Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...and here they are! They look quite the same, but Jewel has a bit more yellow to her collers, and there is a bit different patterning to them - plus Spike is bigger! (Jewel is the top pic, Spike the bottom...)

BTW, Jewel keeps jumping up and hitting the top of the cage with her nose, and it's bleeding occasionally. Tony and I are building a new cage for them soon, but... any suggestions for now?

Sure looks like your Jewel is a male to me, and Spike too Turn them upside down and look on my sexing page (big pics) of the difference. If they are you will have to evenually seperate them, some begin to fight, and can do some major damage to each other. I have some that are okay together as long as there is no female in the tank.

As far as the jumping up and smacking his nose, many do that. Some actually disfigure themselves. Try and put some antibiotic ointment on it, hopfully he will stop after he's more at home.

There are many ways of making a cage, remember bigger is better. Others may want to jump in here, as I want homemade cages for all my critters but do not have any yet.
SEXING Collareds

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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

As soon as I saw your note, I went down to the place we got the pair to see what they said. Jeff (the owner and only one who knows 2cents worth about reptiles) wasn't in, but the teens there had no idea what to do... ok, here's the dish. We got Spike and Jewel from a certain store that Tony used to get ALL his herps from a coupel years back - same guy still, too. The collareds were a consignment from a breeder who SAID they were 1:1, and the two have lived together since they were hatchlings... but while looking at Jewel and Spike, they both have those bigger scales behide the slit... Thus, they are likely both male. SO, we have to wait until Jeff gets back in town (Tuesday) to talk to him about this mix up and what to do.

So how do you tell by just seeing their pics which they are? We've not owned collareds before, so we really don't know too much as of yet. Thanks for the help!

..... Well she can't help it, she just has a knack, maybe because she has so many (I'm sitting here turning green with jealousy as I write), (Mwah!!!).

Where are you anyways Eve? You agree, right?

The coloration (males are brighter) and a wider base to the tail are a give-away. Females have kind of round tails all the way to their hips, the males have a bulge at the base of the tail, I never read it before but personally I think the base of the tails on the boys is almost more of a "Square" shape, in the Easterns at least.

All of my collareds try to jump up at the UV light, I have to use a tube inside the tank instead of a round bulb above the cage. I find that if the UV light goes off before the basking light, they jump up and smack their heads off the basking light instead which is suspended from the ceiling, dangerous if it's hot !!

Therefore I time the lights to go off together. They still climb for the UV light but it isnt warm enough to burn them, so I provide a shelf that is a few inches below the UV light. They tend to sit on the shelf and tilt their head against the bulb, I never understood why they do that but at least they don't bump their little heads on the ceiling anymore, lol

Also, when I got my first pair they were both males, I noticed that if they got too close to one another they would both head bob at each other, lick and part company. Unfortunately I had to take one back, and ended up with a gravid female instead. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be fine, you're in the right place if you have questions, thats for sure

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Kel

www.collaredlizards.co.uk
0:0:1 Timor Monitor
2:2 Collared Lizards
1:6 Green Anoles
1:0 Dune Scorpion
3:0 Imperial Scorpions
2:0 Desert Hairy Scorpions
0:1 Mexican Red Knee Tarantula

Hhehehee, Yes, I do have MANY collared kids but there are obvious ways of sexing them , even if you have 2 hehehehe.

I would like to see another better pic of Spike. Anyway turning them upside down and checking the vent area is the best and most Tell /TAIL (hahaha) , way of determining sex for anyone who is new to them.

Males in most cases are more colorful but some females can be dazzling also. Females dewlaps are usually lightly colored. And some collareds such as C.vestigium can not be sexed until older (at least accurately)

Jewel is a Good looking BOY though,

Shawnee a beautiful yellow female

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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

...is Spike is calmer and seems to be a bit better around kids, while Jewel is flighty and almost a spaz in comparison. Because of space/cost right now, if they both turn out to be male we should only keep one (if we can find a good home for the other tho). So I'm thinking it would be better to keep Spike around Becca (my little 15-month old female human), but Tony wants to possibly breed in the future... Plus Jewel is a bit bare around the tail (hips are sticking out just a touch), so it seems Spike is healthier. What would you ppl suggest?

Happy new year, BTW! I'll put more pics up when Spike lets me get a good one of him!

.. and Jewel... Here's better pics. I don't think Jewel is doing to well right now - pretty thin, and I think he threw up 3 crickets this morning (there were 3 stuck together and covered in sand that seemed to be thrown up, and Jewel is really thin). But I made sure Jewel ate more this afternoon. I also put them outside for awhile (fenced backyard, no other animals except wild lizards). Maybe he'll perk up...

I could de wrong, but the chunky one looks like it could be a female

Cecil
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