# Thorny Devils



## Jeannine (May 28, 2010)

*on all the sites i visit i have never seen a post about them or any for sale?

are they just not popular? endangered? or what?

i think they are gorgeous little reptiles *

*thanks *


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## da_donkey (May 28, 2010)

they only eat ants ( only a couple of different types of ants) and lots of them every day, wich makes keeping them very hard.

donks


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## thals (May 28, 2010)

Yep, they love their ants, thousands of them a day too. I only know of a couple of people to keep them in captivity, but there's truly nothing better than admiring them in their natural setting out in the Alice, they are remarkable creatures and always a fave


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## lloydy (May 28, 2010)

I wish i had one..
Would fix my ant problem at home nice and quick!


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## captive_fairy (May 28, 2010)

I've always wanted one...would probably be my favourite reptile.


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## herptrader (May 28, 2010)

Melbourne Museum had a couple for a while. I don't know if they still have them. They had them as part of display that included a large ant colony which was actually the major part of the exhibit.

Sydney Wildlife world has some but they did not keep them alive for overly long.

They are very difficult to keep even if keeping one is your full time occupation.


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## jordo (May 28, 2010)

herptrader said:


> Melbourne Museum had a couple for a while. I don't know if they still have them. They had them as part of display that included a large ant colony which was actually the major part of the exhibit.
> 
> Sydney Wildlife world has some but they did not keep them alive for overly long.
> 
> They are very difficult to keep even if keeping one is your full time occupation.


 
The museum still has 1, it's put on display in the ant enclosure for about an hour each day to feed, and going very well. The one animal is support by 2 ant colonies, which once established don't take much work at all to maintain.


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## noah07 (May 28, 2010)

what sorta ants do they eat can the eat any sort?? i want one they r awesome!!...can u keep them on a class 1 licence??


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## jordo (May 28, 2010)

They eat a few species of the small black ants Iridomyrmex sp. if I'm not mistaken. Last time I saw molochs for sale they weren't cheap so start saving your pennies.
In my opinion, apart from being a bit different in their eating and drinking habits, they're actually not very interesting captives.


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## Jeannine (May 28, 2010)

*mm double reason to have one then

have way to many ants using my yard as a highway from the laneway out the back to the front footpath, a TD would have plenty to et here *


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## GeckoJosh (May 28, 2010)

The ones at the Homebush expo looked nice, Id love to get some but Id hate for them to die as a result of my inadequate husbandry.

Geckoman


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## GeckoJosh (May 28, 2010)

Jeannine said:


> *mm double reason to have one then
> 
> have way to many ants using my yard as a highway from the laneway out the back to the front footpath, a TD would have plenty to et here *


 Im pretty sure they only eat certain species of ant


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## snakeg56 (May 28, 2010)

Alice Springs Reptile park had a couple on display years ago , when Greg had the park near the old camel ride facility, from what i remember one was on display whilst the other was place in a small enclosure on an ant trail.as they will only eat ants this way, when I lived in Port Augusta South Australia, I had them living in my yard as we lived on acreage, it was amazing to see the hatchlings , talk about cute. They are great reptiles but alas really to hard for the average keeper, I know of a fella in Whyalla that was doing reseach on their diet but I hadnt heard any more about that.


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## Nash1990 (May 28, 2010)

I dont know about other states but they arn't on the NSW species list


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## Jeannine (May 28, 2010)

*thanks everyone

guess it wouldnt be fair to have them until they can be safely cared for and a suitable diet found for them

would love to have some, gorgeous lizards *


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## lizardjasper (May 29, 2010)

that's why I need to move to outback Northern Territory, and have ant nests in my backyard.


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## Jeannine (May 29, 2010)

*:lol: oh me too *


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## Sel (May 29, 2010)

thals said:


> Yep, they love their ants, thousands of them a day too. I only know of a couple of people to keep them in captivity, but there's truly nothing better than admiring them in their natural setting out in the Alice, they are remarkable creatures and always a fave



Would definately make my day to see one in the wild!


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## Jeannine (May 29, 2010)

*mine too sel 

have only seen them on doco's on the tv and i would happily lay on the ground if i could see one though getting down and back up might be a bit of a problem lol*


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## BARRAMUNDI (May 31, 2010)

There is actually a really easy way to supply food for them and this is the method Desert park and some other Zoos have successfully kept them.

First of all is to locate suitable Ant colonies within your local area.

Second is to install a log or Termite mound in the enclosure and using a hole saw cut a hole in the back of the log/mound.

Third, supply appropriate heat and UV

Fourth, leave tins of cat and dog food (with traces of food still left in tin) around appropriate ant colonies and collect tins with ants in them, place a lid on them and return them to enclosure and place in hole on back of log/mound. Or make a line in substrate and sprinkle ants along the line. (rotate which colonies you use every couple of days)

Pretty simple once you have found 3 or 4 colonies of the right ants.


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## shane14 (May 31, 2010)

Only eat 1 species of ant which in most part in the southern half comes out in summer only


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## Bushman (May 31, 2010)

Top post Barramundi. Sounds like some good methods employed there. Thanks for sharing them.

Obviously the species of ant that they feed on are endemic to the Moloch's natural range. The big obstacle in keeping them it seems, is whether or not you happen to have the same species in your local area.


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## Bushman (May 31, 2010)

shane14 said:


> Only eat 1 species of ant which in most part in the southern half comes out in summer only


Do you know what species of ant this is Shane?


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## jordo (May 31, 2010)

Ants are very simple to maintain as a colony in captivity once collected and established. Keep them heated, provide a protein source for larvae (dead insects) and a sugar source for adults (maple syrup or honey). Spray half the tank daily.... that's about all there is to it, still don't get why people think keeping molochs is difficult. The only issue is getting the colony started, that's all.


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## BARRAMUNDI (May 31, 2010)

The care sheets and info you find on Thorny Devils state they only eat one particular species. However this is not the case, I was lucky enough to be friends with the first people who had them "legally" in captivity following them hatching an unknown clutch of eggs that were handed in to QPWS. They found they would eat 3 or 4 species of ant that were found in their home town of Pittsworth. 

So its probably a matter of trial and error to find out what other species they will eat.


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## jordo (May 31, 2010)

Yeah they'll attempt to eat several species. The moloch at the melb museum eats a species collected from Ballarat, Vic. I've also observed them trying to eat meat ants, but it's mouth was too small to fit them in.


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## AUSHERP (Jun 4, 2010)

i think they only eat one specie of small black ants, there is a couple of farms down south where you can buy thousands of black ants for stocking educational facilities antfarms such as schools unis and museums. the park in alice springs that had thornys were putting out empty cans of wet dog food at various anthill locations and were being collected to feed to the thornys daily! i believe they had 2-4 employees devoted to ant collection!!! massive job....


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## gecko-mad (Jun 4, 2010)

I reckon thorny devils are one of those animals you can only admire from a far.


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## SuburbanMe (Jun 4, 2010)

Just thought that you guys might like some light reading.


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## Jeannine (Jun 5, 2010)

*thanks suburbanMe*


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## justbrad (Jun 5, 2010)

love the thornies!


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## SuburbanMe (Jun 5, 2010)

Jeannine said:


> *thanks suburbanMe*


 
No worries - i have heaps of these type of papers - majority are regarding blueys though.
Yell out if there's something you'd want, I may have it - I may not - but it's worth asking hey?


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## Jeannine (Jun 5, 2010)

*will yell if i need anything, thanks 

i actually found it a very interesting read *


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