Today I learned a lot from the local peeps at Petco. We had two lizards, one was a run of the mil Cali lizard - Steve, and the other is an alligator lizard- Rex. We also had a sweet praying mantis- named Manny. Well on Halloween our mantis' dinner ate him, I'm not sure how three medium sized crickets over powered him but they did, needless to say I was crushed! So I called Petco then all distraught and the manager was like yea that happens when you put to many in, and I'm like dude I put in three and we mutilated the crickets back legs so they couldn't knock over the mantis, so the guy apologized but that was bout it. Well then a month later we put in six with Rex and six with Steve and the next day I was like man it smells funny so when I cleaned out Steve's enclosure they had eaten his brain! So, I didn't bother calling Petco since they weren't very helpful with the first incident and we just let it go. Well now that is has been warm Rex hasn't be coming out of hybernation and when he has been up and around he hasn't been eating, so today when I went to Petco I asked the cashier if lizard girl was there ( we call her that because one day she had brought her lizard from ) and the cashier told me no but the guy on staff today is very knowledgeable about lizards.
So I explained to this guy, I would say my around my age too, that Rex has been hiding beneath his water dish and I was worried if he's sick and his lack of appetite, and explained that I was worried the crickets would try to eat him like Steve and Manny. And he told me that alot of people don't realize that the crickets do bite at the lizards and try to target the lizards weak spots, and to avoid that you should put in a piece of potato or carrot and the crickets will all go to the potato or carrot instead of attacking your lizard. He then told me I really should get Rex a cave to hide out in because over time the water dish could crush him- and at this point I thought he was just kinda trying to you know upsell me on something I really may not need- but since I was worried, it sounded like a great idea. So I bought it (Rex never hide until Steve passed away, so I'm not sure if Rex is just not lonely) so I explained to the guy that Rex never was much of a shy lizard because he assumed he's hiding because he's just a shy lizard, and I'm like no he used to hang out and let you hold him and was just a real chill lizard, unlike Steve who was a total spaz. And after I checked out and before I left he told me, that if Rex doesn't like it and doesn't use the cave I can just bring it back and get my money back! The guy also said when it starts getting cold again near fall I really should look into buying a bulb that gives of uv rays for Rex so that would help with limiting problems with his hibernation.
So I came home, put Rex's new cave in, I moved his water dish which he was not having anything with that he looked at me like bitch how dare you! and sat on top of the cave glaring at me. I put some potato chunk in there and the crickets went straight to it! And stopped eating each other which was what they were doing when first put in Rex's new digs. And after I came out to check up on him Rex made a home inside the cave and looks pretty darn happy. So I'm pretty happy!
Thank you Petco.
So I explained to this guy, I would say my around my age too, that Rex has been hiding beneath his water dish and I was worried if he's sick and his lack of appetite, and explained that I was worried the crickets would try to eat him like Steve and Manny. And he told me that alot of people don't realize that the crickets do bite at the lizards and try to target the lizards weak spots, and to avoid that you should put in a piece of potato or carrot and the crickets will all go to the potato or carrot instead of attacking your lizard. He then told me I really should get Rex a cave to hide out in because over time the water dish could crush him- and at this point I thought he was just kinda trying to you know upsell me on something I really may not need- but since I was worried, it sounded like a great idea. So I bought it (Rex never hide until Steve passed away, so I'm not sure if Rex is just not lonely) so I explained to the guy that Rex never was much of a shy lizard because he assumed he's hiding because he's just a shy lizard, and I'm like no he used to hang out and let you hold him and was just a real chill lizard, unlike Steve who was a total spaz. And after I checked out and before I left he told me, that if Rex doesn't like it and doesn't use the cave I can just bring it back and get my money back! The guy also said when it starts getting cold again near fall I really should look into buying a bulb that gives of uv rays for Rex so that would help with limiting problems with his hibernation.
So I came home, put Rex's new cave in, I moved his water dish which he was not having anything with that he looked at me like bitch how dare you! and sat on top of the cave glaring at me. I put some potato chunk in there and the crickets went straight to it! And stopped eating each other which was what they were doing when first put in Rex's new digs. And after I came out to check up on him Rex made a home inside the cave and looks pretty darn happy. So I'm pretty happy!
Thank you Petco.
carment4:
It really sounds to me in reading this that the cage is cold. Cold enough to keep both your lizards inactive. We have alligator lizards all over here where I live in the San Bernardino mountains, and they are typical up right around 70 degrees on a sunny day. I kept them when I was a kid, and I had the inactive problem only when they were too cold. But yes, the potato trick works well. I feed my snakes frozen prekilled mice because of this same potential problem, the prey kill the predator.
carment4:
Yeah. its a cold blooded reptile thing. Too cold equals lack of desire to eat, and it is dangerous if they do, because they need warmth to help them digest their food properly. Honestly a gator lizard probably needs a 80 degree side of a cage and he should do fine. Watch out for under cage heater because some reptiles have a tendency to just lay there and cook themselves. No lights in the cage, same issue. But gator lizards are hardy captives. They eat almost anything and thrive pretty well. Send me a message if you ever would like any other advice, I would be happy to help!