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Coastal Horned Lizards

S

Superduner

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Hello i just wanted to know since ive read in all these artivles online that COASTAL HORNED LIZARD may die if not fed a type of ant from time to time. I just woundered if anybody knew the specific type of ant these toadlike lizards eat. Wether its the spefic breed of ants or type in general that they need to have. Just wounderign because i've had one for 3 months now i feed it 5 small crikets a day adn some small bugs and she seems pretty damn healthy to me. Specially after shes done basking. its rather cute seeing (him/her) chase after the crikets lol. So it seems fine to me. but i did'nt want to risk it and loose (him/her) so i just wanted more insight on the specific type of ant they needed or WHERE i could purchase those type of ants.. thanks
 

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I had also read that horned lizards required a certain kind of ants from a certain habitat, and that is why they make poor pets. I'm not sure if they required them for a special nutritional requirement or that they would just be prone not to eat any other kind of insect.... but if it is a nutritional requirement, it might be a few months before you start seeing any effects from lack of a certain nutrient.

I've never heard of any feeder insect breeders producing ants - since ant colonies (like bees) have queens, I think they are harder to breed in captivity, so you may have large problems finding ants for sale (or even breeding them on your own).
 
Hmm yeah i read the same thing too however its been a little while since i've had mine 3-4 months and as mentions she seems to love crikets :p. yeah i thought they wouldnt sell ants.. good thing theirs a baseball field on a park nearby and i play with my cousins once in a while and i always happen to see a few colonies of fire (red) ants. wich pretty much resemble the ones that were wround where i cought my lizard. so idk if theyl work the same.. i mean... ANT..is an ANT.. RED.. is RED :p what do you think?
 
Horny toads do have to have ants!

) 90% of this lizards diet should be Red Harvester Ants. You can order them online.
They eat a lot of them! Mine eat about 50 - 100 per day – each! I order them by the thousand
and keep them in the fridge. The ants go into hibernation and are easy to keep up to a
month. They roll up into little balls until they get warm, then they are up running around again
in a few minutes – amazing! Antsalive.com is not the only place to order them, but they are
hardy and have great longevity. I have feed the last of a shipment 4 weeks after delivery and
them still be alive!

5) The lizards will also eat most any insect smaller than their head but they still must
have the ants. If they do not get sufficient quantities they will die!
The red harvester ant population has deteriorated with the increased poisoning of the fire
ants. I don’t think we’ve done any great harm to the fire ants, but the pesticides have just
about wiped out the harvester ants in my area. Our Horny Toads are gone because their food
source is gone. The harvester ants’ formic acid and co-enzymes just can’t be easily
duplicated.

The horned lizard has a ph that requires the intake of the ants formic acid - without it their acid base balance gets out of whack -(becomes too alkaline),
this is what kills them. Hope this helps.

best ant supplier - www.antsalive.com - Vivian
 
SWEET ! this is just what i was looking for thanks :D .. so ok... i put them on the freezer and they go into hybernation.. (freeze) then .. when im about to feed them i just throw in about 20 at a time into the aquarium and the heat will revive them? and starting the hunt :p haha sounds too good to be true.
 
not the freezer.....

No freezer - just the fridge door - not below 40 degrees or the ants will die. But yeah - they are the easiest feeder! Also - the harvester ants don't have sticky feet - they can not climb slick glass or hard plastic surfaces - so no escapees! Don't use fire ants - they will kill the lizards. Vivian
 
haha wow i must have a tough one then :p i fed three of them a few days ago... damn. they were pretty big ants..... i guess fortunatly my lizard was hungry then :p haha she had all of them for dinner haha whont do that again then. HEY the website you gave me for ants is GREAT. i look forward to ordering from them soon. you guys are great. after i have about 10 months with the lizard and i know for shure i can handle one (them being so hard to keep alive) il get it a little partner to play around with ;)
 
In case you're not aware, the coast horned lizard is a California Species of Special Concern and is fully protected from collection by the California Department of Fish and Game. They are not legal to collect or keep.

See pages 17&18 (22 of the online pdf: http://www.fgc.ca.gov/2006/06freshfishregbook.pdf ) of the California Sport Fishing Regulations for bag limits and species for which take is permitted with a fishing license.

-Alice
 
This is a public forum, both hobbiests and LE can browse it. Read and obey the regs.
 

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Noo you got it all wrong .. ok.. i guess i could've made thigns clearer if i would've replyed longer haha sorry. I do live in San diego however im at my cousins house right now and he just wanted to know what to feed the lizard. he cought one in TECATE, MEXICO... idk if any rules apply here. i'm jsut spending the night :p
 
As far as I know, it is not legal to import wildlife from Mexico without a permit; I'm not sure what Mexican regs are in regards to keeping these guys.

This page should answer just about any question you have regarding care etc. http://www.phrynosoma.org/

-Alice
 
The pic you posted was of a coast horned and I'd mis read your response as saying the origin was New Mexico which had me confused. Check out http://www.phrynosoma.org/ for care info. In Tecate it would be a coast horned, just make sure he stays down there :) If you want a pet horned lizard in California, both deserts and short-horneds can be collected legally with a fishing license.

-Alice
 
Great thanks. yeah the lizards at my gramas houes. dad did'tn let me take it home cuz he told me we could get introuble probly.. and now that ur telling me this.. apparently he was right :p
 
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