Month: August 2015

How to Train Your Lizard to Eat From Your Hand

~ BackwaterReptiles

Interested in learning how to get your lizard to eat from your hand? Not all lizards enjoy being handled or eating in front of an audience. However, there are many species with voracious appetites that will basically eat on command and even seek-out the experience of being hand-fed by their keeper. In this blog entry, we will describe our techniques and methods for making our lizards friendly eaters.

First of all, it makes sense to start with a lizard species that is already known for having a great temperament and hearty appetite. Some species known for being overall pretty tame and well-mannered are: bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps), Blue Tongue Skinks (Tiliqua sp.), Crested Geckos (Rhacodactylus ciliatus), Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularis), Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana), some monitor lizards (Varanus sp.) and certain species of chameleon.

hand feeding lizard
Bearded Dragons are great lizards to hand feed.

You want to familiarize your pet lizard with you by handling it frequently. Get the animal used to your smell and get it accustomed to being removed from its enclosure if you want to hold it while feeding it. Remember never to move suddenly or get the lizard too close to your face.

After your lizard is used to you, the rest should happen naturally. If your lizard is an omnivore, start out offering it fruits and/or veggies from tongs or your hand. If your lizard is a carnivore and eats live insects, you can grip a cricket by its large back legs or grip a roach by its wings and gently place the wriggling insect in front of the animal to show it food is present. It also makes sense to offer the hand-held food at the beginning of the animal’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner time so that your lizard is not already full when you’re trying to train it.

Sometimes it helps to remove the lizard from it’s cage when feeding so that it doesn’t necessarily associate a hand entering the enclosure with food. This can lead to lunging at your hand with an open mouth.

After a while, your lizard will get used to the routine and will essentially eat from your hand on command. However, please understand that lizards are not domesticated animals and will not respond to formal training in the same manner that a dog or a cat would, so don’t be surprised if it takes a while…or if your lizard decides not to eat from your hand at all!

crested geckos eat from hand
Crested Geckos are friendly lizards with healthy appetites and can be trained to accept food from your hand.

How many of you readers out there have trained your lizards to eat from your hand? What methods did you use?

 

Beaded Lizard Care (Heloderma horridum)

~ BackwaterReptiles

We have put together a Beaded lizard care sheet based upon our experiences with this amazing species. There are only two species of lizards in the whole world that can be classified as truly venomous – the Mexican Beaded Lizard (Heloderma horridum) and its close relative the Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum). This blog entry will focus on the Beaded Lizard and how to safely keep this lizard in captivity.

beaded lizard care
The resident Backwater Reptiles beaded lizard swallowing a pinkie. Our care sheet will cover foods, caging, etc.

First of all, the Beaded Lizard is not a pet to be handled like most lizards. Although their venom causes paralysis, difficulty in breathing, and seizures, a beaded lizard bite is rarely fatal in humans. However, because many people don’t know if they could have an allergic reaction in addition to the effects of the venom, Backwater Reptiles does not recommend taking these lizards out of their enclosure unless absolutely necessary (i.e. to clean the cage).

It’s also useful to understand that the Beaded Lizard has a “bulldog” mentality when it comes to jaw strength and power. Although they might seem docile at first, if one of these guys bites you, it will hold on with tenacity and give the venom time to get into the wound it creates with its sharp teeth. Their strikes are very, very quick.

Our baby Beaded Lizards eat voraciously and can consume as many as four fuzzies or pinkies in a single sitting. It’s said that they can consume close to one-third their body weight in one meal.

Luckily, like most snakes, beaded lizards will do fine eating every few days and do not need to be fed four pinkies/fuzzies on  daily basis. Although they’re used to desert climates, these lizards do still need a supply of fresh water available to them at all times.

Beaded Lizards don’t need a very large enclosure to do well. Just be sure they have a proper basking area as well as a place to hide as they are usually fairly secretive animals.

Again, Backwater Reptiles does not recommend handling your beaded lizard, but when you must remove the lizard from its cage to clean it, we recommend wearing very thick leather gloves that reach up to the elbow. Breeders have also been known to offer the lizard a pinkie or fuzzy mouse on a pair of tongs. The lizard will bite the food and hold on tight and then the lizard can be carefully transported to a separate holding container while it is hanging onto the tongs/food without actually having to touch the lizard.

heloderma horridum care
Beaded lizard care is quite straightforward–they are undemanding animals that reach a large size.

While keeping a Beaded Lizard can certainly be a very rewarding experience, these lizards are most definitely best for experienced herpers, and cannot be shipped through standard channels (airport-to-airport only).

Backwater Reptiles is thinking about offering these beautiful lizards for sale. How many of you would be interested in owning one? Let us know in the comments and maybe we’ll start keeping some in stock! :)

Exportation Ban on Rose Hair Tarantulas

~ BackwaterReptiles

Did you know the country of Chile has recently banned the exportation of the Rose Hair tarantula? The beloved Rose Hair Tarantulas (Grammostola rosea) are known by several names – the Chilean Rose Tarantula, the Chilean Fire Tarantula, and even the Chilean Red-Haired Tarantula (specific color morphs only).

These tarantulas are very common pet spiders due to their docile nature and pink-colored hairs, however, due to the recent ban on importing these spiders from their native country of Chile, this could change.

rose hair tarantula ban
Coaxing our Rose Hair out of his temporary container for a photo shoot. This species (Grammastola rosea) was recently banned from exportation by Chile.

Chilean rose hairs were always inexpensive to import in the past, so many hobbyists would rather import new spiders than breed existing populations in the States. Now that the ban has taken effect, these spiders will more than likely virtually disappear from the exotic pet market until (or if) the ban is lifted.

Rose hairs are great pet spiders, especially for anyone new to the exotic pet world because they are so easy to care for. In addition to having very laid-back, calm, and overall agreeable personalities (for a spider anyways!), Rose hairs don’t require much in the way of maintenance. It’s recommended that single spiders be housed in a tank approximately three times as long as their leg span with an appropriate substrate and hide space. As far as feeding goes, crickets, mealworms, wax worms, and other insects make up most of their diet. Full-grown spiders with around four to five inch leg spans can also occasionally eat pinkie mice.

tarantula
Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula eating a wax worm.

Rose hair tarantulas can be handled, although it’s another matter as to whether or not they should. These spiders are venomous, although only slightly so. However, most people have no idea if they will have an allergic reaction or not, so just be aware when handling these spiders that there is always the chance the spider could bite, even if they are known for their reasonable temperaments.

So what will happen when all the Chilean Rose Hair Tarantulas that were imported before the ban took effect have been sold? Likely, another similar spider species will grow in popularity and take the place of the Rose Hair.

Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula

Backwater Reptiles still has some Rose Hair Tarantulas for sale. We recommend purchasing yours before the inevitable supply/demand price hike occurs due to the ban.

Why Do Snakes Flick Their Tongues?

~ BackwaterReptiles
why snakes flick tongue
A black and white striped California King Snake flicking its tongue.

Why do snakes flick their tongue? Anyone who’s ever had a pet snake or even seen a snake at the zoo has probably seen how snakes flick their tongues in and out of their mouths frequently. Ever wonder what this behavior means?

anaconda flicking tongue
A baby Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) flicking its tongue as it explores.

In short, the tongue flicking helps the snakes gather sensory information about their surroundings. By flicking their tongues out and back in, snakes are “tasting” and “smelling” the air, ground, and everything around them in order to learn if a predator or prey is nearby.

spotted python
A baby Spotted python.

After the snake’s tongue comes out and gathers data via minuscule moisture and chemical particles in the air, it quickly darts  back into its mouth and into the snake’s Jacobson’s organ, which is a special organ located on the roof of the snake’s mouth.  The Jacobson’s organ (also known as the vomeronasal organ) then sends messages to the snake’s brain which very quickly interprets the data as specific smells and allows the snake to act accordingly.

kenyan sand boa

Fun fact – snakes have a special gap or hole in their “lips” called a rostral groove that allows their tongue to flit in and out without the necessity of opening their mouth. Snakes can also smell the standard way using their nostrils like most animals, but their tongues provide them with a bigger picture of their environment and setting.

snake flicking tongue
A chocolate California King Snake.

So, next time a snake flicks its tongue at you, remember it’s just “tasting” you to make sure you’re not going to try to eat it for dinner! :-P