Is my sully attracting lizzards?

[jpmcclure]

Ok, I live in a regular neighborhood. However, there's a river about two blocks behind me. When we walk the trails I see lizards all the time but lately I've been seeing one, if not two in my backyard everyday when thor's outside. They don't seem to bother him but it's very unusual to see them daily. Not a big deal, just curious.

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Oops. I said lizZards. Sorry.

 

[Phantom9]

My sulcata has an outside pen for the daytime and there is never a day that I don't see a small blue bellied lizard living in the blocks around it. I am fine with it though since they are great at eating bugs that would otherwise eat my graze mix

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

They're not attracting them per say. There is no logical reason a small lizard would want to stick around a large tortoise. But perhaps the immediate environment is suitable enough to stick around.

I have had the same colony of fence lizards hanging around my back porch since before I put my tortoises outside.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Interesting question! I've often wondered about this. I once found a garter snake next to my box turtle. A coincidence? A fluke? Or intentional? I don't know.

In this case, I wouldn't think that the lizards are hanging around your tortoise per se. However, what if your tortoise's food and our dropping attract insects that the lizards like to eat? That might explain why the presence of your sulcata seems to attract lizards.

Just a thought.

 

[jpmcclure]

Hmmmm, very interesting. If so, must be the droppings because he's just in the yard. No special pen and I don't put food out here for him. Just grazing on the natural stuff. But I've never thought of droppings.. Sounds logical enough. Could also be the extended summer we've been having. Who knows? But interesting to say the least.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Yeah, could be a number of reasons. Sounds like this needs to be a multi-year experiment.

 

[dmmj]

Is it per se or per say?

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Cap, per se is a Latin phrase that literally means, "in itself" (per = in, se = itself).

 

[Tom]

I too have western fence swifts all over the place. The environments we create to be inviting for our tortoises are also inviting for other animals. I LOVE having the lizards around for their insectivorous tendencies.

 

[ICUSleeping]

Since iv built zeus's habitat iv noticed my back yard is lizard capital. They are everywhere always in on and around him. They dont seem to bother each other. I like to think they are friends and keep each other company. Pluse the lizards eat all the bugs which is nice....but i also have big toads and frogs that come and visit all the time too.

 

[mainey34]

Funny you have mentioned that , tom. I have never seen a frog in Arizona. Well just the other day there was one swimming in my pool. Funny how compatible most reptiles are..

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Funny you have mentioned that , tom. I have never seen a frog in Arizona. Well just the other day there was one swimming in my pool. Funny how compatible most reptiles are..

Frogs are amphibians, not reptiles. Both are termed "herptiles," though.

Yeah, maybe these different species just coexist well because they have similar requirements.

 

[Angi]

Frogs loved my boxie pens. I miss my frogs and my TONS of lizards
I think the pens atract other critters. I found a few snakes in the pens to