Reptiieman   Reptileruler1   Dminguit   T-platinum   Reptiieman   T-platinum   Chippychop   Daniboo  

 #1950417

 Tank pictures

 #1950542

 Tank pictures

 #1950569

 Tank pictures

 #1950797

 Tank pictures

Hey there rock-machine. Cool to hear you are interested in collard lizards. They rock sockkkks. Glad to hear you are doing research, but as a word of warning from someone who didn’t take peoples word of warning when he started, dont get your animals until you have all the necessities. Just like buying a dog, you dont get it before you have a house or food for it.

That said, a lot of people woudln’t have even looked up stuff on their soon to be pet, so thats cool you did. as an awesome reward, I’ll totally tell you a secret are you ready? Dont tell anyone ok!?


collard lizards (also known as crotaphytus colaris) are a desert species found in the southwest USA. Typically, the collard lizard grows to a SV length of about 4-8 inches and a total length, with the tail making up half or more, of 10- 15 inches. When young, a 10 gallon tank will suit for a short time, but not long. These little guys grow fast and you never want to have them in a tank smaller than twice their body length. optimally, the tank you initially purchase will be its final tank, just so there is no stress on the animal later on and it has tons of room to roam around in themeantime. I would reccomend no less than a 40 gallon tank for a full grown collard lizard and larger for multiple ones.

You will need to take care of a few things:

Heating: They are desert species, so a heat lamp will be necessary. In the basking spot (a slightly raised spot or stick, below the heat bulb, that a lizard may soak up more heat from), the temp should be between 100-115 degrees. have the lamp on one side so there is a warm and a cool side. The warm side should be around 75-85 and the cool side around 70-75. The night temp shoud not go below 70 otherwise they may freeeeze. don’t use heat rocks, as they only heat a very small area and you run the risk of burning your lizard. They do malfunction and over heat. Lizards won’t move if the temp slowly increases, even if they are catching on fire, so don’t use one at all. Under tank heaters are nice, but only heat the area they are under and only 2-3 inches above the dirt. They may be used, but not by themselves. Use a heat bulb to supply the heat. Its simple and can be adjusted by raising and lowering. Make sure you get the proper watts though. The higher the wattage, the hotter it is, and hotter isnt always better.

Lighting: You will need a UV spectrum light meant for reptiles, specifically a desert bulb which has extra uv stuff. Yep, stuff. The easiest and most widely distributed bulbs are flourescent bulbs. Get one that will illuminate most of your tank, (so if you have a 10 gallon tank, a 18’’ striplight will be fine, and likewise a 30 gallon will be fine with a 24’’ striplight.) Keep the light on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours. leaving it on al the time will make your little scaly firend go poyo loco. The uv bulb is a necessity as lizards cannot synthesize calcium (an essential nutrient to keep the m alive) without UV rays. And somewhere along the lines vitamin d3 comes in also, but that guys a smarty pants so just forget about him. Dont use your desk lightbulb, its not a uv buld and does no more than supply heat and light. The bulb will cost about 20-25 bucks but will last up to 9 months. Please buy it, or else your lizard will wish it knew the meaning of suicide.

Food: Feed crickets. They are the easiest and most common food source. Buy, don’t catch, as wild ones may have pesticides on them. You will feed your dude every day as much as he asks for. if its young, probably like 8 medium crix a feed. Only feed crickets that are shorter than the width of your lizards head, so it never chokes on its food. it also digests easier. You will want to dust your crix 2 times a week with vitamin supplements found at your local petstore, because those crickets jsut don’t have everything in them that your baby wants. Feel free to feed other insects supplied by your local store such as mealworms and waxworms, but be wary, mealworms are harder to digest and some will jsut ppuke em back up like a bad night of partying. Pretty much, jsut feed until full. You will eventually know your lizards magic food number, I like to put a certain amount into a small container with the lizard and see just how many are left after 15 minutes. He may not eat immediately in his home, so if the crix are still there tomorrow, dont worry, yet.

Substrate, A.K.A. dirt: An arguement as to what to use has been raging for years. Some warn of the risk of using sand and other materials as they could be accidentally ingested by your friend and get stuck in his stomach, blocking his intestines and cauing death. This is a real issue and only you can make the decision for yourself. I personally use Reptile sand, a very fine sand that is supposed to pass through their gut if accidentally eater, but I don’t feed my guys in their cage. I move them to a second small cage for feeding. That way, both of us are happy: I get my pretty sand and they get to stay alive. Again, the choice is yours.

Decor: Do as you please, jsut make sure your lizard can’t get too close to your heat lamp and give him some stuff to hide in or under. The best thing is to give hims something to hide in on the warm and cold side. This makes your lizard feel safe and secure. Plus, the hide on the hot side can double as your basking platform!. decor is fun, jsut make sure its all stable and not likely to fall over and crush your bro-ha. A shallow water dish is nice to have, though your lizard may never use it. Desert lizards get their moisture mostly from their food, but that doesnt mean yours wont enjoy a littlw swim here and there. Jsut keep the water shallow, as desert lizards suck at swimming.

Lastly, you need to have a thermometer. Always have one. Check the temps on both sides of the tank by leaving the thermometer in the basking spot, cold side and warm side for 15 minutes each. Adjust accordingly and keep the thermometer in there. It may look like a fasion fopaw, but its like food. Suck it up and eat it.

All this stuff listed is the bare necessities. Don’t you dare skimp on any of it otherwise I’ll come after you. Or jsut be oblivious to your actions. Please don’t skimp on any of it. Without it, life will suck for your lizard and we dont want that do we?

Hope this was helpful, and good luck in your adventures. You are in for a really fun time. Blah blah blah.

Black Bone Django

P.s. heres a turkey ......tricked you

 #1951131

 Tank pictures

 #1951192

 Tank pictures

 #1951301

 Tank pictures

 #1951312

 Tank pictures

Have fun!! They are so much fun!