Re: Long Tailed Grass Lizard Questions

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Posted by Esther on June 11, 2002 at 18:33:58:

In Reply to: Long Tailed Grass Lizard Questions posted by Ray on June 11, 2002 at 15:59:50:

These little guys are absolutely delightful. They like to have lots of vertical climbing opportunities, like vertical plants and branches, and they seem to like vegetative ground cover as well, like a silk vine arranged on the ground.

I keep mine in a 20 long under a Reptisun 5.0 uvb bulb and have a 40W incandescent bulb in a silver dome fixture, with a couple of 15W fish bulbs to fill in dark spots. I will soon move them, along with my green anoles, which are great companions for Tachydromus, to a 20 high with lots of silk trees and vines.

A ten gallon would be a bit cramped for anything but babies, as their tails are magnificently lavish, being a couple or more times their body length.

Be AWARE that grass lizards have surprisingly deep scales on their bellies, which usually harbor nasty black mites. Before adding them to their new home, you should put them in a tepid water bath about 3/4" deep with a half-capful of Wesson oil added and leave them there UNDER SUPERVISION for about 15 minutes. Then take them out and very carefully search for black mites emerging from under the belly scales, picking them off carefully with fine forceps and dropping the darn mites into a cup of alcohol to kill them. You may have to swab their bellies (not the whole animal) with a Q-tip of vegetable oil to really suffocate the nasty mites and get them to come out where you can pick them off.

Takydromus and green anoles enjoy a misting of their quarters like twice a day. Mine have learned to drink from a parakeet watering tube, the kind with a glass test tube capped with a narrow plastic drinking trough. I snap the test tube into an aquarium heater holder (fits perfectly) and remove the suction cups from the heater holder. Then I put the stubs where the suction cups used to be into the open underside of one of those plastic universal bird cage perches. You may need to add a couple of rubber bands to secure this. Then I slide the attachment end of the perch to the narrow plastic rim of the aquarium and it hangs in space. You can push the waterer up or down until it just about rests on the substrate. The lizards will lap their water daintily from it like cats. The narrow trough helps keep dirt out of their water. I add a "cricket guard" of a 1" piece of plastic needlepoint canvas, which I roll up so as to fit inside the bottom portion of the test tube, with about 1/4" emerging. Then I snap on the plastic trough part, which fills with water, but crickets can't get in and float upwards.

Good luck with your Tachydromus!

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: These little guys are absolutely delightful. They like to have lots of vertical climbing opportunities, like vertical plants and branches, and they seem to like vegetative ground cover as well, like a silk vine arranged on the ground. : I keep mine in a 20 long under a Reptisun 5.0 uvb bulb and have a 40W incandescent bulb in a silver dome fixture, with a couple of 15W fish bulbs to fill in dark spots. I will soon move them, along with my green anoles, which are great companions for Tachydromus, to a 20 high with lots of silk trees and vines. : A ten gallon would be a bit cramped for anything but babies, as their tails are magnificently lavish, being a couple or more times their body length. : Be AWARE that grass lizards have surprisingly deep scales on their bellies, which usually harbor nasty black mites. Before adding them to their new home, you should put them in a tepid water bath about 3/4" deep with a half-capful of Wesson oil added and leave them there UNDER SUPERVISION for about 15 minutes. Then take them out and very carefully search for black mites emerging from under the belly scales, picking them off carefully with fine forceps and dropping the darn mites into a cup of alcohol to kill them. You may have to swab their bellies (not the whole animal) with a Q-tip of vegetable oil to really suffocate the nasty mites and get them to come out where you can pick them off. : Takydromus and green anoles enjoy a misting of their quarters like twice a day. Mine have learned to drink from a parakeet watering tube, the kind with a glass test tube capped with a narrow plastic drinking trough. I snap the test tube into an aquarium heater holder (fits perfectly) and remove the suction cups from the heater holder. Then I put the stubs where the suction cups used to be into the open underside of one of those plastic universal bird cage perches. You may need to add a couple of rubber bands to secure this. Then I slide the attachment end of the perch to the narrow plastic rim of the aquarium and it hangs in space. You can push the waterer up or down until it just about rests on the substrate. The lizards will lap their water daintily from it like cats. The narrow trough helps keep dirt out of their water. I add a "cricket guard" of a 1" piece of plastic needlepoint canvas, which I roll up so as to fit inside the bottom portion of the test tube, with about 1/4" emerging. Then I snap on the plastic trough part, which fills with water, but crickets can't get in and float upwards. : Good luck with your Tachydromus!

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