Breeding

It is common that these lizards are wildcaught when you buy them at the petshop, and if they are caught after mating season most of them are pregnant, this result in that a lot of people who buys these lizard in the late autumm, winter get them self small baby lizards. A female can give birth to 2 - 4 small ones, and they look as the big one but they are much smaller. You do not need any large terrarium, or any terrarium at all, a plastic box is enough, and a spot to bask under,UV-light or drops,a waterbowl, a place to hide and a lot of small food that have to be dusted in multivitamineral powder.

To breed these lizards, they will need a hibernation period with colder temp, I use to have mine at 10-15 degrees CELSIUS, at about 6-8 weeks in march-april. Then I give them more light and more heat during 2-3 weeks. In this period they use to begin mate, and they are hunting each other all over the terrarium. The small ones are born in late october- beginning of november if they are hibernated in a cold temp. Last year I tried to have them in their own terrarium with lower temp and little light, but I think that is not cold enough, they mated and the small ones were born in late july and beginning of september. This is a way to decide little when the small ones will arrive.

The small ones are born during several days, and I use to have the females in the terrarium and then catch the small ones as soon as you see them. That can be some days before you discover that you have small ones or the female can give birth to several during a day or two. but the are ususlly easy to find, the use to sit on the netting or in a hiding place in some root. When I have them out of the cage they get their own little terrarium. I use the same sand as the adults have in the bottom and it have worked fine so far, and some loose bark pieces to hide under, and that are easy to move when you feed them, I use waxmotts catepillars and small crickets in the beginning and then they eat as the other, mealworms (white, that just changed their skin), larger crickets and waxmotts. I am not sure when they reach mature age, maybe about a year old, I have some information about that. When the lizards are small they must have D3 and UV light or D3 in another way, I use it in the water.

Here is the result of last years breeding have gone. The first year I did not know how to take care of these small ones, not right food and climate, but now I have learned it the hard way. There were one that survived from 1998 that went with these who travelled to Moscow but it had bad jaws so it had problems eating,(too little D3+calcium) and it died on the way to Moscow. The latest from 2000 is one dead, and the 6 were send to Helsingfors, Finland. 2001 I got 4 but one was born dead, and they are now in Malmberget in the northern part of Sweden.

* it died in Finland eaten by a friend by mistake I think, so there are 5 left there.

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