Desert Vivarium

Fall Update

2006-10-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

Life continues to be good in the vivarium. I'm trying to get the residents fattened up in preparation for their winter cool down with hopes of some spring breeding action. The students in my classes have done a great job in catching grasshoppers and crickets for the spiny lizards.

Even though the insect food is mainly for the Spiny Lizards the Desert Iguanas manage to get their share.

There are a couple of new additions to the vivarium. I have just introduced a pair of Crevice Spiny Lizards. The above photo shows the large male on the upper rock next to a very fat Desert Spiny that was added to the vivarium last year.
As expected the Spiny Lizards prefer to utilize the cooler basking area (rock surface temp. about 95) rather than the warmer area (surface temp. about 120) used by the Desert Iguanas. However, after heavy feeding the Spiny Lizards will bask some in the warmer area.
The above photo is the female Crevice Spiny. It's difficult to get a good photo of her, she is rather skittish, which is how they are in the wild. Hopefully with time she will become less wary and I can get some good photos of her beautiful green colors.

Life in the Vivarium

2006-04-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent photos of action in the "desert"

Desert Spiny Lizard waking up in the morning. Note the circular tracks this guy made to bury himself. They always make these marks, so its fairly easy to find where thet are burried.

Just the "guys" hanging out for a morning warm-up. I don't think a Chuckwalla or the Collared Lizard is in this photo but all three Desert Iguanas and two of the three Desert Spiny Lizards are in this view.

Spring Happenings

2006-04-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

I have a 1.2 group of young Desert Iguanas. I've been surprised at how aggressively they go after insects. Much more so than the Chuckwallas which seem to eat insects only in the fall.
The Desert Spiny Lizards have been a great addition this year. They are very colorful (I'll try to get a better photo) and have a lot of personality.

Desert Vivarium

2006-01-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

I was awarded a grant six years ago from a local television station to build my dream vivarium in my 8th grade science classroom. With the help of some of my students we put it together, collected some rocks, added catus and sand. It took some work to arrange the lighting and heat lamps, but once that was done we were ready for some lizards.
The vivarium is 12 feet long, 3 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall.
It currently houses a group of Desert Iguanas, Chuckwallas, Desert Spiny Lizards along with one Collared Lizard. All the species so far have gotten along with few negative interactions. I hope to post more pictures of these inhabitants later.
The vivarium has been used to conduct various experiments such as basking perferences by the lizards and with the use of a laser temp gun we have tracked the temperature of the lizards through the course of a day. Some of these activities helped me to obtain my National Board Certification. I also hope to breed some of our lizards this coming season and seasons to come.
As I mentioned earlier, check back for updates and new photos. Contact me at sjohn10@hotmail.com for questions or comments.