Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dino, named after Dino Cicerelli (because she has hockey sticks in her collar) has a very kinky tail. She's also huge compared to the other three lizards.

I was told up front that two of my four have kinky tails. Is this anything that matters? Should I be embarrassed about it?

Are they just caused by getting chomped on as babies or something?

She's also the one that can jump up on top of the light fixture.
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ETChipotle

No big deal,nothing to be embarrassed about it won't affect color or breeding, just don't mate DINO with KINKY LOL, i think it has something to do with lack calcium and vitamin D3 when babies, we're just teasing eve LOL - JIM

over and over, tends to bend it, and leave kinks. Especially in a smaller area. I have never heard it was from a lack of calcium. Possible I learned wrong but I have seen them in the wild in pics with bent up kinky tails, and you would think they would have the nessesary calcium in nature. Eve

It's more possible i learned wrong! lol, sorry. jim

I think that Jim is right - it can have something to do with lack of vitamins/calcium.

But I have also read (I think that it was in R. Schumachers book on these lizards) that to high temp. when incubating the eggs can give this "kinky tail".

Jesper

thanks for sharing a tidbit of information from Robert's book. Feel free to translate more of the German text for us any time! I tend to agree that the primary cause of kinked tails in collared lizards is a nutritional deficiency of some sort, often times originating in the egg...

Brock

I think that it probably comes from a deficiency, or, (just as likely) an injury when young. (thats if there are only one or two kinks.) As for what you said Eve, it is possible that they did not get enough cal. in the wild, depending on what they eat and how much calcium is available to the insects they eat. It is also possible (I am not saying I support this theory, but they are all possible) that their is a rare gene or something in the breeding that gives them their kinkyness. (anybody who has seen their tails become kinky as they age can tell us it is not this theory.)
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Let there be Lizardz.
- Scott