"House Herping"... Alligator Lizard pics!

This little cutie crept into my house sometime Thursday night, and showed up the next morning by Man Ray the Beardie's floor-level tank. I haven't a clue WHAT inspired it to plant itself next to a brightly lit aquarium, mere inches from a lizard plenty big enough to eat it in two bites, with three slumbering dogs and myself on its other side... It must just not be very smart. Not too far-fetched, since it already has its fair share of scars and a dropped tail. Lol. It crawled under the pellet stove, and an hour later I went back into the room to find it sitting next to Man Ray's tank. Again. Lol! Anyway, I went ahead and released it.. Though, don't get me wrong, it DID cross my mind to just keep it. Northern Alligator Lizards are my favorite!! This exact same scenario (only caught in a bathroom) is exactly what got me into herps nearly two years ago... Lol! =)

Okay, long-winded tale of excitement over. Now for the pictures I know you all came for.

All of these were taken outside with my crappy point-and-shoot.


Size comparison shot! Kind of. Tub lid is no more than 5 inches across.


Isn't his face so CUTE??




Tail stub close-up...


Look! He finally got the idea... He spent the entire photoshoot trying to head for the wall of the house. This one was taken with flash...


Thanks for reading!

LOL. What a great story! I'd better start checking out my beardie tank and snake closet more often. With you and your alligator lizard and another CS.com member with a wild snake by their snake viv, I never know what I'll find.

And you're right - with that face it would have been hard NOT to keep! Thanks for sharing, Taylor!

What a cute little lizard!

Thanks, Fred and Janine!

Lol, Fred, that's not a bad idea... Especially since Arizona has PLENTY more herps than Washington...

AND...

You wouldn't believe who I found downstairs as I headed for bed tonight. With his head stuck out from underneath the beardie's old playpen (I've been very lazy in NOT collapsing it, since I no longer use it). He seems a little larger, but that might be just me, 'cause... I SWEAR... This is the SAME lizard! Scars, tail stub, and all... Lol. Methinks he wants to be a pet!!! =)

Anyway, I snapped some pics just now, but I have to go to bed so I can go to school tomorrow, so the fiasco that is editing, uploading, and posting has to wait. I'll be releasing him sometime tomorrow, and I'll try to get better pics at the same time (including a couple with the same tub lid).

Floof said:

You wouldn't believe who I found downstairs as I headed for bed tonight. With his head stuck out from underneath the beardie's old playpen (I've been very lazy in NOT collapsing it, since I no longer use it). He seems a little larger, but that might be just me, 'cause... I SWEAR... This is the SAME lizard! Scars, tail stub, and all... Lol. Methinks he wants to be a pet!!! =)

Anyway, I snapped some pics just now, but I have to go to bed so I can go to school tomorrow, so the fiasco that is editing, uploading, and posting has to wait. I'll be releasing him sometime tomorrow, and I'll try to get better pics at the same time (including a couple with the same tub lid).

Click to expand...

HILARIOUS!!!!! I can't wait to see pics.

Now, you know, if you release him again and find him AGAIN by your beardie tank or something that smells beardie...
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... that he's in love with your beardie! :sidestep:

LOL! What's this make? 3 times that he's been attracted to beardie-things? That's LOVE, baby!

I let him go this morning on the OTHER side of the front yard... And, lo and behold, he's tame! He didn't flee, bite, or musk one bit when I picked him up this morning.. Just held on with his cute little claws. =) I'd post pics now, but, go figure, the school computers don't have memory card ports...

He wants to be a pet!! I found two anoles in with Isabel at different times. I'm sure they rode in on plants that I brought in not to freeze.

LOL. If he shows up again, you'll probably want to have a shotgun ready... He'll be there to ask for your beadies claw in marriage.

PLUS he's probably thinking... "Free food, warmth, an occasional handling... why live outside where I can be EATEN!"

Now comes the question, Is the 'gator lizard gay, or just a really horny female...? :sidestep:

Lol, Nanci! I'm glad I'm not the only one to have this happen...

The fun part is it's the SAME lizard. It's a shame I'm so paranoid about breaking stupid little laws like that. I'm sure he'd LOVE it at my house!

Pics, finally! The ones with paper towel were taken this morning, without were last night.

The last pic is one from the first capture, for comparison. Tell me that's NOT the same lizard, I dare you!

Enjoy! =)

ROFLOL! Looks like the same guy to me! I tell you...

He comes in your house of his own free will and you can't keep him?? I guess that would be like me trying to convince the FWC that the Indigo or Gopher Tortoise just wandered in... (No, I do not have any of those, for any wildlife officials reading this thread!!)

Haha.. Exactly what I mean, Nanci. 'Sides, I like the idea of seeing little baby alligator lizards in the Spring and contemplating whether their mother/father is the same one I decided NOT to keep... (Not that I'd ever come across baby lizards. They hide too darn well!)

I wish someone would hurry up and change that law. This hurts! And it doesn't help when my little brother comes back from his Construction class chattering on about ALL the cool-looking garter snakes they come across on the Habitat For Humanity job site... Today was a particularly tame one that he claimed had no stripe and was blue... A google search brought up this "nearly patternless" blue Northwestern which he INSISTS is what he saw:

Hurts, doesn't it?? Lol. Don't worry, he has strict instructions to snap all kinds of pictures of ANY snakes with his school-issue laptop's webcam from here on out...

How bizarre!

That's a cool looking garter too.