Housing your lizard

You will need to buy a vivarium for your lizard to use as his house. It is best to get this (and also the things that you put inside it) from a specialist reptile shop. Vivariums made of glass or plastic are a good idea as these materials are easy to clean.

Within the vivarium you should try to create a world which mimics the environment your species of lizard would live in if they were living in the wild. Desert species, such as the Bearded Dragon, need a dry environment, and tropical species, such as the iguana, thrive in more humid surroundings. Therefore, it is very important that you fully research your chosen species so that you can create the correct living environment.

It is also important to think about where within your home you will place the lizard’s house. The best place is in a room that is used, like your bedroom or the main living room. An unused room tends to be cooler with lower temperatures. Your lizard needs to be somewhere with a constant temperature. Do not put his house beside a window or over a radiator as the temperature will rise and fall too much in these areas.

Substrate is the material used to cover the floor of your lizard’s house. If you have a desert species, you should provide him with sand. A tropical species needs a combination of soil and moss. Ensure the substrate is big enough to prevent him from eating it. This can cause impaction.

You will also need to put some furniture in his house. He needs to have somewhere to hide, especially if his house is in a busy room. You can buy him a plastic cave or you can use pieces of wood or logs to make a hide. Plants such as vines can also be used for making hiding areas Real plants provide more of a natural environment for your lizard, but artificial plants can be easily cleaned.

Life on Earth is supported by the sun. The sun provides heat and also light. Animals’ need both heat and light to survive. Mammals can control their own body temperature. The food they eat provides the body with energy and heat. If they are too cold they shiver and if they are too hot they sweat. These processes use a lot of energy.

Your lizard is a reptile and reptiles regulate their body temperature very differently from mammals. This is a major and vitally important difference. Reptiles are cold blooded (ectothermic). This means that their bodies cannot produce heat from the food that they eat. Because of this they need much less energy from food to survive. A 100 g reptile needs only 5% of the energy that a 100 g mammal needs. To keep warm they need to bathe in the sun or sit on a warm rock. They have no hair, no sweat glands and do not shiver. This means that your lizard will show no obvious signs that they are too hot or too cold. you may see your lizard become less mobile if cold so it’s important to learn about your lizard’s normal activity level.

You need to provide sources of heat for your lizard within his house. This could be a heat bulb, a hot rock or an underfloor heating mat. It is important that you know the temperature in both the hottest and the coolest areas. To do this you will need to use thermometers around their house. The temperature in the vivarium depends on the species of lizard. The temperature is dependent on the type and species of lizard. Your lizard vivarium temperature should be warmer during the day and cooler at night. The vivarium should have a warmer and a cooler end to allow your lizard to control his temperature.

If you are not aware of the temperature in your lizard’s house there is a danger that he could become too hot. As he cannot sweat to cool off, or remove layers of clothing as we would, he will try to hide in a cooler part of the vivarium. Providing a water bath is a good idea.

It is more common however, for a lizard to find himself in an environment which is too cold. Cooler temperatures are unlikely to kill him, but will put a strain on his body and organs. His muscles, lungs, intestines and heart will struggle to work if they are too cold, and if this goes on for a long time it can lead to illness and even death. This is why it is important to learn your geckos normal activity level as this will increase if any of the above problems are occurring.

As well as producing heat and light, the sun also produces ultraviolet (UV) light. This is a type of light which we cannot see but lizards can. It affects the skin of humans and can cause sunburn. Reptiles use UV light to make vitamin D3. This helps to keep their bones strong and healthy and enables their guts to absorb calcium from their food. To obtain vitamin D3 he will need exposure to UV light for 12 hours a day. If your lizard does not receive enough vitamin D3 his bones will become soft and might even fracture this condition is called metabolic bone disease, unfortunately this can be common in pet geckos. He may develop twitchy toes caused by faulty muscle contractions.

Ultra violet light can be provided as a combination bulb or a UV tube. The tube needs to be no more than 30 cm away from your lizard. Remember that a UV tube will not provide him with any heat. The bulb should be changed once a year, and although it may appear to be working, over time the UV rays become weaker and it will eventually stop producing UV light.