During the summer Brad found a lizard in our sunroom area. When he took Killer outside one day he just happened to notice the lizard basking in the sun in between the blinds and the window. It took a few minutes to catch the little thing because it was so fast, but he eventually caught and let it go back outside.
A few weeks ago I also noticed a lizard in the sunroom from the outside. I was on my way out but took a mental note to go find it when I got back home. I forgot and didn't remember until a few days later. I told Brad about it, and he ventured into the sunroom for the lizard hunt. It didn't take long because the poor thing was laying on the floor skinny, frail, and dead. I was so sad I almost cried. I felt like it was my fault the lizard had died. If I had remembered it was there and gone to find it sooner it wouldn't have died.
Then a few days later I saw another one! These poor little lizards get into our house thinking it will be warmer than outside (little do they know we don't turn on our heat) and then they can't find their way out. I ran inside and told Brad about it, and he geared up to run around chasing the little guy only to release him back outside. However, the lizard was blotchy, spotty, and brown. It was also freezing cold. When Brad went to catch it, it grabbed onto his finger and didn't even try to run away. It wrapped itself around his warm finger and hung on for dear life.
Look at the poor thing. You can see its ribs!
After feeling like I killed the last one I wasn't about to send this one back outside only for it to die. I mean, look at it. It was freezing outside this day, so I knew it wouldn't make it out there. Instead we made a little house for it. Brad and Killer found some nice green leafy branches and some great bark. We looked online and found out that this little guy was actually a girl since it didn't have one of those bright orange dangly things under its neck. We also learned how to feed and water it and what kind of things it needed in its habitat. Its called a green anole. We knew it needed some warm light, but we don't have have any UV warming lights since Killer doesn't require anything like that. So Brad had the genius idea of using Christmas lights since they warm up pretty quickly after you turn them on.
We wrapped the Christmas lights all around the fish bowl and put a paper plate (with holes punched in it, of course) on top so our little friend couldn't get out.
After we had designed this awesome habitat I decided it needed some water. I grabbed Killer's spray bottle (we spray her with cold water in the face when she barks incessantly or when she begs for food at dinner...sounds cruel but it works) and sprayed our new lizard and all around on the leaves and the bark. We later read online that this is exactly what you're supposed to do. Brad credited my just doing it without knowing that was the right way to motherly instincts. Ha. The poor thing lapped up water from the leaves for about 15 minutes. She was so thirsty. Almost immediately she started getting more energy and turning green. Brad then decided she needed a name. After much contemplation we agreed on Squiggles.
Later that day we went to Petsmart and bought some calcium-dusted small crickets for Squiggles. When we brought them home and put all 15 of them in her cage she was so excited! She immediately went on the hunt and ate like five of them. We didn't think about taking a video of it until she had already gotten her fill, but we watched in amazement. After she had gotten some food and water in her and sat in the sun for a while (we took her cage and sat it in a window that was getting direct sunlight) she was the happiest little green lizard we ever did see. Brad loved getting her out of her bowl and playing with her. She was so friendly.
Killer wasn't quite sure what to think of her though. Whenever we went into the kitchen to watch the lizard, Killer would sit in the doorway and cry. I think she was a little jealous of all the attention Squiggles was getting.
At night time we replaced the Christmas lights with a black light and let Squiggles get some much needed sleep. The next morning before we left for church we removed the black light and wrapped the bowl in Christmas lights again. (Oh, side note. In case of you readers out there ever catch an almost dead lizard you want to nurse back to health, I sprayed Squiggles and her leaves three to four times a day.) When we got back home from church we decided it was time to bid adieu to our new little pet. She was obviously back to a healthy functioning level, and we didn't want to contain her in a fish bowl for the rest of the winter. Luckily that Sunday it was really warm outside and the sun was shinning. So we took her out and placed her on the top of a holly bush right in the path of the sun light. She held onto Brad's finger for a long time before she eventually let go and ventured back out into the real world.
Here's a before and after picture of when we first found Squiggles and then of when we released her.
I know many of you are probably thinking that we went to a lot of trouble for a stupid lizard, but I genuinely feel so good about what we did. We helped save a the little life of tiny breathing creature. We loved that lizard, and I know she loved us. I hope she found a nice warm place to live during the winter, and I hope we don't find anymore lizards in our sunroom!
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