Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just bought a collard. the lady at the pet store said a 10 gallon aquarium would be fine. is that true? i have one of those heat pads on the outside of the cage on the right hand side. i put a light that has a tint to it from the pet store on top of the lid. that is also on the right side. is that enough heat? do i have to run the light all day and night? the cage is in our room so having that light on kinda sucks. also is it a bad idea to turn our air conditioner on in our room? i read something about hibernation. is that something you only do if they are going to mate?if i put plastic plants that have suction cups on the side where the light it will they get too hot and burn?
thank you, thats all for now!

Sorry to say, you were given very bad advice, a 10 gallon tank is way to small, these lizards are extremely active and love to run and jump, and just be lizards.

You should have atleast minimum 20 long but even that is pushing it, 30 gallon long, is the best choice if your trying to keep it reasonable. Always rememeber with these guys BIGGER IS BETTER.

You really should have the tank in a place with no air conditioner, these are desert lizards! But many people have central air so ya just have to get the heat up in the tank.

The way you have to set the tank up is to have a basking rock or area, with a basking light above, the temperature at the basking area should be 100- 105
The rest of tank should be about high 80's to 90 degrees, so you can see why it will be hard to acheive in an air conditioned room.

Also you can not acheive that temperature gradient in a small 10 gallon tank.

And you will also need a long flouresant UVB light this is to help with vit. D3 so as NOT to develope Metabolic Bone Diease from lack of calcuim. It acts as Sunlight.

These lights stay on from early morning till dark about 12 hours or so.

Good news is you DO NOT have to leave them on all night while your trying to sleep,

They drink water every day, in shallow saucer or driped from a melting icecube placed on the top screen and dripping down on a rock below.

They eat crickets, superworms, wax worms, silkworms, moths, grasshoppers, japenese beeteles as long as they are pesticide free of course.

Oh and the bugs should be gutloaded before feeding, meaning the only nutrition your lizard gets is from what your bugs eat, so feed the bugs, greens, sheredded carrots, dried catfood or dog food, fish food, cereals, they are not picky!

Also you need to dust your bugs atleast 3 times aweek with calcuim power I personally use "Sticky Tongue miner- all for indoor reptiles."

You can sprinkle some in a baggie, put bugs in, and SHAKE AND BAKE type thing except no baking, just SNACKING !

Well thats about all, for now, I have to run, but many people on here can help you if you have any more questions just give us a yell !

Good luck, and again NICE to have you !
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Eve

ok, i just called the pet store. she said they collard i have the guy that breeds them,breeds them to be a little smaller.i told her read they should have a 20-30 gallon tank and she said because mine is kinda smaller a 10 gallon is fine. she said if it gets a little bigger then i can buy a bigger tank. what do you think? if you think i need a bigger tank still do you think it can wait until i have more money to do so?
also i asked her if i should get a thermometer to put in the tank. she said the way i have it set up will produce enough heat, she helped me pick out all of the stuff i needed. and the a.c. thing she said to just put a towl over the tank to keep in the moisture. she said thats what they do. what do you think about that?
the pet store i go to is a nice one. the lady that was there knew a lot about the animals and she acted like she knew what she was talking about. i dont know!

Hiya-

I have 2 lizards. One is huge and one is very small. The small one (Pebbles) actually runs and jumps around in the cage more than the big one (Bam Bam).

While a 10 gallon cage is fine for babies, they need something bigger...well as soon as you can.

The bigger cages are better because they have so much more room to run around. They're also better because the lizards need a hot end and a cool end. They need a cool end for their water dish and just to have a place if it gets too warm. I've had a 10 gallon cage....you just can't accomplish all of that in there.

Oh, and I've been to really nice pet stores with really nice clerks who seem to know what they are talking about. But my lizards aren't breeder lizards or an income to me....they are a part of my family. I am trying to give them a nice life...not just the bare minimum to survive.

Sorry if this sounded mean at all....I just want what's best for your new friend.

Becca

Lindo, we love collareds here, and would never steer you wrong (deliberately)

You say she told you the kind you bought there, was bred to be smaller?
Thats NUTS ! Unless they have come up with a miniture version of what we all here have been keeping for years

I dont know how old your new collared is, if it is a hatchling, sub adult or adult, give us an idea of how long it is from head to tail, okay?

Also she told you DO NOT need a thermometer, WELL, if you think about that a second how the heck would yu EVER know how hot is was in there??????????????

You have to get a reading to know if your temperatures are correct (the ones I first gave you)
Otherwise your lizard will not eat, and die, if its too cool, if too hot he will cook!

Also you were told to put a towel over the top to keep in moisure?

THESE ARE DESERT LIZARDS you do not want to create a RAIN FOREST TYPE habitat

Gee thats the way I keep my redeye tree frogs from Costa Rica rainforest.

I hope you will stay and listen to the many people here, we will sincerely try and help, if you want us to!

Pet shop people do mean well, I think, but often times are told nonsence, and thats what they rely to you believing they are right.
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Eve

Perhaps a guayan collared lizards...or the collard spiny lizard. Check out Eve'w website and make sure it looks something like you see on her collared lizard pages. A lot of people do actually purchase spiny lizards as collareds sometimes. If you are new at this, you should double check.

John

Lots of people mistake other lizards with collareds as being Collared lizards. To make sure, you should go to the photogallery for lots of Collared Pics. If you are not, someone has been smoking a little too much yuhu. Namely the Clerk.
She has to be talking about another lizard because those aren't the specs for a Collared tank. truthfully i think it is a spiny fence lizard or something like that.

Collaredkeeper
p.s. I made up the word yuhu (you-hu) but you know what I mean.

This is a Collared.

That's a tropical environment LOL...just kidding

They seemed to like them, both squeezing into one but I changed it. Didn't go with the environment so I put rock slates in. It provides tons of hides and even digging space. Now my babies enjoy the coconuts in their cage. I recently put slates and sand in and they still go to the coconuts.
To make a long story short....
....I will end this one.
Collaredkeeper

shes really cute Tony, ya never told me her name????????????
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Eve

All this time I have been thinking of a name for all my lizards.
Never knew it could be so hard. I finally found a name for them.

....drumroll....

My male is called Fang (don't ask) and my female Kiche. They were from a great book I read as a child called White Fang. One baby is named kanto, meaning beautiful and stout in Japanese. It will eventually fit her, She is the smaller of the two. I am not sure of the other but will come soon.Collaredkeeper
p.s. I would like to know if anyone knows how to make a signature in your account. I am sick of writing the marquee thing. I know vonnie (if I can call her that) can't be writing the disorderly thing over and over again.

loved White Fang ! Kanto is pretty also !

As far as writing something for a signature, right above this test box, you will see User Prefs click it, sign in if you have to,
and then pick your preferences, one is your signature, you can write what you would like !

Hope to see something cool soon in your sig now, LOL
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Eve

haha, yes you can call me vonnie, as it is my name. i also prefer madame wonderful and princess vonnie yes i have been meaning to change my signature but my collection of quotes is in san diego and i am still in south carolina so y'all are stuck with me being disorderly until i return in a few weeks, ha ha
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vonnie
***One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne***

Ahhhaa, Just messing with ya Vonnie!
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Eve

if i ever become orderly then the world would probably end the next day!
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vonnie
***One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne***

Hey Lindo! The first time I decided I wanted a Collared Lizard, I went to a pet store to find one. After checking several stores, I found a lizard that was marked "Collared Lizard" on the tank. A ten gallon tank, I might add... LOL

And the lizard in the tank turned out to be a Costa Rican Collared Swift. This lizard has collars, just like the collared lizard, but the scales on the Costa Rican lizard are different - they are rough, not smooth.

And for any Costa Rican lizard, the conditions you have mentioned would be correct - ten gallon tank, some humidity, and a warm environment in the 80's or 90's.

If you can take a picture of your new lizard friend, we on the forum can figure out which species you have and make sure you get the right advice. Pet store people sometimes know their stuff, and sometimes don't, and the most common mistakes I have seen in pet stores, is identification of the species itself...

Hope this helps!

KIT

his skin is smooth. i cant take a picture because we dont have a cam corder.

he shed his skin last night and has been very active. he jumps a lot and climbs the screen lid like monkey bars. it seems like he has been teasing my cats. they sit and watch him and he comes out to jump around when they are watching. its funny. he seems happy