What do small lizards eat at home? What do lizards eat? How to keep a lizard at home

Cats, dogs, hamsters and rabbits have long become familiar pets and almost full-fledged family members. But if you don’t have time to care for your furry pets, then the pet store may offer you a more exotic option. For example, a lizard. It’s not at all difficult to care for her, let’s talk about that.

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Most often it lives in Russian latitudes sand lizard, which later becomes a pet for exotic lovers. And to make her feel comfortable outside natural conditions, it is necessary to provide her with a comfortable living environment.

Location. You can choose any shape of the terrarium, but the size must be at least twice the length of the animal’s body. And if the size of the room in which the “housing” will be located allows you to purchase a larger “house,” then the pet will only be happy. It will be necessary to pour soil at the bottom, but it is best to take it in a forest or steppe so that the soil does not contain any foreign additives. Bark or special mats that can be found in pet stores are also suitable.

Since in nature these reptiles actively climb trees thanks to their tenacious paws, it would not be amiss to install several branches in the aquarium, as well as to bring the “interior” as close as possible to the natural one with the help of stones and plants.

Temperature. Everything is a little more complicated here, but don’t worry, everything is on sale necessary equipment that will help create a comfortable atmosphere for your pet. The lizard needs two temperature zones - one is very warm, with a temperature of +35 degrees, the second is cooler, up to +30. At night the temperature can drop to +20.

Light. Remember that lizards live in warm latitudes and spend most of their time in the sun, so light is vital for them. To do this, it is advisable to install a regular lamp and an ultraviolet lamp.

Humidity. This characteristic should also be taken into account Special attention. The optimal humidity level is 50-70%. To achieve this, simply place a container of water in the terrarium. In addition to the fact that by evaporating the water will contribute to the formation of the required level of humidity, the lizard will be able to perform water procedures there. For the same purpose, you can spray the plants and branches inside with a spray bottle. But the main thing is not to overdo it, too much high level moisture can cause the development of fungus and the death of the reptile.

Nutrition. What do they feed lizards? In the warm season, the feeding regimen should be three times a day, and in winter two meals a day will be enough. Typically, such animals feed on flies, spiders, and crickets. Food made from grated carrots will also be useful. fresh meat, lettuce and vitamin supplements.

Small pets will need to be fed with tweezers, adults do not need this and can eat on their own.

Reproduction. At home, lizards can reproduce. But this can only be done when the female reaches 2 years of age, and in the cold season, when the activity of reptiles is quite low. After mating, the female needs to be transplanted into a separate terrarium, having previously prepared a place for burying the eggs (you can use peat and moss). As soon as the small lizards hatch, they also need to be replanted and monitored temperature conditions(about +40+42 degrees) and humidity (spraying the terrarium 2-3 times a day).

Small, quick and active lizards will make excellent pets. Despite their predatory nature, they live well in the home and delight their owners.

When you need to equip a living corner in your apartment, but you don’t have much free time to keep an animal, you can have common lizard. She is unpretentious, does not make noise, does not require regular walks fresh air, is not needed for her life in captivity large terrarium. Almost the perfect pet, isn't it?

This animal is considered exotic at home. That’s why, in order to avoid problems during maintenance, it is necessary to know its natural habitat.

Anyone who has walked through the forest has encountered these green or brown lizards, quickly hiding in the grass or bushes at the slightest danger. These are representatives of the species Lacerta agilis Linnaeus (lat.) or quick lizards.

Currently, science knows 9 subspecies, which are distributed over the vast territory of Eurasia from the Atlantic coast to Central Siberia.

Within Russia, the distribution area of ​​these amphibians is very large: from Karelia, Arkhangelsk and Leningrad regions in the north to the Caucasus in the south and from the border with Belarus in the west to Lake Baikal in the east.

Accordingly, the biotope of natural existence is different: damp wetland, coniferous and mixed forest, forest-steppe and steppe, rocky dry areas of the territory. It leads a predominantly diurnal terrestrial life, but can climb high both in trees and on rocky slopes.

Agile (or common) lizards do not go far from their inhabited territory, sometimes digging narrow holes in the ground.

During the hunt, these reptiles do not move more than 15–20 meters from their burrow, so that in case of danger they can quickly take refuge in their shelter.

The sand lizard can also vary in size. The length of the animal with a tail ranges from 5 to 25 cm (depending on the subspecies). Males are usually somewhat larger than females, and their color is usually brighter. The abdomen of males is greenish-yellow, while that of females is white or slightly yellowish.

Common lizards feed on a variety of invertebrates: snails, worms, insects. They can eat both their own and “neighbor’s” young animals.

If an animal is suddenly grabbed by the tail, it may try to bite, and when it breaks free, it can leave its tail to the “enemy.” In this case, there will be no bleeding, since the animal’s muscles in the area of ​​the folded tail contract almost instantly. After some time, the tail process is restored (regenerated), but, as a rule, the new tail is somewhat shorter than the “old” one. This feature the organism should be taken into account when keeping it at home.

Organization of the terrarium

Hold An exotic pet should only be kept in a terrarium. A lizard roaming freely around the house can get injured or burned.

The sizes and shapes of the terrarium can be any, but there is an unwritten rule: the height of the walls of the artificial dwelling must be equal to the length of the amphibian multiplied by 2. At a minimum. Let us remind you: lizards easily climb even a vertical wall.

The material for this can be ordinary glass (an old aquarium will do just fine), but it is better to make the lifting one from wire mesh. In addition, small holes for ventilation need to be installed in the side walls.

There are options for a “house” made from an old bookshelf. In this case, one side wall and the lid of the improvised terrarium are also made of wire mesh.

For your agile pet, it would be nice to decorate the landscape with branches or tree stumps, stone slides, and caves. The nimble lizard will definitely like this decor.

Microclimate

The animal feels normal at room temperature, but if a representative of one of the southern subspecies lives in the terrarium, then the temperature should be maintained within the range of +25 to +30 degrees during the day and from +18 to +20 degrees at night.

The temperature regime can be ensured either with a thermal mat or with an ordinary incandescent lamp with a reflector. But in this case, the lamp should be located out of reach of the animal.

Humidity should be maintained at least 75–80%, which is achieved by regularly spraying the interior of the terrarium.

To organize feeding, you need to install a food cup and drinking bowl. Over time, the lizard gets used to one place for eating and drinking.

Common lizard: what to feed

There is an opinion that this nimble amphibian can be given pieces of “human” food, leftovers from a family meal. In principle, this is true, but this food should not be abused under any circumstances.

You should still provide a diet that is close to natural.

• That is why normal food for lizards are spiders, cockroaches, grasshoppers, and worms (even mealworms).
• You can prepare a nutritious mixture consisting of grated carrots and pieces of meat (minced meat is allowed).
• And if you add finely chopped spinach or dandelion leaves to such a mixture, the lizard will receive not only protein, but also the vitamins necessary for normal development.

Feeding should be done in daytime 3 times. In winter, during the period of decreased activity, you can switch to two meals a day.

Let's sum it up

As you can see, keeping a jumping lizard in a house or apartment is quite simple. If you carefully monitor the well-being and behavior of the agile green minx, set a firm feeding schedule, maintain normal temperature and humidity conditions, and maintain cleanliness in the terrarium, then the smart lizard will get used to its owners. And then she will not be afraid of human hands.

Video on how to keep a common lizard at home:

What do reptiles eat in the wild?

The overwhelming majority of lizards are predators. In nature, they feed on worms and similar small things. Larger individuals hunt birds and their eggs, small mammals, similar lizards, and fish. There are, however, herbivorous reptiles, but they are not very common. Such lizards are madly fond of vegetables and fruits. However, such individuals also require protein food.

How many times a day should you feed your lizard?

Reptiles need to be fed about 3 times a day in the warm season, and 2 times a day is enough in the cold season. Feed your pet when he is most active. If there are several individuals in the terrarium, you need to separate them so that someone does not go hungry. After a snack, the remaining food must be removed, as flies and worms may appear in it.

What is the diet of a domestic lizard?

You can give your pet spiders, crickets, and mealworms. Lizards eat live insects. If the individual is large, then it will not be damaged by bird eggs and mammals. But many reptile breeders prepare a nutritional mixture. You need to take equal parts of meat or earthworms and carrots, mince them and add lettuce leaves. Also, vitamins and calcium will not hurt there. Pets love this food.

Reptile refuses food

If suddenly your pet doesn’t eat, don’t be alarmed. Perhaps he was simply overfed and is on a mini-diet, or he doesn’t like the food. If the lizard is active, then everything is fine.

Should you give water to your pet?

Necessary! Without water, the lizard may get sick. The drinking bowl must be filled with fresh water daily.

To save your budget a little and not buy special food in the store, you can breed worms at home. To do this, place egg cartons in a separate aquarium, and place cabbage leaves between them. Next, place crickets or cockroaches in it. There they will feed and reproduce. But do not forget to cover the aquarium with a lid.

Lizards are conventionally divided into 3 groups: carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. The lizard's feeding diet is based on the species and individual needs of the reptile.

Animal food for lizards

Since most lizards in natural environment Still, they are predators; the lion's share of their diet is live food. Reptiles are often fed crickets, flies, bloodworms, grasshoppers, locusts, and earthworms. Larger lizards are given mice, small rats and other rodents. You can also occasionally feed your pets with small or chopped fish, low-fat raw meat boneless, bird's eggs. Cottage cheese is given as feed additives: it is left in feeders or laid out on stones and branches (for individuals that do not like to go down to the ground).

It is best to feed with live food using tweezers, otherwise the insects will scatter throughout the terrarium. It is not recommended to feed cockroaches, except perhaps American ones, but they are agile and fast, so their legs are often torn off before feeding them. Mealworms are also useful; lizards are not fed beetles because they have a hard shell. It is recommended to crush the head of a mealworm with tweezers, since it strong jaws, and it can damage mucous membranes. Some species of reptiles also eat adult cockchafers. Large lizards They also eat recently hatched chicks.

Plant food for lizards

About a third of the lizard's diet consists of plant foods. You can offer your pet greens - lettuce, parsley, plantain, spinach, clover, dandelion, etc. Reptiles also eat pieces of vegetables well - cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, and sometimes raw potatoes can be given. Fruits you can give are apples, pears, melons, grapes, citrus fruits - experimentally you can find out which ones your pet likes best.

Vitamin and mineral supplements can be mixed into food: for example, added to fruit or porridge with insects. It is also useful for the lizard to give crushed eggshells, calcium glycerophosphate tablets, chalk, and preparations for reptiles.

How to feed a lizard?

It is most convenient to give plant food from feeders like Petri dishes. Young lizards are fed 2 times a day; adult lizards need only one feeding. Food should be given at a time when the pet is most active (there are diurnal and nocturnal lizards). After the reptile has eaten, the remaining food is removed. The terrarium must have a drinking bowl. However, many types of reptiles prefer to lick drops of water from plants, so you need to spray the terrarium regularly.

Young individuals are initially fed with tweezers, while adults are fed food in a feeder. It happens that lizards refuse to eat for some time, but at the same time they behave actively and drink water - this is a kind of fasting day. If the lizard refuses new food, perhaps it is not to its taste, it is better to gradually add it to its usual diet. In general, lizards are unpretentious and willingly eat most foods.

A viviparous lizard is a small reptile, the length of which does not exceed 18 centimeters, with half or even a little more of overall size the body is made up of the tail. Unlike many of their fellow tribesmen, the males of this species are smaller than the females.

Viviparous lizard - description

These lizards are not distinguished by their bright colors. They are quite modest. In adults top part the body and tail can be brown, brown, yellowish-brown or greenish. It has a characteristic pattern that stretches along the ridge. This is a dark streak that sometimes breaks. In addition, there may be two wide stripes at the top and dark stripes on the sides of the body, which are limited by the lower light line, which sometimes consists of rounded spots.

It must be said that not all individuals have a pronounced pattern. Moreover, it is not uncommon for a viviparous lizard (you see the photo in our article) to be completely black. These are melanists. Such animals are most often found in northern latitudes, in the mountains. This color is due to the fact that dark colors absorb heat better.

In males, the lower part of the body is brick-red and even orange; females have a yellowish, greenish or light gray abdomen. In addition, males have a thicker tail at the base.

A viviparous lizard (newborn) has a dark brown, almost black color, often the pattern is not pronounced. Over time, the color becomes lighter, and a characteristic pattern gradually appears on the main background. This happens as the baby grows.

Habitat

These cute lizards inhabit almost the entire forest area of ​​Eurasia - from Ireland, Great Britain and the Pyrenees to Sakhalin, Kolyma and the Shantar Islands. In the west of their range they are distributed from the Kola Peninsula to the Arctic Circle and the lower reaches of the Yenisei. Viviparous lizards live everywhere on Sakhalin, and in the south they can be found in the forest zone.

The viviparous lizard prefers to settle on the edges, in thickets of bushes along the banks of rivers and lakes, and in clearings. They can often be found in wet floodplain meadows that border the forest. In Siberia, they can also live in the tundra, in swampy areas on hummocks, surrounded on all sides by water. The shelters for these lizards are dense forest floor, holes of small rodents, shallow crevices between stones, old, dilapidated stumps. Viviparous lizards do not build their own shelters.

Lifestyle

Probably not everyone knows that the viviparous lizard is not only an excellent swimmer and diver, it also moves easily along the bottom of a reservoir. If she is in danger, she instantly buries herself in the mud. Lizards of this species do not run very well when compared with their large green counterparts.

In mountainous areas they often live at altitudes of up to 2500 meters. They feel great in a humid environment and tolerate quite well. low temperatures. Thanks to this feature, they were able to settle in the Arctic Circle, where winter time they hibernate.

In the spring, when the air warms up to only + 4 degrees, and there is still snow in some places, they come out of this state. At this time, they bask in the sun for a long time, hiding in holes in the ground, on boards, and stumps. Normal activity returns to them when the air warms up above +15 degrees.

IN central regions In Russia they finish wintering at the end of March, at Far East- at the end of May, and in the north - at the beginning of June.

How to keep a viviparous lizard at home?

Today, many animal lovers have such pets. It should be noted that the viviparous lizard takes root well in unusual conditions. The content does not require it special effort, but certain rules must be followed.

We will equip a terrarium

Your pet will need a small horizontal terrarium. For one individual of it minimum dimensions must be 30×20×20 cm. A certain temperature must be maintained in it. This is achieved with the help of a thermal cord, a thermal stone, a thermal mat, or thanks to heating lamps - incandescent lamps, downward-facing mirror lamps.

A viviparous lizard at home needs a warm corner, in which the temperature during the day should be up to 30°C, and at night at least 20°C. In indoor conditions, night heating is not necessary. Place a piece of driftwood, a wooden shelf or a stone slide under the lamp so that your pet can warm up well, choosing a more comfortable temperature.

The terrarium must have a small drinking pond; lizards love to swim and do it with pleasure. Shelters can be built in any shape - these can be shelves, houses, stone slides, etc. It is better to use coarse sand, gravel, or coconut substrate as soil. Once a day, the terrarium should be sprayed with warm water. This will maintain the necessary humidity. You can keep lizards in a group.

Daily and seasonal rhythms

Daylight hours and operation of daytime heating systems vary throughout the year. When the animal is active (autumn, spring, summer), it is 12 hours. For irradiation it is more advisable to use erythema lamps. The session is five minutes three times a day. Can be carried out this procedure household appliances(Ural Federal District) for 1 - 2 minutes during the week. When irradiating with any type of device, the animal must be in a dry area.

In winter, lizards need complete rest. Over the course of three weeks, you should very slowly reduce the duration of heating and reduce daylight hours. When it reaches six hours, the heating is turned off, and the viviparous lizard does not receive food. Keeping in captivity involves placing it after a week in a ventilated, light-proof cage, which is filled with sawdust or pressed sphagnum. During wintering, the temperature should be maintained at 8-10°C. We must not forget about humidity. It should be maintained by spraying the soil in the corner of the cage once a week. The duration of wintering is about two months. The lizards are brought out of this state in the same rhythm, gradually increasing the heat and daylight hours. When the day reaches six hours, the heating is turned on and the animal begins to be given food.

Feeding

Under natural conditions, viviparous lizards feed on small invertebrates, sometimes they eat their young. In a terrarium, they are fed mealworms, crickets, cockroaches, zoobass, and other insects. They willingly eat earthworms, small snails and newborn mice. Feeding is done at least once every two days, but you can feed it daily. There should be fresh water in the drinking bowl at all times.

Do not neglect the various mineral supplements that are given along with the food - crushed eggshells, preparations with a high calcium content. You can periodically add “Borjomi” to the drinking bowl - mineral water. Give your pet concentrated vitamin preparations once a week.

Reproduction

At the age of two years, viviparous lizards become sexually mature. There are ovoviviparous and oviparous species. They lay eggs in the Cantabrian mountains. This happens twice a season. Incubation lasts approximately forty days at a temperature of about 18-20°C.

At other points, viviparous lizards give birth to babies in a mucous, transparent egg shell, which the small lizards tear apart within thirty minutes.

After leaving the hibernation (at home), the lizards are irradiated and fed with regular food. But drugs containing vitamin E are added to it. This lasts 3 weeks. Then the lizards molt, and the males acquire a “nuptial” coloration. After this, males and females are combined in one terrarium, if they were kept separately.

Copulation lasts no more than five minutes. The female's pregnancy lasts from 70 to 90 days. Usually from 2 to 12 babies are born.