I was just given a fence lizard of some sort by my sister today. I'm not sure which kind it is, but I know that there is one almost identicle living outside my bedroom window, and I live in Branson, Mo. I don't know if its wild caught, though, it probably is. She got it at a flea market, so who knows. It does seem to be in decent health and it ate a cricket soon after I got it. Its been hanging on the top of its enclosure now for most of the day, moving to the other side periodicly. I'm not sure if thats good or not.

Its small, maybe 4 inches, and its a dark brown with lighter blotches along its back, and its stomach is a lighter sandy color. It has spikey scales that form a three lined vague keeled pattern down its back. There was another another lizard with this one when it was purchased, which I do not have, my sister was told that they were both females. They both have two light blue blotches under their necks, though, and I've read that could mean they're male? The other lizard was supposedly with eggs, and it was noticably 'fatter' in appearance, but it had the blotches too. The other was also much lighter in color.

I do not have much experience with lizards. I have 4 varried sliders, 2 russian tortoises, 1 three toed box, and 1 reeves turtle and that makes my family and friends think I'm an all around reptile specialist for some reason. I can't bare to turn the little guy away, though, so I'm trying to find out as much as possible as quickly as possible.

I currently have the little one in a 'critter keeper' sort of enclosure, but I have a spare 10 gallon aquarium that I had planned to fix up tomorrow. Do you think that is big enough? I have a light fixture and spare reptisun bulb on hand, I also have a heat lamp if thats needed? Also, for substrate I currently have some chopped Timothy hay in my critter keeper. When I set up the 10 gallon tomorrow I could, however use, A.) mor Timothy hay, B.) coconut bark block/play sand mixture (or just the bark/sand), C. aquarium gravel. Which do you think is best, or should I get something entirely different? Besides that I have a half branch hiding structure and a small clay saucer for a water dish. I can probably pick up some branches for climbing tomorrow, it seems to like to climb, but I don't know how extensively aboreal it is? Any suitable plants for inside the tank would be appreciated.

Finally, I would like to know the little guy's eating habbits. What exactly should I feed him? Is it a live food only basis, or are dried crickets/mealworms ok? I have dried crickets, meal worms, and bloodworms currently. I also regularly have live crickets, earthworms, and mealworms. Is there something else I should get? I don't have many good local pet stores, but I'm familliar with ordering foods online for other pets, so if it needs to be ordered thats ok. Finally, do they need very much vegetation in their diet, and if so what should that be?

Thank you for your time, and sorry for my long winded list of questions. I just don't want to make any mistakes at the poor little things expense. I really appreciate any responses, and I'll be looking up caresheets in the mean time. If there was anything that I didn't ask that I should have please inform me of that too! Thanks again for the help.

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