Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Everyone...

At the pet store I work at, we just recently had a pair of Forest Armadillos do something that we've never have happened... Give birth to 3 little ones....

I'm thinking about taking home either the 3 little guys or the two adults. I currently have a 30G Long aquarium unoccupied that needs an inhabitant..

Would this be enough to keep to adults or the 3 youngsters? Also, do they prefer a photo period or are they content with having the basking light on 24/7 like my monitors?

well I keep 3 cordylus tropidosternum(forest or tropical armadillo lizards),1 baby,1 juvenile,and 1 adult.these animals are long lived so prepare to to take care of them for a long time.not that their hard to take care of though.I was six when I got my adult,since then he has only grew one inch so he was already close to being an adult,Im now fourteen and he is still alive and as active as ever.your setup sounds better for a adult pair since babies dont need to be put in to large a cage as they will not be able to find their food.a photoperiod will help them possibly breed again next year.all animals should have a photoperiod if you plan to breed them.also their are 2 different color morphs of these lizards in the wild.you have the brown and whitish with some yellow color morph and their is the rusty red colored kind and if you can breed them the colors will interbreed and produce cool patterns.hope this helps and if you need anymore info just ask
nick

What substrate do you prefer/use?

I currently use regular dirt/top soil/sand mix for my monitor enclosure.... Would regular dirt or even jungle litter suffice?

Also, what exactly is the home climate of the forest armadillos? Very dry, dry, moderate, humid, etc? Also, the armadillos I am looking at getting are pretty single colored... A brownish/gray, are these the Forest Armadillos?... Not the greatest looking lizards, but they definitely have personality..

I dont really like to use soil.all my armadillo lizards are kept on ESU lizard litter.but I have seen them kept on sand,cypress mulch,and soil.It is really up to you.whatever you like the best but cypress mulch has the disadvantage of letting the crickets hide so your lizard will not find them.once you get it tell me.they are very cool lizards and are very long lived animals.I was at a recent herp expo and saw the other kind of armadillo in the pet trade.these are called flame bellies and are gorgeus but are very hard to breed.I held off on them because I am going to start breeding lizards so I got some leopards geckos.also why dont you join the yahoo cordylus group as it is a group dedicated to these lizards.
nick