Desert short-horned lizard

Question
hello,
i have a place down in baja California.  i often come across the desert short horned lizard and pick them up and they are very docile.  would like to hold on to one at the house. the book i have on lizards says they eat ants and sometimes other insects.  any suggestion on how and what to feed them.

thanks

tony

Answer
Dear Tony,
thank you for your question. I apologize that I took so long to answer - somehow I didn't get the email that notifies me that there is a question and I didn't get any new questions until today so I didn't see it.
I wouldn't recommend catching a wild Horned Lizard to keep as a pet. There are several reasons for this:
- they are protected in some of the states they occur - I don't know about Mexiko, you should check whether you are allowed to keep them at all
- they are, even if not protected in Mexiko, a species in decline and should not be caught
- they are extremely difficult to care for in captivity. While they will eat other insects, they need ants every day to stay healthy. If you don't feed them ants, the lizard will die eventually. You must feed the ants the Horned Toad feeds - between 30 and 300 per day depending on the lizard's species -  on in the wild because they can only eat some species.

If you are sure you can provide ants and other care they need (for example the extreme temperatures differences between day and night, the hibernation during the winter months) and if you are sure you have enough time and money to provide for the lizard in the next few years, then you should look for a breeder in your area. If you can get a captivity bred animal, you won't damage the population in the wild. Plus they are healthier, used to living in an enclosure and you know the exact species of the animal you keep (important for providing the right care).
However I cannot recommend keeping them if you have no experience in keepin herps, they are among the most difficult species to keep.

For more information on Horned Toads and how to keep them can be found here:
http://www.phrynosoma.com/
(an excellent site with many resources)

http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?catid=52#660827
(a fairly active message board about Horned Toads, here you may find a breeder)
I hope I was of some help
Jennifer