Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently caught an alligator lizard and I have a couple questions to ask.
1. The lizard I caught is female (she laid a couple of eggs) but unfortunately all of them don't appear viable. They are all shriveled and appeared to have died. I have read messages on this forum about this but it appears that one has to actually take the eggs out of her presence and incubate them separately for them to survive. Is it possible to have the eggs hatch which she is with them or is there any special treatment that has to be made?
2. Also, my lizard doesn't want to get out of the cave that I bought for her. All she wants to do is sleep and rarely never hungry nor thirsty. Is this normal behavior? She shouldn't be hibernating, should she especially in the summer months? I have a sun lamp but she is not interested in it.
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks,
Jonathan

it's interesting that your AL did the same thing mine did last week. laid some eggs and shriveled. it seems all my 11 are not viable. what a waist. i stil don't know why they shriveled. perhaps lack of moisture/humidity. it'd probably be best if you incubated it yourself and provided good conditions. i'm not sure how good terranium conditions would be. but i do wonder how they make it out in the wild.

re. the listlessness of your liz, that may just be it's personality. leave some crickets in there and i'm sure it'll munch when it's hungry. or just put a few in a week. and that way you can actually see it feed since it'll be more hungry. water is a must, contrary to what you might here. and i'm also not sure about the sunlamp thing.

here to help,

Edward

Edward,
Thanks for the response. I was getting worried that nobody ever responds to posts on this forum promptly. Yeah, I am pretty bummed that all the eggs died. I was hoping to get some hatched...but it appears that it is a delicate process to hatch these eggs from what I read on this forum.

I took out the cave and put in a plastic tree from my other lizard cage (I also have a long tailed lizard and Anole) and she appears to be more happy now with the sun lamp. There is plenty of water and food for her too. I do notice that she gets these "digging" moments and starts digging in places even when their is food which I cannot explain.
Thanks,
Jonathan

Mine likes to dig too. Sometimes he buries everything but his head, it's so cute, I'll walk over and there's this little head sticking out of the subsrate. They like to climb, so get some driftwood to climb on. I put mine under the heat lamp and he loves to just sit and bask. He also like ot sit in his bowl sometimes, so put a big enough bowl of water where she san sit in when she wants. She's probably not eating also because she was stressed. Mine is WC too...yesterday he escaped, and i found him behing the sterio,lol. I was so worried when he got out! but hes ok. good luck with yur new lizard
-----
~Julie~
1.0 Southern Alligator Lizard
2.0 Christmas Toad
2.3 Pacific Tree Frog
1.0 White Tree Frog
0.2 Bearded Dragon
1.0 Patterdale Terrier

S. Aligator lizards are pretty secritive by nature. I keep 2 of them now in our breeding program. I use bark as a substrait with peat moss. I have a piece of drift wood under the heat light and a large water dish that both of them can fit in totaly submerged. I have a cave for them witch they stay in most of the time. I keep a 60W heat light on the cage and a Reptisun 5.0 light as well. This gives them all the heat and UV light they need. Mine take about 50 crickets each every week. They are my most expencive animal to feed. Diging is normal as I said they are secritive. You should see your S. Aligators come out at around 10:30pm every night. Hope this helps.
RR

Jason,
You are right when you say they are the most expensive lizards to feed! I have bought her 60 crickets in the past several days and she eats about 10 in one sitting! My other two lizards (long tailed and anole) can eat about 30 in a week but there are always some left. They are in a typical fishtank sized aquarium and the alligator lizard is in a tank about 1/3 the size of that. I am thinking of switching the alligator lizard to the larger one and the other two to the smaller one. What do you think? The other two are more mobile and scamper all over the larger aquarium but the alligator lizard is much larger and may need the space. Also, I am concerned about my alligator lizard's lack of drinking. She doesn't appear interested and unlike some of the messages I have read in this forum, doesn't submerge herself in the large drinking container I bought her.
Thanks,
Jonathan

Julie,
Thanks for the info. Well, after about a month of captivity, my Alligator lizard appears to have gotten used to me. She doesn't stay in her cave at all but just hangs around the plastic tree I bought her. I have noticed that she digs alot even when there is alot of food around and the temp is fairly constant so it cant be hunger or cold. She doesn't appear to drink at all (or from what I can see) and her water dish is always full. My lizard never sits in it likes yours tho. Congrats on the eggs! Hopefully your will hatch! Mine have all died and I am still pretty bummed about it.

I keep my 2 S. Alligator Lizards in a 20G long tank witch will change soon. This is the minimum I would recommend for them. I would not worry to much about them not drinking. Come to think of it I cant say I have seen mine actually drink since I got them. What do you use for substrate?
RR

Jason,
I use the typical wood bark substrate from the local reptile pet store. I have to admit that this particular type of lizard is quite interesting to observe. She now doesn't like the plastic cave to hide but constantly digs. I have read this unusual behavior in the forums but no real explanation as to why they dig so much.

Do you have a moist hide for them?

The only time I observed extensive digging behavior was when my southern al Red was preparing to lay her eggs. She had a small moist hide (small plastic butter container full of moistened bed-a-beast) and evidently she didn't find this sufficient so she spent a lot of time digging in the substrate as well. She had not had a successful breeding so her eggs were all duds.

When I caught my gravid female I provided her with a large nestle quick container which I cut a hole in and laid on its side. She found this satisfactory and restricted her digging activities to the hide box (she dug out a whole corner of the box and this is where she laid her eggs). All 15 were fertile and she stayed coiled around them for two days. On day three she buried them and I removed the eggs for incubation.

Moisture in the hide box is essential if you want to try hatching the eggs. The leathery shell of alligator lizard eggs is permiable to water and unless sufficient humidity is present the eggs will quickly dessicate. Like the incubation container the substrate in the hide should be moist but not wet.

If you are in doubt as to whether the eggs are dessicated or infertile, hold them up to a light. Red blood vessels will be apparent in fetile eggs while duds will just glow yellow. As long as the eggs have not completely dessicated they can still occaisionally be saved if you provide the proper amount of moisture.

-Alice

Alice,
Thanks for the info. Well, my female ali did lay her eggs before but they were all duds so I am really not sure if she is going to lay them again. She doesn't look as fat as before she laid the eggs so I think the digging may be for some other purpose. If she does lay eggs again then I will take your advice. I have ready so many posts on successful egg hatching that I feel pretty deprived!