Collared lizards?

LIZARDLOVER

LIZARDLOVER

New Member
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514
Location
Colorado
Does anyone have any expirience with keeping collared lizards? I have been thinking about getting one. Any general advice on their care would be nice, too.:)
 
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chad ramsey

Guest
well the first thing you have to remember is they need UV lighting. i've keeped a trio in a 35 long. in my opinion they are one of the most beautiful lizards out there. and each one has a personality of their own in my experiance they have been a delight. what species where you going to try and get?
 
LIZARDLOVER

LIZARDLOVER

New Member
Messages
514
Location
Colorado
I am going for the Eastern variaty. That's the blue, yellow, and green if I'm right. I think that I will try and catch one.
 
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chad ramsey

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if you're going to do that make sure it's not an adult male. if it is he will die in captivity make sure it's a juvie. with adult males when they are taken out of the wild they figure that they don't have a life worth living anymore and so they just wilt away. so make sure and get a juvie male if you do get a male that is
 
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chad ramsey

Guest
where are you going to get it from? not all easterns have the yellow heads.
and some are barely even green.
 
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chad ramsey

Guest
check the herp laws first there might be some prohibiting the capture of them. but im not positive. also when you go out and catch them they can come with all kinds of parasites including ticks and mites. be careful not to have them spread to your other animals.
 
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Gecko

Guest
I'd really go captive bred. These are smarter then normal lizards for an iguana type thing and the captivity thing can really stress them out. Go big for cage. Keep them occupied. Maybe track down a book called Desert Lizards.
 
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chad ramsey

Guest
i'm actually about half way through a collard lizard book that my brother and i are writing. it's going to be both about natural history, captive care, and a ton of other stuff. it will be on all crotaphytus species.
 
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ileventhal86

Guest
Crotaphytus insularis bicinctores, the desert collared lizard, that is what is in Colorado, west to Oregon. I kept a trio for a while as well. General rule is to grab juveniles if you need to get WC animals. CB ones are intermittently available and highly preferable. Mine were adults and did fine however.

Absolutely stunning and intelligent animals. I'd love to get another pair sometime.
 
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chad ramsey

Guest
crotaphytus collaris also lives in colorado. i've caught some there just across the utah colorado border. i'd still prefer that you get captive born and bred specimens. then you won't have to worry about mites and other parasites.
 
Brhaco

Brhaco

New Member
Messages
127
Location
Boerne, TX
chad ramsey said:
if you're going to do that make sure it's not an adult male. if it is he will die in captivity make sure it's a juvie. with adult males when they are taken out of the wild they figure that they don't have a life worth living anymore and so they just wilt away. so make sure and get a juvie male if you do get a male that is
Click to expand...

Chad,

I'm surprised to hear you say this. I've had a lot of success with wild caught male collards-IF they arrive in good shape (or better yet are personally collected), and are given a LARGE cage. Below is an image of a gorgeous and healthy male yellow-head collected by a friend in extreme north Texas last Spring. Below is one of his females (who has already produced a fertile clutch and is gravid for a second). I think they do best if kept with two or three females.


99190collaredM-med.jpg


99190CollaredF-med.jpg
 
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ileventhal86

Guest
chad ramsey said:
crotaphytus collaris also lives in colorado. i've caught some there just across the utah colorado border. i'd still prefer that you get captive born and bred specimens. then you won't have to worry about mites and other parasites.
Click to expand...


That's true! It's sad that they aren't bred more in captivity. It seems like common sense, not taking them from the wild (on an industry basis), less parasites, healthier animals. Ages known.

Are any of you guys breeding them in decent numbers or at all??
 
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chad ramsey

Guest
i've breed them on and off. i had a female lay her fisrt cluth late last summer and two hatched. they are gorgeous little babies too.
 
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chad ramsey

Guest
as to the other post. if a male is caught before he has established an area of dominance then he will be fine. but if you catch a dominate male he will waste away. they had a perfect life there and then it's gone so they in a sense give up the will to live.
 
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