Here lizzy, here lizzy...

Found this lizard in the greenhouse today. Isn't he/she lovely? Haven't ID'd the type yet. Does anyone have a clue? Do we have a forum with lizard experts? Maybe the Wildlife forum?

This message was edited Mar 8, 2009 6:37 PM

Wow--he is gorgeous! No idea what kind he is though--hope someone else knows!

I posted to the wildlife forum - hope someone knows. What really popped out to us was the size of the head and the orange feet. The head looks like maybe it will have more color develop - which made me think maybe it's a young one that hasn't 'morphed' fully.

It's a San Diego Red alligator lizard. Yours has lost it's tail at some pont and regenerated a new one. They are protected by law in Calif. and can't be sold as pets, but you are allowed to keep 2 as pets if you find some.

I found two minute babies once under a rock, took them inside and they grew to 22" long. They laid numerous "cluthches" of eggs and I would take the young up into the hills and let them go.

Believe it or not, they are "tameable"...mine would let me hold them and eat out of my hands. They lived for almost 10 years.

They are very common here but as development increases we are seeing less and less of them..,so you're fortunate to have them. Lizards are great for the garden as they eat just about everything.

How cool is that? Thanks, JD! DH thought perhaps his tail was new. The interesting thing is, I have found several of our little lizards in the greenhouse without tails. Wonder if they consider it a safe place.

He is cool....we get those at our place also but I didn't know what to call them. I knew they were alligator lizards, but now we can correctly call them SD reds. Being so large, they are a little startling when you encounter them unexpectedly.

No kidding! We're used to our tiny guys, who are visible all over the place. He was very calm, though. I just stepped over him as I emptied the greenhouse.

OK, what's his name? He's really neat, none of our varieties get that big.

As the weather warms up, you'll no doubt be seeing lots of babies. They typically occur in the spring and fall.

The one in your photo looks like it's getting it's red/peach color back for the warm weather. (Sometimes they go dark grey in the winter).

With your pond, you'll see a lot of them when it's warm...and yes, they swim like an alligator, that's how they got their common name.

When they are newly hatched, they are a dark tan color with a brown/black stripe on their sides. You'll find the babies under wet stones in groups of 2 or 4.

I watched mine shed their skins numerous times. You can tell when they are getting ready to shed as their coloration gets very drab. The shedding process starts at their heads (the largest part of their bodies) and the skin splits open. Then they exude some sort of moisture which enables them to just slip right out of the old skin and the entire old skin remains in one piece, (most of the time...) . Then they are really beautiful...their colors are incredible...especially the really red/peach ones.

If you're digging around, you might very well find their eggs. They are about the size of a pencil eraser, white and "papery"...so be careful not to destroy them or think they are something "bad'.

They use their long tails to aid in boosting themselves up, but their tails aren't the kind that can wrap around branches etc. They can shed their tails at will, as a defense mechnism to distract the enemy...as it will wiggle around for several minutes after it's shed. This enables the lizard to escape while the enemy is "distracted."..so to speak.

The new tail that is regenerated is mainly cartilege and not bony tissue like the original and usually won't be the same coloration as the rest of the scales.

They also won't eat anything that's dead...it has to be alive and here's the interesting part: They won't eat anything that's bigger than their head. And that's probably a VERY GOOD thing ! LOL

Sally There's also a species that's native to Oregon, but like you said, they don't get as large. Do a google search for lizards under the family "Anguidae" and genus Elegaria and you'll see lots of hits.

You're sure smart for a boy, JD!

heh heh heh.......

Great photo, KC.
Gee, our alligator lizards aren't that red. More gray and brown. Sure is a beaut. Boys kept pestering a huge one up on the rock, but I made them leave that Grandfather lizard alone. My youngest is a great lizard catcher. Come to think of it, so are my cats. I've never seen them in the water, but it seems like the area around our pond is their favorite breeding ground. See lots of babies around there.
Good job, JD.
WIB,
SW

Oh, oh is he gonna eat the polliwogs? And what about the fish?

I think they eat bugs. That's what my kids feed 'em.
WIB,
SW

Bugs are good.

Some are good bugs, some deserve to be eaten! Like that spider in my bathroom! Have to have son catch and remove. LOL!
WIB,
SW

I should have said bugs are good for him to eat, rather than the pollies. LOL Hate bugs in the house, have no use for mosquitos or yellow jackets. Along with carpenter ants, etc. He could eat all of those he wanted.

Sally, I knew what you meant. Figure something besides termites and horny toads must like to eat them ants. Had a peahen who used to love eating yellow jackets/wasps. Miss her a lot.
They probably do eat some pollies, but I think my turtles and goldfish get most of the pollies. The mosquito fish don't seem to eat much except mosquito larva and the turtle food (pellets).
WIB,
SW

Bet it's neat to watch a big lizard like that feed. I've seen it on TV of course, but to be able to sit and watch them would be interesting.

Sitting and watching anything is fun. :-)

Unfortunately, I don't think lizards eat bees and/or wasps. I never tried feeding those to mine. Maybe they do, who knows ?

They always swallow their prey "head first". It's fascinating to watch them catch something, hold it in their jaws until it stops moving, and then they somehow manipulate it to go down their throats head first.

Wouldn't be doing much watching today. It's snowing, won't stick it's too warm, but it's too cold for lizards.

YS has a pet lizard (Bearded Dragon), named Draco. Draco eats a bunch of different stuff, including romaine and red leaf lettuce. He eats crickets, mealie worms, and his favorite is green grass hoppers that we catch for him. He will eat the big brown ones, but learned that they bite back so now he always chomps off their heads first. LOL! He is a lot like a Horney toad. He likes it when we let him hang out in the green house too.
I should get a photo of him. He does live in an inside terrarium.
WIB,
SW

Oh, I've seen Bearded Dragon's at the pet store. They're neat. Hope you can post a picture.

I'll ask YS to stretch him out on his arm. This one has been handled a lot, and is quite friendly. I remember once holding him and hearing a weird noise. Turned out my hair had fallen across his face, so he chewed through it. LOL! I put my hair up now if I am going to be handling Draco for any length of time.
WIB,
SW

Good idea! LOL

We had an uncle who was a hobby prospector and I used to ask him to bring a horned toad back from one of desert trips for me. Never got it, and I suspect Mom had something to do with that. Did have a chameleon, though. I got in trouble for going to school with him on my shoulder. He blended in with the top I had on and scared a teacher when he moved. Well, that's why I had him there, of course. :-)

Great lizard caper.

She had lots of capers.LOL

lol KaperC, the teacher probably still remembers you.

...and now we know why her screen name is "Kaper"C !!!

Well, no, but it sounds good! LOL