-
- Haitian Curly-tailed Lizard
Leiocephalus schreibersii
- By Christina Miller - Herptiles.net (http://www.herptiles.net)
-
-
- Leiocephalus schreibersii ssp. (male)
-
-
-
-
-
|
- Taxonomy
-
- Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Subclass: Lepidosauria
- Order: Squamata
- Suborder: Sauria
- Infraorder: Iguania
- Family:
Iguanidae
- Subfamily: Tropidurinae
- Genus: Leiocephalus
- Species: schreibersii
- Subspecies: schreibersii, nesomorus
|
-
I. Introduction
An active, charismatic and curious species of
lizard, the Haitian curly-tailed lizard is an interesting terrarium animal. These are
iguanid lizards of the
subfamily Tropidurinae, the neotropical ground lizards. This
species is also known as Hispanolian curly-tail, red-sided curly-tail, Schreiber's curly-tail, and they are sometimes simply labeled as curly-tailed lizards. Native to Caribbean islands such as Haiti, Ile de la Tortue and the Dominican Republic, there are two known
subspecies, Leiocephalus schreibersii schreibersii, and L. s. nesomorus.
Haitian curly-tails are plump, colourful lizards with a stout, triangular head. They can reach an
STL of 20-23cm (8-9"). Their body is mostly tan-coloured, with a lighter underside. On males, small blue, yellow or green specks litter the entire body, and a red-orange colour stripes the belly, sides and the underside of the tail (this species is
sexually dimorphic, males are a bit larger, wider and more colourful than females, by comparison the difference is easily noticeable). Scales on its back are keeled, and a small crest runs from the back of the neck down the tail.
Lateral skin folds are present, and a few small scales near the tympanum (ear hole) stick out. The tail is thick but tapers towards the tip, and is naturally longer than the body. When properly cared for they can live over 10 years.
Males are very colourful. |
Females have the same pattern as males, however their colours are drab. |
II. Behaviour
This is a ground-dwelling lizard that is very active during the middle of the day, the rest of the time they usually stay buried beneath the
substrate. These tend to be very shy lizards, most are skittish and excitable, fleeing into rocks or sand from anything they consider a threat. Some specimens may allow themselves to be handled, but it should generally be avoided because they tend to stress easily. The name "curly-tailed lizard" stems from their behaviour when frightened, they curl up their tail or whip it around wildly.
Lizards in the family Iguanidae, including curly-tails, communicate visually. It is not uncommon to see your lizards bob their heads, perform pushups, or wave and curl their tails at each other or unprovoked.
Like most lizards, curly-tails can
autotomize their tail if they feel threatened. This defense mechanism, called
caudal
autotomy, occurs as a sort of "last ditch" effort for the lizard to escape a predator. Its tail breaks off, and the severed piece proceeds to twitch for several minutes afterwards (due to excited nerves left in the tail). This is supposed to distract the predator while the lizard escapes. The tail can regenerate after time, however the re-grown portion of the tail will not be the same colour or have the same texture as the original tail.
III. Diet
These lizards are primarily
insectivorous, feed a staple diet of several suitably sized gut-loaded crickets daily. Variety is healthy, so supplement this diet with mealworms, silkworms, waxworms and superworms (when the lizard is large enough, of course), although they prefer crunchy,
chitinous prey (you can occasionally offer darkling beetles- the adult phase of mealworms). They have quite small heads in comparison to their bodies; do not feed prey larger than half the lizard's head.
Some lizards will also accept certain fruits and vegetables occasionally, particularly bright red or yellow flowers and berries. Fruits and flowers are typically eaten seasonally in their habitat. Whole or ripped-apart hibiscus, dandelion, nasturtium and geranium flowers, as well as chopped fruits such as strawberry, raspberry, prickly pear cactus and mango can be offered occasionally, but should not be left to spoil in the enclosure if not eaten.
Because these lizards are usually housed on a
particulate substrate (sand), all food items should be offered in a dish so that the lizards will not accidentally ingest any of the substrate while hunting. Substrates such as sand can cause fatal intestinal impactions (blockages in the digestive tract) if swallowed. The dish should be shallow enough so that the curly-tails can see the food items, but tall enough so that the prey cannot escape. "Slippery" dishes made out of materials such as glazed ceramic or stainless steel work well to keep the insects in the dish until eaten, but crickets may still escape if left there long enough. Be sure to feed the lizards in the middle of the day, when they are active.
A wide, shallow dish of clean water should be present in the enclosure at all times, and should be changed daily.
IV. Housing
An easy enclosure for this lizard is a simple aquarium. A pair (do not house males together, they are very territorial) can be housed in a 76-litre (20-gallon) long aquarium. A half-screen half-covered lid will allow adequate ventilation and help provide the humidity levels this lizard requires.
-
-
A natural substrate that the lizards can burrow in is important- They feel safer with this place to hide.
|
This neotropical lizard comes from a hot, dry, yet humid
habitat. A forest/beach-like enclosure seems to please these lizards. Because these lizards are most secure when they have substrate they can burrow in, a particulate substrate is necessary. A sand-soil-woodchip (about 2 parts sand to 1.5 parts soil to 0.5 parts small woodchips) mix is suitable. Provide no less than 5cm (2") of this mix. Silica sand should no be used in the mix, as it has a very fine dust that can irritate eyes and skin. Very fine beach sand can be found with aquarium supplies in many pet stores, and it should be thoroughly washed and dried before being placed in the enclosure. Note that these lizards do not like to burrow in substrate that is too wet, so do not drench the sand when your mist the enclosure. |
Rocks and driftwood branches make attractive terrarium décor, both to viewers and the lizards, which seem to love to bask on rocks. A hide box is necessary to allow the lizards to escape from view. The lizards may also burrow under the sand to hide. To prevent injury from cage furniture, all rocks and heavy pieces of wood should be firmly "rooted" by placing them on the floor of the enclosure, then pouring the substrate around them. This is so that if the lizard burrows beneath the substrate near a piece of cage furniture, he will not be accidentally crushed.
In addition to substrate they can burrow in, curly-tails will feel safer if they are partially "surrounded" by opaque walls. If your enclosure is wooden or acrylic, this may not be a problem as it is unlikely that all four walls are transparent. Although, it has been observed that if the walls are a bright, uniform colour such as white, the lizards tend to become stressed easily. This can be corrected by adding false rock walls or by painting them either a uniform brown, or if you are more artistic, a speckled/mottled rock or bark pattern. For aquariums, however, coloured backgrounds or false rock walls will suffice.
V. Heating, Lighting, and Humidity
The temperature in the enclosure should reach 35°C (95°F) in the hot end (at the
basking spot), and graduate to no lower than 27°C (80°F) in the cool end. At night, do not let the temperature fall below 21°C (70°F). These temperatures can be achieved by heating the tank with a simple incandescent light bulb (wattage depends on how warm the rest of the room is), accompanied by an under tank heating pad or ceramic heat emitter if you have difficulties keeping the aquarium at these warm temperatures.
Please note that heat rocks are not suitable sources of warmth! These lizards regulate their body temperature based on an overhead source of light and heat, like the sun. Heat rocks are also known to easily malfunction, causing burns that are often fatal.
Ultraviolet lighting should be provided so that the lizards can properly metabolize calcium; lights such as ReptiSun 8.0 (by Zoo Med) and Repti-Glo 8.0 (by Tetra-Terrafauna) are reliable brands.
A
photoperiod of 14 hours of daylight to 10 hours of darkness is suggested. Reduce the number of daylight hours to 12 during fall and winter months.
Humidity in the enclosure should be kept between 50 and 60% during the spring and summer. The system of layered substrate helps maintain high humidity, as well as daily misting and having a large, shallow water dish. Reduce misting and dampen the bottom layer of substrate less frequently during the fall and winter to let the humidity drop to about 40%.
VI. Health
Proper husbandry is the key to good health in all reptiles. If you provide good basic care, then you will avoid the vast majority of potential health problems that reptiles can encounter in captivity.
Because curly-tails are virtually all wild caught, they are undoubtedbly parasitized. The process of being captured is very stressful, and this stress can afflict the immune system and allow any normally harmless parasites to become disease-causing. A fecal exam should be performed by an experienced reptile vet to determine if antiparasitic medications are needed to prevent any parasite-related health problems.
Last modified: Sunday, June 11, 2006
Sources:
- Akermann, T. and Clanzett, T. 2001. "Leiocephalus im Terrarium." (http://www.leiocephalus.de/)
- Bartlett, R.D. and Bartlett, P. 1997. Lizard Care from A to Z. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
- Kaplan, M. 2002. Anapsid.org. "Curly-Tailed Lizards." (http://www.anapsid.org/curlytailed.html)
- Pether, J. 2002. "Curly-Tailed Lizards." REPTILES. Vol. 10, No. 7 (July 2002), 30-35.
- RELATED LINKS
-
