Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How did you guys get so knowledgeable in this area?
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I will be back!

Read a lot of books.
I don't know of an alligator lizard specific book, but much of their husbandry has things in common with other reptiles.

And experience including failures.

Last year a couple of my babies simply died - I did some searching on the web and found that high humidity can cause respiratory stress especially in young reptiles, so I changed their setup to less humid and they stopped dying.

Then I had a tail shed problem - the babies wouldn't shed the skin on their tail, and I would have to soak the tail and manually remove it - so I added a humidity chamber (one of those snake caves) with damp moss in it - and that problem went away.

Unfortunately since there isn't a lot of published data on their captive care, mistakes are going to happen - you have to be able to learn from those mistakes.

Even with kingsnakes for which there is a lot of published care data - it's been a learning experience with some mistakes.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

I do agree with you there will be some mistakes.

I was lucky that you step in and told me not to use a light to incubate them. I thought they were like chicken eggs where you incubate them with a light and in a dry environment. This is like totally opposite.

So too much humidity is not good. I still don't understand how you got them to shed the tail.
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I will be back!

With the tail - the issue was that there was not enough humidity for the skin to come off. What then happens is the old skin constricts the bloodflow and will kill the tail.

To get it off I would soak the tail in water (holding the lizard) and very carefully tear the old skin and work it off. Has to be done extremely carefully or you risk breaking the tail.

The humidity chamber gives them a place to go with enough humidity to loosen the skin so it comes off properly when they shed.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Can you take a picture and show me what it looks like?
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I will be back!

www.exo-terra.com/en/products/snake_cave.php

That's what I'm using for a humidity chamber.
Once I week I dampen the moss inside.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

So you manually put them in there right because the hole is kind of small for them to crawl in.

Also, when do you put them in and for how long?
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I will be back!

I only have the problem with babies - which are small enough to crawl in when they want to. My adults don't have shedding problems, I suspect they are more willing to soak in the water dish as needed.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Sorry but I still don't understand. So do you have to manually put the babies inside the chamber?

Also, about a month ago, I asked you why one of my alligator lizard like to sit in the water dish. It turns out because it was about to shed and which it did last week.
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I will be back!

No - when my young (almost year old now) alligator lizards want the additional humidity - they crawl into it themselves. They know it is a humid place to go when they are getting ready to shed. All I do is check it once a week, remove any poops in it (rare), and re-dampen the moss when it is dry.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Sorry, I look at the picture again and saw the hole on the bottom of the chamber. I asked if you had to put it in the chamber because I saw the hole on the top only.
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I will be back!

It only has a hole on the top.
I think it is a different model with a hole on bottom.

Anyway the basic concept of a humidity chamber is a closed space filled with damp moss with a hole for the reptile to enter.

Most reptiles know how to take care of themselves - problems like bad sheds are usually the result of us not providing them with what they need to do so.

-=-

I can't say for sure - but the difference between young alligator lizards and adults as far as needing a humidity chamber - young ones are smaller and thus more likely to be eaten by an aquatic predator such as a trout or a bird, so they may instinctively be less willing to soak themselves for long periods of time.

Also - I use coconut fiber for my adults, and they have a burrow dug under the water dish - that may act as a humidity source for them. I'm using wood chips for the babies because they are too difficult to locate when they burry themselves in coconut fiber.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

How moist do you keep your coconut fiber because you said mine were to damp and wet before. Since then, I have sun dried a new batch to crisp and put it into the aquarium. I spray it down every day until the top layer look damp.
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I will be back!

OK, I thought you meant this one.

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/reptile_cave.php
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I will be back!

When you soaked the tail and removed the shed skin, isn't it a bit dangerous that they might drop the tail?
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I will be back!

Must be done with extreme caution. That's why it is a good idea to give them a humidity chamber, so you don't have to.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

What is it about the King Snake that makes it fascinating? I have never owned snakes but like to know why do you like them. I like alligator lizards because the way it moves and how it hunts. I have alway like them since a kid but finally decide to raise the one that I first caught.
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I will be back!

King snakes are common in the pet trade because of the California Kingsnake, which has a lot of variability to its pattern, is a fairly docile species, and generally easy to feed. They also don't get very big, rarely hitting 5 feet.

Why I have a passion for kingsnakes - probably nostalgia. I use to find them on a (now developed) hill in Walnut Creek weekly while my sister was taking gymnastics lessons there.

The first snake I ever kept was a gopher snake, but the first snake I ever bred was a kingsnake. That's probably why I find them so fascinating.

Plus - the fact that they snack on rattlers is kind of cool
Actually they snack on just about any reptile they find when they are hungry, but it's still kind of cool.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

How aggressive are they toward humans? Will they dig their fangs into your hands?
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I will be back!

Kingsnakes do not have fangs.
Most are usually docile, but some species (and wild caught) can be aggressive.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 16 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - 14 eggs (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

I've been keeping alligator lizards off and on since I was a kid (over 16 years now). Like FunkyRes, most of my knowledge is through trial and error. I've also read what information I could get my hands on and have gotten pointers from other herp keepers.

In answer to your below post, not all females will lay eggs. Egg laying becomes even less likely if they have not been bred.

-Alice