Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im very active here at kingsnake, as we have one bearded dragon, a rankins dragon, l:2 leo's, l:l crested geckos and a gargoyle gecko.

Its "very" unlike me to bring any animal home without the proper research, but when we went to pick up the lizard leash for Delilah the dragon and as always go upstairs to the reptile room my daughter and I saw this very pretty collard that had just arrived there today, its over a year old, and from what herp experience i have it looks healthy, we will observe the usual precautions to make sure that no lizard spreads any illness to another via our hands.... LOL

Any brian hands me this lizard as calm and tame as ever and cute, all those little eyes had to do was "give that look" and im doomed, really I tried to walk away then my daughter begged and offered to pay for it, if I took care of the rest knowing full well it would be min l00 bucks and here we are.

we were sold a l0 gallon tank, im already feeling that its gonna be way too small to give this little one enough space.

I purchased a hood, and a reptisun full spectrum light, I already had an extra fixture and bulb for the basking light, i have crix and supers and calcium powder and multivits.

the collards are awake during the day and sleep at nite like the beardies right?

what is the best substrate, currently I put him on paper towels so i can see the poo's etc for a few days and until I got more info.

basking temp should be around ll0? do they usually drink from a bowl? and I read in a few places to offer veggies, Im already chopping up veggies for the rankin and inland beardy...

what else can you all enlighten me about our newest addition, lizard #9....

do they enjoy human companionship like my inland dragon? do they enjoy natural sunlite done safely?
as far as cage furniature what are most of you using, branches,rocks,lizard hammock?

Im sure I will have other questions, already looked at a care sheet or two didnt answer all my question.

thanks in advance!

Sue
-----
Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

>>we were sold a l0 gallon tank, im already feeling that its gonna be way too small to give this little one enough space.

You're definately gonna need a biger cage. I've got mine in a 30 or 35 long.

>>the collards are awake during the day and sleep at nite like the beardies right?

Yep.

>>what is the best substrate, currently I put him on paper towels so i can see the poo's etc for a few days and until I got more info.

You can get playsand from Home Depot or other places like that for really, really cheap &, it works very well.

>>do they usually drink from a bowl?

I've got a bowl of water in there for mine but I've never seen him actually drink from it. Mostly he just runs through it & kicks sand into it. You can also do a light mist every once in a while.

>>and I read in a few places to offer veggies, Im already chopping up veggies for the rankin and inland beardy...

Some people have gotten theirs to do this but mine doesn't seem to really go for anything that doesn't move. I have gotten him to lick honey off my finger a few times but then it gets sticky & he runs around & tries to rub it off. It's quite comical.

>>do they enjoy human companionship like my inland dragon?

Some do. It just kinda depends on their personality. I'd let him settle down a little while before trying to handle them to much. But most do enjoy, or at least tolerate, moderate petting &/or handling.

>>do they enjoy natural sunlite done safely?

Yep.

>>as far as cage furniature what are most of you using, branches,rocks,lizard hammock?

Rocks. Lots of rocks. They like climbing & spazzing a lot. Or at least mine does. If you scroll down a bit to the post about care sheets, John Eddington describes a good way to set up a cage.

>>thanks in advance!

You're welcome, Kristin

P.S. Post pics. We love pics. Have you noticed?