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Our group of 20 adult WC Collared Lizards, arrived last week.

Maybe 5 have good weight on them, and no hip bones showing. The others look a bit tired...

Previous owner said he quarantined them for one month (after capture), and treated them for parasites with flagyl and albon.

Currently, I am keeping them in smaller groups, with basking temperatures ranging from 100-130 degrees. They utilize the hottest basking temps I can provide, and beg for more.

The cages are kept extremely dry - with about a weekly misting for a little moisture.

They are all eating, some. Crickets and mealworms disappear relatively quick, but they are not yet too fond of roaches.

I'm not sure if they were thin when he caught them, or if they have deteriorated in captivity. I'm also not certain about the shotgun internal parasite treatment method.

I have Parazap on the way... And I think some nutri-bac (or bene-bac, or whatever) might be a good idea to get some good stuff going on in their guts again.

Oh, and of all the females - there are several gravid girls - looking quite thin. There are several girls who are NOT gravid, and have great weight on them.

But virtually all of the males look thin...

Ideas and or suggestions?

20 collareds is a lot to keep...I also suspect whoever had them prior to you had them in a 10 or 20 gallon tank.

Your best bet, it definately separate all of the males into their own enclosure if you have not done so already...next, you'll have to make sure they are all eating. The only way to do this is constantly observe them.

Pet brokering is not a pretty business, and when large quantities are being collected, the majority are going to suffer. Occassionally, you'll get some lizards that will eat very well...these are likely the fat ones in the tank that are readily eating everything, while the skinny ones sit back and watch.

Being adult wild caught is also a bad deal. I have no problems collecting a few lizards for myself, or some friends. I would never collect that number of lizards. There are very few people who I even trust giving an adult wc too...they can take so much work to get acclimated, it's not even worth the $10 spent buying in bulk.

Suggestions...

1) again...separate all males
2) Drip ice from above every day in the morning onto some nice rocks that will retain some pools of water.
3) Have at least one fecal done...then tell the vet to give you enough for the group of 20...they probably all have it.
4) Natural sunlight with vitamins/minerals on food.
5) Offer flying insects, like moths, grasshoppers, junebugs, etc. Leave a light on at night for collecting these bugs.
6) Clean feces daily if you have very large groups together.
7) Find out who's eating, and who's not...you can put the female "eaters" in one tank, and give more attention to those who do not show the desire yet.

8)...if it comes down to it, you may have to force feed. I would do this as a last resort, as the stress of handling will be a lot to bear.

Hope this helps.

John Eddington

I would range the temps from 80-105 maximum...130 will dehydrate your lizards in no time.

Also, covering all sides of the tank will help them not bust their faces on the enclosure. They will freak when they see you most of the time. I put paper on the sides, and cut small holes for my peeping tom habits. ;P

Most of us here use sand as a substrate with some nice large flat rocks for digging. moistening the sand may promote laying for some of your gravid females if they are ready. Be sure to support those rocks, as the collareds will dig the sand out from under them and get crushed.

Best of luck...been there done that! I like to stick with one male and 2 or three females now. They eat so much, that's about all I can keep healthy at one time.

Keep us updated.

with everything JohnE said. Its a shame to catch so many !

Alot of them will do poorly, and must be helped, at times.
If any refuse to eat or only eat a small amount they will get extremely emachiated quickly!

I hope not! Wc's can take alot of time and extra attention, I have quite a few. But I would not have been able to sustain them properly if I was not here all day!

As John said force feeding is quite stressful, but at times its the only thing that will SAVE them. They will literally starve to death!

I wish you the best with them all, as they are great little lizards and deserve the best !

Let us know how they do!
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Eve

I'll certainly take your advice. As of right now, we have separated them into groups according to size and overall health.

We do have more than one male per cage right now, but that will be taken care of this evening.

More to come later...

Care should be taken for the size of enclosure...
Adult should be housed in like 3 for 50 gallons and 6 for 90 gallons maybe, this is approximatly.
1 male MAXIMUM, they will fight.
don't house juvies with adult, too much size difference will stress them.
temp should be 90-100F with 105-115F hot spot.

like it was said, water driping on rocks is a must, and some
daily misting may help too.
get fecals done regulary to be sure they is no more worms/parasite.

All having fun?
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Eve

yeah, I just can't mist them lol they hate that! lol

and I gave them crix twice now and I think someone can't take them. I have found someone regurgitating them..
they ate about 1 or 2 each...

I've heard all kinds of varied opinions. Everyone agrees that HOT is good though.

Do any of you use temperature guns? Or are you basing your temperatures off of thermometers?

The reason I ask - On a 80 degree day, I can walk out to my driveway at almost any time during the day, and pull a 120 reading with my temperature gun.

I strongly believe the Texas desert would be very similar in temperature, if you are considering the surface temperature of a rock in the desert sun.

If the cage has plenty of ventilation, and the basking temperatures are stepped up in increments (100 degrees on the floor, higher as you go up), I see no reason to NOT provide these temperatures. Especially if the lizards are readily utilizing them!

Sure, I am basing a lot of this on monitor keeping techniques, and also a bit on Bearded dragons. But honestly - it has worked in the past, and I see it working with these Collareds as well.

I've never seen a Collared lizard with it's mouth gaping open from too much heat. Ever. This seems to be a sign... Maybe they really enjoy the intense heat.

Thoughts?

Yea, I do use a small handheld infrafed heat gun, and have also used thermometers. When I use thermometers, I make sure I am taking the actual temp of the surface of the rocks...not the air space.

I strongly suggest lowering temps to less than 110. In my setups (when indoors), I have a large gradiend of temps from 70, all the way to 105-107 directly under lights (rock surface temps).

Keep a watchful eye on the lizards backs...I use less temps than that, and have seen burns on a couple of my females when I carelessly restacked my rocks. The burns will start out like small grayish area on the back...they heal if noticed early, but it does take a long time.

If you think you can use 130 for basking lights, and I can't convince you otherwise, I stongly suggest a large space for a large gradient...If 130 is the only area of light and heat, they will use it.

Best of luck with the collareds,

John Eddington

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The only time I have seen burns from heat alone was in an emaciated Mali Uromastyx that sat underneath a 150 watt CHE for several days. I agree - it takes a LONG time to heal (he is still healing over a year later).

As for a large basking area - we're talking a 2 ft vertical gradiant, with no less than four different basking levels of varying materials and temperatures. Even then - they always choose the hottest spot.

It's not that I cannot be convinced that the basking areas are too hot... I'm just trying to make sense of it. In most animals, if you provide a variety of temperatures, they will use the temps they prefer the most. If you provide nothing buy 130 degrees and 70 degrees, you will see animals FORCED to use a basking area that is too hot. (kind of reminds me of heat rocks with no other supplemental heat)

I will continue to modify the caging and basking areas to assure I am providing the widest variety possible... And will monitor the lizards to see what they decide to utilize.

I'll keep you updated!

I have to wonder if it is instinctive just to get to the higest basking sites, or warmest. When mine got their small burns, they had plenty of basking sites...a variety of temps...the place they got burnt had to have been the site closest to the heat...for some reason, they still preferred it. They either preferred it, or simply spent enough time in the heat, trying to climb to the highest point, seeking an escape route.

John

Definately keep us posted. Get pictures if you can. Also, where did you get them...locale, person/place of purchase, etc? I'm interested in the color of the males.

mine are very young 3 weeks, and they seems to like to be at
they higher place.
even if my hand, they get at the top and just lay there...
they seems to like to have an overview