Eastern Collard Lizards

Question
Hi Sandra, right now I have two collard lizards and I really want to take care of them and have them both live for a very long time. Two questions, one.. Should I put a bowl of salad in their tank for them to munch on? If so, any type of salad in particular? Two, do I need to plan dates to bath them or do they do it themselves in their bowl of water? If so, whats the best way to wash them? Thank you Sandra,                                                 Sean

Answer
Hi Sean

This is another popular species of lizard that are kept as pets and there are quite a few different species of them
They are indigenous to the southern U.S.

I have not kept them but being that they are a diurnal desert species-you will need both a basking spot light for heat and a UV tube for them to metabolize calcium

The first thing that I noticed when reading through various care sheets is that everyone recommends a large enclosure/tank for them
A 50 gal tank would be perfect with the 18 inch width and 4 ft. length

From what I have read-you can offer small pieces of greens and veggies but whether they actually eat them or not will depend on the individual lizard
You might want to toss some mealworms on the top of the greens that you give them and perhaps they will be attracted by the worms and eat some of the salad

They will eat pinky mice and other lizards (in the wild)in addition to insects but I have found that any species of lizard that I have kept that are omnivores do not need these prey items and will do just fine with a diet of well gut loaded insects-Dubia male roaches are great for larger lizards

I do not feed mammals to my lizards-even f/t and the risk of transmission of disease and the cost of feeding live lizards just isn't worth it imho

As far as bathing/soaking
I would let them use a water dish that is deep enough for them to soak in but shallow enough for them to get safely in and out of
Wash and replace with fresh water daily

You should not have to soak them unless one of them has a problem shed with pieces of skin that just do not want to come off

Sand and securely placed rocks are popular substrates to use with these guys and I would use children's "play sand" and avoid the "reptile sands" with calcium
I would not use crushed walnut substrate either as the tiny pieces are sharp rather than rounded

Also-because not all of the bacteria is removed when just scooping poop-you will want to change the entire sand substrate around once every month or so to keep it relatively bacteria free

Pay attention to the temp range needed for them as they need to have a hot basking spot (like many other diurnal lizards) of 95 to 105 degrees but the rest if the tank needs to have a temp gradient cooling down to around room temp-between and 65 and 75 degrees at night with the lights turned off

Having the entire tank at 95 or higher will literally cook this guys

So a digital thermometer with a probe on the end is a must for accurate temps


Here are a few care sheets with more detailed info about them and I hope that this has helped
:)

http://www.anapsid.org/collared.html

http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/collared-lizard.html



Good Luck with them
I think that they are fascinating  lizards to watch

Sandy aka LadyGecko