Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK I went through all the forums to see if anyone mixes species so I didnt have to ask a question and have a bunch of other people tell me its impossible.I want to breed my first lizards and want to breed a relatively inexpensive lizard.If their is another species of lizard in the cage will the other species in the cage mate.like I want to breed some longtailed grass lizards.if I have a big enough cage could I add some anoles to the cage and the grass lizards would breed.it sounded like you knew alot mixing species so I wanted to ask you.also if I could put anoles in with them do you sell your blue phase green anoles and if so how much are they.where is your pet shop located it saounds like a good one with knowledgable workers.thanks for you time.
Nick

We call these things "Asian Vine Lizards". I believe thats simply another common name for them around here, feel free to correct me. Regardless they seem very similar in care from my research so the info should apply. Pretty common but not very popular so not many shops have them. Very similar care to an anole (if you've never dealt with them). So far we have had no problems mixing them with anoles. Larger anoles such as big headed anoles and guyana blue anoles can cause a problem but common green anoles, bahaman anoles and such should be just fine. House geckos are good similar size lizards that are very cheap and hardy. They, however, are prone to get stressed out and drop their tails/die if kept with others. To keep those alive you need a relatively large tank and a couple of tricks. Tell me what tank you plan to get and your budget and I can give you some further solutions. UV light is a must for all of them to thrive, I recommend a 5.0 (~5% UBV) Day-Glo or something similar. 5.0 "Iguana" lights and similar lights should be ok as well (Look for the UV percentage). Keep the temeratures around 85 to keep everyone happy but all of the lizards you specified can handle temperatures of 95- for a SHORT period of time. If it gets too hot, put ice cubes on the screen to cool it down. If it is the problem persists, you need to consider moving your tank to a cooler area because 90 is pretty much a basking temperature. Humidity should be anywhere from 50-70 with a desired percentage of 65. Regular misting should keep it up pretty easy in a glass tank. If not, get a humidifier similar to my tokay's tank (picture below). As for breeding, I cannot say. They may or may not. What I do know is that the larger the enclosure the larger the chance. The cage furniture is the important part. Lots of hiding spots is a must. Different levels of terrain and many available homes drop the fighting rate dramatically. Keep the hiding spaces of similar size and strategical place so nobody feels lesser (dont make it too boring though ). By strategical I mean putting a hiding spot insanely far from the water or feeding dish. After a while most lizards learn that they are under no threat but the beginning times are crucial. Geckos like to hide up top against the glass in an upright position. Good ideas include gluing cork bark to the side with background to keep them feeling secure. Hollow bamboo works nice and looks natural. 1 or 2 entrances maximum. Anoles prefer to hide in foliage and tree branches, as do the vine lizards. Provide small leaved, yet very full and dense plants for the anoles such as live or fake ficus. Give the grass lizards.....grass....and low shrubbery. Small ground hideaways work nicely as well. Shallow water dish for the anoles and the grass lizard and regular misting of the nearby wall for the gecko. Tell me if I missed anything or if you have any other question. As for the blue anoles, they are not for sale . Over the course of 15 years, we were able to acquire a whopping amount of 3. I believe the chances are 1/13000 for one to pop out. Their "street price" is 100$ but due to low availability usually cost us nearly 150$. With common pet markup, they would cost about 400$ which nobody would ever pay. Besides theyre a cool "Not for sale" pet . On the other hand, we CAN sell you some rare Anolis Extremus for about 60$ if you want an expensive anole. The shop is San Jose, California. Tell me if you want the exact adress.

OK what I have now is a 25 gallon i believe.the demensions are 36in long,12in wide,18in tall.if this is to small I can upgrade to a bigger one.I dont really have a budget I mostly buy my cages from garage sales and I have a bunch of supplys right now.Ive saved up the money for whatever else I might need.I dont really want a special anole right now since I never kept one.I was just asking about the blue because as soon as I get used to keeping anoles I would like one.also I like your tokay enclosure.what size aqaurium is that it loooks like a 20 gallon.is it.I like tokays they are awesome.also what community tanks do you have set up.could you tell me how many you have and whats in each one.I just like the fact of having a community tank I think their really cool to watch.thanks for all the info on the last post and sorry I cant visit your store i thought it might be somwhere close to Oklahoma.
thanks again
Nick

My tank is 18x18x48 I think its an 80 gallon so youre a bit off. I lost the gallon calculator thing online and I dont feel like going through conversion (being raised on the metric system, my estimation is 200 liters......I figured about 1m by 50cm by 50cm). Anyway, yours I think is a 30-40. Right now we only have 1 community tank left which is the one I told you about. In yours, I would reccomend 2 geckos 1 anole and 1 grass lizard (if those are the ones that you want). I would do more geckos because your tank is taller than it is wider, which is what geckos like. Anything more might be pushing it because it is a tall and thin tank. If I didnt have my tokay, I would probably setup a huge community tank in my 80gal but hes got priority. In general, I would say you need about 1-2 cubic feet per lizard (small lizard that is eg. anole, day gecko). Oviously you dont want to set up a 1 by 1 by 1 for an anole but all together it seems to be a good rule of thumb. Your tank is 4.5 cubic feet. Consequently you can put about 3-4 lizards in there hence my earlier suggestion. Anyway, if there is ever any reoccuring fights I would still recommend seperating the lizards. Often individual lizards are more agressive than species as a whole. If any lizard is sick, likewise you must quarantine it before it spreads and keep an eye out for the others. Hope this helps. If you have any further questions feel free to ask.

I dont really want any geckos.all I want is anoles and longtailed lizards.how many could I fit in the tank is it still the same even though the geckos wont be in their?what should the substrate be,I was going to use repti bark or try bedabeast.does your pet shop have a web site.also what do you feed your green vine snakes(are these a north amarican snake).if they are are they also called rough green snakes because those are native to my area.Ive had some I caught but they wouldnt eat so i let them go.thanks for the help earlier too.
Nick

Bark is a natural antiseptic (thats why its used in playgrounds) therefore it is safer. Bedabeast looks a bit more natural since you never see straight bark and can house plants. The choice on that is yours, either will work just fine. I would put no more than 4 lizards/snakes in your tank. The vine snakes are just rough green snakes but the common name for the ones we get are Florida Vine Snakes, which are from....you guessed it....Florida. Anyway those should be safe with your lizards since they eat crickets themselves.

thanks for all your help antonm and sometime soon Ill be going to the pet shop and getting some lizards.could you awnser one more question though?have you ever got jeweled curly tailed lizards in your shop?and if so how did you care for them and did they breed(just somthing Ive been interested in for a long time).thanks again
Nick

Yes I have. Infact we have about 6 right now in a 40 gallon cube. Very agressive towards other lizards and very territorial. The giant curly tails will attack others no matter what while the normals just bob their heads and chase others. I wouldnt recommend them for a community tank simply because they are strongly built and will attack other lizards, especially if theres more than 2 of them. They giant ones also require a very large enclosure. Our males constantly bite the female's neck trying to breed but she always gets into a crack of some sort and the male falls off. Its pretty funny to watch because he gets hit head first into a decoration (smart girl). In any case, I'm sure theyre of no trouble to breed. Care is once again very similar to an anole. Keep it 85 with a basking of 90 and 65-75% humidity. Very hardy animals.

thanks so much youve been very helpful and patient with my questions.thanks for all they info and hopefully somtime soon Ill be breeding lizards.thanks again.
Nick

Not a problem I give these lectures at work for random customers so I'm pretty used/tollerant to explaining things. As long as you get the right info its all good. Good luck.

Hi there,

I like the humidifier pouring the mist down into the tank like your picture shows. This looks like the perfect thing for many tropical lizards or frogs.

Could you explain how you set this up? What kind of humidifier are you using, and how did you make it go through the PVC pipe - is the opening for the mister that size?

Thanks in advance.

Morgana

Its a cold air (has to be cold air) humidifier that I got at Longs. It cost me 47$. I think you can also get them at Fry's Electronics. Get the one with the ~2 inch hole in the top. Take the top restriction off and mount some PVC on top of it. The fog will go up as high as you want since its a fan installed inside the thing. You can use 2" PVC all around or use a 2" adapter and whatever size you want from there on. I use 1 1/2 because they were out of the 2". No PVC cement is needed, just place them on snugly. Show me a pic when youre done

Thanks bunches. I will see if I can find one. Fry's is not too far away - not sure about Longs....

If I get it done, I'll post a pic.
Thanks again,

Morgana