It's a horny toad!

Teal · Mar 25, 2010

Ain't he cute? lol

The field we hunted in in Nevada was filled with them!

Widowman10 · Mar 25, 2010

nice! season should be starting around here soon...

i still love their defense mechanism...

Lucas339 · Mar 25, 2010

great animal!! i would love to have these but they only thrive when fed a diet consisting of a certain type of ant (the name escapes me at the moment).

Widowman10 · Mar 25, 2010

harvester ants maybe? (don't feel like looking it up, but think that might be it)

yeah, would be cool to keep, but much better to observe

snappleWhiteTea · Mar 25, 2010

there are farms of those down here, there bad captives though.

i used to love to catch an release these.

Teal · Mar 26, 2010

The lil guy is feeding great on mealworms right now, but I do plan on trying to raise harvester ants for him

I also plan on releasing him next time I am in Nevada!

sharpfang · Mar 26, 2010

I like how their Horns

Are part of their Skulls! :evil: Saw one hatch on Discovery ch. last night......
Oh so Cute!

Just like Teal - Jason

myrmecophile · Mar 26, 2010

Mealworms are a very poor diet even temporarily, and sadly the odds of you being able to raise enough ants of any type for your little dead lizard are about zero. You will have to spend a lot of time collecting ants for it. Instead of worms though I would also try small crickets and other insects. By collecting this animal you have almost certainly doomed it to a slow death. HLs are one of those animals that should never be collected due to their relatively specialized dietary needs.

Lucas339 · Mar 26, 2010

myrmecophile said:
Mealworms are a very poor diet even temporarily, and sadly the odds of you being able to raise enough ants of any type for your little dead lizard are about zero. You will have to spend a lot of time collecting ants for it. Instead of worms though I would also try small crickets and other insects. By collecting this animal you have almost certainly doomed it to a slow death. HLs are one of those animals that should never be collected due to their relatively specialized dietary needs.

yeah that i what i hear about these guys. just one of those animals that shouldn't be kept in captivity.

harvesters are correct BTW.

Teal · Mar 26, 2010

Gee myrmecophile, aren't we cheerful!

I did research before I brought him home, and weighed the odds of whether or not I thought I would be able to care for him. I decided I could. I don't mind spending the money to purchase ants for him if I can't collect enough on my own, and there is a website (http://www.infowest.com/life/hornfood.htm) that sells bulk quantities of ants just for the purpose of feeding them.

sharpfang · Mar 26, 2010

I Disagree

myrmecophile said:
Mealworms are a very poor diet even temporarily, and sadly the odds of you being able to raise enough ants of any type for your little dead lizard are about zero.

Weather or Not a Hobbyist should bring home a Horny Toad - I will Not touch w/ my opinion.

However, 2 say that a Mealworm {beetle larvae} is Not suitable, "short-term"
nutritionally for a lizard that eats one, well, that is your own opinion - Shared by very Few.

- Jason

Lucas339 · Mar 26, 2010

i once contacted a guy who does research on these. he said they need around 2000 ants per week. maybe you should look him up. i think i was doing a search by scientific name and he came up. he has a site dedicated to horny toads.

Brad Ramsey · Mar 26, 2010

sharpfang said:
Weather or Not a Hobbyist should bring home a Horny Toad - I will Not touch w/ my opinion.

However, 2 say that a Mealworm {beetle larvae} is Not suitable, "short-term"
nutritionally for a lizard that eats one, well, that is your own opinion - Shared by very Few.

- Jason

I am one of those "few", Tenebrio molitor is a poor feeder for most animals and no substitute for this animals natural diet.
By the time the OP is in Nevada again this animal will most likely have passed on.

-Brad

Mack&Cass · Mar 26, 2010

I've also always heard that they're almost impossible to keep in captivity [properly] due to their dietary needs, which is too bad because of how incredibly fascinating they are.

He's a little cutie though.

Cass

Sarcastro · Mar 26, 2010

As a former captive keeper of Phrynosoma this is one of thee hardest species I've ever kept in my entire history of keeping reptiles,and would recommend not making the same mistake I did by trying to keep these lizards.I also agree that a mealworm is a poor source of nutrition..I fed mine termites with a formic acid supplement to substitute for the harvester ants(Pogonomyrmex Genus),But it is also a daunting and never ending task to try and breed enough food for the amount they eat.

ZergFront · Mar 26, 2010

I was looking into these briefly until I learned about their diet.

I'm planning on someday putting together a really nice desert set up for collared lizards. Those are really neat.

Teal · Mar 27, 2010

Brad Ramsey said:
By the time the OP is in Nevada again this animal will most likely have passed on.

-Brad

I think this statement is just silly. What if I were going again this weekend or something? Sheesh.

Okay, I get everyone's point. Thanks for the opinions! I already ordered ants for him, and we'll see how it goes.

myrmecophile · Mar 27, 2010

Yup, Mr cheerful thats me. Not only do we have the feeding issues. Good luck with that one. You are going to find that the number of ants you need to feed this little guy sufficiently will become cost prohibitive fairly quickly. You state your intent is to release it "when you return to Nevada"" When is that going to be. if in at some extended period into the future, you may as well keep it. You will be releasing it in to an environment it will likely no longer be fit to survive in. Even if you release it in the exact spot you got it there is a good chance another lizard will have taken over that little bit of territory giving your lizard no place to call home. In addition in most states there are laws about the release of such animals.

Widowman10 · Mar 27, 2010

myrmecophile said:
Even if you release it in the exact spot you got it there is a good chance another lizard will have taken over that little bit of territory giving your lizard no place to call home.

it's not like these things have ranges like wolves do. they can be thick in certain areas. i think it would be just fine if released back. it's not like she raised it from the egg, it's been in the wild its whole life and knows what to do. the only potential problem is exposing to nasty stuff in a personal collection and re-introducing it back into the wild.

and some HLs can be converted from a strict ant diet to other diets (such as formic acid dusted crix, or the like). that's how the breeders feed theirs.

anyway, all that to say it's not as doom-and-gloom as some people think. but don't get me wrong, there are many challenges

good luck with the little guy teal.

reverendsterlin · Mar 27, 2010

it is wise to note that several or the 'horny toad' species are federally protected

It's a horny toad!

Arachnoemperor

Arachno WIDOW

Arachnobaron

Arachno WIDOW

Arachnoangel

Arachnoemperor

Arachnoangel

Arachnolord

Arachnobaron

Arachnoemperor

Arachnoangel

Arachnobaron

Arachnoknight

Arachnoprince

Arachnobaron

Arachnoprince

Arachnoemperor

Arachnolord

Arachno WIDOW

Arachnoprince