If you have a pet lizard that has stopped eating that may indicate a problem which needs to be addressed and corrected. This is a good time to point out that a lizard which has stopped eating isn’t always a sign of a problem. For example a gravid lizard will often go off food, or it might be shedding. Some lizards stop eating during the mating season. But if you can eliminate things like that then it is time to start looking at other reasons they refuse to eat.

Environmental conditions
Photo credit: RedHandRecords

Lizards, like all reptiles, are highly specialized creatures and the conditions of their habitat must reflect this. When you first begin working with a particular species of lizard it is important to learn and provide them with the optimal temperature and humidity ranges throughout their lives. Drops or raises that would seem a complete non-issue to you or I can have a great impact on lizards. My personal experience is that temperature and humidity that is off by as little 3 degrees or 5% respectively can cause them to go off feed.

In addition to heat and humidity there are other factors involved with the environment in a lizard’s habitat that need to be addressed. One that comes to mind is UVA/B lighting if your lizard needs it. Your temperatures and humidity could be perfect but if you aren’t providing the ultra-violet lighting required to thrive they might go off feed. Though, in my experience you’ll see the effects of improper UVA/B lighting manifest itself in ways other than refusal to eat long before it ever reaches that stage.

Location of the lizard’s habitat
Sometimes we like to put our lizards on display and move them to a place in the house where everyone can see them. We especially like to watch them eat; hunting down their crickets or small mice can be a pleasure to watch and enterainment for the whole family. The problem with this is rather than standing a respectful distance away we often like to stand right next to the cage poking our meaty fingers at the glass. This tends to terrify the lizard. If you are going to keep your lizard on display keep in mind that hoovering over it while it eats can manifest problems. I have a bearded dragon that is in a display case in my front room. Everyone is free to watch it as they please, however during feeding time no one is allowed near her tank. After 15 or 20 minutes she’s done eating and things go back to normal in the front room. I didn’t always practice this regiment with her feeding and it wasn’t until a veterinarian suggested I do so that I began.

Another issue that involves location is high traffic areas. People and our four legged pets that are constantly walking back and forth in the vicinity of a lizard’s cage can cause it stress which can lead to refusal to eat. Sometimes, if you are unfortunate enough to be located on a busy street, the sounds of traffic can cause problems. At one point I lived on a very busy street with cars, pedestrians, bikes, trucks and of course emergency vehicles going through all the time. All of my reptiles stopped eating. Once I moved them into a room as far away from the hustle and bustle of the street as I could they started eating again.

Change in diet
As a rule of thumb lizards are creatures of habit; a sudden change in their diet can cause them to stop eating. Sometimes a change is unavoidable for one reason or another. Maybe the local pet shop doesn’t have crickets but does have tomato horn worms, or maybe your colony of roaches died off and you have to run to the store for crickets until you can get another colony going. These changes can cause a lizard to stop eating. My experience is that it’s often how we present the food that causes the problems. For instance if your lizards are used to eating meal worms out of a bowl and you suddenly dump 2 dozen crickets in that run everywhere the lizard might not know what to do. Try to make a transition to a new food source as easy as possible. Don’t intimidate your pet by giving it too much too fast.

Sickness and disease
Like all living beings lizards can and do get sick. This can cause them to stop eating. Often, one of the first signs of an ailment is a lizard’s refusal to eat. If this is confirmed to be the case you’ll need to treat the illness before you can adequately treat the eating problem.

You pet lizards can live long and happy lives if you take care of them. Not eating, with a few exceptions, is often a good indicator that something is amiss. To recap you should check:

• Their environment
• Their location
• Their diet
• Their health

And correct any problems relating to those areas. Doing so will help keep your lizard happy, healthy, and well fed.

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A common lizard seen in pet stores is the nocturnal and arboreal, Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko). This feisty lizard is often affectionately called the “pit bull” of the lizard family due to their tenacity and powerful jaws. Those of us who have owned them can attest to the fact that they aren’t shy about biting if they feel threatened. But it would be both unfair and inaccurate to characterize the Tokay as mean, nasty or temperamental. There is a lot more to them than just being jaws with legs.

A shy and secretive lizard
One of the first things you’ll notice about a Tokay Gecko is how much time they spend avoiding you. Usually you’ll find them tucked away under their hides, hanging upside down and sleeping. At least during the day. After the lights go out these nocturnal reptiles begin to explore their enclosure. During this time they will hunt for food that you have left in their vivarium. This is also the time when you are most likely to hear the males calling out to the females. That’s assuming you have males. If you have several males (never ever ever keep males together in the same enclosure) their barking can be deafening! But during the day, or when you have artificial lights on they will stay hidden.

Because of their inclination to remain out of view you should be aware that they don’t make the greatest display animals. You should also make certain to provide them with plenty of hiding spots in their vivarium. Driftwood works great as do old clay flower pots. With the flower pots you can break a small hole near the rim, flip it upside down and put it in the Tokay’s cage. Mine really like using this area to lay their eggs.

Making your Tokay comfortable
While I’ve found Tokay Geckos to be resilient they have certain husbandry requirements that must be met in order for them to thrive. These geckos are tropical species that need the proper amount of heat, humidity and airflow.

• Heating requirements of the Tokay Gecko:
  
  During the day I’ve found the best temperature for a Tokay to be between 80 and 85 degrees. In my experience they seem to thrive when the ambient air temperature in their vivarium is set at 82 degrees during the daylight hours and dropped down to 78 degrees at night. To aid in digestion you should provide a basking spot that sits at between 89 and 95 degrees. I should also point out that an under the tank heater is the preferred method of giving these geckos as basking spot. First they do not require UVA/B lighting and secondly they are nocturnal which means a bright light shining on them will cause a great deal of stress. Temperature requirements of the Tokay Gecko:
  • Ambient air temperature days: 80 to 85 degrees (optimal in my experience 82 degrees)
  • Ambient air temperature nights: 73 to 78 degrees (optimal in my experience 78 degrees)
  • Basking temperature: 89 to 85 degrees using an under the tank heater
• Humidity requirements of the Tokay Gecko:
  
  As a species that is native to tropical climates the Tokay Gecko thrives in humid environments. My own experience with them has shown me that they do very well when the humidity is kept between 70 and 75 percent. While they can tolerate drops in to the mid 40 percent humidity range it can cause health problems if they have to endure it for long. Too much humidity can be almost as problematic as too little. Because you need to keep the air flowing through the Tokay’s enclosure you will have to spend some time figuring out what needs to be done to keep the proper humidity levels. Using a good substrate that holds moisture helps a lot in this area. Cypress mulch is some of the best you can buy. You can get it at a garden center for a lot cheaper than you can at a pet store and despite what marketing tells you the pet store version isn’t any better for your animals. Because cypress mulch holds moisture so well I’ve found that spraying the enclosure down with tap water once in the morning and again in the evening is more than adequate to keep the humidity levels where they need to be.
• Places to climb and sleep:
  
  I mentioned before that Tokay Geckos like to hide and sleep. Usually they like to do this upside down under some kind of cover. I’ve found the more vertical I make their habitats the better they do. By that I mean the more stuff I can give them to climb over, under, on and around the healthier they seem to be. One downside to this is when it comes to getting them out to clean the cage. Sometimes you can spend a lot of time looking under the vivarium furnishings to catch them. I’ve also found that getting some fake vines to string throughout their enclosure is appreciated. But be certain the fake vines are not scented.

Meeting the nutritional needs of the Tokay Gecko
A healthy Tokay Gecko is a voracious eater. They will almost never turn down a meal. Anything they can catch and overpower is fair game including small mice. It should also be noted at this point that the Tokay Gecko is an obligated carnivore. This means it can not eat vegetables or grains. Don’t worry though you won’t be feeding your Tokay mice very often because they are too rich for them on a regular basis. Many people feed crickets but I prefer to feed Blaptica Dubia roaches. Once you start using them for feeding your lizards you’ll never want to touch another cricket again. Here is an article that I wrote about breeding and raising your own Blaptica’s. They also make a great tarantula food!

As far as how much to feed your Tokay with the Dubia’s I’ve usually feed them several every other day. I when I feed I put the roaches in a plastic Rubbermaid container and sprinkle them with some reptile calcium. The Tokay’s will climb into the container and grab their fill. You can let the roaches run loose in the cage since they can’t climb or fly they won’t get out. I personally don’t do this just because I tend to find that instead of being eaten they have managed to dig down under the substrate and hide. If you’re going to feed crickets you’ll need to make sure that you remove any that the gecko doesn’t eat because if you don’t they will chew on your Tokay. That’s another reason I recommend Blaptica Dubia roaches. They won’t start eating each other and your lizards.

Housing Tokay Geckos together
I often have people ask me if they can keep more than one Tokay in the same cage. The answer is fairly straightforward. Never house males together. They will fight and it will often result in a death. If you do keep males together, stop. On the other hand you can keep 2 or 3 females together without any problems and you can also house one male with two or three females. In my experience doing so will result in eggs more often than not. If you do find eggs they will usually be stuck to something like the underside of a log or a clay pot. Just leave them alone. If you try to remove them from where they are you will destroy them. They don’t need any special incubation. If your Tokay found the environment suitable to lay eggs that means it is suitable for them to hatch as well.

If you follow these simple guidelines you will provide an adequate home for your Tokay Geckos and they will thrive in your care.

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The internet has made it easier than ever to buy a pet lizard. But before you get out your credit card and place an order there are some things you should know. In this article we will cover those things.

Do your research
This can’t be emphasized enough. Before you even think about buying a lizard as a pet be sure to research everything you can find about the following topics:

• The species of lizards you are interested in:
  
  
  This includes their care requirements, how long they will live, special concerns when it comes to keeping them as pets and whatever else you can think of that will impact your decision.
• Sources where you can buy the lizard:
  
  While it is true that all men are created equal not all lizard sellers are. The first thing you want to do is check out their reputation. Unfortunately there are a lot of fly-by-night characters out there who are trying to cash in on the exotic pet craze. An invaluable resource is the Board of Inquiry (BOI) located at Fauna Classifieds.
• Veterinarians in your area who can treat pet lizards:
  
  As exotic pets become more popular it is more likely you’ll find vets that can treat them however you should not assume that there is one nearby. Call nearby vets and ask them specifically if they treat exotics and specifically if they can treat the kind of lizard you are considering. It should be noted that just because a vet says the treat exotic animals that might not include lizards or other reptiles. They might only treat exotic mammals such as sugar gliders or chinchillas.
• Local reptile rescues:
  
  Lizards and other reptiles are often fad pets that parents get their kids to teach them responsibility or college aged young adults get for their dorm rooms. Sometimes those animals end up in a reptile rescue center waiting to be adopted. There are a lot of iguanas out there that need adopting. If it works for you then consider doing that before buying.

Prepare your household for a new lizard before it arrives
Buying pet lizards is not like getting a dog. You can’t do things on the fly. Everything must be in order before that lizard ever arrives. If you don’t there is a very real chance your lizard could end up the worse for wear. Be sure prior to placing an online order you have the following ready:

• An adequate enclosure:
  
  This should be self explanatory but I’ve seen enough situations where people got their lizard home and had no place to put it that I feel it is important to cover this. Part of your research into the species of lizard you are considering should lead you to learn about what kind of housing it needs. You’ll also find it’s easier to read about the housing and keeping temperature and humidity at the correct levels than it is to do it. So practice before you order because if the housing is off it could kill your lizard.
• The rest of the people in the house agree:
  
  Pet lizards and other reptiles cause strong reactions in some people. If you live with someone who is scared of them bringing one into the house is a bad idea. There are people who literally passout at the site of lizards. I worked with a guy who would hyperventilate and start shaking when he saw one. It’s no fun to live in that kind of environment so be sure everyone is very clear on what you plan to do and carefully consider not doing it if it is going to cause undue stress on another person.
• Other household pets:
  
  In this case I’m speaking about dogs and cats. They can be very dangerous to your pet lizards. Lizards will usually run when threatened or scared and this can cause the predatory instinct in dogs and cats to trigger. It’s true that there are people who manage to have their Tegus, Monitors, Iguanas and other larger lizards hang out with their dogs however don’t assume this is going to be the case. Prepare for them not to get along and keep them separated except under close supervision.
• Young children and infants in the home:
  
  Due to the fact that lizards harbor salmonella you have to be especially careful with young children and infants around them. Prevailing wisdom says that you shouldn’t let children under three handle them. Keeping disinfectant near the cage and teaching kids to use it is a good practice to start.

In closing let me say that some people believe shopping for pet lizards should only be done at a local pet store. I could not disagree more. If you happen to live near a local specialty reptile store then it makes sense however when you buy something at a large pet store chain you aren’t doing the animals or yourself any favors. The mortality rate for lizards at those stores is very high. They simply don’t have the time or expertise to properly care for the lizards. Not to mention company policies can often get in the way of best practices when it comes to care. If your only choice is online or a large chain store do your research, find a breeder, speak with them and buy online. If you can buy at a local specialty reptile store consider doing business there.

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When you are considering the type of lizard to get as a pet, make sure you consider the Bearded Dragon! A native of Australia, the Bearded Dragon lizard can be a fantastic pet for a long time. They are easy to care for and have a striking appearance that you’ll enjoy admiring.

When you first get your Bearded Dragon lizard, you are going to want to make sure it has a proper home to live in. Lizards need specific habitats that maintain proper temperature for their cold-blooded bodies, limbs to play with and hide under, and appropriate bedding (substrate) for the habitat that will keep them comfortable and safe. You’re going to want at least a 40 gallon tank, but if you can afford larger your lizard will thank you for it. A 55 gallon or larger tank is most ideal. Once exception to the large tank sizes is that a baby bearded dragon will want a smaller enclosure so they aren’t overwhelmed. It also helps them to more easily catch their crickets at feeding time. The tank should have a lid on it that will secure, protecting your lizard.

For baby Dragon’s using paper (butcher paper, newspaper, paper towels, etc) is the safest way to go. It is safe for the lizard, absorbent, and easy and cheap to replace when it gets messy. Indoor/outdoor carpeting can also be used and be easy to clean if preferred, and will save on paper waste. Baby and juvenile Beardies should always be placed on paper or paper towels. After your Bearded Dragon is 6 weeks old you can switch to sand. Make sure the sand is sanitized and strained. The packaging will tell you if it has been. Some people use a mix of wheat bran and sand. The sand absorbs the lizard’s waste and the wheat bran helps to suppress the smell. The sand and/or sand/wheat bran mix should be changed every month even though you spot clean the solid fecal and the clumped urine.

Once you have the proper habitat and substrate, you’re going to want to do some interior decorating. Bearded Dragons need a basking area that allows them to be closer to the heat source. For this purpose an appropriately sized rock or log works well. Half logs can do double duty both as a hide and as a basking spot. Make sure to keep fresh water available for your pet lizard at all times.

Bearded Dragons require UVA and UVB lighting to help protect them from metabolic bone disease. You will also need a separate basking lamp that they can sit under on their raised rock or log to aid in their digestion.

Since lizards are ectothermic and have to depend on outside heat sources to regulate their body temperature it is important that the owner keep an eye on it. You want to keep the temperature between 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit on the cool side, and 95-105 degrees Fahrenheit at their basking spot. As you probably don’t want to keep your room this hot, you can use an incandescent light or a ceramic heater. If you live in colder climates, you can use an under-tank heater at night if the room temperature drops too far.

Bearded Dragons like to eat insects and plants, making for a varied diet. Juveniles should be fed more frequently than adults, averaging around twice a day, while adults only need to be fed once a day. Never feed more than they can eat in about ten minutes, and make sure to clean out the cage of any that aren’t eaten. Also, take care not to feed too many “crunchy” bugs as the exoskeletons can lead to impaction. Dust your insects with vitamin D and calcium before feeding your lizard to ensure the most nutritious meal possible.

Bearded Dragons make fantastic pets and, with a little time and experience, they are very easy to care for. Suitable for beginning or advanced lizard owners, Bearded Dragons are a top choice for a long-term pet and friend.

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Caring for large pet lizards is a challenge unto itself. Here are some important things you should know before bringing one into your home.

• Your home needs to be able to support a large enough habitat for the lizard and the required furnishings
• You need to be aware of what kind of food your new lizard will need
• You need to know how to properly handle a large lizard

Habitat size and furnishing for large pet lizards
Larger lizards like Tegus and Monitors can grow to over four feet in size. Before picking out a lizard of this size, make sure you will be able to house is properly. An infant Tegu or Monitor can be kept in a locked, secure aquarium, but it will eventually outgrow this setting. At that point, you will need a larger habitat for it, at least six feet by three feet by two feet tall. But the larger the better. Some people actually have full rooms dedicated to their lizards. Not cages, but literally the entire room.

Regardless of the size of your habitat for your large lizard, there are certain elements that must be included. A shallow water dish can allow your lizard to soak and should be maintained regularly with fresh water. The base of the habitat should be covered in an appropriate substrate, or material lining the bottom of the cage. Cypress or eucalyptus mulch can be ideal for large lizards, as it will prevent them from ingesting the substrate while giving the opportunity to dig. These are also very absorbent, making them much easier to clean.

The temperature of the habitat is critically important. As lizards are cold blooded, there is far less tolerance for temperature extremes. Keeping the temperature around 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit (27-30 C) during the day with a basking spot (a rock or similar spot where the lizard can enjoy the higher temperature as needed) kept around 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit (38-43 C). If you want to maintain cooler temperatures in the evening. I definitely do not recommend using hot rocks, but instead focusing on heat lamps or heat maps.

Feeding large pet lizards
It is important to feed your pet lizard properly, and young Tegus or Monitors will eat crickets dusted with a vitamin supplement that includes calcium. As your lizard grows older and larger, it will begin eating pinky mice, followed by adult mice. These should be pre-killed. Additionally, adult lizards enjoy a variety of fruits and vegetables to increase their vitamin intake and vary their diet. It is possible to occasionally use canned dog food or eggs as a special treat, but avoid using these too much as in the long run they are very unhealthy for a lizard.

Handling large pet lizards
If you want a large lizard, I highly recommend starting with the Argentinian Black and White Tegu (Tupinambus merianae). They grow to a large size, but if you purchase one while it is young you can teach it to be extremely docile and easy to handle. They live for approximately 10-12 years, allowing for a long and rewarding relationship with your own lizard.

You must never forget that handling a large lizard comes with inherint risks involved. Even small lizards can leave you with a nasty bite but something like an Iguana or a Monitor can do some serious damage. Even going so far as to break bone and severe tendons. For this reason I highly recommend handling these animals with leather gloves, long sleeves and pants. At least initially as you form a bond with them.

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