Collard lizards

[danread]

Hi,

I just bought a pair of collard lizards as a christmas present to myself. They are about 9" long including the tail, but i don't think they are that old as they are still quite slim. They are by far the most entertaining lizard pet i have kept yet. The leopard geckos and tokays i have had i the past were nice, but nowhere near as active. These jump all over the place and spend most of the day scuttling around the tank, looking for food and trying to escape. First pic is of the tank i'm keeping them in. The female is on the left, and the male can be seen hiding under the log.

 

[danread]

here's a few pics of the female, unfortunately the male wasn't out when i had the camera out, so i'll have to post some pics of him tomorrow.

 

[danread]

basking

 

[danread]

another

 

[danread]

last one

Cheers,

Dan.

 

[GQ.]

Crotaphytus are one of my favorite lizards to see in the field. I used to love seeing them perched atop boulders on the side of the road while I was herping. They are a blast to watch as they take off on their hindlegs at any sign of danger. Very cool!
Please make sure you have a very hot basking spot for them. The temp for the basking spot should be 35 - 40C. The rest of the cage should offer a temperature gradient from 24 to 32C with only a slight drop at night. You might also want to include a higher basking spot under part of the basking area to offer the lizard a vertical thermal gradient under the basking spot. I believe they also need a UVB light for proper calcium metabolism.

 

[MrT]

What do you feed Collard lizards?
Collard greens. LOL



E

 

[Craig]

I hope I do not upset you by saying this, but the lizards look a bit dehydrated. Were they wild caught? If they were you should take a fecal sample to you vet. they could have internal parasites. Most wild caught reptiles do. I just treated one of my tree boas for internal parasite infection. I’d see how they do, and if in a could weeks their hydration does not improve bring them to the vet. I’d also suggest soaking them once a day. for about 10 minutes. (that’s what I would do) I love collard lizards. I think they are very attentive and have great personalities. Hopefully your guys will do ok, but please get them checked out if they do not start to fill out in a week. good luck congrats on your new lizards.

 

[danread]

GQ,

yes, they do have a nice hot basking spot, the light is a 100w bulb, and it raises the temp up to about 39 degrees celcius directly under it. The far side of the tank is about 25 degrees during the day. I've also got an under tank heater that switches on at night to keep the temps up. I've just finished putting in a UV light that arrived in the post today, its a reptisun 5.0 (30% UVA, 5% UVB). Does that sound powerful enough? Its a 36 inch 30w tube that runs the length of the tank, as i heard they had high UV requirements.

Thanks for the advice craig. I've only just got them, and i've a feeling thet they were a bit underfed in the pet store i got them from. They have both been eating ravenously since i got them, so hopefully they should fill out (do you have any pics of healthy collards that i could compare with?). If they dont, i will get a feacal sample done and get some medication for parasites. How should i soak them. Would it be ok to do it in a sink? How warm should the water be, just warm to the touch? 25 degrees? And how deep should it be, deep enough for them to stand in or so they can swim around?
As they are a pair, i've been thinking about possibly breeding them when they are abit older. For this they need a hibernation period of a couple of months at about 10-15 degrees. Have you done this before. And if you have, how do you manage to keep them at that temperature? It would be too warm in the house, and too cold to keep them in the garage or outside. Any ideas as to how i could do it? Thanks for the info.

Cheers,

Dan.

 

[GQ.]

Craig was right on about the dehydration. They are definitely thin. Unfortunately, every one I have ever seen in a pet store looks about the same to much much worse. All pet store Crotaphytus are almost invariably wild caught. Healthy wild collared lizards have a very rounded tail and the spine is not so visible. I have a few pictures of them in storage somewhere. I'll try to dig some up. Check out the website www.azreptiles.com Click on the lizard identification tab. Click through the fields until you reach the collared lizards. They have a small article on them with a good picture of two healthy adults.
As Craig suggested, you might try soaking them. I would put them in a Cool Whip container with holes on top or sides. Place the container in your cage in a slightly warm area (not under the basking spot!). Place them in the container for half a day or more. Check on them often. There should only be a bit of water in the bottom. Definitely no more than could cover up their head. Good luck with them. As for the reptisun bulb, good start. I'm not up on my UVB bulbs manufacturers so I don't know how that rates in comparison to other bulbs. It is probably a good start, but you may want to research it a bit. Good luck!

ps. There are also forums on Collared Lizards and on Herp Health at Kingsnake.com. Both would be great resources for you to utilize.

 

[manville]

neat looking lizard

 

[atavuss]

you want to see some well fed and colorful collared lizards? check this out:
http://www.collaredlizard.com/collared.htm#photos
I have bought several collared lizards from this dealer. they are all CB. very personable and active lizards!
Ed

 

[GQ.]

Beautiful lizards on that website! It is good to know people are captive breeding them.

 

[danread]

Hey GQ,

thanks. I've tried soaking them, and they are looking a bit better. The male is reasonable fat already, but the female is definitely looking underweight and doesn't seem to be improving rapidly. She is still very active and alert. Do you think it is worth waiting a week or two before i go to the vet, or is it something that should be sorted out urgently? Thanks again.

Dan.

 

[GQ.]

If you have your husbandry techniques down and the lizard is not responding you will probably have to make a vet trip. If it were a snake of mine I would take it to the vet. Once an animal is in bad shape they can go down hill very fast. The lizard might not make it two weeks. I would also probably keep them on newspaper or something similar as a substrate if they are wild caughts. At least do that until you can get them deparasitized. Parasite loads can build up to untolerable loads very quickly in captivity. Keeping them on a substrate that is easily maintained and changed helps cut down on that problem. I'm sorry I can't be more help to you. It seems you are doing all you can do and are truly interested in taking good care of them. Unfortunately, wild caught animals are a bit more problematic to get started than captive bred animals. What makes it harder is when they are not in the best of health coming from the pet store. I wish you the best of luck! If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I am far from an expert, but I'll help if I can.