Curly Tailed Liazrds

Question
QUESTION: Hi Tracie,
I have recently bought 2 cury tailed lizards. A male and female. I have them in a medium sized tank with wood chippings (recommended by the pet shop), a water bowl, a heat matt and bulb and 3 logs to climb on. I have been feeding them crickets. My first question would you recomend a sand area with rocks as i have heard they like that and would you be more varied in the food i give them. My second question is do they not eat dead crickets as they only seem to notice the live ones? An thirdly the first few days i had the lizards they was always active and on top of the logs, the past two days they have been buried under the chippings and been acting strangly like putting there noses to each other, sticking there chest out and squeezing there bodies in. One of them is currently shedding aswell.
Thanks for your time
Ashley x

ANSWER: Hello Ashley,

You are positive you have a male & female or two males??  That almost sounds like male behavior & dominance.  The males are very territorial & can injure each other so you need to make sure of the sex.  
Do you have a UVB light on them, & if so, what type & brand is it?
Is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light?  
Do you have a basking light such as a bright white light or just a heat mat?  
A good UVB light is the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb & you can get it from  www.petmountain.com  
They need full spectrum UVB lighting along with a bright white basking light for good stimulation of active behaviour.
They need a basking temperature of 95-100 & they need a cooler end around 75-80 or so.
The substrate is ok, but maybe add some eco earth or bed a beast to mix with it.  The humidity should be around 55% or so.  You can use larger rocks yes, just do not use small pebbles so they don't ingest them.
You need to measure the temps with either a digital probe or a temp gun.  
They will not eat dead feeders.  They must be live in order for them to be interested in eating.  Make sure & use calcium supplementation also several times per week too.

Tracie



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Tracie,

Thanks for getting back to me. The pet shop did say they are a male and female as two males are not aloud together. Yesterday they both got on fine, following each other everywhere and kind of linking tails. The pet shop gave me a bulb for them, it looks like a normal house bulb but bigger and said that with my heat mat with be enough for them. I do have a heat thermometer, which is like a circle which you stick onto the side of the tank and it reads the temperature. During the day it is around 100 and I have a cooler part of the tank. How do you measure the humidity?

The bigger lizard which is supposed to be the female, has shredded its skin and has become more colourful. Is that normal for them to get more colourful?

The smaller one, the male, has become very active, when we first got him he was very calm and relaxed, now they both are really active, always running about the logs and trying to run up the glass of the tank. Is this change in behaviour normal?

I have put a water bowl in there and change it daily and they love it. Thanks for the tips with food ill make sure the food is alive and buy some calcium supplement. I did buy them fruit yesterday, I found on the net they like sweet fruit and green leafy lettuce, so I bought some green and red apples and some grapes sliced the fruit and put them in but they havent touch them.

Thanks again Tracie, you have been a great help.

Ashley  

Answer
Hello Ashley,

Ok, well, hopefully they are not two males!  No, they will not get along if they were two males & should not be housed together for sure.
They can become more colorful as they shed yes.  Do you know the particular species of curly tail that you have, can you post a picture of them?
They are very active if they are kept under optimal conditions. Though we need to make sure of your temps in the tank to ensure they are not overheating.   
You do need to make a few changes with the lighting.  Unfortunately the people at the petstores are not always very knowledgeable.  
They need a full spectrum UVB light.  The Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb is the best one & would be great to use for them.  If they do not receive UVB lighting, they can get metabolic bone disease.  
You can buy that light from:  www.petmountain.com
Do not get a compact or coil, get the long flourescent tube bulb.
The heat mat is ok, but be careful as they can overheat.  
The circular thermometer will not measure the basking temperature.  It will only measure the ambient temps & the glass temperatures.  You will need to get a digital probe or a temp gun to more accurately measure the temps.
You can get a digital probe from walmart, the acurite brand, in the plants section.  If you can't find it there try going to:  www.reptilesupply.com

Or you can get a temp gun from:  
www.reptileuv.com

The basking temps can range from 95-110 but usually they prefer it around 100-105.  
They are mostly carnivorous but will sometimes eat fruit.  So, keep trying with the produce & maybe they will eat a little bit several times per week.  You can try mealworms, butterworms, phoenix worms & crickets.  

Let me know how things are going.

Tracie