Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey....i puchased my plated lizard about 2 years ago at a local pet store. it's a yellow throat plated lizard, and he has been doing pretty good until about a month ago. She was wild caught, as most are, and has always been nervous. so she would get scared easily and jump around a couple of times then go and hide. well one day she did just that, but this time her tail started convulsing, whipping all over the place for about 15 mins...i didn't think if it because i thought she was scared and just running around...that was about 2 weeks ago...today i came in a she got scared, again, and ran accross the tank and i noticed that about 30% of her tail is missing! I checked in the tank for it, but i think she ate it. I checked the end of her tail and it seems to be healing. no colorchange, she is still VERY active, with no hesitation with eating. she gets water everyday, and i feed her about 15-20 crickets 1 to 2 times a week...she is very small compaered to other yellow throats i've seen...she live in a 150 litre tank with fake vines, bark chips, and compressed coconut fiber....there is no UV light, but a 100 watt bulb with hiding places and a basking rock...she seems happy with it....can anyone think of what could be the problem or if there is somthing i'm not doing?

You need a UV florescent light with Calcium in her diet. Try using TriCal calcium supplement with 5.0 to 8.0 uv florescent bulb, this will allow here body to sinthesize vitamine D3 naturally. Ambient cage temp. should run 75f to 80f, with basking spot of 90f to 95f. She also needs tubes to hide in and a humidity box with moss (for a moist hide). She will also eat fruits (Kiwi, strawberries, cantepole, watermelon, red grapes, banana),some vegetables (corn, brocoli tops, celery leaf, tomato), and pinkies mice once a week. They do not eat their own tails, tails break off and grow back. Sounds under nurished, but alot of other things possible. Since not to many persons have kept or reared them there is not information available to you. I have kept & breed Yellow-throated, Sudan, Giant Madasgacan, Three-lined, Four-lined, and several others so I hope I can help you with my experiences. Being kept alive needs quality of life. If you need more detailed information feel free to contact me and I am glad to offer you details of what has worked for me.