Vivariums;reptiles;Takydromus others

- feeding :

For Takydromus spec. there are usually almost all available insects - only a little attention should be paid to the size of the feed insects. Since these animals are quite greedy eaters, they also do not stop from big insects. In the heat of the battles there are also fodder animals, which are clearly too big for the slender lizards.

There was so far hardly an insect that had not sucked as a fodder. From Heimchen & Co to oven fish to small grasshoppers, everything is normally taken without any problem.

Even meadows plankton brings variety into the diet during the warmer months - but: please observe species protection regulations.

Only when feeding bean-beetles did my wild animals shake wildly - this obviously hard food was found to be unsuitable by the animals. Whether it was on the taste or the chitin tank of the beetles, I can not judge ...

2- Takydromus smaragdinus :

From wikipedia :

Takydromus smaragdinus is a species of lizard of the family of Lacertidae 1 .

Takydromus smaragdinus

Takydromus smaragdinus male

Classification according to ReptileDB :

ReignAnimalia

BranchChordata

Sub-ember.vertebrate

ClassReptilia

Subclasslepidosauria

OrderSquamata

SuborderSauria

InfraorderScincomorpha

FamilyLacertidae

KindTakydromus

Binomial name :

Takydromus smaragdinus
( Boulenger , 1887 )

synonyms :

Tachydromus smaragdinus Boulenger, 1887
Tachysaurus japonicus Adams, 1848

IUCN Conservation Status :

EN B2ab (i, iii): Endangered

Distribution :

This species is endemic to the Nansei archipelago in Japan 1 .

Description :

Takydromus smaragdinus is a small lizard, it is about 5 to 6 cm from the rostrum to the cloaca , but the tail reaches about 10 to 15 cm . Thus the adult individual reaches about 15 to 20 cm . He lives on average 3 to 7 years.

Females have a light green color and a slight white line that begins after the eyes and extends over the flanks. Males, meanwhile, slightly darker, have brown marks on their eyes and flanks, and a dark brown tail. The male has the base of the thickest tail.

Reproduction :

The Takydromus breed throughout the year. Before mating, the male follows the female during all its movements. When the female is receptive, the male encloses it with its mouth in the middle of the body, and blocks it with its hind legs and its prehensile tail .

As a result of mating the female continues to eat. After two to three weeks she lays 2 to 4 eggs at the corner of a leaf or in the damp sphagnum. The eggs are not sticky and hatch after three months.

The Takydromus breed throughout the year. Before mating, the male follows the female during all its movements. When the female is receptive, the male encloses it with its mouth in the middle of the body, and blocks it with its hind legs and its prehensile tail . As a result of mating the female continues to eat. After two to three weeks she lays 2 to 4 eggs at the corner of a leaf or in the damp sphagnum. The eggs are not sticky and hatch after three months.

In captivity :

This species is found in pet trade

For the external links , refrences click here to read the full wikipedia article

Video :

Takydromus smaragdinus

Care Articles :

1- Same takydromus sexlineatus in general care and set up ..

- Rearing :

The rearing of the young animals takes place with me in terrariums with the dimensions 30x30x50 cm. Equipped with the same ground as the old animals and only equipped with a small ornamental parcel and a branch, this clear terrarium is enough for the first weeks. Once again, water is sprayed once or twice a day with deionized water. Only the temperature at the heat place is lower at 30-35 ° C than in the adult animals.

From the second day, the hatchlings are fed with tiny oven fish, pea aphid lice, white asses, drosophila, microclips and tiny waxy mottled larvae. Herpetal CompleteT and Herpetal Mineral + D3 are also regularly supplemented.

Important for a satisfactory development of the young animals seems to me a sufficient brightness and a supply with UVB radiation to be.

After about 6 weeks, the now much-grown young animals are getting a somewhat bigger and more structured terrarium. Usually the terrariums with the dimensions 50x30x50 cm. Depending on the tolerability, four to six young animals are kept together.

The growth of the young animals is, in my opinion, to be described as rapid. After three to four months, the young animals are developed so far that males and females should be separated. Otherwise, premature pairings occur which are not conducive to the physical development of the females. This experience had already made several buyers of my offspring from 2010 - it came to pairings already at the age of not quite six months ...

From an age of 8-10 weeks, the young animals are stable enough to be able to deliver the animals without any problems.

2- Takydromus smaragdinus

www.takydromus.de

courtesy to : www.takydromus.de

- introduction:

For the first time in 2004 in the Takydromus monograph by Uwe Schlüter (see links - literature references) in this way became noticeable, there existed since then the desire to hold any "green" long-tail lizards in my terrarium.

It took five years, however, to get the opportunity to reach offspring of this species. In the late summer of 2009, I was offered young animals on request from Eastern Europe. Contrary to all reason, as far as the age and price of the animals were concerned, a friendly terrarium for me in Hamm took three hatches, which were hardly older than four weeks. According to the seller, this is the offspring of wild caught from Okinawa (Japan).

Meanwhile, in the spring of 2011, more and more animals of this kind have been offered on the market and also on stock exchanges. Whether it was wild catches or offspring, could not always be clarified. There were occasional doubts with me when it was about "offspring at the age of about one to two years" ...

Nevertheless, these animals will hopefully help to establish this beautiful Takydromus species in our terrariums.

- attitude :

My terrariums, in which I hold Takydromus smaragdinus, have the dimensions 100x40x50 cm (length x depth x height) for reasons of space. Higher terrariums are by no means wrong. I would not recommend shorter terrariums: the animals do not carry the nickname "fast-running lizards" for nothing in the German-speaking world ... However, if there is a sufficient height and a corresponding facility and planting, the animals are raging with a smaller base area also in the vertical.

In the terrariums, the glass covers were removed and replaced with a wooden frame covered with aluminum wire gauze. This counteracts the fresh air needs of the animals and promotes the temporary drying of the ground floor.

As a bottom, I use a mixture of unpolluted flowers or woodland and sand. Basal split is also intermixed and supports the penetration of water into the ground. In the terrariums areas with differing soil moisture have been created - in the more humid areas, fine-leaved plants are used, while in the dry area, there is rootwood, on which the sun places are usually located.

At the bottom of the terrarium are jumping tails and white asses, which deal with the utilization of organic waste. In addition, the white asses serve the young animals as a fodder.

Once or twice a day, the complete equipment is sprayed with deionized water. It is not advisable to direct the animals directly, since there are isolated specimens which escape panic in case of sudden "rain". However, there are always animals that seem to enjoy it.

The relative humidity in my terrarium is usually about 60% - after spraying or irrigation, it rises to over 90% for some time. At night the humidity is 70-80%.

The temperatures are between room temperature at the bottom of the terrarium up to 35-40 ° C at the heat place. In general, excessive heat is to be avoided in the entire terrarium - reasonable temperatures are in the range of approx. 25-28 ° C.

In the freshly installed 1.5 meter terrarium was installed a sprinkling system, which provides five times a day for each 15 seconds in the middle area of the terrarium for rain. Information on lighting can be found under Technology .

- Lighting, temperature and humidity

Lighting:

Both HQI spotlights and fluorescent tubes are used in combination with halogen spotlights.

All lamps are installed above the aluminum wire gauze, to avoid burns of the animals.

My lighting consists of the following lamps:

For the basic lighting of larger terrariums, fluorescent tubes from Osram of the type Lumilux Cool Daylight are used in the light color 865. In connection with a reasonable reflector, I need one or two tubes depending on the height of the terrarium. In addition, since mid-2013, I have been using LED floodlights from the Philips company in the 4 watt version for the basic lighting of small breeding terrariums.

The warm spots located somewhat away from the primary light source are irradiated with low-voltage halogen spots in different wattages. Depending on the ambient temperature and the distance to the seat, up to three halogen spots from 10 Watt (over smaller rearing erariums) up to 50 Watt are used in my terrarium (depending on the size).

The primary sunspace and thus also the main light supply I create by the installation of UVB-emitting spotlight "Lightstorm" - both in the 70W variant as well as in the 35W version available since the beginning of 2013 (this can I on the so far additionally use compact energy saving lamps for UV supply).

A "Solarmeter 6.2" has proved to be helpful for determining the UVB values. Usable UVB values are in the range between 50 and 100 μW / cm2.

Comment on lighting technology:

The HQI spotlights of the "Lightstorm 70" type installed since the beginning of 2012 have proven themselves in their "trial period". Both the terrarium of my Takydromus smaragdinus, the Dopasia gracilis as well as the terrariums of my adult and subadulous Opheodrys aestivus, "Lightstorm" lamps are installed in addition to the basic lighting.

In terrariums, where a second HQI spotlight from Philips is installed, I have been able to observe again and again since the use of the "Lightstorm" that my animals are in the first hours of their activity phases preferentially under the "Lightstorm". I can not judge whether it is on the light which is much brighter for my eyes or on the UV radiation.

Personal note: I feel the forums widespread discussions about the quality of HQI not yet established as a partial quite peculiar. Of course it can happen in the initial times of new spotlights to problems with a continuous good and uniform manufacture of these lamps - but if there are derogatory remarks, that new, still little known spotlights is only "cheap China goods" I am serious, whether the scribe really is not aware that also the spotlights of well-known brands (with all their strengths and weaknesses revealed over the course of time) also in the Far East ...

Temperature and humidity:

The temperatures in the terrarium and in the heat stations can be determined by means of standard thermometers. As an extremely practical in the temperature determination has been with me an IR thermometer. The laser fixation beam allows you to quickly and reliably determine the temperatures at different places in the terrarium.

The determination of the relative humidity is done with me with the help of artificial hair hygrometers. In addition to the sufficiently accurate display, they have the advantage that they require significantly less maintenance compared to Echthaar hygrometers.

I am referring to my fodder animals with few exceptions from the online trade (see links). A good care and nutrition of these purchased insects should be self-evident - this is the only way to ensure that our reptiles are supplied with all necessary nutrients.

Steppe grills, dachshunds, double grills, Mediterranean grills and grasshoppers :

Basically, almost all of my fodder animals receive green fodder as a foodstuff - whether it is in the form of dried grasses or red clover or also fresh green stuff. There is a wide selection of salads, carrots, carrots, peppers, apples, grapes, self-made wild herbs and kitchen herbs available all year round, which can be purchased or collected without much effort.

It is a matter of course that the green fodder is taken from unstressed and unfertilised areas and that purchased vegetables have been thoroughly washed before feeding. In addition, my feed animals are fed with fish feed flocks, sometimes with dog flakes and also with fruit porridge.

Oven fish:

This is where a year-round breed of livestock is kept, which always guarantees even the smallest food for freshly hatched young animals. A brief description can be found under Feeding Animal - Oven Fish .

Drosophila spec .:

A small fly which is now available everywhere in the fodder trade, which can be bought mostly as a non-flightable variant. My Drosophila I thankfully receive regularly from a friend - so I have to worry about feeding only the short-term upgrading of these insects before feeding. With a dab of honey or fruit pulp, the flies are "charged" about an hour before feeding - under the keyword "well loading" (freely translated: the recharge of the digestive tract), there are some indications on the meaning of the revaluation of feed insects.

Pea aphids:

Since the spring of 2011, I also feed my hatchlings with pea aphids. My initial skepticism has changed significantly in the last few weeks - the aphids can be reproduced easily and are greedily received by the young animals. A detailed description of my pea aphid breed is in the area "fodder animal breeding".

Vitamins and Minerals:

In addition to the vitamins naturally administered, the feed animals are dusted at irregular intervals immediately before feeding with Herpetal Complete T or Herpetal Mineral + D3 .

In addition, my reptiles are always available with crushed or grated sepia powder. This is a mineral-containing, internally displaced residue of an originally outer shell, which serves the stability of the sepals by the inclusion of air as a buoyant body and as an "endo-skeleton".

From this point on, the females were fed with tweezers from the tweezers. The previous experiences with Takydromus sexlineatus ocellatus have shown that the females absorb large amounts of food during the oviposition period without becoming thick in the batch.

- Mating and egg laying :

At the end of February 2010, I was able to observe a pairing for the first time for just over 10 minutes. According to the species of lizard, the male verbs in the area of the flank just before the hind legs of the female. The females bear distinct "battles" during mating. The jawprint of the male remains visible until the next moult.

Approximately three to four weeks later, the first oviposition takes place - mostly under mossy wood pieces. The females disappear for about an hour under the moss, before they come back to the oviposition again. The eggs have never been buried, but only laid on the ground under the moss plate.

Immediately after egg laying, the females look for one of the heat places to get to temperature. The subsequent feed intake often ensures that the females look similar to "round" as before egg laying.

Enough energy to mate with the male just a few hours later. The mating season is often in my animals in the range of well over an hour and costs ample energy.

The further ovipositions are then carried out at a distance of about two to three weeks, whereby the time interval towards the end of the oviposition period increases again, in some cases over four weeks.

- incubation :

After egg laying, the scrim is transferred into an uneducated secretion with moistened, fine vermiculite. The eggs are completely covered with the brush substrate. Since I work with a self-built, dry-operated incubator, the moisture required for the eient winding is adjusted via the vermiculite: water ratio. Currently, the eggs of my Takydromus are stored in 30 grams of vermiculite to which 30-35 grams of water have been added.

In the course of the incubation is not post-moistened. The air exchange in the cans is ensured by the opening of the covers during the regular inspection of the scrims.

The temperature in the incubator is controlled by a 15 watt aquarium heating element, a 5 liter water canister and a simple thermostat from the electronics retailer . The temperature in the incubator is between 27 ° C and 28 ° C.

Under these conditions it takes about 40-45 days to hatch the beasts. Three to four days before the expected slip, I gently release the eggs with a soft brush. As with many soft-shelled eggs, the imminent slippage announces itself through a leakage of liquid. The eggs "sweat" ...

After the eggs have grown significantly in the course of their development, they now lose a good portion of the absorbed fluid. By weighing the eggs during different development times, I found that the liquid portion of the eggs just before the end of the incubation period accounts for more than half of the total weight.

According to the hatching, young animals have a weight of 0.295 to 0.325 gram with a KRL of 23 to 25 mm. The empty egg shell has a weight of about 0.070 grams in still moist condition.

The sexes of the young animals can already be determined immediately after the hatching. The females hatch without recognizable drawing, while the males can be recognized by the brown lateral stripe. The illustrated hatchling is a female.

15.02.2013:

For the first time in the many years when I thought of Takydromus species, I was able to observe an oviposition in a very unusual place today ...

After two hours before I had poured the plants in the terrarium and sprayed on the common egg-laying places, one of my Takydromus females (a 2011 offspring of Phelsumen species) sat in the inner funnel of a bromeliad-like plant , The female sat for a little less than an hour in the funnel and was not disturbed by photography.

After drying the two eggs, I removed the scrim and transferred it to the incubator.

various :

08.19.2013:

This evening I have opened an egg, which has already sweated a few days ago and from which the young animal would have long since hatched. I always open eggs, which I consider as dead, to see if any deformations were the cause of the death. So if not unusual ...

The surprise was great, however, when, for the first time in all the years of the Takydromus attitude, I was able to extract twins from such an egg. I had to sort a little "first" to see more. Two tails, two rear bodies with two hind legs each - in the area of the anterior body, the two animals were then so fused that I could no longer identify four individual front legs. The head was a single large lump, with only two large, equally grown eyes.

Short Description: Family: Lacertidae; Genus:Takydromus; Takydromus smaragdinus(synonym: Tachysaurus japonicus Adams, 1848)

Distribution: islands of the northern and central Ryukyu Archipelago (Okinawa, Amami and Tokara group), Japan

Head-trunk length: in males to 62.4 mm and in females to 64.4 mm. The tail length is up to 4.6 times the KRL (Takeda & Ota 1996)

Color: a delicate emerald green in the females and a slightly stronger green with a brown lateral stripe in the males. This lateral strip, however, fades with increasing age.