There is a lot of good information on this forum, but sometimes it is difficult to endure the gauntlet.
It appears you have both the means, desire, and aptitude to keep HLs successfully. I am an engineer by trade as well. I picked my first HLs up just as you did, and played catch up on their care.
I was successful by any standard, and developed such an interest that I created phrynosoma.com (yes, it's sorely in need of updating , LOL) and other resources for those with similar husbandry interests.
Drop me an email if you will and I can provide some additional info. mark_brock(at)phrynosoma.org.

The only thing I would say right off is that a tank in the sun is in danger of becoming an oven rather quickly. I do allow sunlight into one of my tanks, but the floor space that has direct sun is probably less than 5%, which just allows a basking area. And at those times I use no artificial light.
If you caught these lizards that close to your house you undoubtedly have a good supply of ants nearby as well.
You can also certainly supplement with about 20% crickets by weight without issue.
These guys will also like to bask in warm water (under the light). You might find that the small red clay plates used under planting pots will work for this, but a shallow bowl shape in a rock is ideal if you can find a rock like that.

I hope you are not put off. The community can always benefit from someone with the abilities you seem to posses.
Thanks for posting in the first place.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]