Planning on getting some common wall lizards and was wondering about humidity, minimum tank size, and other care information
Welcome to the forums! =D I found a topic similar to this on another forum - htBtp:L//wwAw.rHepBtilefoLrums.Aco.uHk/foBrumsL/lizaArds/5H76B887L-coAmmoHn-wBall-lizarLd-heAlp.htHmlBLAH
Wow. Bickering like an angry married couple going on in that thread... so glad our forum has members that respect one another's opinions. Rowan, I'm actually going to take the pertinent information from that thread and post it here. Because 99% of the post material is people bickering over ASSumptions of what the OP was saying, I'll just include the relevant care info provided in the entire two pages. Plus, forum rules state we cannot link to other forums. *smacks you on the hand* = ) Info: "I keep mine with a basking spot of 30 celcious, UV at 8%, in an aboreal tank with lots of branches and live plants. " - Jay (Snakebrit) Caresheet linked to: http://www.petco.com/caresheets/lizards/Lacerta.pdf ^Probably a poor caresheet being from petco, but its a start at least. I'll look it over later and make any necessary obvious changes that can be appicable to any herp. We have a nice info guide stickied in this forum about UVB lighting - be sure to measure all temperatures accurately with a tempgun or digital thermometer with a probe as well. It sounds like this is a species that could probably thrive in something like a 20 gallon "high/tall" aquarium or a 29 gallon... but this is only a guesstimate based on their size. A little further reading suggests that they do probably do well with UVB lighting (being diurnal), and a hot spot/warm end of the viv in the 95 dgree F range and a cool end somewhere around room temperature. Cage decor should consist of climbing structures like branches, bark, sturdy rock structures, etc. Substrate would most likely be something that can retain moisture reasonably well, perhaps coir (eco-earth, bed-a-beast etc), cypress mulch, paper towel, etc. A water dish should obviously be provided and I'd consider feeding insects and supplementing them in such a way you would most lizards depending the age. I can elaborate on this if you'd like. It sounds like, from those who have raised them, they are fairly easy to keep. Make sure a dish of fresh water is available at all times and feed juveniles daily, adults up to every other day or so... probably as many insects as they wll consume in a feeding (properly supplemented). As for humidity needs, I'd wager the water dish and substrate will do most of the heavy lifting, but I'd mist some of the enclosure lightly a couple of times a week as week. If you note shedding issues, bump this misting up more frequently or provide a humid hide, etc to provide a moist retreat. Wish I could be more specific, but this isn't a commonly kept species and there seems to be limited information avaialble =/
