Granite Spiny Lizards

So the last few years as I have taken trips out to the deserts and mountains, my fascination with Granite Spiny Lizards(Sceloporus Orcutti) has grown. They are the prettiest Spiny Lizards IMO save for maybe the really cobalt blue Spiny Lizards from mainland Mexico(Sceloporus Minor). It's easy to tell the difference between males and females in the adults. A few weeks ago I was able to capture a couple of adults and set them up in an aquarium. I'm new to their husbandry. I know they need both warmth and UV light to be successful. I'm also going to vary their diet as much as possible between mealworms, crickets, waxworms, and local insects around the house here in Irvine that I will collect.

They really are cool lizards. They are kings and queens of their rocky outcrops where they live. Good luck trying to catch them by hand in the middle of the day. They are very wary lizards. I've found that the best way to catch them is either to noose them or coax them out of a rock crack with a coat hanger or other type of stick. I've also heard of people catching them early in the morning under artificial cover by rocky outcrops when they are cold and slower moving.

My plan is to try and breed them for kicks. If anyone has experience getting them to breed I would love to chat and hear about it. If I'm lucky enough to get babies, I will be giving them away to good homes. Here's a pic of the pair that I have...

More 2010 Pictures(females)

2010 Pictures

Here are a few pictures of some holdover babies from last year. All are Juarez stock. My Blackberry camera takes pretty decent pictures. Clink on each picture to enlarge them. These are all males

Baby Kingsnakes Are Stirring

It's been a long winter. After having a fairly successful season last year(think pink haha), all babies that were not sold got put down into hibernation. Most have not had one solitary meal yet and yet I had but two die over winter. It's very important to let the babies soak up all of their egg yolk and not to disturb them before they emerge(if possible) so they can put on as most baby fat as possible to last them until now. These little guys are hardy as can be.

So earlier today I turned the heat tape back on. My experience over the years is that you can feed them their first meal roughly 24 hours the heat has been on. They have lots of digestive acid waiting for that first meal. After the first meal, I usually wait almost a week until their next meal so they can digest the first meal and have a week to rev up their metabolism.

As for the adults, they are on schedule to be warmed up on Feb 25th. I am planning getting a little more scientific this year with the breedings. I am going to purchase a microscope to be able to tell which males are producing the most sperm. In hindsight I should have been doing this all along. It takes one more variable out of the equation and I hope it will increase the fertility rate.

That's all for now. Check back here often in the next few months to see how production goes for this year.