Help! Ds won a lizard at the fair. What do they eat?

[Sue G in PA]

I don't know what they eat! It's a little green lizard, about 5-6 inches long (a Green Anole I think) and it is in a clear plastic clamshell case (the kind that you bring carryout food home in, KWIM?). What do I feed this thing? AND, where do I keep it? AND, I want to know what happened to giving away GODLFISH as prizes! :confused: Lizards? Come on. :glare: Ds of course wants to keep him. Nice. So, now I have a lizard. Dh said they eat crickets. So just where am I gonna find a cricket to feed this thing (and don't tell me outside :))? What can I feed it until I make it to a petstore to find lizard food?

 

And, what do I/can I keep him in. Obviously this little plastic case is a temp. home. We just bought a frog/tadpole habitat from Target (Diego theme!) and my neighbor suggested keeping the little reptile in that. I wasn't looking to spend any more money on another pet. Especially a lizard. :glare:

[mommylawyer]

Bugs or something? Go to wikipedia - that's where I find answers to everything!

[Jenny in Atl]

http://www.anapsid.org/anole.html

[LauraGB]

I really can't believe I might know the answer to this - mealy bugs (worms?) and crickets. You can get them both at your local pet shop. Put it in an old fish aquarium. With dirt. Maybe a plastic plant.

;)

[Sue G in PA]

Thanks guys. Oh goodness...I see that anoles can be quite expensive to keep. Nice. Like I have extra $ laying around. Ds5 (and my ds10 as well) will be extremely disappointed but the lizard will be leaving...tomorrow. Goldfish. When I was a kid, they gave away goldfish. :glare:

[OnTheBrink]

Purina Lizard Chow!:lol:

[elegantlion]

I wish you could ship him here. We have those lizards everywhere outside. We had over 50 at one time sunning on our shed. They are great fun to watch and they eat all sorts of bugs. Hope you find him a good home.

[Sue G in PA]

I wish you could ship him here. We have those lizards everywhere outside. We had over 50 at one time sunning on our shed. They are great fun to watch and they eat all sorts of bugs. Hope you find him a good home.

 

I'd honestly love to keep him but we just can't afford the set-up right now. I hate to just let it go around here, but I'm guessing he'll fare just fine in the wild. We have lots of salamanders...no lizards that I know of. I'm also reading that these Anoles are prone to parasites and I should have his feces tested if he was caught in the wild? :confused: Goldfish don't have parasites. :glare:

[~Tara~]

they don't really need all that much

ours were kept in an aquarium

eldest laid some pine straw and moss on the bottom

placed in a good sized rock and fat sticks, propped for climbing :)

he bought small live crickets from the pet store

until you can get there, your son can go hunt down some crickets outside, or maggots are apparently quite the delicacy hehe

keep their environment moist..eldest misted them and their cage down several times a day. once in the morning, really well, then just whenever he passed by them, and again really well before bed

he only fed them in the mornings, however many crickets they wanted, sometimes none, others one, others 4 (if they ate several they didnt eat the next day or two)

keep the environment moist so they can drink..they generally don't get the idea of drinking from a dish, rather they lick water off rocks and terrarium sides ;)

 

my kids absolutely loved keeping their lizards! they're not as much work as those sites imply. you don't *need* a heat lamp and whatever else they list.

 

that frog habitat sounds fine, cover the bottom with something, a natural covering then have ds create a lizard space for them, arranging a rock for them to lie/crawl on and a branch to climb :)

[TraceyS/FL]

My Dad won a duck.

 

Yup, a duck.

 

My Grandma made him keep it outside overnight......

 

Happened to be a cold night - she's STILL hearing about his frozen duck!

 

And really, goldfish people!!

[Sue G in PA]

they don't really need all that much

ours were kept in an aquarium

eldest laid some pine straw and moss on the bottom

placed in a good sized rock and fat sticks, propped for climbing :)

he bought small live crickets from the pet store

until you can get there, your son can go hunt down some crickets outside, or maggots are apparently quite the delicacy hehe

keep their environment moist..eldest misted them and their cage down several times a day. once in the morning, really well, then just whenever he passed by them, and again really well before bed

he only fed them in the mornings, however many crickets they wanted, sometimes none, others one, others 4 (if they ate several they didnt eat the next day or two)

keep the environment moist so they can drink..they generally don't get the idea of drinking from a dish, rather they lick water off rocks and terrarium sides ;)

 

my kids absolutely loved keeping their lizards! they're not as much work as those sites imply. you don't *need* a heat lamp and whatever else they list.

 

that frog habitat sounds fine, cover the bottom with something, a natural covering then have ds create a lizard space for them, arranging a rock for them to lie/crawl on and a branch to climb :)

 

Okay, really? I really don't have to have the heat lamp and UV lamp and the heating pad under the aquarium and all the other stuff they recommend? Ds really, really wants to keep his lizard. But, I don't want the thing to die from neglect or mishandling, KWIM? And, I don't want some other creature to have to keep alive! Ds10 can certainly help care for it, but I don't want to be left caring for him by default, KWIM? Please, Tara, tell me exactly what I need for this reptile. Aquarium (I can usually find them at Goodwill), sub sort of substrate for bottom, some twigs and sticks for climbing, a rock, crickets or some other insects, plants to mist for water, spray bottle for misting...anything else? Can I use my son's hamster bedding for a bottom? He uses Aspen wood chips.