Your Thoughts on Henry Lizard Lover

I don't know how many of you have AOL, but it has come to my attention by several herp loving friends that "Henry Lizrd Lover" likes to give advice on their boards.
spam_I am madly curious as to what your take is on him. spam_If you aren't familiar with the name, he is the fellow that likes to pose his iguanas for odd pictures. spam_But he is recommending doing such things as feeding reptiles nothing but ocean fish based catfood, and stating that reptiles don't suffer from UVB deficiencies. spam_Or that diurnal lizards need only 30 minutes of basking lights.
I'm looking for any type of feedback here. spam_Friends are asking whther to take his information seriously or not. spam_And I'd like to refer them to this board, instead of one that may offer less helpful information.
Sue

Anyone who changes his last name to lizardlover should not be trusted.<insert smiley face>
Anyone who completely trusts someone else they really don't know on the Internet by way of message boards should think twice about their motives. Reptile shows and societies are still the best sources (besides books) and why not email someone from a zoo that raises the animals?

I don't know Mr Lizard Lover (personally I think Sue meant that as an AOL screen name and not really that he had his name changed) but I am sure a fish based cat food is probably loaded with nutrients and would substain a reptile if you could get it to eat it (personally wouldn't do this as I think the cat food would smell worse than our cricket bucket &nbsp;<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''> ). I have also talked with a number (albeit small number) on forums that stated they we're raising their chams without UVB (relying more on D3 supplementation). Not saying it's right but that there is a school of thought out there leaning that way. Compared to other domesticated animals, reptile husbandry knowledge at a "pet" level is minimal and there is a lot of conflicting data. You really have to use common sense to wade through all the information. If your at the novice level it's safer to go with the standards of husbandry but as you gain experience you can start studying new methods and experimenting.

Actually dwedeking, he did change his name to Lizardlover. &nbsp;I've seen him on TCL's Amazing Animals show a couple of times. &nbsp;They toured his house on one of the shows and displayed his entire setup. &nbsp;It's no wonder he doesn't think reptiles need UV, his iggy's have a room to themselves with huge windows and plenty of light, they also have access to an outdoor run, they get enough on their own he probably isn't even thinking about that when he says they need no UV, he probably doesn't realize how much UV his animals are actually getting.

Daniel, he actually had his name legally changed to "Henry Lizard Lover." spam_
spam_I ask about the catfood thing because he's recommended that we can feed insectivores a fish based diet all the time. spam_Also that you don't need to feed them insects at all. &nbsp;Add to that the additives and preservatives that canned catfood has. I wonder if that is healthy for a reptile to ingest, since it isn't really healthy for even humans to. <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>
spam_I opened this for discussion not because I trust everything I read on boards, but more as a debatable subject, and to maybe see if anyone has anything legitamately nice about Mr. Lizard Lover.
spam_Hlynn, he told someone that they didn't need to offer any sort of UV, and said if they wanted to give it to them, to "Put the reptile in a glass enclosure and leave them outside". spam_Now, in California, it gets pretty hot in the sun, and glass amplifies heat......You see where I am going with this, right? spam_Much like you aren't supposed to leave live animals or small children in the car in a parking lot (because the intense heat and lack of air can damage them), couldn't this happen with a snake or lizard sitting in a huge patch of direct sunlight, in a glass cage, with no relief from the sun? Also, alot of modern glass has been polarized, protecting what's on the other side from UV radiation. &nbsp;Which is why we can drive through a desert with the windows up, but still feel the heat on our arms, but we never tan by doing this, unless you actually roll your car windows down.
spam_Thank you everyone, for your thoughts.
Sue <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

Ok. I have been put in check. Anyone who has their name changed to something as silly as Lizard Lover I would argue with if he said the sky was blue. <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

Henry Lizardlover, is he still around? spam_I remember about 6 or 7 years ago (in the ancient age of cyber-herping) He and Melissa Kaplan used to get into these little intense discussions (flame wars) on rec.pets.herp spam_He had a book out on Iguana care and even did some talk shows (if memory serves, I believe he was even on the tonight show) spam_He did take a lot of flack for mentioning in front of a national audience that he feeds his Iguanas pizza. spam_He was always coming up with some controversial care advice and was accused of refridgerating his Iguanas in order to get the photos that you spoke of. spam_ He was a pretty slick writer too. While I don't ever remember him actually denying refridgerating his Ig's spam_he at least left you with the IMPRESSION that he had denied it (if you know what I mean) I've got to admit though, his lizards always looked pretty good and healthy.

Mark

<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'> &nbsp;<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'> moron-plain and simple <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>

::claps:: Well said!!!!!!!!

I've had some experience with him years back.



He rides the sensationalism and thrives on it but is basically an expert in his own mind and no other......


He's One not to be taken seriously.I can't even begin to tell you how many kids had sick Iggy's because they only offered pizza for food back when that was going around.


My two cents



Ralph Chapman