Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey I saw you answered a qiestion on curly tails and I was wondering about the jewelled curly tails.I know alot about them but could you give me some info on them like housing and breeding.Im trying to get as much info as I can about keeping and breeding these lizards.thanks for your time
Nick

I'm not as familiar with jewelled as I am the red-sided ones, but I do know that they're both from the same regions in Haiti so their care is very similar

Jewelled curly-tails are more properly known as Leiocephalus personatus. They will reach a total length of 23-28cm (~9-11 inches)and males are a bit larger than females. The name curly-tail comes from their behaviour or curling and waving their tails when frightened or when communicating with other curly-tails. They are a very curious, and sometimes comical, species of lizard, that is a great and interesting to watch hands-off pet when cared for properly.

For a pair, you should have no less than a 20 gallon (long-style) aquarium, bigger is better. Glass aquariums work well because these lizards need a rather high humidity, but the cover shgould be screen to allow ventilation. Don't house males together, as they are quite territorial. Luckily, this species is very noticeably sexually dimorphic: Males are MUCH more colourful than females! Males are splashed with orange, red, green and a bit of blue, whereas females are a mottled brown, light gray and black (sometimes with a bit of red on the underside of their tail), with a large band of black (outlined in white) on each side.

Daytime temperatures can range from 25-30C (77-86F), with a basking spot of about 35C (95F). At night, don't let the temperatures drop below 18C (64F).

During the day, these lizards require UVB-producing fluorescent lighting. ReptiGlo 8.0 (be Tetra Terrafauna) or Repti Sun 8.0 (by Zoo Med) are both good choices. Be sure that you get the 8.0 "wattage" specifically, as these lizards come from a place where they gets lots of direct sunlight near the equator, so the UVB index there is quite high.

These lizards are from a beach-like habitat that is very hot and humid, yet dry. To achieve the high level of humidity (50-60%) that these lizards need, the substrate can be layered. The bottom layer should be a sbout an inch and a half of dampened mulch-soil-peat mix, and on top of that, a few inches of very fine grain aquarium sand. They love to burrow themselves beneath the warm sand. Be sure to get VERY small grained sand, as sand that is too coarse has a greater chance of causing an intestinal impaction if accidentally swallowed. Also, provide a wide, shallow water dish. A wide dish will evaporate more water in a given period of time, increasing the humidity in the enclosure.

Pieces of driftwood, bark, and rock formations are great cage furniture for this type of lizard. They more specifically love the rocks! Be sure that any cage furniture is firmly planted in the bottom of the tank: Rocks and branches simply sitting on top of the sand can become hazards to these burrowing lizards, who may become crushed by burrowing beneath a rock or branch that's only standing on the sand. If you want to decorate the enclosure further with live plants, thick, harder (and non-prickly) succulents will work. Leave them in the pots they come in, and simply sink them up to their rim in the substrate. The reason for this is so that the burrowing curly-tails won't disrupt any of their roots.

I hope this helped some! If I missed anything, don't be shy to ask more!

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Christina Miller
Herptiles.org

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1.0 Iguana iguana - Draco
1.0 Anolis carolinensis - Duke
0.1 Eublepharis macularis - Ocelot
1.0 Cosymbotus platyurus - Baron
1.0 Cynops orientalis - Hyper
1.0 Leiocephalus schreibersi - Turbo

thanks alot for answering this question.Ive posted about these lizards but only 1 besides you have answered.do know anything about breeding these lizards or the haitian curly tailed lizards could you post that too?thanks again
nick

Breeding of these lizards can be attempted in a spacious (at least 30 gallons or more, but it could possibly be done in a 20-gallon aquarium), naturalistic enclosure. You'll first need to give the lizards a sort of "artificial winter" by lowering the temperature (18-23C, or 64-73F) and humidity in the enclosure for about 3-4 months.

Warm the lizards back to normal temperatures after this time, and the females should be holding eggs and ready to breed. The males will begin courting the females with headbobs, tail curls and sometimes pushups. The male will often bite the neck of the female during mating, which usually does not last more than several minutes (watch to make sure that the male does not seriously harm a smaller female by biting. To avoid potential injury, don't mate a much smaller female to a larger male).

The female will retain the eggs for ~15-20 days, then begin looking for nesting spots at the base of rocks and branches. She will probably dig a shallow hole and lay her eggs there. Apparently, she can lay 2-3 clutches of 3-8 eggs each every breeding season.

Now, you can choose to either carefully remove the eggs from the enclosure (which is advised, the conditions around the eggs are not as easily monitored in this environment, and the hatchlings could be eaten!), or leave them inside. If you leave them inside, be sure to keep the "nest" area moist (but not wet).

If you choose to move them into an incubator, maintain the temperature at approx. 26C (79F) and keep the eggs either on damp mulch or vermiculite. After about 60 days, the eggs should hatch! Here is a great site with instructions on how to build a cost-effective, easy-to-build incubator: www.kingsnake.com/obsoleta/incub1.htm.

Hatchlings should be housed in a container separate from the adults, with conditions similar to adults. Feed them pinhead crickets, flightless fruit flies, and other prey small enough for them to eat.

-----
Christina Miller
Herptiles.org

--------------------
1.0 Iguana iguana - Draco
1.0 Anolis carolinensis - Duke
0.1 Eublepharis macularis - Ocelot
1.0 Cosymbotus platyurus - Baron
1.0 Cynops orientalis - Hyper
1.0 Leiocephalus schreibersi - Turbo

thanks for all the info.hopefully someday soon Ill get some of these interesting lizards.
Nick