Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just purchased a Burton's snake-lizard, and the pet shop it came from couldn't give us any valuable care instructions (actually, we're the ones who figured out and told the store what species of lizard they had sold us!). Need help with housing (substrate, lighting, humidity levels (misting?), etc.) and also with feeding sugestions. The lizard was fed crickets in the pet shop (though they couldn't say for certain whether the lizard had actually eaten or not...), but we found out it's diet consists mainly of skinks. (Any lizard-in-a-can available rather than live?) Any suggestions other than Anoles or some other small lizard? Would it need misting, flowing water, or just stagnant water in a dish? Basically, any help at all with this species would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!

Hate to disapoint you, but mine only ate Vitamin dusted Anoles. I kept it on aspen and it had a water bowl= full spectrum Fluorescent lighting. It thrived right up to when I sold it (two years later).

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Thanks; couple of questions though. What precisely do you mean by keeping it on "aspen"? Still too new to the lizard stuff to understand the jargon; sorry. Did you mist it at all? A friend in Australia said they have wet & dry seasons; did you keep yours in humid conditions or dry? We have also bought it an Anole for supper. Apparently, the Anole & the Burton's are bud's, rather than the Anole being lunch. Could it be because it's just too big for the lizard to take down? What size Anole do you feed? How often would the lizard eat? Would it just eat when it decided it was hungry or do they go on hunger strikes? How big was your vivarium? Did you have any logs, leafy plants, rocks, etc.?

We're determined to keep this guy alive - and preferably happy! Thanks for your info, and please keep it coming! Unfortunately, for grass green lizard folk, obviously we ended up with a rare and difficult species! We'll need all the help we can get for this guy's well being.

Sorry to be slow getting back to you. Where are you? If in a more northern climate (I'm in South Florida) it may just not be feeding because it's winter. Mine fed every week to two weeks. I just left lizards in and they would either be eaten outright, or disappear in the night.

Aspen is a bedding medium. Cypress mulch is also good.

I do not mist. A water bowl works fine.

My Burtons was a foot long and fed an large adult Anoles. I kept it in a 5gl tank. The reason for this (and no ornimentation was to make sure the prey animals were easily caught. Too much room and decor means the burrowing lizard seldom comes in contact with it's food.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Well, we're just "slightly" further north than you are; how about North Central Alberta? Not quite "The Great White North", but fairly close....

We gave him a mid sized Anole on Monday, and he ate it yesterday. Still a bit concerned it may have been too big for him; would he regurgitate if that were the case? The Burton's at the most about 16" from nose to tail tip; what size Anoles could he ingest, and how many? We'd kind of like to have an idea of how many we'll need to have on hand... Would leaving a couple of anoles in his/her vivarium be the way to go?

We've set it up with bark chips, and a couple of peat areas (it's a 70 gal tank - 48"x18"x20) for it to burrow into. It also seems to like crawling through/under dried grassy vegitation. Should we keep it relatively humid (it sounds like you had yours in a fairly dry habitat?) and warm - how warm? We're assuming he came through legal channels, in which case he would have come from PNG.

We really appreciate your help with this; us, and the lizard!
Rita

Mine was kept "dry" as you call it-at an average "summer" temp of 85-90F (in S. Fla) heat is not an issue. In winter I run about 75-80 (daytime).

Mine ate (as said) one every week or so. Leaving the lizards in is a good idea. Yours (16" is larger, so I would estimate two adult anoles per week to start-till unless it indicates that it won't eat that much.

If it is eating allready then you will soon find that they are hardy lizards with a pretty good range of habitat tollerance.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Thought you might be interested in a quick update. The Burton's doing fine. She ate 2 lizards in quick succession shortly after we brought her home, but hasn't eaten now for just over a week. There is a large male Anole in with her, but so far she hasn't eaten it. (Is it possible it's too big for her? You mentioned yours ate adult Anoles, yet was somewhat smaller than this one....) Would you think catching her frogs in the back 40 during frog season might be a good supplement? (I'm a bit concerned about her picking up something from the frogs that she isn't capable of dealing with, due to her geographic displacement.) She's looking good though, and likes the warm moist corner of her vivarium, under heavy cover. I was quite shocked to find her near the top of her enclosure one morning. She climbed up on top of the plants, and was warming herself under the heat lamp!

Anyway, she's a really pretty and neat creature. Hopefully she'll be around for a long time to come.

Thanks for your input and advice! It was/is really appreciated!
R

Goood to hear. Your concern of the Burton's relocation is a concern, but you are allready feeding Anoles to it (that of course do not occur where they are). Native tree frogs should be ok. I think as things get more into Spring the feed response will continue to improve.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."