Category Archives: Reptiles

Livefood down in price at Angell Pets

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Livefood prices are following the general trend of negative inflation that we have seen over the past few weeks. We have negotiated a better deal with our suppliers and are passing on the savings to our customers.

livefood

Our livefood prices have not increased in the past five years. This is the first price change we have had on this essential item and we are pleased to say it is down.

The new livefood price list is as follows:-

Crickets now £1.99 (REDUCED from £2.75)

Locusts now £1.99 (REDUCED from £2.75)

Waxworms now £1.99 (REDUCED from £2.75)

Mini Mealworms Now £1.99 (REDUCED from £2.75)

Mealworms now £1.99 (REDUCED from £2.75)

Morio worms now £1.99 (REDUCED from £2.75)

Calci worms now £2.99 (REDUCED from £3.07)

Bean Weevils now £2.99 (REDUCED from £3.83)

Fruit Fly cultures now £2.99 (REDUCED from £3.83)

Tropical Woodlice now £2.99 (REDUCED from £3.83)

Whiteworm culture now £2.99 (REDUCED from £3.83)

Springtails NEW £2.49

Pachnoda (fruit beetle lavae) now 2.99 (REDUCED from £4.24)

With the recent 40% price reduction of the price of jelly pots, this makes buying and keeping your livefood a whole lot cheaper.

Don’t forget all livefood can still be delivered locally FREE OF CHARGE as well and we are renouwned for the quality of our livefood. We feed the livefood boxes three times a week to keep them in tip top condition. None of this will change, it’s just the price that has come down.

The Angell Pets Team

 

Exo Terra prices coming down

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Exo Terra, one of the most popular brands in the trade and makers of some excellent products have reduced their prices. This came without any fanfare from the manufacturer or the wholesalers and is just another manifestation of the current “negative inflation” trend.

Over the last few months we have been able to reduce prices of a number of stock items as a result of negative inflation. These have included bird seed bulk sacks, small animal accessories etc. Also we have frozen prices on Royal Canin  and other pet foods even though the manufacturers have put up their prices (we thought it unfair given the current downward trend in price). We are pleased we can now include a range of Exo Terra products in these reductions. We already had promotions on a number of Exo Terra products, including  glass terrariums and the excellent turtle terrarium kit and we are now in the process of reviewing all the products and reducing prices where appropriate.

We are pleased we already reduced prices on a lot of  Exo Terra products. I won’t include them all here, the range is too big but here are some examples of products that have dropped in price this week as well as some promotions we have on.

Exo Terra Solar Glo UVB basking lamp

exo terra solar glo

Exo Terra feeding dish

exo terra feeding dishes

Exo Terra water bowl

exo terra water dish

Exo terra glass terrarium

exo terra glass terrarium

Exo terra turtle terrarium

exo terra turtle terrarium

Our website and our shop contain a lot of Exo Terra products. As we play catch up with the recent price changes, look out for many more reductions.

Uromastyx Care Sheet

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Uromastyx lizards make great reptiles to keep, especially for those who do not want to feed livefood. These, often colourful, lizards are in a way the vegetarian equivalent of a bearded dragon (they belong to the same family), a similar size (some are smaller and one is larger) with similar heat and light requirements (a bit hotter though) and are almost as interactive (although some individuals can be a little shy).

There are a number of different species (out of 18 in total plus sub species) of Uromastyx generally available. These all have similar environmental (check for your species on specific measurements) and food requirements.

uromastyx

North African Uromastyx (Uromastyx acanthinura nigriventris)

The natural range of the various species of uromastyx is north of the equator from north Africa round into the Indian sub continent. With the variety of sizes there is also a variety of maxium ages, with the Egyptian uromastyx generaly being the largest and longest lived. 15 years is a good average age for any uromastyx although 30 years has been reported for a captive specimen.

Housing

Uromastyx need it hot and dry. Due to the high basking heat levels you will need a larger vivarium that for similar sized bearded dragon. This is not because the uromastyx needs more space as such (although I am sure it will appreciate it) but due to the need to maintain a sufficient temperature gradient for you uromastyx to effectivley thermo regulate. In a small viv. with such a high temperature basking area you will inevitably be raising the temperature across the whole viv. and your “cool end” will not be cool enough. We would recommend from 3′ to 6′, depending on species and size of the uromastyx. Personally I would recommend a wooden viv. that will keep the heat in, with a good quality thermostat to prevent overheating. Trying to keep the temperature up in a glass viv. that looses heat readilly could cost a bit in electric and the life cost of any pet should always be taken into consideration before getting one to avoid having to pass it onto a “resue center” when it becomes too expensive to maintain.

Heating

High daytime temperatures are very important to a uromastyx. They are a diurnal lizard (active during the day) and spend nightimes in a burrow away from predators. Night time temperatures can fall quite low, 18C (in a normal house you could switch all heating off at night or have a small heat mat if your house is consistently cold at night). Day time temperatures are kept high. Ambient temperature needs to be around 38C at the hot end and around 26C at the cool end with a basking spot temperature of 48 to 60C. In trying to keep a temperature this high it is essential to have correctly sized heat equipement and a good quality thermostat to prevent overheating your uromastyx. With all uromastyx the brightness of the lighting is also important so using bright incandescent or halogen lamps for the basking area heat is best.

Lighting

As said, bright daytime lighting is essential for a uromastyx. Not only does it stimulate feeding behaviour is also brings out the best colours. Generally the uromastyx colours only really show when they have heated up in bright light. UVB is also critical to the continued good health of the uromastyx. WIthout adequate levels of UVB they cannot absorb calcium from their diet and will get seriously ill. In fact on a really hot day (30C plus) a uromastyx will love basking in a secure area outside. You cannot get a better UV source than the sun! In the vivarium use either a minimum of a 10% UVB fluorescent tube (which will need to be changed at least every 9 months) or a combined heat and UVB mercury vapour or metal hallide basking lamp (these cannot be regulated by a thermostat so size correctly).

Decor

It is a good idea to ensure there are multiple levels (use rocks or ledges) so not only can the uromastyx find a wider variation in temperatures but also so it can bask nearer to the UVB source (not too close if using a combined heat and UV source, it must not be able to touch it). UV light does not travel very far from the light source and the strength of the UVB rays deteriorates rapidly with distance. A deep substrate will provide burrowing media but hides placed around the viv. are a good supplement/alternative. Make sure any rocks cannot fall and crush your uromastyx and that hides are placed throughout the enclosure so the uromastyx can lay up at night and get out of the high temperatures during the day in a temperature needed at that point.

Substrate

A deep substrate that can hold itself together and provide a burrowing medium is a good idea. We tend to use Lucky Reptile desert bedding as it can hold a bit of humidity at lower levels, so best replicates the wild environment. It also looks the part! I would avoid pure silica sand (play sand) as there is a higher risk of impaction and I don’t like calci sand myself for the same reason. Others do use these substrates and claim to have had no problems but I would rather avoid the risk. You can also use more utilitarian substrates but they do not have the structure to form burrows or localised humidity.

Feeding

In the wild, Uromastyx eat vegetable matter. In extremis they will eat insects but this is only done when vegetable matter is unavailable (drought conditions) and no alternative is available. The animal protein is thought to cause harm to the internal organs (especially the kidneys). In captivity vegetable matter is obviously always available so insects should not be given. A variety is best for your uromastyx. Green leaves such as rocket, unsprayed dandelion etc. are good for uromastyx. Avoid brassicas – cabbages etc. as these contain oxylates that bind up dietary calcium, making it unavailable to the uromastyx metabolism. Squashes, carrots etc (finely chopped or grated) can also be given and proprietary brands of herbivore food (usually sold for iguanas, tortoises etc.) make a good store room standby. Dusting food with a little calcium powder daily is a good idea but restrict vitamin powders to weekly as it is possible to overdose vitamins. If you are giving plenty of variation of fresh foods to your uromastyx additional vitamins will not be necessary more that once a week. If feeding a balanced, fresh diet a uromastyx will rarely drink water (some highland and coastal species may). You may wish to present a water dish once a week but do not leave it in the vivarium for too long (an hour is adequate) as with the high heat levels it will quickly evaporate and raise the humidity. This is harmless in the short term but leaving a water bowl in the vivarium all the time can be detrimental to the health of the lizard (consistently high humidity will make it susceptible to respiratory infection). I don’t bother with a water bowl.

All the Uromastyx we have had have been docile. I have never been bitten or even tail whipped by one although anything with a jaw could bite I suppose. Consequently they make great “pets” although they should not be kept out of the vivarium for too long ( a couple of hours is fine) as they do need the high temperature and UV levels.

The Angell Pets Team

Ackie Monitors (Varanus acanthurus) Care Sheet

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Ackie monitors (or spiny tailed monitors) make a good first monitor lizard or a step up from the more commonly kept agamid lizards such as bearded dragons.

Akie monitor (spiny tailed monitor) Varanus acanthurus

Like bearded dragons, Ackies are from the dryer regions of Australia and need similar (but not the same) conditions. They get a little larger (well longer at least) and so will need a large enclosure. They should also be quite active, making a larger enclosure essential.

Due to their relatively small size (for monitors) and generally good temperment, Ackies make a good starter monitor but are attractive enough to appeal to more experienced keepers too.

Enclosure

Akies get to around 2 feet in length (males slightly larger). They are a very active lizard and like to burrow in the substrate. This, coupled to the fact that they like it very hot in the basking area (50-60 degrees centigrade) means that they need a large vivarium. Large enough that a good temperature gradient can be maintained (50 degrees hot end 20-25 degrees “cold” end) and that the substrate can be deep enough to remain moist under the surface.

As large an enclosure as possible is desirable but a minimum of 4’x2’x2′. Some people recommend larger to ensure the correct depth of substrate but by using stones to form a retaining wall you can acheive the necessary depth in a vivarium of this size.

Make sure that when being assembled the edges of the vivarium are well sealed. The idea is to have moist soil in the viv and if care is not taken to seal all the edges and joins the vivarium will not last long. Better still use glass, although these are more expensive. Plastic will work well, I just don’t like them myself.

Ackies will make their own burrows but then they are not accessible. Providing a hide will encourage it to stay where you can find it. Providing plenty of hides throughout the enclosure will give the lizard a choice of where to hide when maintaing body temperature so the more the merrier.

A large water bowl is good idea.  Placed correctly, overfilling the bowl can help keep the lower levels of substrate moist and the Ackie will certainly relish going in the bowl. Ours burrow under the bowl, which is at the cooler end of the viv. I assume this creates a cooler hide and ours move between this and their “favourite” rock hide during the day

Heating

Ackies like it HOT. My preferred way to create a very hot basking area is with a combination of ceramic heat emmitter (on all the time) and basking lamp (on during the day). In very large vivs you can use a combined heat and UV lamp. These are not dimmable but if the viv is big enough and the lamp sized correctly, as they like it so hot, you can get away with it. You will still need another form of heat for overnight when the lamp is off. If in any doubt, go for a combinination of heat emmiter and basking lamp with a pulse proportional stat on the emmitter. This will give you control day and night.

Lighting

Ackies need high intensity UV. If you have a large viv. and have gone for a combined heat and UV basking lamp then job done. If not, you will need as large a wattage 10% or 12% UVB tube as you can fit in the viv. Fitting a reflector to the tube will greatly increase the amount of UV recieved by the lizard. UVB is essential for calcium metabolism (manufacture of vitamin D3 in the skin) so is not an “optional” requirement.

UVB tubes stop giving out noticeable levels of UV after around 9 months (the combined heat and UV lamps a little longer), so ensure you budget to replace these. Unless you have an expensive UV monitor you will not notice the difference but your lizard will and if the tube is not replaced will eventually get metabolic bone disease and probably die a painful death. If you cannot afford the replacement tubes, don’t get an Ackie.

Basking lamps and UVB lamps should be switched off overnight to give a good day/night cycle. Leaving lighting on all night can stress diurnal animals (and is a waste of electricity and will speed up the replacement of your UVB lamps!). Also, by having a dark rest period they tend to be more acitve during the limited (around 12 hours) daylight hours.

Substrate

Ackies like to dig. They will dig hunting for food, they will dig out burrows to rest in, they will dig to lay eggs, sometimes they will just dig! Therefor the substrate needs to be as deep as you can make it. As already alluded to, you can make a retaining wall with rocks to create an area with deeper substrate. In the wild they like to move around rocky outcrops and drop into gaps when threatened so putting in plenty of areas to climb and hide is a good idea. They will dig out a burrow to hide in and this needs to be at a higher humidity than the surrounding air. To maintain this, regular dampening or misting of the substrate is required to stop it drying out. If it is too shallow, not only will it not support a burrow, it will dry out too quickly. That said the word is damp, not wet!

A good soil, sand mix works well. I like to use desert bedding. It has a good structure that retains moisture at lower levels and can suport burrows without collapse. Other types of soil are also suitable. Mixing in some coir helps moisture retention but I don’t like Ackies on pure coir (has to be too wet to support a burrow)

Feeding

Like other monitors, Ackies are carnivores. The bulk of their diet should be insects but they will take pinkes and fuzzies etc. (although weaned rodents contain more calcium and less fat), as well as a little egg and turkey (I don’t bother with turkey myself) . Don’t use dog and cat food – some people do but it is never a good idea.  Ackies store fat in the base of their tails. Feeding to much meat (i.e. food they don’t have to actively hunt) can lead to obesity, although they are nowhere near as prone to this as say, a Bosc Monitor. Better to encourage them to run around hunting by feeding live insects. I use gut loaded cockroaches in the main but vary this as much as possible. We sell livefood so I always have a wide range avaiable so I am a bit spoilt for choice. Dust the food with calcium a few times a week(every day when young) and vitamin powder once a week. Gut loading the insects prior to feeding is the best way to ensure a balanced diet.

Breeding

I am not going to go into detail about breeding. Female Ackies are cyclical breeders. They build up fat stores in their tails and when a certain level is reached and conditions are right, they start to produce eggs. When ready they produce a pheramone that stimulates the male into mating behaviour. Fertilzed eggs are then laid in a burrow. As with most lizards, if the eggs are removed to an incubator for hatching they must not be turned and must be kept in their original orientation or the embryo will die.

Should I get one?

Ackies are great lizards to keep. Most will become quite tame (our male is very tame, the female less so, although she can be handled). They do need large enclosures and the right equipment, regularly maintained. They are probably not for someone who has never owned a reptile before but make a good step up from the usual beaded dragons and leopard geckos etc. Remember they are quite long lived, 15 – 20 years so if considering these fascinating little monitor lizards you need to understand the comittment you are undertaking before buying. They are quite hardy if kept under the right conditions but it is always wise to find out where your nearest specialist reptile vet is located before you need to use one. Normal vets will not have a clue with most reptiles.

The Angell Pets Team

Reptile boarding, small animal and bird boarding takes off at Angell Pets

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Reptile boarding was one of the few services we were unable to provide our customers from our old Angell Pets shop in Abbeymead. There simply was not enough space in a secure part of the building to accomodate the necessary enclosures and equipment. One thing we are not lacking in our new premises is space. We now have an entire extra upstairs floor that has enabled us to increase stock holding (we never had any storage space before either) and install a range of vivaria, enclosures and bird cages to enable us to offer reptile boarding, small mammal boarding and bird boarding services to our customers.

 

reptile boarding

One Of Our Reptile Boarders Being Fed

We have built up a reputation as Gloucester’s premier pet shop and were constantly being asked by customers if we could provide reptile boarding for their animals as they trusted us with their beloved pets. Not only had they come to know us and recognise the years of experience we have with a wide range of animals, they also knew that our senior team is the most qualified around. All have completed, as a minimum, either an industry recognised apprenticeship or higher level City and Guilds animal management qualification. Two are also educated to honours degree level in biology and animal science.

We have now completed fitting out  a reptile boarding facility upstairs along with enclosures for other animals and birds and have already taken bookings. We have our first visitor with us at the moment. All reptile boarding facilities are secure and complete with temperature, humidty, lighting and control equipment relevant to the reptile requiring looking after. We are also equiped to take small mammals, inverts and birds. You can use our enclosures or bring your own to reduce the stress on more nervous animals (subject to disinfection upon arrival).

We take bio security very seriously and all enclosures in our reptile boarding facility are scrupulously clean and are disinfected (using F10 and anti mite treatment) between uses (and during longer stays) and staff are trained in ensuring no cross contamination occurs during feeding and cleaning times. No animals are admitted to the facility that show signs of disease or infestation.

All animals in our reptile boarding and other animal boarding facilities are checked at least twice a day and fed, watered or cleaned as appropriate. We have a high level of knowledge of most animals and have the back up of one of the best reptile vets in the county.

Reptile boarding or boarding of other animals is arranged by telephone or visiting the shop, although you can see prices etc. on our webstore

Reptile Boarding (single animal)

Reptile Boarding (multiple animals)

Small Mammal Boarding 

Rabbit, Guinea Pig and Ferret Boarding

Bird Boarding

So, if you are lucky enough to be going on holiday or if you need to have a stay in hospital or are going to be working away and you need a reptile boarding service or boarding for other animals please give us a call. You know your animal is going to be looked after by the best professionals around.

Angell Pets Reptile Boarding in particular is booking up fast so please don’t leave it too late. We do have some capacity to expand the service further but it takes time to get all the equipment in place.

 

Angell Pets are moving!!!

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Angell Pets has been based in Abbeymead for the last 5 years. Sadly our landlord saw fit to serve us with a notice to quit because he says he wants to put in an estate agents (virtually next door to the existing one!). Anyway we didn’t hang around but found ourselves a new premises right next to the Quays in Gloucester.

Angell Pets Pet shop Gloucester

We are moving to 168 – 170 Southgate Street, on the corner of Llanthony Road and Southgate Street. We are hoping to have the new shop OPEN by 24th November 2014. We will continue to trade from our existing Abbeymead store up until Friday the 21st. Over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd we will be taking orders over the telephone or online through our webstore.

We appreciate the support our local customers in Abbeymead have given us over the past five years and offer FREE local delivery so we can still support those customers who cannot make it into the new shop. You can order online, over the telephone and if ordering over the telephone can pay by card or cash on delivery. Deliveries will be Monday to Friday and normally in the evening, although as the popularity of this service grows we may have to start putting on some deliveries during the day as well.

Any change, especially one forced upon you, is difficult to manage. We will try to ensure stock levels are maintained during the move but I am sure there is plenty of scope for some items to run a bit low. Restocking only normally takes us a couple of days if this does occur however.

We have thousands of lines plus all the shelving, animals and cages to move so it is not going to be easy but in the long run the extra space and cheaper rent and rates in the new shop is going to allow us to offer new services and promotions to our customers so hopefully the forced move will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Please pop in the Abbeymead shop during November as we will have some fantastic offers on as we reduce stock levels so there is less to move. Of course we would love you to visit us in our new premises after the 24th of November as well. Hopefully we will see you there.

 

The Angell Pets Team

Ninja turtles all over again

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A new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle film is due for release in October this year and the responsible trade is already taking steps in advance to avoid the problems caused last time round.

In the wake of the last round of popularity for this movie franchise, thousands of yellow bellied turtles, red eared sliders and cooters were sold, essentially just cashing in on the popularity of the films. Unfortunately parents were giving in to the demands of the kids without fully appreciating the high levels of equipment, care and maintainance these fairly large turtles require. Irresponsible traders have to bear a lot of blame too for not ensuring the prospective owners knew exactly what they were getting into. Many were selling 50p sized turtles in small tanks without all the necessary equipment for healty growth and without making clear to the the new owners just how big they were going to get and the size of tank required by an adult.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

As a result, this combination of lack of parenting skills and lack of care from sections of the trade has resulted over the years in sick turtles with MBD and malformed shells and also rescue centres, newspapers and more recently online sites awash with unwanted pets.Probably worst of all, canals and ponds found themselves with new residents as owners who haven’t appreciated what the word responsible means just dumping theirs where they can.

In light of what has gone on before and knowing that often we can talk till we are blue in the face about tank size, UVB requirements, filtration, basking spots etc. but the person in front of us is just not listening, we have decided not to sell any of these species from now until at least a year after the release of the film. Actually we haven’t stocked any yellow bellies or their like for a couple of years but we do get requests for them from time to time. We already get offered unwanted ones on average once a week and the film is not even being promoted yet. This action is inline with calls from REPTA to get importers to agree to a 12 month moratorium on sliders, cooters and other unsuitable species, which we fully support (although we do not sell wlid caught animals anyway).

One last thing I think needs saying. The last childrens’ film involving animals I took my kids to the cinema to see was G Force (the one with the guinea pigs). I was disgusted to see a sales display for guinea pigs from a well known pet supermarket (you all know the one) directly opposite the cinema screen exit, in the old Cineworld in Gloucester. Trying to capitalise on the pester power of kids in this way is just wrong. When they are hyped up on soft drinks, popcorn and sweets and have just seen a high action film is not the time to decide to buy an animal that is going to live for several years and have very specific care needs.These are living animals we are talking about, not sweets at a checkout. Lets hope they won’t try and pull any stunts like that with this new film.

 Please do not buy any animal just because it featured in a film. Do your research first and find out, in advance, what is involved with its lifetime care and remember some animals are going to outlive you if looked after properly. If in any doubt about the long term commitment do not buy. If you are unsure what is involved come and ask us. Ninja turtles are not real, real ones need looking after.

The Angell Pets Team

FREE local delivery area widened to include Cheltenham

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FREE local delivery with any order has been on offer from us at Angell Pets for quite some time.

We are now able to extend this FREE service to Cheltenham and the surrounding areas. Delivery of any item in the GL1,2,3,4,50,51,52 and 53 areas is now FREE.

Orders can be placed over the phone or from our on line web store. Orders on line are by card but COD is available for telephone orders.

free local delivery

This also means we are now able to offer livestock deliveries to these areas, as all FREE local delivery runs are with our own vehicles (we do not post or courier animals). Simply choose from our stock on line and call to arrange payment and delivery. This gives us the opportunity for us to check you have thought through your purchase and for you to check us out and be sure of what you are buying.

If you need to arrange FREE local delivery at a specific time, call us at the shop and order over the telephone and we will try to arrange delivery at a time that suits you. Unless it is really busy we can usually accomodate. Please note we do not usually deliver at weekends. I work seven days a week and do FREE local delivery in the evenings during the week. My wife insists I have some time off!

So sign up on our on line store to receive FREE LOCAL DELIVERY of all your animals needs.

The Angell Pets Team

Balkan Green Lizard Care Sheet

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Balkan green lizards (Lacerta trilineata) are part of a group of related species ranging across Europe and western Asia. The eastern lizards of this grouping are slightly larger than their western cousins and a bit bolder too. This aside, care is very similar for all species. Balkans have a reputation of being less damp tolerant than some of the other species such as Lacerta viridis.

balkan green lizard

Housing

We would not recommend keeping more than one of these lizards in an enclosure. Males will fight and females, whilst more tolerant, may do so as well unless the enclosure is quite large. Keeping a male and female together outside of breeding may also risk injury or stress to the smaller female as well, if she cannot get away from him.They have been kept together succesfully in a suitably large enclosures by experienced breeders but why take the risk? This care sheet is aimed at the beginner/intermediate keeper and does not cover keeping large breeding colonies which require very large enclosures (up to 20m2 in some cases. Green lizards can be kept outside through the summer but I am not covering that here. Needless to say cage security is a big issue with keeping them outside).

We would recommend a wooden (or glass) vivarium of around 30″ – 36″ x 18″ x 18″. You can use a smaller 15″ cross section but I just find that restricts the view and reduces the lay out a bit. I do like naturalistic, display vivs so tend toward larger vivs for display purposes.

Substrate

A variety of substrates can be used. Some people have used sand – I don’t. The risk of impaction is higher and whilst easier to seive I find it will smell dirty, quicker than other substrates. Beech chips are fine but I find them a bit utilitarian for my taste. Orchid bark chips work well (if you are worried about swallowing of bark pieces then use a coarser grade). There are several newer products coming along all the time that work really well. I like Pro Reps Tortoise life substrate for these lizards. I place some at one end of the viv and blend into orchid bark for the other two thirds, banking this up over a piece of cork bark which acts as a hide and as structure for the layout. Damp moss under the hide will produce a more humid microclimate that helps with shedding. The additional depth of orchid bark acts as an anchor for upright fake plants (Exo Terra and Komodo’s Boston Ferns for example). A few well placed rocks (I use Red Jasper) improve the look further and help keep everything in place. the Torrtoise Life encourages natural digging behaviour. You could use something like Tortoise Life (a clean, pathogen free “soil” type substrate) across the whole viv. Green lizards like to dig and burrow so make sure it has some depth to it (5cm is OK).

Lighting

Green lizards are diurnal so require UVB lighting. A 5- 6% tube or compact UVB lamp will be sufficient to ensure production of vitamin D3 and so uptake of calcium from the diet. This will avoid metabolic bone disease and some other nasties that these li\zards would otherwise be prone to.

They will also benefit from a basking spot lamp. We use one that produces some UVA light as this helps promote a natural circadian rhythm. Don’t have one that is too powerful for the size of your vivarium and ensure that the lizard cannot come into contact with the lamp (a guard may be necessary to ensure this). Incadescent lamps produce a lot of heat as well as light so (especially in a wooden vivarium that helps keep heat in) a method of ensuring that the lamp does not overheat the viv is essential. This normally means a dimming thermostat.

Heating

In addition to a basking spot lamp we use a heat mat to provide background and overnight heat although in a hot summer this can be switched off. The basking spot (on during the day) should not exceed 40C at the hottest point (a rock directly under the lamp would be good) and the cool end of the viv wants to be around  20C during most of the year. The lizards will benefit from a lowering of temperature during the winter however. If you are looking to breed this is essential to stimulate breeding behaviour in the spring. when the temperature increases again. Overnight the temperature will drop with the basking lamp switched off. This is not only acceptable but desirable to reproduce natural conditions. Around 20C at the hottest point overnight would be good. Maintaining a gradient across the viv to allow thermo regulation during the day is the key.

A thermometer is an essential piece of kit. A basic dial type is sufficient. I don’t use these. Not because they don’t work, they do but because I have a lot of vivs and that’s a lot of thermometers, I prefer to use an infra red “point and press” thermometer. More expensive if you only have one viv but cheaper if you have lots. Much more accurate too as you can take surface temperature readings at any point across the temperature gradient (hot side to cool side). If you don’t have one of these then two dial termometers, one at each end will do. Just remember that the temperature on the back wall of your viv will be less than that directly under the basking lamp so a reading of 30C is sufficient. Adjust whatever thermostat you are using to the reading you get from your thermometer and don’t worry too much about what the termostat setting says, worry about what temperature you are actually acheiving.

If using a heat mat I would, in this case, place it on the wall of the viv rather than the bottom. The substrate will be too deep and will insulate the heat mat, possibly to the point of creating a dangerously hot spot if a fault develops in the mat. If you wish to use a ceramic heat emitter instead of heat mats that would be fine but again make sure the lizard cannot touch it – they get very hot to touch.

Feeding

Green lizards are insectivores. We use a wide variety of cultivated insects. Crickets form the mainstay. They are very active and encourage natural hunting behaviour. We vary these with locusts, some morio and mealworms and occasional waxworms and fruit beetle grubs (the smallest ones we can find). Dust the insects with calcium and occasionally with vitamin powder containing D3 (We do this once a week) . Since we feed our insects throughout the week to keep them alive on our shelves for our customers, ours are gut loaded anyway so we do not have to worry about that. Just remember, whatever you feed your insects you are feeding to your lizard in the insect’s gut so you can supplement your lizard’s diet that way.

Do not use insects captured from the garden. They could carry parasites or diseases, could have been feeding on a neighbours plants that have been sprayed with something etc. I know people do it and do not have problems. However my response to this is my mother in law smokes 20 cigarettes a day and is in her eighties and in good health, However I wouldn’t recommend it to your children. Enough said.

A water dish is obviously essential. Occasionally a lizard will use it to bathe in as well as to drink. Make sure the water is changed regularly as in the warm environment bacteria will grow very quickly and these lizards do occasionally use the water bowl as a toilet!

Handling

Green lizards are fast and can be defensive. Handling is not always easy. If you lack confidence then use a glove until you gain some. It is harder to hold the lizard with a glove on but easier to catch it in the first place so I wouild recommend removing the glove once caught. Holding the lizard across its shoulders with the first two fingers and under its chest with the thumb means is cannot get away and cannot bite. Always grab the lizard near its head when catching it and NEVER grab its tail. Like a lot of lizards (although no where near all) they display caudal autonomy – the ability to “drop” the tail. This is a defence against predators. Whilst the predator (or you) are stood looking at the still wriggling tail the lizard has hot footed it to safety. Whilst in green lizards the tail does grow back it never grows back looking as good as the original and losing its tail in this way is stressful to the lizard and to you!

Disease

Green lizards can all suffer from an highly infectious disease called viral papillomata which can appear as a black growth on the skin or in the mouth. It is always fatal, although it can take years to develop. This is really a disease of wild populations and a lizard obtained from disease free captive stock will not get this condition unless intorduced to diseased individuals. My first reptiles were a pair of European Green lizards (Lacerta viridis). I obtained them seperately. The second one had the disease and subsequently both died of it. This was however, “Ahem,” over 40 years ago  so both would have been wild caught individuals and these days, thanks to improvements in care, restrictons in capturing and moving wild animals and excellent breeders any you find for sale are likely to be disease and parasite free, captive bred lizards.

 

Cleaning

Spot clean daily – take out any poop you can see with a bit of tissue. If you do this daily and are thourough, you should only have to replace the substrate every three months or so. If you do not do this regualry then the vivarium will start to smell quite quickly and the substrate will need replacing more regularly.

After removing the substrate disinfect the vivarium with a good quality reptile disifectant. As we have a wide variety of animals (reptiles, mammals, birds) we are currently using F10 as it is safe for everything we stock (obviously not fish!!!) but there are others avaiable. Do not use household disinfectants. Many contain toxic phenols (the distinctive TCP smell you get in some famous household disinfectants).

As already mentioned, clean the water bowl regularly (daily is best but at least every two days). This should be disinfected each time as this is likely to prove the dirtiest part of the set up (everything will collect there, lizard poop, drowned crickets, bits of shed skin, bacterial scum etc).

It shouldn’t really need saying but I will say it anyway – always wash your hands after handling your lizard or anything inside the vivarium. Reptiles can carry E.coli and salmonella bacteria and you really do not want a dose of salmonella. In the weak it can be fatal but even in healthy individuals it is embarrasingly unpleasant, incredibly painful and debilitaiting. Don’t take risks, get some anti bacterial hand cleaner.

 

The Angell Pets Team

 

Angell Pets Easter Opening Times

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Angell Pets are open as usual all over the Easter weekend.

Angell Pets

Angell Pets

The opening hours for Angell Pets for the weekend are as follows:-

Good Friday – 10am – 4pm

Saturday 19th April – 9am – 6pm

Sunday 20th April – 10am – 4pm (normal Sunday hours)

Easter Monday – 10am – 4pm

Tuesday 22nd April – back to normal hours – 9am – 6pm.

On line orders will processed as normal but deliveries will obviously be affected by the Easter break.

So pop in and see us at Angell Pets over the weekend for everything for your pet. For dogs and cats, birds, small mammals and rabbits, fish, reptiles, spiders and other invertebrates, accessories, enclosures food and more. If you can’t see it, we can probably get it in for you. Alternatively visit us at Angell Pets online.

The Angell Pets Team