Wild Desert Spiny Lizard vs. My Cat

Question

Desert Spiny Lizard   QUESTION: (Phoenix, AZ) So I woke up Friday morning to a rustling next to my bed, I ignored it for a little bit thinking it was my 2 cats playing. I eventually decided to get up and check it out and it turned out that one of my cats had found something and drug a through the cat door and into my room. The light was low and I only saw part of it and thought it was a mouse at first. I flipped the light switch on and saw my cat with a Pretty damn big lizard in its mouth. I was able to chase off my cat and pick up the lizard pretty easily, but to my surprise this lizard was still alive and in "relatively" good condition. After a quick examination I saw that the cat had already eaten several of the lizards toes, and there was a tiny smeared dot of blood on my finger from where I had picked him up. I'm positive that it was a small puncture from the cats tooth, but didn't see anything else wrong. So this left me with 3 choices: 1) Let the cat finish his breakfast, 2) Toss him out the door and let natural selection take its course, 3) Try to either give him, or find him, a good home and a fighting chance.

I wasn't too keen on the idea of letting my cat devour him and then picking up the leftovers. I doubt that natural selection would spare his life with 1/2 of his toes missing (front left claw is intact, front right claw is missing the first 3 fingers, back left claw is missing all its fingers, back right claw missing first 3 fingers). He probably can't climb, dig, scratch, or grab much of anything. Trying to save him seemed like the best choice.

Its been a little more than 24 hours and my quick fix so far has been getting an old small fish tank from my brother and filling it with sand and rocks from my yard. I figure its as close to his natural habitat as it gets. I put a small water dish in there and grabbed a small can of reptile sticks for food. I was planning on going to the pet store in the morning and getting some crickets or something for him to eat.

Do I even bother trying to save him?
Should I keep him?
If so, Is it expensive to set him up in the proper terrarium? (I'm an Unemployed College Student)
If not, do I see if somewhere like the Phx Zoo, or maybe the College Biology Dept would want him?

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say on the matter.

Thanks,
Aaron

p.s. Will he regrow his toes like some lizards regrow tails?

ANSWER: Hello Aaron,

Oh poor thing!  Wow, he was almost a goner for sure.  Wild lizards sure have it rough don't they.
I think what you have done is fine.  
How small of a tank are you getting?  You can always check on craigs list too sometimes there are things listed for free on there also.
The main thing he needs is a UVB source.  If your tank is smaller than a 40 gallon then a tube UVB light will be fine.  If your tank is larger than a 40 gallon then you can consider a mercury vapor bulb.  
Other than that, it should be relatively inexpensive to house him.  The other expense is crickets.  Do you know how old he is, under or over 1 year?
He looks to be an older juvenile, possibly close to an adult, just based on his length.  
You will need to maintain his basking temperatures roughly around 95-110, or so using a digital probe or a temp gun not a stick on type of thermometer.  

No, unfortunately he will not regrow his toes.  There are not too many that have autonomy.  
If you can afford to keep him, you should try, but I understand finances.  Like I said, he absolutely need UVB, no question about that.  The temp gun or digital probe, & some calcium supplementation along with feeders are your main expenses.  You can always breed crickets, & mealworms to cut down on cost.  You can also buy feeders online that are much cheaper than getting them from the petstore.

Let me know what you decide.  I am sure that the Phoenix zoo or the College biology department wouldn't mind taking him in though if you decide to adopt him out.  He will definitely be special though being rescued from your cats.  Can you handle him at all right now?

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


"Tank size"   QUESTION: Tracie, Thank you for your quick response!

Bad news is that the old fish tank I got from my brother is probably WAY too small for him. Its probably only a 10-15 gallon tank. I looked on craigslist.com and backpage.com for something bigger but didn't see anything affordable yesterday. I'll keep looking. I'd like to eventually get him a 40+ gallon tank.

The good news is that he has an amazing apatite! He ate all 10 of the large crickets I got for him today within about a minute of me dropping them in his tank (They're relatively cheap, $0.11 each). He also seems to be in "good spirits" considering his situation. He rarely hides and is usually in a "push-up" position on top of the rock that I have in his tank (guessing that hes trying to warm up and catch some sun-rays). I set his rock up so he can either go on top or under it. I didn't get the calcium supplement YET, but after reading your response I'll get it this week for his next feeding. How often, and how much should he eat? I have my son 4 year old son every Mon & Thurs and every other weekend. If he doesn't need to eat everyday then I was thinking that I can make the days I have my son his feeding days to get my son involved, and to teach him how to care for an animal. For now I'll replace the normal fish tank light bulb in the top of the tank with a UVB bulb so he can get the necessary "Sun Tan" :-). It might take me a little while but I think I can manage to get the proper equipment to care for him. I understand that It's not ideal at the moment, but it has to be better that the other 2 alternatives for him.

Until I can get the proper UVB and heat lighting for him would you suggest placing his tank outside in the sun for an hour or so every day?

Thank you,
Aaron Curtis

p.s. My son named him "Noah"

Answer
Hello Aaron,

Good luck finding a tank for Noah.  That is a great name.  
Yes, that is way too small of a tank for him though but, for a short period it will be ok while he is recovering.  Be sure to keep those damaged toes treated with antibiotic ointment.  Otherwise, they may get infected.  At least he seems to be in good spirits though after his terrible ordeal!
You know, you could build him a tank, that would be easy & might be cheaper than getting a glass tank.  
Well, he would probably benefit from at least 50-75 feeders per week, maybe 100.  I am not totally sure how old he is, but he might not quite be done growing so you have to give him an opportunity to finish growing & filling out right now.  
At the moment, you could get away with feeding him every other day, or if you decide to get mealworms, superworms or phoenix worms, they are easily kept in his tank in a bowl that they can't crawl out of so he can feed himself.  Then, you could feed him crickets a couple of days per week or however your schedule allows.  So, he will adapt.  You should probably keep a small water dish in there also in case he needs some water.  
You are doing fine.  Overall, it will not be too bad to get him set up.  Just do a little at a time until you are all done.  If you have time, getting him sun daily, would greatly help him out until you can get the Reptisun 10 tube bulb in for him.  That would be fine.  
The main things are the UVB, a good sized tank (at least a 40 gallon), calcium supplementation, & a digital probe or a temp gun just to make sure the temperatures are optimal for him.
I would not put him in the sun in his tank though, because glass will cook himm.  The radiant heat quickly will overcome him & it could kill him.  
You could make a leash, or get a large plastic storage bin to take him outside.  Just watch for large birds & don't leave him unattended.  If you don't think he will bolt on you, just hold him for awhile outside.


Keep me posted on him.

Tracie