chris
New Member
Posts: 10
|
Post by chris on Apr 24, 2006 15:45:38 GMT
I would like to move them into a Green House in the next few weeks. Has anyone any useful tips that they can pass on ? I am aiming to have a natural habitat laid out for them on tables about waist height with a perspex front to stop them climbing out. I would like to have control of the air temperature inside the greenhouse to extend the start and end of the season and give the option of heating it when the weather is not so good outside. It has been suggested to me to use Ceramic heaters hanging from the roof. What do people think ?
thanks for any help,
Chris D
|
|
|
|
Post by robpilley on Apr 28, 2006 12:05:42 GMT
Hey Chris
I keep my Green Lizards (L. bilineata) outside 12 months of the year. They were obtained as babies and have been raised in our UK conditions hence they have done so well and are never brought indoors. If you got your own animals as adults or have not raised them outside in our variable climate from an early age then transition to "al fresco" living can be tricky as what a "UK climate habituated" lizard might think as a warm day might be interepretted by a "warm viv raised adult" as being too cold to emerge and so you wouldnt ever see them and they would gradually starve.
I have found this in the past when trying to get Lacertas going outside, its always best to raise them from young under the conditions you intend to have them in as adults, otherwise the change isnt always tolerated- especially when going from comfy always warm and lit viv to the fickleness of our UK weather.
Your location in the Uk also plays a role in how well they will do outside; along the southcoast ands sheltered south west regions we have a good climate for al fresco herps, but go farther north or on the east coast (that experience cold north and easterly winds) then it is that much harder.
In a greenhouse you would certainly have more success if your animals are viv raised, especially if it is in direct sunlight a lot to get the ambient temperature up.
Whether you heat the greenhouse is another matter and depends upon the history of the lizards. If they are youngsters and have little "life experience" then as long as the greenhouse is in direct sunlight for at least some of the day then i wouldnt bother with any heating at all, they will be fine throughout the year and will learn to follow the yearly heat and light cycle.
If they are adults though, or the greenhouse doesnt recieve direct sunlight for a few hours a day, then i would definitely recommend the Powersun bulbs, they are brilliant.
Good luck with your lizards, which species are they by the way, that also plays a part in their set up. Trilineata, bilineata, viridis, strigata??
Rob
|
|
chris
New Member
Posts: 10
|
Post by chris on May 2, 2006 17:57:26 GMT
Hi Rob,
Thanks for your advice. The green lizards I have are viridis, were wild caught and have been in a viv for the last few years. They have been thriving like this and reproducing regulary. Last week I placed them in a open topped polycarbonate cold frame in a unheated green house. I would like to heat the inside of the green house as cheaply as possible. I reallly don't want to put them back into a viv. Can you suggest a set up ? What options have I got ? I live in Leeds.
Chris
|
|
