Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone in this forum know anything about Ameivas??? I have gone to the General Reptile forum and also the "What Kind" forum and nobody has been able to help me. I know that Ameivas are sometimes called Dwarf Tegus so I thought maybe someone here would have some experience with them. I think I have one but I am not sure. Can anyone help???

Hi,

There is a small care sheet at the following:

http://www.geocities.com/David_2_pack/CDT

There is also a few paragraphs about them in the book Monitors, Tegus and Related Lizards by Barrons. They list them as Dwarf Tegus and there are two species, the Callopistes Flavipunctatus, somtimes referred to as the monitor tegu and can attain 40 inches and the smaller Callopistes Maculatus from Chile that reaches 19 inches. The book has about 9 paragraphs about them. If you e-mail me privately I can send you the excerpts from the book. Good luck.

Pam

I would think this would be the most appropriate place to post questions about any ameivas or whiptails.
Ameivas are the common name of the lizards placed in the genus Ameiva (how fitting). Please do not confuse them with the lizards sold as dwarf tegus (Callopistes sp.), as they are most deffinitely not the same thing. The lizard in the picture certainly appears to be an Ameiva species, although a lot of the Kentropyx and Cnemidophorus species look very similar.
Luckily, they are pretty easy to keep. Keep them just like you would keep a tegu-a good layer of substrate for them to burrow in, bark and logs for them to hide under, a high basking spot (100 farenheit) and a big cage. They will eat anything they can get in their mouths-any small insects, small rodents, small lizards etc. Males are usually much more colorful. Most stay under 2ft total length with approximately 2/3 of that tail.
Typically they are pretty easy to keep once they have decent weight, but a lot of the fresh imports you see are severly dehydrated and malnourished, and if they are not eating or not eating well they can lose weight very quickly.
Thats my input.
Paul

Ok, that makes sense. I did some more looking and I can't figure out why Ameivas are called "Dwarf Tegus" when the TRUE Dwarf seems to be that Salmon Tegu. How strange. So as far as care goes it seems that from what you are saying I am on the right track. I am feeding it crickets and mealworms and the cage is at 95 in the basking area (heatlamp and bottom heater) This thing was so starved im surprised it made it. In the week I have had it, it has eaten 25 mealworms and 70 small crickets. It also has a tree and a hiding long, not to mention a nice substrate to dig in. I feel much better now that I know I am taking care of it like it is supposed to, not like the child that owned it before. See picture to see the hipbones on the poor thing!