Platysaurus imperator(Emperor Flat Rock Lizard).....

[slayer]

Male

Female

Since theres little to none as far as real captive husbandry infomation i can find out there about them, i decided to just set them up alot like my Ackies are in a soild topped trough. The only differences being that the EFR's have alot more tighter stacks then the Ackies, their ambient temps are a bit cooler(high 70'sF on the cool side vs low 80s) and theres alot less soil thats more earthy then i give the Ackies.
Im also keeping their top covered so they cant see out since these things are VERY shy(like you never see then shy )
As they acclimate ill change things if i have to based on what i see from them.

You can see here how tight they like their crevices

For nesting im planing on using some moss stuffed in a cork tube since its the only "hint" on nesting them ive found so far and obviously the soil substrate as well.

I really dont like buying WC but i just had to take a crack at breeding these things. So heres to hope

 

[slayer]

Just a mini report
These guys have been out a bit and are gulping down crickets. Problem is i cant see them lol
The moment i move the covering to take a look they are gone in a flash.
Most times this is all i see

Thats the females nose poking out the second level of the stack.
Thankfully i think im getting good at telling whos who by silhouet through the trough sides Its the male whos out more.
Scat size and amout make me think hes getting the lions share of the food. I may start feeding them more.to be on the safe side.
I have no idea is either one has used the top level basking spot(which is totaly fine by me) but have seen both basking hidden under that top board. In the future i might key in that tops spots temp to that of the second level they have been basking at to see if that changes their behavior(heat vs security).
I appologize for the crappy pics but these guys are so danm fast and shy its not even funny. Durring routine cage maintence its just snap as fast as you can just to get a blur or they are in such a tight, dark, spot even with flash or a flash light you cant get a good pic. Im not about to stress them out by tearing things up for a good pic
Thankfully for me when i do see them out they are stunning

male

Female

This one shows how dark and tight they can go

 

[slayer]

Well i set up my webcam to record these guys when im not home and they seem to have developed a pattern for who comes out when.The males is out at around noon till 3 pm moving around the stack only. He stays hidden in the stack till around 6pm when he comes back out to patrole his wood pile again till about 10pm. Durring his times out ive yet to seem him bask on the top level but he does use the second and he seems to snap up only the crickets that get too close.The female is a nut lol. She comes out from her hide just after midnight and is all over the enclosure hunting down crickets like there is no tommorow. She explores every inch of the enclosure vs him never leaving the stack. Shes out non stop till 6am when the sounds of everyone waking up scares her back in for the day.She also does back flips.

 

[slayer]

Well i was luck enough to get a copy of this captive breeding report out of the San Diego Zoo(only documented case i can find) Gray Lovich, K. (2005). Care and breeding of the emperor flat lizard, Platysaurus imperator, in captivity. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 40(11): 201-203. ISSN: 0009-3564.


In it they describe this species taking grapes in lieu of the figs they eat in the wild. I gave the pair ten grapes last night cut in halfs an low and behold only 11 pieces left this morning.

 

[slayer]

Finally caught the male basking
[video=youtube;t9cszXc8k1Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9cszXc8k1Q[/video]

They start coming out at around 1:20:00 in

I do have a video of them pigging out on grapes but youtube wants to be an ass and not let me upload it

 

[OhioGecko]

The video is a great idea. Thanks for sharing this with us!

 

[slayer]

Its my pleasure to share them

Here some grape eating
[video=youtube;fiEsPWXr2EM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiEsPWXr2EM&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[slayer]

Well if youve been skimming through the videos its pretty apparent both the male and female base most of their time in and on the stack(but do use/explore the rest at times). The basking area also seems to be a bit too hot for the males total comfort, but the female digs it. All that in mind i decided to up the ambient heat(lows in the low to mid 80's) and add a couple other open basking options(120ish and 130ish). I also added more stacks to their "outcropping"
They seem to approve so im gonna leave things as is and continue to observe.
[video=youtube;khGyDaiOU-A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khGyDaiOU-A[/video]

When the male is basking at 3:11:00 you can really see how impressive he is even with the crappy cam
If it wasnt for video i would have no idea what was going on with these guys. I never see them in real life

 

[slayer]

Some tail waving behavior i recorded about a week ago.
You can see the male do the tail wagging starting at 1:15:00 when the girl first pops out, but both the male and female do this tail thing a few times through out the vid.
[video=youtube;iHnF66e9n30]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHnF66e9n30[/video]

Was also able to get a couple of half way decent pics of these guys for once

 

[Polypterus]

This lizards are one of my dream teptiles, but they are very rare in Hungary. I see one in a reptile show, It was not too expensive, but I haven't got free terrarium.

 

[slayer]

Havent seen these guys in a couple of months so i decided to pull them out and check on them. Theyve gained some size and are looking good.

 

[slayer]

Dug up another clutch from these guys today and as seems the norm I missed them by a bit Both are in my incubator cooking now but they are pretty dried out. One im 90% sure is too far gone the other 75% sure but ill give them a chance.
This is the 4th clutch ive gotten from them and the forth ive missed. Its just so damn hard to know when to look with a species that you NEVER, EVER, EVER see. Im going to have to re-evaluate some things if im going to get live offspring from them.
Other then that the pair looks like a million bucks still and are healthy as can be.

 

[LeopardGeckoMom]

They look so pretty! :main_yes: What gorgeous reptiles!
I hope you get some babies!

 

[slayer]

A small glimmer of hope