I agree with the above, except I think that the babies make better pets. There is high juvenile mortality so there is less impact to the wild population if you decide to keep a juvenile who would most likely not survive to adulthood than to take a breeding adult. Young juveniles are more likely to become tame and adapt more readily to being caged. Juveniles also tend to have lower parasite loads and you are less likely to have to deal with things like mites, which are a common problem.



I've raised als without UV, but in order to do it, you have to make sure that your supplementation and gutloading regimine is flawless. I do currently use UV with my adults. Crickets make the best staple, mealworms have too much fat. I feed my crickets fish food along with oranges and other fresh fruits and veggies and dust with herptivite and repcal with vitamin D3. Make sure to only feed as many crickets as your als can consume in 15-30 minutes. Crickets left wandering the cage can lose their vitamin coating and all the benefits of gutloading. If these crickets become a significant portion of the diet, your al could develop nutritional deficiencies (als are very prone to metabolic bone disease which is caused by too little calcium and/or vitamin D3, or the use of a supplement with an improper calcium phospherus ratio; als get all the phospherus they need from their prey so make sure to use a phopherus (calcium phophate etc) free calcium supplement, phospherus containing calcium supplements are designed for herbivores).



Als housed in a spartan cage will tend to hide most of the day. If you add some fake or live plants (I have black thumb in terms of in-tank plants), that provide some cover you're more likely to see your al out and about. I house mine on reptibark. I provide a shallow water bowl. For new juvies I'd recommend daily misting until you're sure that they've figured out how to use the water bowl. I also overfill my water dishes to keep portions of the substrate moist. I do not provide any additional heat.



I have not observed any communal tendencies with the females. Mature males may fight, but male female pairs get along well together, as do female pairs. Single als are also content. When I find multiple als under cover boards, it is typically breeding pairs.



Als make wonderful pets as long as their needs are attended to and with regular handling, they can become very tame. Captive hatched babies that have been handled from an early age are also typically very tame. In my experience, if you are starting with a wild caught adult, males tame down more readily than females.



-Alice

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