Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well my prasinus project appears to be going well. Here's a few pics...Here's a mccreai I pretty sure is gravid and she's spending a lot of time now digging in the nest box...

Here's a pair of kordensis that seem to love each others company and the female I believe is gravid as well...

And finally my subadult pair of prasinus that are stunning and seem to be very happy here...

Here's another mccreai female I believe is going to lay eggs as well...

Thanks for looking..
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Great pictures! Hope you get some fertile eggs soon! Good luck!

One question: have you ever bred Uromastyx? If you have, can you give me a few pointers? Thanks!

I have never worked with Uromastix but had a girlfriend who used to breed a lot of them in very simple inside enclosures....

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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Nice! That's a really great shot of the kordensis hanging out of the nest box. Your animals all look happy, healthy and colorful.
Thanks for sharing and good luck with the breeding projects.

Susan.
ps- I love your iggie pics too.

Thank you Susan....

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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Colorful Dinosaur...

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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Hey Tom, you have been sucessful breeding keeping reptiles for a long time. I was wondering why don't you put top soil over top of the gravel? I see how it is useful for drainage especially in Florida. Isn't it more comfortable for the monitors to have soil as a top layer to dig in and help regulate their temps? My monitors sleep ALOT and like to be hidden under plants or rocks or in tunnels they dig.

have a box that is filled with dirt and half buried rolls of cork bark inside that are much better retreats than dirt on the floor albiet I have in places stacks of flatter cork bark on the floor in the open as well. One problem a LOT of folks have with keeping Monitors is the cage is filled with so many hiding places that the lizard never learns your not a predator. They will receive a wild monitor and set it up in as big and natural looking cage as they can acheive and they have little luck in long term acclimation because the minute the lizard is able to detect the keeper they hide. Thus it takes a LONG time to acclimate if ever. My approach at first is a smaller plain cage with no hiding places and always under the flight distance and the lizard acclimates FAST AND BEGINS TO ASSCOCIATE YOU WITH GOOD THINGS LIKE FOOD. It ceases to think of you as danger. I've had only one pair of maccreai over 8 months and out of 15 lizards of 3 types all but 2 will accept food off forceps. Proof is in the pudding. It also appears I likely have at least 3 gravid females already and everyday I watch courtship and copulation. The lizards simply are not afraid of me. I realize this goes against what many people believe but remember there's more than one way to skin a cat. It should be quite apparent from the pics the lizards all are very happy and healthy. It can be done in other ways but I have a deep understanding of all kinds of herps and am well aware of behaviours related to their well being. If it's not broke ther's no need to fix it. The lizards NEVER try to dig in the rocks [they could as it's a thin layer over dirt] but prasinus are arboreal and when out of the box are usually on the shelves as opposed to the trees. Each box has 20" of a special mix of dirt we make that holds it's shape both for nesting and burrows if they want to. The key is choices and making them not afraid of you. Mine can be from about 75 degrees to as hot as they choose to any time of day except at night. Below is a pic of a 4' x 2' x 2' acclimation cage I use when I first aquire a wild prasinus. They are kept here until they have eaten at least 6 times with me watching standing by the cage. It is only then I move them to a more complex enclosure...The bottom line is it's not the method so much that counts but the results. It is clear that my approach seems to be working well so far. I really didn't expect as good of results as I've had in this short a time but time will tell. I sure would like to hatch baby Tree Monitors as I've never tried to breed them before so we'll see...

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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

I can see that you have some really spectacular specimens in your collection. I especially like your albino iquanas.

sleep in the daytime. They are climbing, walking. looking under and around things for food, interacting with each other,breeding etc but rarely sleeping. I suspect you may be confusing hiding with sleeping. If they are afraid of you they will constantly hide from you. That is why I go to great lengths to see that they go thru normal behaviour patterns with me being able to observe..It makes them much more rewarding to maintain...Here's my male kordensis basking with me standing at the door that I opened with locks noise etc and he ignores me other than to check and see if I have food...

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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

I have one that is sleeping in the open right now he just ate some roaches this morning. I just assumed the others were sleeping when they are in their hide spots. I can't really prove it one way or another I guess. I think you are right they are afraid of me but I need to keep the rocks in the cage to get the temps right. That is where they tend to hide. And if not there then under the water bowl also a necessity for every cage.

If you can think of a way to provide adequate choices for the lizards as I do without letting them hide until their NOT afraid of you thay will be far more interesting to keep...
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

For instance you could attach a water container to the side of the cage and then they can't hide under it...
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

I can get them to eat in front of me no problem off tongs or just watch them chase down roaches crickets etc... but the smaller ones defineatly do hide alot. Let me ask you do you try to get handleable monitors or just non hiding monitors?

I don't care if I handle them or not and in fact don't try. It's interesting and important to be able to monitor the Monitor behaviour though thus the fact they ignore your presence is a plus....
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

They look great Tom,

Please update us once you have some eggs and of their progress.

Thanks,
Mike.

I just hope I get some but if I do certainly I will post it..thanks
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Looks awesome. I am just wondering what region of the world do you live in where you can get those slick outdoor enclosures set up and do you keep them outside year round?

Thanks,
Dan
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1.1 Savannah Monitors (Annah & Terrance)
1.1 Nile Monitor (Lyle)
1.0 Timor Monitor (Timmmmaaayy)
1.0 Blood Python (Kevin)
1.0 Ball Python (Martin)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Bella)
2.0 Bearded Dragons (Peter & Jack)
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake (Hector)
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boas (Wayne & Maude)
1.0 Dwarf Gecko (Little Girl)
1.0 Curly Hair Tarantula (Pube)
1.0 OBT Usumbara Orange Baboon Tarantula (Sin)
1.0 Emperor Scorpion (Ashoka)
2.0 D. auratus (Poison Dart Frogs)
1.0 Peacock Bass (Gary)

Homestead,Florida, 30 miles south of Miami....
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Yes, they are outside year round. Inside of the nest boxes is a red 75 watt bulb and on nights below 55 degrees I lock them in them until morning.....
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Beautiful moniters Tom. Hope you get a lot of eggs.
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Randy Whittington

Make that monitors. Duh
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Randy Whittington