My sons where given a young collared lizard. A friend at school had a female that laid eggs and didn't have room for all the little ones once they hatched, so we took one of them in as we had the empty viv. The problem is my dear hubby keeps giving it crickets that are almost twice the size of the poor thing's head! I keep telling him that the lizard needs crickets that are no bigger than the space between its eyes, but he says "Really? That small?!." and keeps giving it the bigger ones. Will this cause problems for the lizard? I'm just a bit concerned. The problem is that I don't always find them till I see them hanging out of his mouth, him struggling to swallow what looks like a giant black alien... oof! Otherwise I would just take them out of the tank, no worries.

Prey that is to big can cause impaction. In the long run, your lizard will suffer.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Oh c***! Is there a way to get it from the lizard once its got it in its mouth or do I need to find a way to run hubby over with the cosmic semi?

I'd run the hubby over, lol. Just keep an eye on the little guy and if you dont see any poo anytime soon, then give him a good warm soak and rub his belling from sternum to vent. Then make sure to get him the appropriate size crickets

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Ask Hubby how he would feel about trying to swallow the Thanksgiving turkey whole!
The size would be about the same!

The problem with feeding prey that is too big, particularly crickets, is their shells. They are so big that the lizard may not be able to pass the undigestible parts and it will end up lodged in the digestive tract essentially blocking the passage of anything else. This can also lead to paralysis of the back legs as the blockage builds up pressure.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Yeah, it's time to retrain the hubby. I would buy pinhead crickets or small meal worms to ensure that he doesn't feed it too large of prey otherwise you might have impaction issues.

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"If you're not falling, you're not trying." - Sonni Trotter

~*~Lacey~*~

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The problem with buying anything is that we can't get them here. I have to breed them myself. I live 150 miles from anywhere I can get them and shipping to here is expensive unless I buy in a greater quantity than what one little lizard would eat. Then I end up with a bunch that are either dieing in cold storage or getting to big to feed to him. *sigh* I'll just have to try and explain it again. I'll see if showing him this thread (or bits of it at least ) might not run the cosmic semi over him... LOL!!

Sounds like you might want to start breeding.

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LOL you might be surprised as to what one little lizard can eat!
If you order much smaller than you need you can be feeding off most of them before the others grow out.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!