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Posted by eve on April 25, 2003 at 12:31:19:
In Reply to: Here is a good info site, nice pics too>>>>>>>> posted by dennis447 on April 25, 2003 at 12:00:55:
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::: HI am just got two perfect little aquaflame collard babies and was needing some care info and such. Just want to do everything right and can you tell me when they will begin to get their blues and such. The male already has bright orange bands and dots. Any help or info. would be greatly appriciated. Thanks.
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::Hi Dennis, Congratulations on the new aquaflames, they are very pretty, and in a few months with every shed they go through you will notice the blue color showing up more and more, the orange color is something the young ones lose as they age. Here is Will Wells site, he has many photos that you can check out that will help you to see color changes, and a captive care article you can read for temperatures and such. Usually there are more people on here to help whenever you may need to know anything else,*** Oh and we like pictures, HEHEHE, :0) so lets see the kids!*** Hope this helps, :0) Eve
::http://www.mountainboomer.com/crotaphytus/
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:I can not get onto that site have tried to before but it wont load up. See I am on Webtv if you are familiar and they dont allow you to do all that much. SO let me know what I can do thanks.
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Collared lizards make excellent captives as long as their basic requirements are met. These lizards are very active and you can not give them too much room. Adult lizards should be kept in at least a forty gallon aquarium. These lizards are very territorial, no more than one male and two females should be kept together. Sand makes an excellent substrate. Collared lizards are saxicolous, so rocks piles make natural basking sites. If more than one lizard is to be caged together, make several basking sites. Be careful that the rocks can not come down on the lizards when they dig around them. Like most lizards, collared lizards require ultraviolet light. Use a full-spectrum fluorescent bulb along with a incandescent bulb above the basking site. For healthy and colorful lizards, natural sunlight is a must. Collared lizards like it hot: their basking site should be between 100 and 105 degrees. The rest of their cage should be in the high 80's to 90's (degrees F) during the day. Most individuals will drink from a water bowl, but some wild-caught lizards will only drink from water droplets. Mist the rocks and glass in their enclosure to stimulate drinking every few days. Collared lizards eat a lot and can be fed daily. Crickets are the most convenient food source available. It is best to feed them a variety of insects. It is always fun to watch them catch flying insects in mid-air. Some individuals will also eat lizards and pinkies.
Captive bred lizards make excellent pets. Wild caught lizards don't always do as well. Many die from the stress of being taken from their natural environment. They are usually loaded ticks, chiggers, nematodes, and other parasites (McAllister and Trauth, 1985), and will need to be dewormed. Wild caught lizards will often rub their nose raw trying to escape. If the lizard doesn't adapt, it will go off feed until it is too weak to move. It will lose weight and wither away over a period of several weeks. Once this has started, it is almost impossible or very expensive to turn them around.
Collared lizards are fairly easy to breed in captivity. They must hibernate at least two months but can be left in this state for several months. Two weeks before hibernation, stop feeding them so their entire gastro-intestinal tract will be empty. Failure to completely empty the GI tract will result in colitis abd certain death of the lizard during hibernation. Turn off the heat sources and slowly cool the lizards down to between 50 to 60 degrees. If your room doesn't stay cool enough to induce hibernation, you can hibernate them in coolers. I fill the coolers with several inches of damp sand and with a few flat rocks for the lizards to burrow under. I use blue ice (found in Sportng Goods stores) to cool down the coolers and change it out twice a day. Use a thermometer to regulate the temperature. After hibernation, slowly warm the lizards up by keeping them at room temperature for a day or so, then you can turn up the heat. Start feeding the lizards insects dusted with phosphorus-free calcium fortified with vitamin D3. The females will especially need it for strong egg development. Within a few weeks the female lizards will develop their breeding coloration. After the lizards have mated, the female will start to show bulges near its abdomen. At this time, keep a moist spot in the cage and the female will usually lay the eggs in this spot. When she is ready to lay the eggs, she will begin digging. Check her daily, because she will appear skinny after she has deposited the eggs. The eggs must be removed from the cage. Keep them right side up and place them in an incubator. An incubator can be made from a plastic shoe box with a hole, the size of a quarter, cut in the top for air circulation. Fill the shoe box with about three inches of vermiculite and keep the vermiculite moist but not wet. Put the shoe box in a place were the temperature won't drop below the high 70's at night and won't rise above 90 degrees during the warmest part of the day.. Temperature fluctuations will insure that the hatchlings will be of both sexes. As long as the eggs continue to grow they should be fine, even if they turn an off white to brown. In about 40 to 60 days the eggs should be ready to hatch. It take several hours to more than a day for the hatchling to break free from their eggs. Their umbilical cords will remain attached for several days. Hatchling lizards need natural sunlight in order to develop properly. Without it, they will likely perish. They can be fed week old crickets, but they will eat anything they can get their mouths around. Collared lizards grow very fast and within a matter of weeks they can be fed adult crickets.
