Wait. Feeder lizards, what?

ichthyogeek said:

Ok. I've heard of feeder fish, no big deal. Feeder chickens/birds, for those large birdivorous snakes, sure no problem. Rats, mice are staples, ok. But FEEDER LIZARDS? Can somebody explain to me what would eat a lizard, and why it would be better than a bird/mammal/etc.? i just can't visualize something eating an anole unless it was some sort of large mammal/bird, like a pig...or a dog/cat.

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There are certain species of snakes, typically rear-fanged colubrids, that specialize in preying upon other reptiles, namely lizards. Feeder anoles are a good staple for them as either a primary prey item, or they use them to scent other prey items in order to switch them over to say a diet of rodents. As pointed out earlier, there are also species of monitor lizards that are specialized reptile hunters. While typically not required as they're easily fed a staple diet of insects and rodents, people sometimes opt to use feeder lizards as part of their diet as well.

Then you also have some snakes that will only eat other snakes in some situations. Such as king cobras. They are snake hunters in the wild, and occasionally a keeper will have a specimen that will only accept prey items of other snakes. In this case, ball pythons are typically used as the prey item.

There are many reasons to utilize feeder anoles and house geckos, actually.

I have to say, it really sounds like folks need to get out a bit more! What eats lizards? Most anything that can catch one and get it in their mouth as they are great nutrients and totally safe to eat when speaking of the simple gecko or anole. Blue birds feed them to their young. It's a pretty marvelous thing and we have seen it several times. The young bird does a big gulp and is immediately standing there waiting for more!
Gecko are a very common little lizard in the Central Texas area and most anything will eat them. Bluejays are good at catching them and they often fly to top of our privacy fence to eat them. Some birds have the big expandable neck, just so they can eat big things without tearing them down.
Maybe think of pelicans to see there is something out there designed to eat almost everything else! Something that comes in as small a size as a lizard is definitely on the menu if something catches them.
Cats that live inside are the only one who doesn't eat lizards!