Thorny Devils

These creatures look amazing.

Anyone ever come in contact with them or anyone that has keep them as pets?

Here are some cool pics I found:

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

I don't think any exist in US collections...besides zoos maybe. The australians like to bogart their local wildlife.:(

love the wicking action of their skin... but jason, you may know better than i would, but i don't even think zoos have them do they?

I doubt if many zoos have them. They will apparently eat only a certain type of ant found in their region, so unless a zoo can sustain a large ant colony they won't last very long.

I agree, though... they are amazing lizards.

It's amazing the way they move to mimic the wind rushing through a thorn bush.

Thorny devils rock :D ,
a few years ago a friend of mine had a trio of thorny devils VERY CUTE! :D , the guy she got them off told her how he fed them on normal every day ants :eek: , he dips a cotton bud in vinegar and dabs it on the ants adomens also works on pin head crickets from a plant sprayer , at first i thought he was having a laugh at her expense and was ripping her off but when i saw her doing this trick they were flying at them clearing them up like little vacuums cleaners :eek: quite a fuss thou as the are fed every day and eat ALOT , she swapped them after having them a few years in the end for a pair of GTPS,

Wow, that's pretty interesting and does seem like a lot of work. What was the purpose of dabbing the ants with vinegar?

probably to mimick the natural scent/taste etc of the ant so the lil devil will eat regular ants instead of just the crazy aussie ants. lol

yup gooseman exactly right :)

I was acctually abe to come in contact with one while traveling in Australia. here he is with me:

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...01037Small.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...01038WinCE.jpg

steveo, that trio was possibly smuggled into the country, since australia doesn't export any of its herptofauna, and i haven't heard of anyone breeding them here in the US at least, or even being bred in captivity.

~mike