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Posted by: TPau15 on 2010-03-07, 11:20:43
Yes, peat moss would work. A cheaper alternative would be organic potting soil (no added chemicals or Perlite.) You can also use coconut coir bedding (like Bed-A-Beast and Jungle Bed) but, again, the organic potting soil is cheaper. Keep the "soil " lightly moistened and well mixed; if it is too wet or too compacted, you will start to grow some neat science experiments in the enclosure, like mold and fungus. Tropical (high humidity requiring) reptiles do need water, and lots of it. If the enclosure is too dry, they can become dehydrated and have trouble shedding. Get yourself a digital gage, a hygrometer/ thermometer two in one. Stick on gages suck; they can be up to 20 degrees off, and if they get wet they are useless. You can get a cheap digital gage in Wal-mart and Target in the home improvement section. They cost about $10, and they are the small units you normally place on a wall in you home (they take a triple A battery.) Get some double sided Velcro and place it on the cage. You should, at the very least, know the basking temp (it should be 85 - 90 F) and the humidity (should be about 60%) level in the enclosure. You shouldn't be guessing. How many crickets depends on the size and age of the lizards. There are many types of alligator lizards, but one of the more common ones in the US is the northern alligator lizard. These have an average adult size of 14 inches. Babies need to be fed at least twice a day, juveniles should be backed off to once as day (once they are large enough to each larger crickets), and adults can be fed every other day or so. A general rule of thumb is to feed on cricket per inch of length. This rule doesn't work once the lizard is too big for small crickets, but not quite big enough for larger ones. You just have to keep shoveling them in until is it large enough to move up in size. You should not feed a prey item that is large than the space between the reptile's eyes. |
