Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Mental note to self....erase the word "dirt" from my memory!

The common name for the polychrus is prehensile tailed anoles or bush lizards. I think I will be digging up eggs as soon as I finish posting. I don't have any pictures of it on this computer....but here's one on a website...just to give you an idea...
http://greenfield.fortunecity.com/drongo/177/peruvianusjb010101.JPG

Re: my cordylus lizard...again...no pictures on this computer. Common name...girdle tailed lizards. They are about 5" in length including the tail. They only have two or three big babies per clutch. I'm not sure of the species yet. There are two or three species that are very close in appearance....and the key to figuring them out is quite complicated. Here is a picture that is similar...
http://www.tallbo.com/
http://schrubbi.de/Cordylus.htm

I have a second species of cordylus that I haven't been able to breed yet...common name...flame-belly armadillo lizard. Males have the orange sides and females only have orange in a small area under the mouth. They are not quite the size of a leopard gecko....here's a site showing what they look like...
http://www.tallbo.com/andra_cordylus/cordylus_mossambicus.htm

Let me know when your girl lays her eggs?!

that really seems like what I've been looking for - for 12 dang years.

An old friend of mine got some of them in a long time ago, and I've
never seen them since. I do believe that's what it was.

1) good colored changing ability
2) slightly independantly rotating eyes
3) slightly prehensile tail
4) slower movement than typical anoles, save for occational bursts of
speed and jumps
5) Toes go off in two directions, like chameleons, but not bundled.
Not as drastic as the "forest chameleons".

You got these?

They came to me "second hand" and I have had them for 6 years less three months. The female laid eggs last night, but I don't know if they are good or not yet. She laid eggs for the past three years, but the male ate them twice and last year's attempt at hatching them failed. I think it was due to a heat wave we had here.

I had a hard time finding out which species they were. Most of the species don't have the crest on the back of the neck.

I have never heard them referred to as the multicolored anole!

You said..."good colored changing ability"...they do great patterns...mostly shades of green and yellow.

You said..."slightly independantly rotating eyes"...I would say so.

You said..."slightly prehensile tail"...they use the tail to hang on with and balance, but it doesn't grip the branches by curling around it like a chameleon does. They hang in the weirdest positions...tail flopped over the branch, one toenail hanging on to the branch, etc.

You said.."slower movement than typical anoles, save for occational bursts of speed and jumps"....they often slither along the branches rather than walk along....but they can move when they want to!

You said..."Toes go off in two directions, like chameleons, but not bundled"...sort of. They are definitely different looking than Cuban Knight Anole toes.

Even after being with me this long, they still open their mouths like they would bite if I gave them the chance!

They are definite omnivores...which I found out by accident. I had a cricket colony develop in their cage, so I put some veggies, fruit and greens in to allow them to grow there. I haven't had to put crickets in their cage for about three years now. I control the number of crickets in their by the moisture of the substrate. Nice little ecosystem!

Being in the States, you should have a better chance of seeing some for sale than me.

I don't recall them having a crest - but I may be wrong. I haven't been searchign for the things, just wondering if I'd ever see them, keeping my eye out, if you will. Seems like the same aniamal, if not, a similar species. Cool, unusual critters, to say the least.

The species as are listed below...

Polychrus acutirostris, Polychrus femoralis, Polychrus gutturosus, Polychrus liogaster, Polychrus marmoratus, and Polychrus peruvianus.

Here are some pictures from the internet of some of the species...
http://www.amazonherp.com/reptiles/lizards/polychrotidae/pmasm.htm
http://www.ib.usp.br/~crinog/pages/Polychrus acutirostris PNE site_JPG.htm
http://www.omnh.ou.edu/personnel/herpetology/vitt/pics/Pliogaster.gif

Of the six species, peruvianus is the only one with the crest on the neck.

yeah, get that "dirty" four letter word out of your head! lol!
those are really neat looking anoles! I love the crest on the polychrus! How many lizards do you have all together? What part of the country do you live in? Just curious
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - swifty and blotcha for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

You asked..."How many lizards do you have all together?"....too many...but a lot less than I had a couple of years ago...about 55 lizards...and one waxy monkey tree frog and 19 turtles/tortoises....more than enough.

You said..."those are really neat looking anoles! I love the crest on the polychrus!"...they are interesting to watch! I'm glad I ended up with the species with the crest!

You asked..."What part of the country do you live in? Just curious"....I don't live in the States...I live in Ontario, Canada.

Waiting to hear about blotchie eggs!

Wow! That is a LOT of critters! Your home must be great!

I guess I need to name my blotchies. I was thinking of Stan and Ana (from the scientific name) or Stan and Uta. My females always end in "a" so the name makes it quite easy. My boy doesn't look much like a stan, but I guess for now they will be stan and ana

Anyway...Ana was flipping her dry sand around last night so I put her in her laying setup but as of this afternoon she was just basking and looking at me as if to say "did I do something wrong and I have been banished from my kingdom?" In her case Queendom - lol! She is definately the leader of the two - as you can see from the pic

I got your email - thanks! - and have not been able to check out all the sites yet! Will keep you posted...

lele

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - swifty and blotcha for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

I don't know about my home being great....but its certainly busy!
Stan and Ana or Uta are much better than blotcha and swifty IMHO.
BTW, my prehensile tailed anoles are Polly and Chrus-ty for polychrus....and the male is a crusty guy!

Another good picture! Thanks!