Alligator Lizard Not Eating

[The Ranger]

I have a beautiful 10" southern alligator (Elgaria multicarinata
(Gerrhonotus multicarinatus)) lizard residing in my standard
10-gallon fish tank. She was doing fantabulously well: She shed
twice and was eating three times a week (usually seven
calcium-enriched crickets per feeding), bathing (weird but
whatever floated her boat), and climbing through the shrubbery.
Until this last week.

I've noticed a complete loss in appetite even when the darned
feeder crickets are under her nose. There was another in the tank
(hence how I know I now have a male and female) but he was moved
to another tank.

I can only think that the change (movement from a classroom of
twenty kids and AC going 24/7 to a more-quiet garage with a
similar feeding schedule) in her environment has created too much
stress.

Is there something else I should be looking for or perhaps taking
into account.

I clean the lizard sand of droppings frequently and water her
daily (since she likes to bath, too).

Thanks for any ideas. I was _hoping_ to give her a solid start
going into fall with more body mass from the regular feedings but
that looks like it might not be working out...

The Ranger

[c***@gmail.com]

Post by The Ranger
I have a beautiful 10" southern alligator (Elgaria multicarinata
(Gerrhonotus multicarinatus)) lizard residing in my standard
I can only think that the change (movement from a classroom of
twenty kids and AC going 24/7 to a more-quiet garage with a
similar feeding schedule) in her environment has created too much
stress.
Is there something else I should be looking for or perhaps taking
into account.

Sounds like you've been doing due dilligence. I have no experience
with these
lizards. Don't be offended---are you giving the animal plenty of UV
lighting?
Lizards generally need it unless they're nocturnal or fossorial.

Your statement about moving the enclosure to a garage caught my eye.

Is this a garage where there are motorvehicles or gasoline-powered
lawn equipment stored? Most garages of my experience reek of gasoline
fumes--one reason they have code requirements about their floors being
lower
than those of the floors in the rest of an attached home.

If there's a strong smell of gasoline or possibly lawn/garden
chemicals, perhaps
the animal is being adversely affected by this. Lizards taste the air
like snakes--
they may or may not have as advanced of such a sense as the snakes
have. I claim
ignorance, but it's something you might want to look into.

I wish you and your lizard well. If you can't provide UV lighting
(and the lights can be pricey
and have to be replaced periodically as their output falls off) then
supplementation with
the appropriate D3 vitamin containing supplement will help with
calcium uptake/utilization.
That's the purpose of the UV lighting or availability of natural light
not passing through glass or
other xparent filters. They can make their own if they have access to
the correct lighting
spectrum.

Good luck, and I wish you and the lizard well--and I wish you
responses from those more
familliar with alligator lizard captive-culture!

[The Ranger]

Post by c***@gmail.com

Post by The Ranger
I have a beautiful 10" southern alligator (Elgaria
multicarinata
(Gerrhonotus multicarinatus)) lizard residing in my standard
I can only think that the change (movement from a classroom of
twenty kids and AC going 24/7 to a more-quiet garage with a
similar feeding schedule) in her environment has created too
much
stress.
Is there something else I should be looking for or perhaps
taking
into account.

Sounds like you've been doing due dilligence. I have
no experience with these lizards. Don't be offended
---are you giving the animal plenty of UV lighting?
Lizards generally need it unless they're nocturnal or
fossorial.

I have a "UV" hood (I think) but also move the tank outside
regularly so that neither lizard constantly needs to sit upon the
heat rocks I've got going 24-7... This has "helped" but I think I
was overfeeding them... I was feeding them those new crickets that
are calcium-fortified (45-60 count small) twice a week. I have a
strong feeling that they simply couldn't use all the energy I was
allowing them to pork themselves with since there's no hamster
wheel for them to burn off any excess. I cut feedings down to once
a week and this seems to have brought both back to life, so to
speak.

Post by c***@gmail.com
Your statement about moving the enclosure to a garage
caught my eye.
Is this a garage where there are motorvehicles or
gasoline-powered lawn equipment stored? Most
garages of my experience reek of gasoline fumes--
one reason they have code requirements about
their floors being lower than those of the floors in
the rest of an attached home.

Gahds put me in a similar purgatory if I ever do this to any
animal! No; no petroleum-based or chemical-induced fumes in my
garage. It's a catch-all-clutter-monster but not for such as
you've ask. I have an outdoor storage shed for ALL of those
products. The last thing I want is to launch my garage into space
because my hot water heater was the ignition point.

Again, thanks for the note.

The Ranger

[The Ranger]

[..] I think I was overfeeding them... I was feeding
them those new crickets that are calcium-fortified
(45-60 count small) twice a week. [..]

Let me clarify quickly! I was NOT feeding them the entire batch at
one feeding! (Or in the two.) Each box of crickets was lasting me
three weeks before I'd need to replace them due to attrition or
simply running out of live food.

Sorry about not being more precise earlier.

The Ranger
--
"It often amazes me at the complexity a simply-worded e-mail can
convey to so many different people. And yet so many people
willingly complain that e-mail is an imperfect tool for
communicating those same simple ideals."

[turtleherderjim]

Post by The Ranger
I have a "UV" hood (I think) but also move the tank outside
regularly so that neither lizard constantly needs to sit upon the
heat rocks I've got going 24-7... This has "helped" but I think I

Sounds as if you're way ahead of me here.

It's just that in the dim dark past when extremely exotic reptiles
were available at five-and-dime stores at prices any middle-school
kid with a lawn-mowing job or good allowance could afford, I
unintentionally neglected many a fine reptile to death and I'm still
thinking in those terms when I see someone who's having a problem
with a reptile. No offense.

Post by The Ranger
was overfeeding them... I was feeding them those new crickets that
are calcium-fortified (45-60 count small) twice a week. I have a
strong feeling that they simply couldn't use all the energy I was
allowing them to pork themselves with since there's no hamster
wheel for them to burn off any excess. I cut feedings down to once
a week and this seems to have brought both back to life, so to
speak.

Do you feed the crickets in a dish or are they put in and allowed to
roam freely about the enclosure or what? From what I'm reading one
ofthe latest innovations in zookeeping is to hide food all over an
enclosure and thus to give the animal a hunting or foraging task to
perform. From what you've said modifications in your feeding schedule
has solved the problem.

Post by The Ranger

Post by c***@gmail.com
Your statement about moving the enclosure to a garage
caught my eye.
Is this a garage where there are motorvehicles or
gasoline-powered lawn equipment stored? Most
garages of my experience reek of gasoline fumes--
one reason they have code requirements about
their floors being lower than those of the floors in
the rest of an attached home.

Gahds put me in a similar purgatory if I ever do this to any
animal! No; no petroleum-based or chemical-induced fumes in my
garage. It's a catch-all-clutter-monster but not for such as
you've ask. I have an outdoor storage shed for ALL of those
products. The last thing I want is to launch my garage into space
because my hot water heater was the ignition point.

Good deal! You're like most people I know--the car parks
outdoors, the lawn/garden equipment's in the shed and t he
other half of thier household goods are in the garage.

Good luck and enjoyment of your alligator lizards. Are you planning
to propagate them? I've so-far had two animals in my collection
present me with offspring this year and wasn't planning on propagating
either--or at least not so soon! Both critters came to me already
pregnant (both live-bearing).

[The Ranger]

turtleherderjim <***@gmail.com> wrote in message news:***@o61g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
[snip]

[..] No offense.

None taken; I appreciated the suggestions.

Do you feed the crickets in a dish or are they put
in and allowed to roam freely about the enclosure
or what?

I put in 10-11 crickets and allowed them to roam about free. Both
lizards actively stock their prey throughout the brush I've laid
throughout the lizardsand. It's great to watch. A couple of times
I've also seen both lizards remain in the same place as each
morsel jumped into their maws.

[snip] Are you planning to propagate them? [..]

That wasn't my original intention but Mr. Murphy invested in a
side show for my first graders early one Ayem Morning. It was like
watching National Gee and Wild, Wild Kingdom Live! <sigh>

The Ranger