New Lizard

Makoes
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 7066
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:03 pm
Realm: Arathor-Alliance / Nesingwary-horde / WrA-Alliance
Gender: Female foxen
Location: I am "here" or so the directory tells me.
Contact:

New Lizard

Unread post by Makoes »

So, today my friend came over and we took Kayla (my 3 yr old) for a walk around the small lake near where I live. We spotted snakes, a frog, lots of caterpillars, birds, the beaver dam, lots of deer, the usual. However, we encountered something VERY different on the way home. At first I thought it was a snake when we saw it, but it ended rather abruptly and was fatter then a snake normally is...Being the wonderful nature lover I am, I of course pounced on the poor thing and managed to gently pin it to the ground where its legs????? worked rapidly to try and free itself.

One big thing to understand how strange this is, is that I live in Canada, in BC. Canada only has 5 species of lizards, and I am 27, and spend lots of time critter hunting and have NEVER EVER seen a lizard here, most of them can be found back east, where the weather tends to be much warmer (in spring/summer) and there are more desert-like places that lizards love...So, needless to say I was very shocked to be holding a Lizard in my hand.

So, I decided to bring it home. Where I found it was just down the road from where I live, so returning it home at a later date wouldn't be hard to do. But I wanted to find out what species it was...since well, I'd never seen a lizard here.

I think this guy is a Northern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria caerulea), it also appears to have ticks...I am looking up tick removal from reptiles atm. Lyme disease does not appeal to me, so I'll be taking care when treating the poor thing.
Attachments
Lizard.JPG
Lizard.JPG (876.85 KiB) Viewed 895 times
Lizard2.JPG
Lizard2.JPG (820.89 KiB) Viewed 895 times
Lizard3.JPG
Lizard3.JPG (926.8 KiB) Viewed 895 times

Image

Silent as night, silent as death, silent as your last breath
~~~
Interested in HARPG? Check out Marandian's
~~~
(Closed)FR gems: (Click here for details)
My DeviantART/My Petopia art thread
~~~
I cry inside every day, as common courtesy withers away. Are you part of the problem or will you help it grow?

User avatar
Dewclaw
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 5475
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:32 pm
Realm: Llane
Gender: Female
Location: VA

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Dewclaw »

Curious indeed! If you plan to house him or her for any length of time, look carefully into care. I'm not an expert, but some require heat lamps, or certain environs to thrive. I'd guess it'll eat crickets/insects/etc.

neat pics!
Makoes
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 7066
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:03 pm
Realm: Arathor-Alliance / Nesingwary-horde / WrA-Alliance
Gender: Female foxen
Location: I am "here" or so the directory tells me.
Contact:

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Makoes »

yeah, I am currently babysitting a bearded dragon again, so I have some ideas on lizard care. This one being a more cold climate tolerant lizard, I will be looking into what it might need. Going to check out some local 2nd hand stores for a bigger tank. Right now its in a little bug catcher or compact travel tank.

Image

Silent as night, silent as death, silent as your last breath
~~~
Interested in HARPG? Check out Marandian's
~~~
(Closed)FR gems: (Click here for details)
My DeviantART/My Petopia art thread
~~~
I cry inside every day, as common courtesy withers away. Are you part of the problem or will you help it grow?

User avatar
Vephriel
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 16354
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:07 pm
Realm: Wyrmrest Accord US
Gender: Female
Location: Canada

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Vephriel »

It certainly does look like an alligator lizard.

I'd check out this care sheet, this site usually has good information:
http://repticzone.com/caresheets/2506.html

Be sure to wash your hands often and make sure nothing comes in contact with the bearded dragon, wild caught reptiles can often carry problematic things with them.
Makoes
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 7066
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:03 pm
Realm: Arathor-Alliance / Nesingwary-horde / WrA-Alliance
Gender: Female foxen
Location: I am "here" or so the directory tells me.
Contact:

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Makoes »

Thanks for the site link, i'll check that out. Yeah, when i was carrying it home i saw the grey blobs on it and thought it might either have a growth or parasites, so I made sure to wash my hands really well after I put it in the cage. My friend would skin me alive if I got her lizard sick!

Image

Silent as night, silent as death, silent as your last breath
~~~
Interested in HARPG? Check out Marandian's
~~~
(Closed)FR gems: (Click here for details)
My DeviantART/My Petopia art thread
~~~
I cry inside every day, as common courtesy withers away. Are you part of the problem or will you help it grow?

Makoes
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 7066
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:03 pm
Realm: Arathor-Alliance / Nesingwary-horde / WrA-Alliance
Gender: Female foxen
Location: I am "here" or so the directory tells me.
Contact:

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Makoes »

So, for now I took some suggestions on the site to "spruce" up its tank...such that it is so it wasn't just sitting on the plastic. added some dirt and moss, seems a bit happier for that. I can see the intelligence in its eyes when it watches me, really need to figure out if its male or female, lol. Also needs a name :P

Image

Image

Silent as night, silent as death, silent as your last breath
~~~
Interested in HARPG? Check out Marandian's
~~~
(Closed)FR gems: (Click here for details)
My DeviantART/My Petopia art thread
~~~
I cry inside every day, as common courtesy withers away. Are you part of the problem or will you help it grow?

User avatar
Bowno
 Community Resource
 Community Resource
Posts: 2346
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2012 5:21 am
Realm: Moon Guard
Gender: Female
Contact:

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Bowno »

He looks like a little dinosaur! I vote for Rex ;P

Siggy under construction!

User avatar
Rawr
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 4481
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:21 pm
Realm: Draka-Wyrmrest Accord
Gender: Female

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Rawr »

Looks like a Skink to me :lol: have him go like this :P and see if is tongue is blue. :D :mrgreen:

Image

User avatar
cowmuflage
Petopia Artist
Posts: 11993
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:00 pm
Realm: dath remar
Gender: female
Location: New zealand, auckland

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by cowmuflage »

Rawr wrote:Looks like a Skink to me :lol: have him go like this :P and see if is tongue is blue. :D :mrgreen:
I thought only Blue-tongued skinks tongues where blue. But it does look like a skink! looks like a bigger version of the ones we have here XD
User avatar
Chimera
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 7584
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:19 am
Realm: Nesingwary (H), Silver Hand (A), Moon Guard (A)
Gender: Male
Location: I have no idea

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Chimera »

Mmmm, he definitely looks like a Northern Alligator Lizard, they're native to BC (I didn't realize we had such a tiny lizard species count :0)

Sorry for the largish pic, tinypic is the only site I know that can resize without distorting but it doesn't have middle ground between this size and the next size down which is rather tiny

Image

Edit: Researching further, we only have one species of Skink, the Western Skink which has a blue tail
Last edited by Chimera on Thu Sep 26, 2013 1:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

Image
Frostmarrow by LupisDarkmoon

| Dragon Cave | Magistream | Flight Rising |

User avatar
cowmuflage
Petopia Artist
Posts: 11993
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:00 pm
Realm: dath remar
Gender: female
Location: New zealand, auckland

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by cowmuflage »

Ah I see. It's head is what got me! The only lizards we get here are geckos and skinks XD
User avatar
Chimera
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 7584
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:19 am
Realm: Nesingwary (H), Silver Hand (A), Moon Guard (A)
Gender: Male
Location: I have no idea

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Chimera »

I love reptiles, but they're too expensive for me to be able to acquire and care for right now, but I wish we had more variety and saw them more often D: I've only seen a handful of garter snakes and no lizards in all the time I ever went to grouse mountain (very popular place, not too long of a drive from me) which was pretty much yearly growing up xD

Image
Frostmarrow by LupisDarkmoon

| Dragon Cave | Magistream | Flight Rising |

Makoes
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 7066
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:03 pm
Realm: Arathor-Alliance / Nesingwary-horde / WrA-Alliance
Gender: Female foxen
Location: I am "here" or so the directory tells me.
Contact:

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Makoes »

Yup, Alligator Lizard. It's actually quite docile so far. I've been able to handle it without getting attacked, and for the most part it just watches me as I watch it. I thought it'd at least try to bite me a few times by now. Especially while i was doing the tick removal. I only found the two, one behind the front arm and one in it's ear on the same side. I was worried about the one in the ear, but luckily it had bitten in near the outer ear and just stuck its butt into the ear, so I was able to tease it out of the ear and get a grip with the tweezers. Into a bowl of rubbing alcohol they went.

So, now it is Tick free as far as I can see, didn't see anything else crawling on it like mites or other parasites, so hopefully that was all. I'll be monitoring it closely for signs of other things. Going to check out second hand stores tomorrow, for a tank. I'll feel a bit better once it's in a bigger tank and I can better feed/water it. Not to mention it will have room to roam around.

Image

Silent as night, silent as death, silent as your last breath
~~~
Interested in HARPG? Check out Marandian's
~~~
(Closed)FR gems: (Click here for details)
My DeviantART/My Petopia art thread
~~~
I cry inside every day, as common courtesy withers away. Are you part of the problem or will you help it grow?

User avatar
Rawr
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 4481
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:21 pm
Realm: Draka-Wyrmrest Accord
Gender: Female

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Rawr »

If it's so docile it may have been someones pet. I hate people who just throw their pets into the wild and think they can survive. We get that here with turtles and tortoises (and the occasional crocodilian or giant constrictor). It's so horrible what happens to these poor guys. :| :mrgreen:

Image

User avatar
cowmuflage
Petopia Artist
Posts: 11993
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 10:00 pm
Realm: dath remar
Gender: female
Location: New zealand, auckland

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by cowmuflage »

Ah cool the Canada one is a subspecies!. I had to google them as I wanted to learn about them. I also thought Canada would be like England but nope you guys have way way more reptiles XD But they have the best lizard in the world the Slow worm!

Your Five-lined Skink is very pretty!
User avatar
Vephriel
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 16354
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:07 pm
Realm: Wyrmrest Accord US
Gender: Female
Location: Canada

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Vephriel »

I'm glad to hear it's doing well!

If at all possible it would be good to get it into a reptile vet so they can check for inner parasites and give a good once over. :)
Makoes
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 7066
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:03 pm
Realm: Arathor-Alliance / Nesingwary-horde / WrA-Alliance
Gender: Female foxen
Location: I am "here" or so the directory tells me.
Contact:

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Makoes »

Hehe, I am not sure if it was someones pet or if its just taking things in stride like a Canadian :P

Yeah, we do have a number or reptiles here, and amphibians. Seen lots of snakes, mostly just the 3 types of garter snake, lots of frogs, turtles, newts, salamanders, tree frogs. But Lizards, that's something I hadn't seen in the wild here, I knew we had some species living here in Canada, but never expected to actually see one where I live, especially when the weathers turning cold.

I do love skinks, and the one with the blue tail is sooooo pretty!!!! I wish we had those in BC :D

Ah, yes, I've been thinking about taking it in to the vet, just not sure how much an exam will cost. Unfortunately after my last trip to the vet...umm, plus my BF just got back from Vacation so we wont be getting a paycheck from him for 8 more days, and rents coming up. We are a tightening our belts up a bit on spending. But, I'll keep a close eye on it and maybe in about 3 weeks we could afford to take it in. I am not to worried about it since, well in the wild it would still have these issues, but now at least it does not have annoying ticks now, and it has food/water and no predators.

Image

Silent as night, silent as death, silent as your last breath
~~~
Interested in HARPG? Check out Marandian's
~~~
(Closed)FR gems: (Click here for details)
My DeviantART/My Petopia art thread
~~~
I cry inside every day, as common courtesy withers away. Are you part of the problem or will you help it grow?

User avatar
Dewclaw
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 5475
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:32 pm
Realm: Llane
Gender: Female
Location: VA

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Dewclaw »

You could always call the vet and get a price check on an exam. I work vet reception and a lot of people do price checks.:)
User avatar
zedxrgal
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 6473
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 3:57 am
Realm: Nesingwary, Vek'nilash
Gender: Female
Location: In the bushes watching. Always watching.

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by zedxrgal »

I'm not sure about up there but here Alligator lizards are VERY aggressive and they hibernate in the winter time. That could be why its not aggressive because it's getting ready for hibernation. Which also will greatly slow it's eating. I know this is a new pet but you really should release it back into the wild. Not allowing it to hibernate can be quite harmful to the animal.

Below signature by LupisDarkmoon
Image
My FR Lair! :mrgreen: My Lion Den!

User avatar
Rawr
Illustrious Master Hunter
Illustrious Master Hunter
Posts: 4481
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:21 pm
Realm: Draka-Wyrmrest Accord
Gender: Female

Re: New Lizard

Unread post by Rawr »

It's not hard to find a place for it to in hibernate. Just find a shoe box and leave it on a shelf in a dark and quiet room where no one will bug it, like a shelf in the garage or a closet. Wait till the box starts shaking in the spring and put the lizard in a dish of lukewarm water. They may drink for an hour or so, after that feed it it something. :mrgreen:

Image

Post Reply