Well I dug around on the web some more, and it appears that the blue spiny lizards I obtained are just a duller form of the species, or at least they look like photos of blue spinies posted by several educational and commercial sites.

Now I'll post photos of the enclosures.

First, it's a 29 gallon tank that is 30" long, 12" deep, and 18" high. Three sides are wrapped in plain brown paper, and there is a removeable screen lid on top. Heat is provided by a 60 watt incandescent bulb in a dome fixture, and additional lighting is provided by a conventional 60watt compact fluorescent bulb also in a dome. The temps range from the low 70s on the floor to about 105 or more on the highest part of the branch.



The bottom layer of substrate is hardwood mulch, topped by a layer of broken stone tiles. The large rock in the center is a faux-stone hide that was broken but still does the job. A large diameter branch serves as a climbing and basking area. In the corners are one agave plant and a sanseveria. They are still in pots.



The above image shows the floor layout a little better. You can just see the blue interior of the ceramic water bowl behind the branch and on top of the hide rock.

The lizards cannot be seen since they are still settling in and don't like to be out when I'm moving around.

Lights are on a 12/12 cycle. Temps at night are around 68-70. All temps will go up about 10 degrees at the peak of summer.

I spray the tank lightly once or twice a day. My house is very dry and the water evaporates quickly. The lizards frequently come out to lap up the drops. I have not seen them use the water bowl.

Food is medium crickets and small mealworms dusted with Repcal calcium with D3. My house has been invaded by box elder bugs, which were crawling into the tank through the first, larger gauge screen cover I had on the tank. I viewed the male lizard munching on a few them. In fact, I saw him launch his body against the glass in an attempt to get a bug crawling up the outside. Anyway, I decided that the free-roaming bugs, while supposedly non-toxic, may not be a good food item, so I changed to a tighter-meshed screen.

So, any comments, suggestions, insults :-> ???

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]