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#2063291
HAL
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About 2 weeks ago my husband and I caught a larger female (figured out she was a female from reading posts here Thank you!) I believe she is full grown. Yesterday my husband stopped on his way home from work and caught a smaller one which I believe is female, PLEASE let me know what you think! I am using a regular lamp and keeping it in front of our window for now till I can get to the store this weekend and get a proper UVB heat lamp. Below you will see is the tank we have for them, it is a 35 gallon enclosure. We are taking our girls (2 and 5) out in a bit to see is we can find a male. Do you think a 35 gallon tank is large enough for 2 females and 1 male?
Larger female
Larger female
Larger female again
Smaller ?female?
another one of the smaller one ?female?
:) one more angle of ?her?
tank
tank up close
I would welcome any advice or ideas. We are using regular dirt from out side as the larger one seem to like it a lot both like to bury themselves over night and come out as soon as I turn the lamp on in the morning. And every night my husband and I catch them crickets and pill bugs aka rollie pollies. I read that they can eat spiders as well, we are in North San Diego county CA and have a great deal of these red colored spiders, is anyone familier with them, know what they are< and are they ok to feed?
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08/25/09 01:24pm
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#2063393
Jared T
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Message To: HAL In reference to Message Id: 2063291
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Rule is, 10 gallons per lizard. I like to give them more space though.
My advice, take the tank away from the window, UVB rays do not penetrate through glass and will in turn cook the lizards due to the glass magnifying the suns hot rays.
You’ll need UVA/UVB lights as well.
I order crickets online when grasshoppers aren’t available outside. But, crickets and grasshoppers are all I feed my lizards. Refrain from feeding bugs that have been around areas that have been sprayed with pesticides, this could indeed harm the lizards.
Awesome western fencies!
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08/25/09 05:18pm
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#2063445
HAL
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Message To: Jared T In reference to Message Id: 2063393
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Thanks! It’s good to know the 35 gallon, while pushing it close will be enough room for now. The window is open all the time, except from about 11pm to 6am. The larger one seems to like crickets well enough though sometimes she will go a few days without eating, is that normal?
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08/25/09 07:55pm
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#2063484
Jared T
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Message To: HAL In reference to Message Id: 2063445
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LOL it’s not, my lizards eat everyday, even twice a day if I feed them that much. Give her some time. She’s probably stressed. Try not to handle her too much in the beginning, that also could be a factor. Another factor could be you’re feeding her too much and she’s plugged. Always check for poo in the tank everyday and keep track when you’re cleaning the tank. That way, you know that bowl movements are happening.
You should check your lizards for parasites. They’re tiny blood sucking mites that live under their scales.
Like I said, you need to get them away from the window. The glass on the window, and the glass on the tank will cook the lizards and kill them when using the sun for heat and or direct light. But that’s just my opinion.
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08/25/09 09:25pm
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#2063665
HAL
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Message To: Jared T In reference to Message Id: 2063484
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Ok I’ll move them this morning. I’m headed out to Pet Co Satrday morning. The larger female laid eggs last week, unfertilized, and that’s when I noticed she wasn’t eating as much as she was the week before could that have had something to do with it? I haven’t handled her at all, to say that I haven’t picked her up since we caught her, I have been trying to pet her a few times a day, at first she would run away, but now she lets me toch her with one finger, but if I try to use more then one finger she will run away. The smaller one has let me pick her up twice, and we’ve only had her for 2 days. Maybe it"s cause she’s younger and after my husband caught her I held her and petted her and hand fed her a couple of baby crickets we have an abundence of on our front porch at night. Is it unusal for them to eat part of a cricket? I came out this morning, and I’m not sure which one it was but there’s a partially eaten cricket in the bottom of the tank. After getting the new little one I’ve been catching 2 different sizes of crickets, ones a little too big for the smaller one, and the little baby crickets all over my front porch for the little girl. Maybe the little lizard (OH named Pinkie by my 2 year old) got ahold of one of the bigger crickets and just ate what she wanted do they do that sometimes?
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08/26/09 08:53am
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#2064700
_Jd
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Message To: HAL In reference to Message Id: 2063665
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Yes, opinions... windows and glass cages are a bad combination if the window receives constant sunlight. However, keeping a cage in a window is fine as long as you are constantly and consistently monitoring the temperature inside the cage. I kept mine in a window at my old apartment, but the window had trees outside and the direction it was facing was mainly southwest, it only got direct sun for about an hour a day. Plus I work out of my house anyway and when I’m not on the computer, i can easily check to make sure the cage was at a good temperature between 75 & 85.
It is normal for the larger blue bellies to go a day or two without eating in the wild, though in captivity many pets have become accustomed to eating four to five crickets a day, and sometimes more, though most of the nutrition in the crickets isn’t processed and they just poop it out. They can be stressed at first and will tend to eat more after settling in. Mine poops almost every day and eats only one or two crickets a day.
As for the partial eating, that’s not normal. The crickets you feed them shouldn’t be bigger than the space between their eyes, or as long as their head. Mine has managed eating a few crickets a bit bigger than her eye space, but partial eating would normally mean the lizard wasn’t able to swallow the bug, but was starving so it tried anyway. Most lizards won’t even attempt to eat a bug obviously too big for their mouths, unless starved ofcourse.
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08/28/09 03:15pm
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