Our Humble Herpetarium

This is Elizabeth's Male Albino Tangerine Honduran Milk Snake

Our children are strange. 

I guess we shouldn't be surprised. 

They attract critters. 

Like magnets. 

Her new female. She's "in blue", about to shed. That's why she's milky looking.

Personally, I tend to be more of a mammal person. You know, cute and furry, like bunnies or koalas. 

Horned lizard babies-we don't keep these, just admire and release

They like everything. Including scaly, slimy, slithering things. That's just weird. 

A little Mediterranean Gecko who was just visiting

Our zoo has had quite a variety of exhibits over the years. In fact, people used to come here to see our collections because there is no zoo for 150 miles in any direction. That's not really why I want people to come visit me. I know. I'm shallow.

A baby Desert King captured in the yard

Actually, I am glad they enjoy wildlife. And I am very glad I don't have to touch their reptilian friends. It makes lessons on zoology simple. "Go play with the critters."

The newest addition, a Green Anole

Playing dead

Rebekah decided she was going to try to determine whether this is a male or female. After reading the available literature on sexing green anoles, her best educated guess is that this is a female representation of the species. Somehow counting bumps near the tail tells you. I don't want to know any more than that, thank you very much. I guess we will know she's correct if it starts having reptilian PMS.

Rebekah says it has teeth!

Look at those crazy toes! They look like Caleb's!

We haven't had an Anole before, so Rebekah asked Kregg if he could find out how to take care of it. He found instructions online. It said to buy Purina Anole Chow at the farm and ranch store, and that's all you have to do. 

If only!!

Here are some of the care requirements:

"Keep in mind that your anoles' cage should be visually pleasing."  For who?? The anole or us?


"Fill the tank evenly one or more inches with sterilized reptile bark big enough that it cannot fit in the anole's mouth."  Sterilized?? Does it come that way or do we have to sterilize it?!! It is NOT going in my oven!! Does the bark come labeled "not for anoles younger than 3 who may put things in their mouths"?


"A florescent 40 watt bulb is required during the day that leaves a temperature of 75-80 degrees F. The florescent light must be turned off at night and replaced with a black light." What?!!! How on earth do they survive in the wild all alone without a black light??


"Mist your anoles and the plants in their tank for 10 seconds 2-3 times a day."  So we have to set an alarm and use a timer?? Seriously? Who does this for all the wild anoles of the world?


"Feed your anoles every 2-3 days. You should dust the crickets with a vitamin supplement powder at each feeding, as the crickets will walk around and lose some powder. If your animal doesn't get enough calcium and vitamins the anole could end up with MBD (metabolic bone disease) and die." Now this part started an interesting conversation. Rebekah was explaining to me what metabolic means: chemical activities. She learned that from our Lyrical Life Science memory songs. It's nice to know some of our homeschooling lessons stick to their little neurons. 


Now this part requires no commentary, but I just can't help myself:
"If you keep crickets around in bulk (not likely) you should 'gut-load' (???? GUT-LOAD???) them by feeding them a vitamin rich cricket food prior to feeding them to your lizards. (never seen cricket vitamins in the supplement aisle) This way, all the nutritious food your crickets just ate will then, in turn, be passed on to your anole. Your anole is what he eats! (It seriously says this! I am not making it up! Is the cricket version of PETA going to come knocking on my door?) 


"Green anoles like to have their food in separate quarters than their homes unless it's feeding time. (They need a dining room??!) This way the 'leftovers' won't munch on your lizard while he's asleep. (The crickets will eat the anole if the anole doesn't first eat the crickets??! Crickets are carnivores? I guess I never thought about what a cricket eats. Hmmm . . . That begs the question, "How many bites would it take for a cricket to eat an anole? Do you know how small a cricket's mouth is? Did I even know a cricket had a mouth?)


"Be prepared for your anoles to live for 3-8 years" Okay, that's where I stopped reading. There are still 3 more full pages. 8 years?! That's 2019!! 

My sweet husband made a run to the pet store to see what "resources" were available. He came home with this: 

This poor tiny little cricket has no idea what's in store: a violent, sudden end.

HE FOUND ANOLE FOOD!! Who knew?

I am so naive. Even after all these years of living with these strange people. I thought this was probably just "anole chow", some unrecognizable, processed pellets with artificial cricket flavoring (try to find that on the spice aisle). Rebekah enlightened me. IT'S DRIED FLIES!!!! And Ben just spilled them all over my kitchen counter!! I'm outta here!

Here's the anole in its temporary cage. Yes, that is DIRT! Straight out of the yard! And dried grass and leaves, none of it sanitized! We are so bad! Don't tell PETA's anole lawyers. And you can't see it in the picture because the evil little carnivorous cricket is camouflaged, but it is stealthily sneaking up on the unsuspecting anole, about to take that one tiny but fatal bite out of the end of the tail. LOOK OUT!


I'm glad I'm not the herpetologist. Kids are a lot easier!

(I am just pokin' fun here. We do try to take good care of the critters and I'm thankful there are people who know what to do for each kind of animal. The information here is from Wikihow.com)