Anole yard lizard trained to eat out of hand


Yard lizards can be trained to eat out of your hand and they can be "hypnotized."  A photograph is at http://rexcurry.net/commentary/lizards.html

Toads can also be hypnotized. Before hypnosis begins, it is a good idea to startle a toad, or man-handle it, to induce urination and prevent urination during the hypnosis procedure.

An alligator can also hypnotized.  Remember to rub its belly calmly if you are ever attacked.

To hypnotize a lizard, hold a lizard by the head and let the rest of its body cradle in your palm.

You can stroke it on the head or the belly or not stroke anything at all. Lizards (and all reptiles) don't have diaphragms. Torso muscles are used to pump their lungs. When on its back, a lizard's limbs weigh down in an unnatural way and the lack of movement of the torso muscles combine to make breathing difficult. A trance-like state is caused by that or as a means of conserving oxygen.

In Florida most lizards are wild Cuban Anoles (Anolis sagrei).

Wild lizards can be fed and, with enough training, they will climb up a lawn chair, jump in your lap and stare at you until you give them their favorite treat: mealworms.

Mealworms are available at most pet shops that sell snakes, iguanas and other reptiles. The worms are sold in small plastic containers and can be refrigerated for a month, staying  dormant in the cold.  Mealworms are great conversation starters on salads. Buy the smallest mealworms, about half an inch maximum length.  Yard lizards can't eat big mealworms.  Lizards also will eat live crickets; however, crickets jump about and are difficult to use in training.

To begin training, sit on the ground in an area where the lizards sun themselves and watch humans. If the mealworms have been refrigerated, let them warm up to reach maximum wiggliness.  Wiggliness excites lizards.

formally known as anoles (a-NO-lees) 

Start by tossing the worms near the lizards and sit still while the lizard watches the worm wiggle and then rushes to grab it. Then try placing the worms nearer to you, slowly closing the distance. Eventually, hold a wiggling worm in your fingers and lay your hand on the ground. Next, move on up to placing a wiggling worm on your forearm while laying your hand on the ground to serve as a staircase, so that the lizard can crawl up the arm to take the worm.

Some lizards are easier to train (hungrier) than others. I have been in yards where the lizards could be coaxed to take a worm from the hand in one sitting. In other yards, the lizards were skittish and required multiple sessions. Skittish lizards often live in yards with roaming cats.  The very act of tossing a worm will scare away some lizards. In such yards, a worm can be slowly placed about one yard from a lizard, and within clear eyeshot of the lizard. The human should back off to let the lizard approach.

Soon, lizards will be happy to see you come outside, and will approach you and other humans. You can call to them and they will come trotting over like little dachshunds. They will chase each other and fight each other to get your worms. They will perform peculiar territorial dances wherein two lizards will circle each other repeatedly with their tails rhythmically curling. They will do other crude things for your viewing pleasure. A carefully placed mirror can also prompt lizards to engage in displays to their own reflections.

So, if your child says he wants a new pet, just buy him a box of mealworms open the back door and say "knock yourself out, kiddo!"

 learn more about Florida ecology at http://rexcurry.net/comindex.html
Manatees http://rexcurry.net/commentary/manatee.html
Sponges http://rexcurry.net/commentary/sponges.html
Reefs http://rexcurry.net/commentary/reefs.html

always wash your hands before and after handling Anole(s)

Rex Curry is a lawyer who knows a thing or two about reptiles.
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 etymology of anole? antillia ansolli