| Girdled Lizard Project Ok, I'll make this short and simple. *laughs*. I'm going to copy and paste (in red) a little "article" I wrote on a reptile forum last week, which will sum up most of my message. Then I'll add a little more to it. I'm thinking about trying my hand at making some large outdoor enclosures for my tropical girdled lizards (Cordylus tropidsternum) and obtaining a few more to try to get a breeding colony. The C. tropidsternum are a little smaller than leopard geckos and brown (varying shades of brown) and white, with yellow to orange throats (sometimes white). A rather drab lizard but they make up for it in sheer personality. I just love them. I know most are WC, but I'm trying to establish these lizards in captivity. I have a feeling these guys could make a great lizard "pet". They're desert/aridland/savannah type lizards that are saxicolus (they dwell in rock outcroppings and piles). Should be interesting. I've read about sungazers (the largest species of girdled...Bert Langerwerf is trying to establish them in captivity) in REPTILES in an article by Bert and he said they're burrowing lizards so I'll create some burrows w/ PC piping to see if they'll utilize them. He collected them in Africa himself and he noted that he saw the sungazers in burrows and the smaller Cordylus in rock outcroppings. Going to experiment here. Should be quite interesting. I'm also planning on getting a group of Warren's girdled lizards (Cordylus warreni) to attempt to breed and establish them in captivity too. These are larger and more colorful versions of C. tropidsternum. They get about the size of bearded dragons (18-24 inches). They're black with numerous tiny yellow or orange spots. Very appealing. They're supposedly rather voracious predators, eating mostly insects along with some small mammals (like young rodents), and smaller reptiles and amphibians. I'll also be designing a similiar enclosure for them (of course bigger to correspond with their size). These are wonderful and very hardy lizards that sorely need to be established here in America. The only problem is their low reproductive rate (which is why Africa is imposing laws to restrict their collection and importation) . I only know of 3 breedings in captivity. They were in the UK by the same breeder. His first 2 litters (they give live birth...a very unique lizard)died, and with his 3rd litter only a couple lived(they have 2-4 litters on average for C. tropidsternum). These breeding statistics are only for C. tropidsternum. I do not know of one captive breeding of Warren's girdled lizards. This of course will take a while to become reality, but I'd like for it to materalize within at least a couple years. I love these lizards and am passionate about them. These are really the only lizards I'm particularly interested in except for some monitors. Basically, the only animals available in the US are mostly or all WC (I don't know of ANY US breedings...so if anyone knows of any breedings with these here, tell me, I'd love to be able to have at least some healthy CB lizards) so, I'm going to take the initiative and attempt to learn more about their husbandry and breeding. My keeping of C. tropidsternum has been mostly trial and error(I'm still experimenting though)which is a testament to these lizards sheer hardiness. Most books and sites (well, all but ONE site, and even then it didn't have much care specific info;The UK breeder's site) have 1 or 2 paragraphs on the whole group of Cordylus. 1 paragraph is the norm which illustrates quite well the severe paucity of information(which even more shows the need for there to be more information on them). I've been searching for 3 years for info so if anyone knows of any books or sites with good info, please tell me...I'd love a little help...any help to make this easier.lol. Ok, I've been rambling on long enough here...I hope I haven't bored y'all to tears here. I'd love some feedback here on this. John PS Thanks in advance for any info! Well, that sums up a large part of my message. I'd also love to add a few more species to C. warreni and C. tropidsternum for my program, however, they appear to come up for sale even less than these 2 species. If I could get my hands on some of those species....lol. By the way, if you have any info, please e-mail me by clicking on the link. My e-mail. Also here's the link to thet UK site I mentioned. It might also be worth your while to check out the "Other Cordylus" link on the site. Cordylus tropidsternum |