Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This little guy is only 4 month, maybe five months old. I swear, he deepend a few shades of teal while I was in California. I thought I'd share a couple pictures of him. Being in Palm Springs made me think of this picture...these are two males unfortunately, which is why I was reminded of Palms Springs. If you've been there (or San Francisco) you'll know what I'm getting at.

Luckily he has not matured enough yet to show any agression to the only other two lizards he is sharing a tank with. I may go into a very short brumation to spunk up his hormones a bit. Sorry Eve...I really need to wash my red rock...it wasn't ready for pictures today. Also, the shadowing on his tail makes it look thin, but it really isn't.

John Eddington

I know what you mean about the color changing almost overnight. The pic below (of Ghost) was only taken back on the 23rd of Jan. I may HAVE to get one of the "Lizards formerly known as Auriceps" to get some of that yellow around these Texans I think. While a couple of the girls are showing me some yellow tint on the forelegs, the boys seem to be solid blues and blue/greens for now.

Mmmmm.... yellow.... must-have-yellow....

PS sorry about the no joy on the herp trip... At least there is not SIX INCHES OF SNOW THERE!

LOL

DonC.

Beautiful !!! Eve

When I get rid of some of my lizards, I may have to settle in on a pair of bluestars, a pair of aquaflames, and a pair of the "formerly known as auriceps"...they are outstanding!...

Oh yea, I could do without 6" of snow!

John

is a color or pigment that - from my experience - seems to be especially difficult to maintain/establish in captive collared lizards. Despite frequent exposure to natural sunlight, my c.b. female C. dickersonae (for example) seldom exhibit quite the dramatic lemon yellow coloration in the limbs and tail of specimens photographed in the field. In contrast, the vibrant cobalt blue dorsal coloration of adult c.b. C. dickersonae males thus far remains unaffected by long-term maintenance in captivity. Perhaps the diet of collared lizards plays a more significant role in determining selected chromatic traits of specimens/populations than I had previously anticipated...

Brock

Brockn wrote:
*snip*
Perhaps the diet of collared lizards plays a more significant role in determining selected chromatic traits of specimens/populations than I had previously anticipated...

===========

I would be willing to participate in a distributed/collaborative project to collect some data on these types of traits, perhaps using software such as
THIS which is ported to multiple platforms and freely available to download. May as well start keeping some useful records....
BUT since I am a rank amateur, one of our fancier-eggheads will have to find the time to outline the parameters and methodology needed. I have been attempting to track shell color in a couple of preservation poultry breeds I dabble with (Welsummers and Aracaunas) and the anecdotal/seat-of-your-pants approach is... uhh... almost useless.

*Request For Comments*

DonC.

was the tremendous numbers of intensely colored grasshoppers. perhaps if I take another trip this year to the area of interest, I will gather as many grasshoppers as possible to see if I can stimulate some color. I wonder where the grasshoppers are getting their colors?

One juvenile I collected has some nice yellow on the head, whereas the one I pictured recently is showing none yet at this time. I think it's just a matter of time before we figure it out though if it can be figured out. With the auriceps, there doesn't seem to be a problem at all...I don't get it. I would love to spend more time in the field to figure things out!!!!!
Woudn't we all?

John Eddington

You might try to get some pics of the grasshoppers too. And see if you notice what types of plants the hoppers seem to be feeding on, and try to get some pics of them as well.

BUT- I have this unsettling feeling that this could probably work out to be my new feeding routine:

1. Raise a specific grasshopper, feeding them nothing but;
2. My home-greenhouse-raised greasewood and creosote bush;
3. Feed the grasshoppers to a specific venomous scorpion;
4. Feed the scorpions to a certain predatory spider;
5. Kill the spiders and let a certain ant which produces formic acid eat their remains;
6. Feed only the queens from the ant colonies to the collareds.

After all the tubs of different aged crickets, waxworms, mealworms...
This all sounds horrifyingly possible.

LOL

DonC.

Rather than feeding the "yellow" dandelions to my males (inside joke), I'll resort to rubbing the flowers vigorously on the their heads.

john

...and produce loads of the rarely captured *Urates auriceps*
most likely.

DC

none

When I was out in the desert the other day, I was listening to a Palm Springs AM radio station. I had no idea Palm Springs had something in common with San Fransisco. They mentioned Palm Springs had the highest syphilis rate in the country, yuck.

When I was out in the desert the other day, I was listening to a Palm Springs AM radio station. I had no idea Palm Springs had something in common with San Fransisco. They mentioned Palm Springs had the highest syphilis rate in the country, yuck.