Never thought I'd be....

[Jenny]

a reptile rescuer!!!

Yesterday I was working at the clinic and a lady from this petstore (*cough*Petco) came in with a lizard. He had these black growths, about four of them, along his back and two more on his head. She said, "Oh, just euthanize him" so my vet was thinking it over and I asked if the growths couldn't be surgically removed, so she said we could try it and just see what happens. She removed all except for the two on his head, since the skin woudl've been too tight to sew back up, and I decided to take him! He's what's called a "European Green Lacerta" and is a shiny emerald green with bright blue throat, which indicates he's a male, and is about 10 inches long. I looked up some info and I found out that the growths are from a virus that is fairly common in them, and when they're captured in teh wild and put in groups of many others to save on shipping costs, usually at least one has the virus which spreads to others. So anyway there's no cure but he should have a good chance of living another year. Now I'm in the process of settign up a cage for him and thinking of a name! Any suggestions? Also I know a few of you keep reptiles and I'm thinking of raising my own crickets and insects for him (to save money and make sure the crickets are fed nutritious stuff), and could use advice on the best way to do that. Until then, I'll just buy them. Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know! He's a cool little fellow. ;)

[Redstorm1721]

Oh Jenny, You are such a really nice person. Thats just why I love yah. Good luck with your new found friend. Gail

[Love Bird B]

Jenny, you're a gem! A gemmy!

We've had lizards for years and have never raised crickets or any other bugs for them. You may want to try cat food for now just until he gets settled in. I of course have emailed this note to Mike to see what he suggests and will let you know as soon as I can.

:)

[Love Bird B]

Jenny, Mike responded with...

"According to one source, they also eat juvenile birds and eggs. I bet they'd eat pinkies as well. As far as raising insects, I'll bet there are websites describing this and there are plenty of books."

Just thought I'd mention that 'pinkies' are baby mice that haven't grown their fur yet, thus, the pink color. Yeah, it's not pretty. Now I wonder if he'd eat cat food since that was my first inclination? Keep us posted on how the little guy's doing.

[Amanda]

Hi Jenny. That's so nice of you to rescue the poor lizard. Did his previous owner even ask the vet how much it would cost to treat him or did she just give up on the poor baby? Some people! Anyway, it's better that she gave him up ... because I'm sure he'll have a better home with you. :)

When we first brought our son's Sudan-Plated lizard home, she was only fed crickets and mealworms from the pet store. We continued to feed her that until one day we noticed there were worms in her stool. We phoned the vet and was told that it is quite common for reptiles to get parasites from "live" food. He said that it all depends on how the crickets or mealworms were kept. Anyway, our vet also said we can give her some fresh veggies and a low-calorie "quality" canned dog food. She now eats mostly "Science Diet - Senior" canned dog food and grated fresh veggies. Once a month or so, we give her some mealworms. She has been on this diet for 2 years now and has done really well.

I'm not familiar with the kind of lizard you have, so I'm not sure if this type of diet would be good for him. Can you ask your vet if you can give your lizard canned dog food and fresh veggies? Anyway, we have not raised any crickets so I can't give you any tips or advise on that. Good luck with your new baby.

:)

[Jenny]

Thanks both of ya, and to Mike! Yes, I read about the juvenile birds & eggs in a book.....but knowing me, I don't think I can do that one, lol! Also about the mice, I've had 20 pet mice before, many of which I raised from "pinkies", but that won't necessarily keep me from trying them, since the poor lizard needs to eat the right kind of food. I could cook some egg though and see if he'd try that, and I'll try the cat food too. The lady who brought him in said they'd been feeding him just crickets at the store, so at least I know he'll eat those. I caught a tiny grasshopper and stuck it in his cage until I can go to the petstore, since I read that they eat many different kinds of insects, as well as scorpions and spiders! I will look into raising my own insects on the web as well , and just see what happens. Thanks again. =)

[Mrs.Birdy]

Good luck with your new lizard Jenny. Look!! I found a site with examples of pet lizard names. Hope it helps...let me know what you think.

http://exoticpets.about.com/library/names/blnamesrept.htm

P.S. You did a great thing by rescuing the poor little guy.....god bless you.

[Jenny]

Amanda, it looks like we were posting at the same time. The "owner" was just a lady who worked at the petstore, and she didn't ask how much it would cost to treat him. But seeing as how my vet had never run into something this, she wasn't sure herself! Anyway, most pet stores don't like having sick animals that they have to pay alot for vet care on and animals that they actually have to pay more attention to until they get better, so I guess euthanasia is the "easy way out". I just couldn't believe it, he was acting perfectly fine and was alert and everything even with the black bumps, and she casually just said have him euthanized. Also, even if the lady had asked my vet to surgically remove the growths, I doubt they'd be able to sell a lizard with stitches all over its back! Thanks for the suggestions about the canned dog food, I think I'll try that after double checking with my vet. Mrs. Birdy~ thanks for the website, it's fun to read all the names! My sister suggested the name "Arnold", and well, it fits him, so Arnold it is! I got his cage all set up tonight, and he seems to really like it. One other question, since I haven't been to the petstore to get the right UVB light yet, does anyone know if "Plant Grow" lights are of any help? I put one on him since I figured it was better than nothing, but wasn't sure.

[Amanda]

Ugh! We don't have that petstore where I live (Thank goodness) but I've heard so many bad things about them. Anyway, it was Arnold's lucky day when that lady brought him in to your vet and got "saved by an angel". :)

As for the "Plant Grow" light, I'm not sure if that is sufficient for his type of lizard. I was told that each type of lizard need different levels of UVB & UVA. Also, some lizards need a heat light for night-time. I tried to do a search for "European Green Lacerta lizards" but didn't come up with much info over the internet. If you have a good reptile book, maybe you can look up what kind of lighting Arnold needs. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I even tried to see if I can look up the care sheets on your lizard at http://www.kingsnake.com but didn't come up with much. :(

[Mrs.Birdy]

What a lucky lizard to have such a caring caregiver like you Jenny !..... Arnold is a cute name for him...Good luck.

[Jenny]

Thanks for trying, Amanda! Lacertas must not be all that common because I haven't had much luck finding a whole lot of info either. At the clinic they sell some of the Barron's books and I looked in the "Lizards from A-Z" one and it had two pages on them, so I'm going off of that for the most part. It didn't mention lighting, but my vet also sells the UVB lights that she recommends for most reptiles...so I'll probably go with that. I dont' remember what brand it is. About the heat light for night, I'm not sure if that would be necessary with 'Arnold' because they're native range is around France and other European countries. I will remember that though. Thanks again everyone!
:)

[Jenny]

I just found an informative article on them with a good picture if anyone's interested! It's www.agamainternational.com , and you'll see "Green Lacerta" on the left blue column. So far Arnold's eaten three grasshoppers I caught, and it's pretty cool- as soon as he sees one jumping he freezes and watches it for awhile, then he goes into "attack mode" and starts frantically scampering around until he catches it & it's stuck squirming in his mouth! HIGHLY entertaining. ;-)

[emroul]

Thats cool Jenny! Just try to make sure the grasshoppers you are catching haven't been brushing through any grass or weeds that have had pest killer or insecticide on it. If your lizard digests that, he could get really sick. I'm sure you knew that, just givin' you some heads up! :) Have fun with him!

Jennifer

[Jenny]

I live out in the country and we haven't used insecticides/fertilizers/etc. on anything for over a year, so I think I'm safe- thanks for the reminder though! =)

[Amanda]

Wow, that's an awesome looking lizard! (Picture on the website you gave). Is that how Arnold looks like? From the info I read on that site, there are suppose to be 2 kinds of Lacerta lizards? Anyway, they look really nice! Hey, you should go to the store where Arnold originally came from and see how much they are selling those type of lizards. From the website you gave, it says that they are not very common and one type is really rare.

[emroul]

You can try this site to find info on him, if you haven't already:

http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?catid=192

Good luck!

[Jenny]

Emroul~ thanks for finding that site. Amanda- yeah, he looks like the one on the right all except for the fact that he has two small black growths on his face and stitches in his back! I think there's quite a few different kinds of lacerta lizards, I've read about at least five so far. I e-mailed the guy at Agama International for a pricelist and he sells his green lacertas for about $35 I think, though I expect from a petstore (at least a PetCo) they'd be more. At least with the birds, I've seen sun conures for $600 there when you can usually find them for $350 or less (in the states anyway). Next time I'm there though, I'll check.