05/02/2023
"How to call a lizard". So I made friends with one of the wild curly tails that lives on the patio, she runs over begging for her bugs every day now. The level of intelligence of these animals is crazy. It took her about 2 days and about as many roaches to get comfortable with me and actually seek me out. We initially were "introduced" when she fell and got trapped in an empty roach bin that was sitting by the fence to be cleaned. But instead of just kicking over the bin, I took my time and lightly coaxed her to sit on my hand, moved it to the fence, and let her walk off on her own. From then on, I noticed she didn't seem to fear me at all. She liked to bask by my gate, and I could walk in and out with my face less than 2ft from her; While the other curly tails that live out here will book it if I come with in about 6ft. So one day, I decided to give her a few (3) roaches, tossed to her falling closer to me with each one. She ate em, gave some thank you head bobs and we went about our businesses. I walk outside THE NEXT DAY; and wouldn't you know it, this lizard starts booking it to me from under the fence, stops about 3 ft from me, and slow head bobs a couple times asking for breakfast..which I kindly went back in a got for her lol. The point of this story and me sharing it is to exhibit not only how intelligent and complex reptiles can be, but how willingly and easily they can/will form bonds will people if treated well and worked with in a way they can understand and trust. There are a lot of crazy things going on out there with government organizations banning, seizing, and killing peoples pet reptiles. So this is to help people who haven't been lucky enough to experience these awesome scaley friends first hand to better understand. That way, when you see these news articles about FWC coming in and killing someone's pet they've had for years and could potentially live for decades further; that they really aren't "just a lizard" or "just a snake". Not unlike how your dog or your cat, to you aren't "just a dog" or "just a cat". The lizard in this video isn't even a pet at all, i didn't go out of my way to get her or build a relationship. She's completely wild, she was here and all grown up before I even moved in. We just happened to be neighbors and made friends.