Posted by:
wldktrptls
at Fri Jun 17 00:26:24 2011 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by wldktrptls ]
I love rough necks! they are so cool. Very responsive to thiongs. I had a pair for a number of years. I kept them in a cage 8'l x 3't x 2' w. At first, when i had just the male, i used newspaper as substrate, a few branches and a wooden box as the hide. Then I hooked up with FR as we both lived in tucson. He suggested some alterations... First to go was the paper. In its place went a thick layer of oak leaf litter, about 9" or so. Then came the basking temp. 180 degrees?! You gotta be frickin kidding me! He takes me outside and takes a temp gun reading of where a native lizard had just been basking. Damn if it wasnt 194! OK, so up went the basking temp. With these changes my rough neck came to life! It was astounding! So i get my female, a cute little thing from NERD (thanks Kevin!) but was afraid to place in with the male due to the size difference. "put 'em together, and quit worrying, he aint gonna eat her" Frank chides me. True enough, they got on like old pals. I added a few more branches and cut bamboo and they went crazy. Then i replaced the box with hollow logs we had collected. They loved it! They NEVER returned to the wooden box again. Pretty soon they were breeding, then laying eggs. Alas the male really liked lizard eggs.. While i fed them rodents for the most part, they did seem to enjoy the hunt of crickets and the crunch of the madagascar roaches. While i never tried to tame these lizards, these two were quite managable. I had some specimen that were fresh imports and very large (about 5') with very certain opinions reguarding humans, but ya cant really blame'em now can you? I really dont see putting these guys on a harness and leash. They are awesome lizards when kept properly (high enough temps to prevent obesity) with amazing behaviors.
[ Hide Replies ]
|
RE: V. Rudicollis - wldktrptls, Fri Jun 17 00:26:24 2011