"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
...



MaryL wrote:


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We have those same lizards here (East Texas). We also have little pink
geckos. They are actually quite pretty and and are almost translucent. I
enjoy having all of them around, and I get *lots* of them. They are great
for catching mosquitos and small insects. One problem is that one will
occasionally get in the house. I hate that because they won't last long
with two cats unless I get to them first (in which case, I place them
safely outdoors). When I first moved to Texas, I grabbed an anole by the
tail in preparation to placing it outdoors. Much to my horror, the tail
fell off and the rest of the anole went running! That's when I learned
that the tails will grow back on those lizards, although usually not to
the same length. I have been very careful since then not to pick one up
by the tail.

MaryL

That must have been what my cats had trapped on the doorsill between the
screen and the inner door, one night. I was trying to persuade it to
head OUT, not IN, with cat paws competing with my efforts. When the
tail came off, it looked as though the hind legs came too. The front
part of the lizard took off, while the tail kept squirming wildly on the
pavement outside the screen-door.


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Yes, that's it. The tail will squirm for awhile, but there are no legs
attached to it. It sounds like something out of a horror movie, but the
lizard will survive and grow a new tail. However, it is stressful to the
lizard, and it is more susceptible to predators during that period. The
term for the process is autotomy.
http://www.anapsid.org/tailloss.html

MaryL