free roaming.....

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Posted by Glacius on January 25, 2003 at 17:03:54:

In Reply to: Re: Enclosures posted by jakeyjakers on January 24, 2003 at 22:49:30:

*raises hand*

i used to let my lizard free roam full time, only in my bedroom and bathroom though. i did have to "lizard proof" the room though (sorta like child proofing but for little grean beasts).

some advice i can give....
1) climbing: they will climb EVERYTHING. so, if you have anything that you don't want 15 pounds of lizard claws tearing through...deal with it.

a few big items for me were....
stereo speakers: i covered them with blankets
mini-blinds: i pulled them up
knocking stuff off tables/dressers/nightstands:
I put those things away in drawers or in tupperware containers

2) things they can swallow: loose change, lint, any cleaning solution, etc.....put it where the lizard cannot get to it. this means you'll have to vaccuum and stuff often.

3) heat sorces: the little grean bastards WILL find them. so check them and make sure they are safe...things to consider: compressors on refrigerators, stereo/computer equipment, heaters(for your home). if it's too hot, find a way to prevent the lizard from accessing it.

4) heat/uv stuff: when i moved her out of her 55 gal aquarium i found keeping her the right temperature to be much more difficult. i used those mercury vapor lights (powerSun) and they seem to generate a LOT of heat and they are *supposed* to project UVB farther distances than the tube bulbs. i made her a basking structure out of PVC pipe and towels (for traction). PVC is cheap, it's strong, it's light, and even a goon like me can build with it (like playing with legos when i was a kid :) ).

5) potty training. put food in lizard...lizard craps...a LOT. i used one of those hospital bed pans (about the size/shape of a litter box), and cut the top several inches off (so she could climb in/out of it). i smoothed the rough edges from the cut down with a cigarette lighter. i weighted it down with a big rock from the yard, and filled it with these paper chips (NOT wood--these things look like little shreds of recycled paper with no dyes.) finally, i put the whole thing on a plastic sheet. (those things that crazy old people use to cover furniture work well...)

they are creatures of habit...so i'd just watch her and when she had that "i'm going to crap on the carpet" gleam in her eye, i'd stick her in the litter box and she'd do her thing. seems like it took a little over a month before she was trained, but after that...life was good. she'd climb in on her own and do her thing.

sometimes they mess the carpet.... baking soda and woolite carpet cleaner work well :)

...the lizard gets A LOT of happy space to roam around, and you get an uber lizard living in your den.

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