Hi Everyone,
My lizard all seem to be doing well, fortunately. I've had them now for about 10 days, so they are still getting acclimated and settled in. My question is about differences in male and female behavior. My females are very inquisitive and active. They eat well and actively hunt down crickets. They spend a lot of time basking but they also spend a lot of time running around, jumping and crawling all over each other, and some time digging and hiding under rocks. They also pop there heads out from their hiding places if they see me come in and they often scurry over to the edge and cock their heads and give me a look!
My male spends the vast majority of his time basking and playing "king of the basking rock". He sits there, motionless, and doesn't respond much to me or anything else around him. His eyes are bright, but he also seems to have his eyes closed often when he is basking. He eats occasional crickets, but not with the voracity that I see in the females. Also, he doesn't respond much to movement....I don't see him actively turn his head and look at me, or at crickets, or at his pretty female companions. He just seems very laid back compared to the females. He's a little underweight, but not overtly skinny...has some meat on his legs. I think he needs to gain some weight but I suppose that will take some time. The females already seem to be fattening up some since their arrival. Of course the male might be eating more than I know, when I'm not looking, but I don't know. I put him in a small plastic tub with some crickets and he didn't touch them. So I'm just letting him eat whatever he will eat when I put the crickets in, which is usually just a cricket or two that he eats in a very lazy manner!
The other major difference in behavior is at night. The females definitely like to crawl into a hid on the warms side of the enclosure and settle down to a nice sleep. The male often starts sleeping on his basking spot, but then often wanders off to the cooler end of the enclosure at night. I often find him sleeping on the cooler end and skulking around over there all by himself.
So, should I be concerned about this guy, or is he just a laid-back lizard? Does this sound ordinary to you all?
BTW, my temperatures are good. I have basking spots of just over 100 degrees, and a good temp gradient from about 95 degrees on one end and 78 to 80 degrees on the cool end. I have good uv lighting. Also, these collareds are from Texas, captive bred, but originating from anmals from Texas, although I don't know exactly where in Texas. They look a lot like pics I see of Texas collareds.
Any imput would be much appreciated. I think all these animals are fine. Maybe I'm just being a little paranoid. But I am struck at how much difference in the behavior between the females and this very laid-back male.
Thanks,
Hayseed
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.3 Corn Snakes
1.0 Ball Python
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.3 Collared Lizards
and a bunch of 5-lined skinks that sun themselves on my porch!
