Re: Is there such thing as a RAINBOW SWIFT?

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Posted by brad wilson on November 11, 2002 at 09:43:28:

In Reply to: Is there such thing as a RAINBOW SWIFT? posted by ceph on November 07, 2002 at 19:14:55:

As Ingo says, that's a male Emerald Swift.

I wish I'd kept the info on file, but a couple months ago a gentleman who lived in Costa Rica made a presentation to our herp club. He indicated that emerald swifts lived in his yard (he had photos) which was definitely not a high altitude area. As I recall the altitude was just a few hundred meters at most. I checked the high and low temps for that city and they ranged mostly from the 60s to 80s year round. Of course emeralds range into higher areas with greater weather extremes.

My son has raised two emerald swifts from their birth (they popped out from a shipment at a petstore he worked at) and they have absolutely thrived. They've grown from tiny lizards to about 6" adults (maybe longer - they are hard to measure) who are extremely active. They have great appetites, shed properly, and show signs of mating (they are a male and female pair).

The setup that works for them is not quite as extreme as Ingo recommends. The ambient temps are in the 70s and 80s during the day and 60s and 70s at night. There is an incandescent basking light which provides temps in the 90s and 100s. They often bask hanging upside down from the screen directly under the light. There are also two 18" low-UV bulbs (GE Sunshine aka Chroma 50s) that the swifts also bask directly under.

The tank is a 29-gallon "tall" tank. I don't have the dimensions at hand but it's about 30" long, 13" wide and maybe 24" tall. It is heavily planted and has cork bark tubes and branches that provide plenty of climbing, basking and hiding areas. The enclosure is misted twice a day.

They would definitely enjoy a larger enclosure, but the current setup works quite well as it provides many nooks and crannies for them to explore and hide in. Also, since they are basically "captive bred" or at least "captive born" they have probably adapted better than a wild caught specimen.

They are fed mostly crickets and mealworms, usually dusted with calcium/D3 powder. Once a week they also get multivitamin powder. They also like wax worms and go nuts when a fly or moth gets in their cage.

good luck. they are very entertaining lizards who do well in a natural-looking setup.

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