Fence Lizards Forum

Click Here To Register and Become A Member Of The RepticZone Family  

Back to Fence Lizards Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area  

Redkite7   Spring Bloom   Baja   Redkite7   ThesaurusRex

Member	Message
#2264866 Redkite7 View Profile	New Fence Lizard specific identification? Hello! I recently acquired a fence lizard from a friend’s backyard (yard in question being in southern Colorado Springs, CO, huge, wild, and more like chaparral than typical suburban lawn). I’ve done my research and am not a complete newbie herp keeper, having had crested geckos, corn snakes, trans-pecos ratsnakes, and leopard geckos before. This little guy/gal, however, is my first diurnal and my first WC lizard. Currently, s/he is under a 8.0 UVB Bulb and a 100w basking light, which keeps a temp of about 95*F at the basking spot and 70*F ish on the cool side. Humidity stays roughly at 27%, which is about the same as the room. There are a couple of hides, branches, and fake leaves for climbing about and hiding in. I tried to replicate the environment s/he was found in, so the substrate is about a 60/30% ratio of Eco-Earth to clean sand, like the backyard s/he was caught in. I’ll be adding more rock chunks as I can for climbing on, but s/he seems pretty happy with the branch in there at the moment. There’s a water bowl on the cool side, and I also mist the cool side every morning for droplets. My specific questions are: 1) After looking at various photos online, s/he doesn’t seem to match typical examples of either Western or Eastern Fence Lizards. Do I have something completely different or just an unusual color morph? S/he is very pale, with blue only at the throat, darker "speckled"-ness on the sides of the belly where the blue would be in a typical fence lizard. The markings on the back also seem more subdued than typical internet examples. The other lizards in the backyard are about the same range of colors - paler than the typical examples I’ve seen. S/he does have the keeled scales and "ruff" of a fence though. STV length is about 2.5"-3"? Is s/he still immature? I’m also fairly sure s/he is a female given the vent scales, lack of bright coloring on the belly and lack of "bulge" but I’m used to Leopard Geckos and Cresties, which are both more pronounced so I’d like a second opinion. 2) I have been feeding about 12 crickets (1/2" or so, slightly smaller than between the eyes) every two days or so since that’s what I have access to at the moment, but reading through this forum (especially ThesaurusRex’s replies, which are always immensely helpful), that seems like too much too far apart. I’m limited by what the local petsmart carries at the moment, which is either 1/4", 1/2" or adult 1" crickets, and the adults seem way too large for this guy. Should I downgrade feedings to 5-6 every day? Every other day? After s/he settled in after the first day, s/he did clear out the first offering of crickets pretty quickly, within about 6hrs. There’s also a small bowl in there now with a few waxworms to tide him/her over till I can get more crickets, but s/he doesn’t seem to be terribly interested in them, even when they are moving, and I haven’t caught him/her eating any yet. Here’s a link to a photobucket album with pictures of him/her and the current setup (a 30g tank): Link Please excuse the less-than-crystal-clear glass and random debris, I haven’t wanted to disturb him/her too much in the first week to clean it, although s/he is settling down pretty well. I will be doing a cage cleaning in a few days. There’s also one picture with a bit of eco-earth on his/her back, it’s not a tick or bug or anything, promise. Thanks for any information you all can provide, I really appreciate it! :) -Redkite7 (Oh and the lizard has been named "Kahlua" for the pretty brown s/he is. Figured it was gender-neutral enough! :) We are planning on adding another lizard or two from the same yard with him/her, since I read they are somewhat communal?, but wanted to get feeding specifics and species/gender first so we don’t end up with two males or anything)
04/30/12  07:05pm
#2264876 Spring Bloom View Profile	Message To: Redkite7   In reference to Message Id: 2264866  New Fence Lizard specific identification? She does look a bit pale. My guess is that she is either dusty or will soon shed. When I first acquired mine from the wild she was dusty, but one quick jaunt through her water dish made her quite vibrant. Mine eats like a pig too, she demands 4-6 medium to large crickets a day and will snack on wax worms between meals. Mine is gravid and is eating for 6-12. We have just started breeding crickets as we have 3 other lizards as well, and the husband wants to fill yet another cage soon.
04/30/12  07:58pm
#2264999 Baja View Profile	Message To: Spring Bloom   In reference to Message Id: 2264876  New Fence Lizard specific identification? I’m not positive, but I think your is a female. Since she doesn’t really have blue on her belly. But that’s not a 100% accurate way of sexing them. Show us a picture of his/her vent, because that’s the only 100% accurate way of determining the sex.
05/01/12  10:00pm
#2265028 Redkite7 View Profile	Message To: Baja   In reference to Message Id: 2264999  New Fence Lizard specific identification? There’s a picture in the album of Kahlua’s underside including vent; do you need a more zoomed-in photo? The paleness on the back is the lizard’s actual color, doesn’t look like the dustiness I associated with pre-shedding for the geckos or snakes. And s/he has taken a surprised jump through the water bowl and it hasn’t changed color at all, so I don’t think it’s just dirt. It looks like a color morph to me but I’m not terribly familiar with fence lizard variation so I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t some other species with different care requirements. Also, I forgot to mention I have been dusting with a calcium/d3 supplement when I feed; s/he will lick the dust off the decor occasionally after I dump the crickets in; I think s/he thinks at this point anything white is "food." :) I’ll post some more pictures tomorrow morning when Kahlua’s awake and active again. It’s quite a refreshing change to have a lizard that is active and alert during the day; everyone in the house always makes an excuse to come by and watch quietly for a bit. :) Thanks for the replies everyone! -Redkite
05/02/12  01:05am
#2265029 ThesaurusRex View Profile	Message To: Redkite7   In reference to Message Id: 2264866  New Fence Lizard specific identification? 1) Fence lizard pictures you find on the Internet are usually glamour pics taken of the lizard while it is in mating season. As a result they’re going to have blue and green splotches all over their body. Most of the year though, all the glamour is confined to the belly. 2.5 inches SV? Yeah, I’d say s/he is adult now, that’s the average length for adult fence lizards. Lack of postanal scales is a definite factor in determining sex. If you can’t find those, 99.99% chance of being female. I’ve looked at the picture you gave us now. From the looks of it one can tell it looks nothing like a Western or Eastern, just like you said. I’ve opened up a book and done some research. The best I can come up with, judging by both appearance and your location, is actually a subspecies of Eastern Fence Lizard, the Red-lipped Plateau Lizard: Sceloporus undulatus erythrocheilus. 2) 12 crickets seems like a LOT. Mine usually are only willing to eat 4 medium crickets a day, at best. They aren’t bearded dragons, so they typically aren’t powerhouses when it comes to wolfing down crickets. But if she insists on eating that many it might be a good idea to keep it up. She’s probably producing eggs anyway. Resisting a larva is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen or heard a fence lizard do. Most fencies always take advantage of an opporunity when something big, fat, and slow is before them! :P They’re ’communal’ depending on your definition. Groups of fence lizards typically operate like other lizards. A bunch of females in one place, and all managed by one male. The male makes sure his territory (and his females) is all to himself, shooing away other males and making sure his females don’t try and sneak off. In this case, they might make a lovely pair, or the male can stress her into being egg bound. Since it’s still spring I’d say wait until she has a chance to lay her eggs. Usually it’s two or three clutches. Your lizard is beautiful by the way, and so is your tank. :) Let me know if you have any more questions!
05/02/12  02:02am

Back to Fence Lizards Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area