others....
You couldn't have read my site unless you subscribed. It is a yahoo group.
>>my animals are nice and healthy and will be just fine.
You're seriously talking about the one that appears on top of the rock in that first photo? Whatever you say. I wrote the care manual that several zoos are using to keep HLs though, and I'm telling you different. I can see the lack of fat reserves and muscle tone from here. The bones are showing through, and the skin on the limbs is hanging where the muscle tissue has been catabolized for fuel...but whatever. I don't know anything compared to someone that has been doing it a year and on their second HL.
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www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HornedLizards
www.youtube.com/user/PhrynosomaTexas
Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue
Mine do this quite often as well. I've always assumed it's part of the feeding mechanism. That it helps them to swallow prey.
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Phrynosoma.Com
I have never seen this behavior in solare, and I don't think I have seen it from hernandezi either. Only occasionally from cornutum. I most often see it in platyrhinos. So, I'm assuming it has something to do with the smaller stature of the platyrhinos and maybe the prey size, or the type. It's more so like a gag, and you see this when they are about to regurgitate too. Probably more so has a lot to do with the condition this HL is in too, and hydration state.
The question here is how often is it happening? I see it probably enough to use the word "frequent" when feeding my DHLs, but not often enough to say it happens at every feeding or every day even, and most of my DHLs are from Utah and are small ones.
Ever notice it in a solare? Not me.
Bottom line though, and I don't want to lose sight of this, is that the particular gag response is not the most pressing matter after seeing these pictures. This DHL is severely emaciated.
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www.groups.yahoo.com/group/HornedLizards
www.youtube.com/user/PhrynosomaTexas
Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue
I have observed this quite often in captive study groups and wild groups of SD Coast HLs. I have also observed it Desert, Roundtail, Texas, Regal, Flattail, and Shorthorned HLs. It is a reflex action that clears the throat of ants and other material that may become lodged in the passageway. It occurs most often when the HLs eat any ant of the genus Pogonomyrmex, which are fairly large in size, but also occurs when eating smaller ants of other genus. Messor pergandi is a much smaller ant without a significant sting, but it still causes SDCHLs, and other species of HLs, to "burp." Is it "normal?" That depends on what you term normal. It happens with regularity in some cases and not in others. It does not produce negative reactions to the horned lizards. It is not a sign of physical abnormalities or health issues.
Lester G. Milroy III
Conservation Biologist
Thank you.....I have noticed them doing it...maybe not everytime i feed them i have noticed it....and just wanted to know if this was a beavior that has been observed before
In response to my sick HL.....like i said above she is doing much better and i am nursing her back to health slowly but surely.....she has gained a significant amout of weight back and has become much more active....thanks for your concern
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Scott
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -Einstein
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