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Spikesmydragon   Phrynosoma_Texas_FS3   Spikesmydragon   Spikesmydragon   Phrynosoma_Texas_FS3  
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 #1280229


Spikesmydragon
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 Couple questions.

There are some lizards at my pet store that i was looking in to, they look very similiar, but much much smaller. My friend who works there sais that they can live in a tank smaller than a 10 gallon, and that they eat ants.They are in a pretty big cage with other lizards.I work at this pet store so i got a free cage with some sand in it. I asked what would fit in it and they said, scorpians, spiders and some lizards that look similar to skinks. I thought they looked like turniptail agamas but he said they were turniptail lizards. Please reply.
05/13/07  04:49pm

 #1280797


Phrynosoma_Texas_FS3
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   Message To: Spikesmydragon   In reference to Message Id: 1280229


 Couple questions.

First off, anyone who tells you ANY lizard is going to be fine in something SMALLER than a 10 gallon should not be allowed to touch reptiles. I know their frequently kept in very small pathetic tanks in the pet stores, with barely enough room to turn around, but some poeple tend to get the idea that that’s how they SHOULD be kept and buy the smallest tank they can get.

As far as what you are talking about...an Agama IS a lizard. You might have seen a Turnip Tailed Agama, Gecko, or it could be a species of Uromastyx. Uro’s are from the Agamidae family. All are LIZARDS, so your friend is not being very specific with the term "Turnip Tailed Lizard".

Regardless, none of these lizards resemble the genus of lizard discussed in this forum, so I’m quite sure we aren’t talking about Horned Lizards. I’m afraid you’ll have to check with another forum or site to ID what you are talking about...pictures of course would be helpful.



05/14/07  05:02am

 #1281207


Spikesmydragon
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   Message To: Phrynosoma_Texas_FS3   In reference to Message Id: 1280797


 Couple questions.

ummmm... there are lizards that can live in tanks smaller than 10 gallons, such as the dune gecko, and his info on that was correct, so i think he has the right to touch lizards. And secondly about the lizard thing. I know they are all lizards, but look at the horned LIZARD. This lizard that i am talking about is about the same size as the dune geckos, the full grown dune geckos and they can live in anything bigger than a 3 gallon tank. So i think it would be okay at least until i can get a bigger one.
05/14/07  03:45pm

 #1281775


Spikesmydragon
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   Message To: Spikesmydragon   In reference to Message Id: 1281207


 Couple questions.

Okay so i figured out that what i might be getting is a horned toad. I will be keeping it in a 10 gallon tank(a 5 until i can get the 10, but it wont be long. They said that they could order some ants for me. Any info on them is appreciated. They are captive bred. I picked one up and it ouffed up like a ballon and it stayed that way until i put it back.I just figured that it was a defence mechanism. Again any info is appreciated.

Thank you.
Zach
05/14/07  10:15pm

 #1284183


Phrynosoma_Texas_FS3
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   Message To: Spikesmydragon   In reference to Message Id: 1281775


 Couple questions.

I’ve been keeping reptiles for about 20 years now, I have been keeping Horned Lizards for 5, and I currently have 9 of three different species, as well as 8 box turtles, 1 tortoise, 2 leopard geckos, 1 Ca. kingsnake, 1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa, 1 RES, and numerous other rescues that come and go as they are assessed and released or placed. I volunteer with local humane society and work with vets and local Petco to rescue and get care for needy herps almost every day. I previously kept venomous snakes in captivity, along with numerous other species of herp, and I still catch and release Western Diamondback rattlers in the wild and conduct Parks & Wildlife Dept. population and range data surveys on them, Horned Lizards, Box Turtles, and Tortoises. I have provided care sheets of my own composition on Horned Lizards to the Montreal BioDome zoo, and currently conversing with Dr. François Le Berre who wrote The Chameleon Handbook. I put my experience against anyone working in a pet store that says different-any day.

You want to put a Horned Lizard in something smaller than a 10 gallon because you are too cheap or don’t know enough, then be my guest. It just shows you should maybe wait until you do. Just because Stenodactylus sthenodactylus are small and CAN fit in a 3 gallon tank doesn’t mean that anyone SHOULD...or that the animal is in a low stress environment being set up that way. They don’t live their whole lives in a volume of desert equal to 3 gallons, do they? I see animals day in and day out in these pet stores being cared for by so-called specialists who understand nothing about their PROPER care. A healthy reptile needs stimulation and excercise. It cannot get that in a small tank meant for a Betta fish. Most importantly though...proper thermal gradients cannot be established in micro aquariums. Many different genus of lizard puff up when disturbed, that doesn’t make it a Horned Lizard. Horned Lizards do not do well in small spaces and enough reading will reveal that. I’m not trying to go so harsh on you, but you aren’t even sure what you are looking at in that store and you doubted the opinion of your own friend on what the animal was, yet you disagree with me.

As far as help, and good place to start is http://www.lifesci.utexas.edu/faculty/pianka/phryno.html to identify if you are even talking about the right genus, and then what the species is. Then next the care sheet I posted here down the page a ways, or in the care sheet section. The updated care sheet is going on about 18 pages now and will be the basis for a book.



05/17/07  02:33am


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