Jeweled Lacerta

[Zoe]

So I've been looking at getting a Savannah Monitor, but I was reading my new rep mag and I saw this guy in there. Wow are they beautiful! But other than what I've read in the mag I know nothing about them and there seems to be little info on the web about them. Does anyone have any experiance with these lovely reptiles?

You have good taste

There isn't too much info out there, but there is some. I did a lot of research and they really aren't hard to care for:

Vivarium:
4 x 2 x 2 would be minimum for one adult. You could maybe get away with 3 x 2 x 2 for a female. Front opening doors are ideal because they can be nervous and you don't want it thinking you're a bird, but a tank with a reptile lid will do.

Substrate:
They are burrowers so you want at least 6 inches of substrate. A mix of sand, soil and coco mulch is good. It should be damp enough to hold a cave or small tunnel.

Light:
They need UV light; I use a 100W Mega Ray Mercury Vapor bulb, as well as a 75W plain halogen from Walmart as another light/heat source.

They are from Europe so they don't need it hot. 90-92F is fine for basking area, with a range of 75-88 during the day. I don't provide any heat at night so unless your house is very cold, nothing else is necessary. They need to thermoregulate though so make sure you have a good temperature variant.

Food:
They eat pretty much anything. Crickets, roaches, super worms, darkling beetles, silkworms, horn worms, grasshoppers, snails, earthworms; a combination of a few of those can make up their staple diet, with the occasional waxworm, butter worm, or small piece of boiled chicken as a treat. They will also eat mushy, ripe sweet fruit. I have some in the cage at all times because it feeds any stray crickets. I breed my own super worms and red wigglers for mine, and pick up crickets / silkworms occasionally.

Dust most days with regular calcium, and dust occasionally with Cal w/ D3 and vitamin/mineral powder.

You can plant the tank if you want, they won't eat the leaves, but they might dig up the plants.

They don't soak or swim very much so a regular sized water dish is fine. Mist enough to keep the substrate humid - a few times a week.

Don't get a pair if you can't keep them separate when they are not breeding. I've never experienced this first hand, but I've heard that they can be vicious to each other when feeding.

Some Lacertas can be really nervous, and they are generally not considered to be "easy-to-handle" lizards, but once they settle in they are really good motivated and you can use that to your advantage.

If you want to do further research, try looking up "lacerta lepida" or "lacerta timon". You get some different results that way.

Good luck, hope you get one! If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Zoe