Mexican Arboreal alligator lizard!

shells-n-scales

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 14, 2007
436
2
0
Deep South Texas
davo;4144769; said:
They can get really blue can't they. Do you know if this is a locality trait or just random variations? What temperatures do you keep them at? Do you give them specific drops? How easy are they to breed?

Davo,

From what I've read and what I've experienced the "blue" animals are due to lack of some sort of vitamin or nutrients. Like WC Chameleons that enter the trade... they lose they're colors to some extent. Very few people have been able to maintan that BRIGHT GREEN and YELLOW, most animals turn turqoise or blue.

I'm starting to collect natural field fauna (grasshoppers, jun bugs, snails, etc..) and add it to they're diet. I dont want to lose the green coloration. Its also been suggested that Allen Repashy's product called SUPERPIG can help aswell.

There are some locality specific differences.. some have blue eyes and grow slightly larger than the ones that have black eyes. Coloration also varies, like the one Milokai (I think I spelled right) has, is suppose to be from a certain mountain range (or area) in Veracruz, and mine from another (dontknow the name) But then again, they all might be from same area, varaition is huge.

I keep these guys in our bedroom (75F) with a spot light that gives them a basking gradient of 85-90F. They're tolerable of cold weather in some of the areas they're found it drops down to freezing temps at night. Breeding is straight forward (get a male and a female), and the great thing about them is that they are live bearers.





 

coura

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 13, 2008
6,399
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0
europe
Yours shure look healty. Regarding the color changes I may be able to help you, in basilisks and water dragons it happens just that and you can reverce it by feeding carotenoid rich foods to the feeder insects (carrots, dark leafy greens). Your idea of using field insects is a great one if you can get them from a uncontaminated source.
 

milokai

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 4, 2006
2,158
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0
island cavite PI
very nice bro!!!
 

Death Pony

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
They're a lot smaller than they look!
 

shells-n-scales

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 14, 2007
436
2
0
Deep South Texas
foto69man;4153002; said:
So what are some of the basics of their care? I am very intrigued by these little guys. And what is their max size/length?
House them like leaftailed geckos ( you know with corkbark, live plants, branches, moss, etc) -minus the glass aquarium. Well I've seen people house them in tanks, but it's suggested to house them in screen cages. I'll post photos of my setups this weekend.

They're not that big, a few inches longer than crocodile skinks (they have long tails) but similar in snout to vent length.
 
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