Care Sheet for Fence LizardsAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 0 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 06/13/2009 |
Main Category: | Lizards |
Sub Category: | Fence Lizards |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Baby Deets |
Years Experience: | 3 to 5 Years |
Species: | Western Fence Lizards |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Northern, Southern, and Eastern Fence Lizards |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Males tend to have darker blue on their bellies and there will also be a lot of black around the blue. Males will also usually have blue on their backs. Also there is a bulge at the base of the tail that stores its sex organs. Females lack all of this besides the little to no blue they have on their bellies. The blue is usually very light if they do have it.
|
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Substrate such as sand (but sand may cause impaction, and result in a death), dirt, and unfertilized soil will work great because they like to bury themselves at night when they sleep. Wood chips may be used if it’s very loose and the lizards can bury themselves. I don’t recommend paper towels, cage carpet, etc. Sand mixed with dirt or soil is great for them too. A shallow water dish should be provided so they can drink and/or soak in it. |
Lighting and UVB: | They require UVA and UVB lighting, and a spotlight that can hold at least 75 watt bulb can provide this (but the bulb needs to be a UV bulb), and the spotlight should be kept at least 4 to 5 inches away for the tank. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | The basking spot should be at least 90 degrees F, other than the basking spot, the tank needs to be 75 to 85 degrees F. It should be at moderate humidity (this means about 50 on a hygrometer). You should mist the tank once to twice a day to keep humidity were it should be. |
Heating and Equipment: | An under tank heater can be provided, but is not really required. And again, they need a spotlight that can hold at least a 75 watt bulb. |
Caging Provided: | Mine is currently housed in a 10 gallon, but he is too large for this, so I am working towards a 20 gallon. Small lizards (2 1/2 inches and smaller) may be housed in a 5 gallon, bigger lizards (3 to 5 inches) may be kept in a 10 gallon, larger lizards should be kept in a 20 gallon. But that is only the minimum. They also need branches as they love to climb, hides (caves, plants, etc.) |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | These lizards should be fed crickets, small lizards (2 1/2 inches and smaller) should be fed very small crickets, bigger lizards (3 to 5 inches) can be fed the same or medium sized, any lizard bigger than that can be fed any of the above and larger. They can also be fed mealworms and kingworms (a.k.a superworms) but this isn’t recommended for small lizards. They may also be fed ants, and wild caught spiders (such as black widows, wolf spiders, etc.) |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Their food should be dusted in a calcium supplement, which can be purchased at a pet store. All you need to do is put a couple of pinches in a bag with the crickets, worms, spiders, ants, whatever is being fed to it, and shake it till the they are white, then they should be ready. |
Maintenance: | Overall, these are low maintenance pets, they are fun to catch and keep. This isn’t much of a beginner pet as they can only be obtained from the wild, so they are gonna be stressed in the tank, and I know how kids are, they catch them and put them in a very small container. I really only recommend this pet (and sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a dick) to people who are actually prepared to keep them in the right kind of enclosure. |
Some Words on this Species: | These lizards are fairly easy to catch (if you have any questions on methods for catching, and for more care sheets, you can email me at guitarplayer169@hotmail.com). And be prepared to keep one of these lizards for at least 5 to 8 years. They aren’t very boring pets, as they are very active and can be handled a lot, the more they are handled they the more tame they get. Do not ever pull on one of their tails. Do not ever keep 2 males together. And that is about all I can think of, any questions, comments, or if I forgot anything, my email is right there.
Thanks (: |
How Members Rated
This Care Sheet | Rate This Care Sheet
Please keep all comments constructive to Western Fence Lizards husbandry methods and care. Any degrading, sarcastic, or disrespectful comments will be removed. |
Total Members Rating: 0
| 1 |  ( 0 ) |
| 2 |  ( 0 ) |
| 3 | ( 0 ) |
| 4 | ( 0 ) |
| 5 | ( 0 ) |
|
|
