hi i was thinking of getting about 3 collard lizards and ws wondering how much a setup would be and what i would need and the size of the vivarium plz thx
According to Dick Bartlett's book "Lizard Care from A to Z" the minimum floor space for a pair of collareds is 18" x 48 ". No more that a single male per cage, and additional females will require even a larger enclosure. These are very active desert lizards capable of running on two feet. They require a rather hot basking temp of 115 F, a cooler resting area, and high amounts of broad spectrum illumination during daylight hours. Stones are the prefered perching and basking surface. They can learn to drink water from a water dish, but until acclimated you may have to mist/spray their rocks in the morning to allow them to lap the droplets. It is also important that they have a significant night drop temp down into the lower 70's or even 60's. Collared lizards are cannibalistic and highly predacious. These miniatures velociraptors will not hesitate to eat smaller cagemates or other cage occupants. I recommend you acquire captive bred specimens. There are a couple of active breeders in the southwest and some beautiful morphs. Wild Caughts will acclimate but they are much more prone to stress and parasite problems. Also, note that all lizards do not "like" to be handled. Some can tolerate it better than others. Collareds are a bit frenetic, and like most smaller lizards, become highly stressed from too much handling. All the references I have read indicate that this is a fascinating species best kept in a large desert vivarium as a dispaly animal only. :wink: George
Collards While I completely agree with Lacerta on the captive species, I did at one time have a breeding pair of wild caughts, that were tame from the minute I got them. It's just a matter of how lucky you are if you're going to go with wilds. I had mine in a 30 gal long tank and it seemed to be enough for them, not quite as big as what Dick Bartlett suggests , but it worked, I had babies! Good luck.
