Behavior
Lizards are not social animals. Too much handling of a lizard can lead to stress which in turn leads to much bigger problems such as food refusal and chronic illness. This is why it is important to limit handling of lizards as much as possible.
Herbivorous lizards, such as the green iguana, consume dark green leafy vegetables. Grape leaves, mulberry leaves, and hibiscus leaves are a few examples. You should also include calcium in their diet such as turnip greens, mustard greens, beet greens, spinach, alfalfa pellets, and cilantro.
Omnivorous lizards, such as spiny-tailed iguanas, are fed similarly to herbivorous lizards. The only difference is that you include insects in their diet. You can also feed them pre-killed baby rodents.
Carnivorous lizards, such as caiman lizards, fence lizards, geckos, anoles and chameleons should be fed pre-killed, whole prey of the proper size. Calcium supplementation may be recommended if their diet only consists of pinkie mice or meal worms. Do not feed ground beef, heart, or liver because these do not provide enough nutrition. Carnivorous lizards’ diets mainly consist of insects, rodents, and sometimes fish, mollusks and gastropods.
A set feeding schedule should be established depending on the age of the lizard. For hatchlings up to 14 inches in length, it is recommended to feed them every 12 hours. Their food should be finely chopped. Juveniles that are up to 2.5 years of age or 3 feet in length are recommended to be fed every 24 hours with food that is chopped fine to medium or shredded. Any lizard above 2.5 years or 3 feet in length is recommended to be fed coarsely chopped food every 24 hours.
Lizards love to climb and this is why it is important to have an enclosure that is large enough to put in branches for them to climb on. They also love to bathe. This is why it is important to provide them with some sort of water pool. The enclosure should be made with smooth walls that are non-reflective and it should have a tight fitting lid. Lining the bottom of the enclosure with newspaper, brown butcher paper, cypress mulch, and lab animal bedding pellets are all acceptable. You can use wood shavings for larger lizards.
Light is an important environmental requirement for lizards. It influences natural behavior and their psychological well being. Different things that you could use in order to provide full spectrum light would be unfiltered direct sunlight, a UV-B sun lamp, an FS-type fluorescent sunlamp and black light fluorescent tubes. Wide spectrum plant lights, wide spectrum aquaria white lights and black light blue tubes are of no benefit for lizards. All UV light sources should be at least 18 inches away and no more than 24 inches away from the lizard.
Heat is also an important element in housing lizards. Radiant heat is the preferred method; however, if this is not available there are alternatives. Incandescent lamps are commonly used during the daytime; however, they must be turned off at night. You can also use things like hot rocks or logs, but you must be careful in covering these with some sort of fabric to avoid contact burns. Thermal pads can be used, but again, you should cover these or place them under substrate, thermal pads along the back or side of the enclosure. Spot heat lamps, reflector lamps or coils can be used for several hours mid-day. Red or amber lamps can be used at night if you are having a lot of trouble maintaining ambient temperature. A thermometer should be placed in the cage to maintain the appropriate temperature. Tropical species prefer temperatures ranging from 79.7° - 98.6° F and temperate species prefer 75.2° - 85.1°F.
Humidity is another important aspect in housing lizards. Most desert species such as Horned lizards, Desert iguanas, Fringe-toed lizards, Chuckwallas, Spiny lizards, Molock lizards, and Banded geckos require <50% humidity. Tropical forest species such as Basilisk lizards, Green iguanas, Marine iguanas, Green anoles, Tokay geckos, S. African chameleons, and Meller’s chameleons require 60-80% humidity. A humidity monitor within the cage is recommended. This, as well as, good ventilation help in preventing mold and bacterial growth. If you are having problems with low humidity, you can place damp sponges in their hiding areas, frequently mist them with a plant mister, or use a room humidifier or vaporizer.
Proper restraint of lizards is important to avoid causing harm to the lizard itself and the handler. Never hold or lift a lizard by its tail. Lizards shed their tails very easily for this is one of their defense mechanisms. The proper way to restrain a lizard is to place one hand around the neck and pectoral girdle and use the other hand to support the body near the pelvis while holding the hind limbs. If you have a large lizard, you can tape the hind limbs and tail together and wear gloves to avoid injury. Smaller lizards should be held with the index finger and thumb around the head. If bit by a lizard and they won’t let go, apply a few drops of isopropyl alcohol in the mouth to encourage it to let go.
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