I encourage you to read the following ... It may make you reconsider what you are doing to your lizard in the above photograph:
Your lizard is not "going to sleep" or "playing dead". It's having difficulty breathing and could suffocate if kept in that position for a period of time. Lizards do not have diaphragms to help them breath. Their ribs moving in and out actually cause their lungs to inflate and deflate. When a lizard is held upside down or on their back their stomach pushes on their lungs making it difficult for them to breathe and will eventually result in suffocation. Please do not do this to your lizard.
sabbathsmom
Feb 22, 2004 4:57 PM
Rating: 5/5
yes i know that i am not stupid
i do not do it for longe periods of time only long enough to take a pic of there beautiful bells
I AM SORRY YOU CANT SEE THE BEAUTY OF THIS SPINY LIZARD
MissMuffet
Feb 22, 2004 10:30 PM
Don't you get it? Your lizard is suffering! It doesn't matter that it's not for a long period of time. When I look at this picture I see a lizard that is having a difficult time breathing. It doesn't matter that you don't keep it in that position long enough to suffocate it. Even being on it's back for 2 seconds is harming it. It's like sitting an elephant on your chest for 2 seconds and expecting it to not bother you. I don't understand why this is so hard to comprehend. Are you that selfish to put your lizard through something like that just so you can show off their belly? Don't you see that it is not struggling? Lizards struggle if they are feeling afraid or trapped, your lizard is not, it is paralyzed and petrified because it is HAVING TROUBLE BREATHING. This picture actually really upsets me because I UNDERSTAND the science behind why your lizard is frozen in this position. Ten seconds or ten minutes, it just doesn't seem worth it to me ... Just my opinion.
Blue-Tongue
Feb 24, 2004 1:45 AM
its belly is nice but a blue tongues tongue is better
Blotch
Mar 1, 2004 11:28 PM
Miss Muffett - Thanks for that post re suffocation - I take it that applies to BTS too, However they tend to squirm alot which makes it harder to have them on their backs. I can tell you I won't be doing that - Thanks again! :)
kamido
Mar 2, 2004 12:29 PM
You can take a picture of your lizard's belly without putting it on it's back. put it on a piece of plexiglass or even on a glass table. Turn off your flash and click the picture. Then people can see the belly how it is meant to be seen.
CrocoStimpy
Jul 13, 2004 9:15 PM
Ok, let's all stop and think about this logically for just one minute. Do you actually mean to suggest that the pressure placed on the lungs of this animal by its own digestive organs is proportional to the pressure an elephant would put on a human chest. Listen to what you're saying. Save your hyperbole for situations that warrant it. Also, let us all consider the much less demanding reptilian metabolism. The requirement for oxygen is much smaller than for their mammalian counterparts. Certainly a quick flip for a snapshot isn't going to harm your lizards. I've seen this same pseudoscience espoused on some silly Canadian site about water dragons. Actually, this might very well be the same author warning us about "flipping our lizards" (man, that sounds dirty). Instead of blindly buying in to these warnings, let's all use our noggins. Think of examples from your own herp experiences. How many of you have seen a gecko clinging contently to the underside of a branch. Are these animals dropping dead to the ground of respiratory distress? What about the water dragon's curious habit of sinking to the bottoms of their water basins for minutes at a time? Are they suffocating themselves in some sort of weird lizard suicide? There are countless other examples. I'm sure you all can think of your own. Ok, before I get flamed to death, here's my bottom line: Do I think we all should flip our lizards onto their backs for hours on end to see what happens? No. Certainly that would be detrimental to their health. Do I think it is harmful to flip them over for a quick snapshot? Not a chance. Think people, think. Let's not blindly accept any and every nugget of "science" we're fed.
championracing
Jul 15, 2004 11:36 PM
Rating: 5/5
thats correct it does not harm him at all
snakemister101
Jul 20, 2004 10:15 PM
Rating: 5/5
I caught one of those, and kept it for over 2 yrs in a 50 gallon tank, then it died. mine was just like that, only it wasn't that much blue, the patches were a bit smaller. I caught it running in a wood pile in Noble County Ohio. I never knew there were lizards in Ohio until i caught that one! it also doubled in size so i assume it was a baby when i caught it.
