NEWS107
38
for this reasonyoushouldmonitor the incu-
batordaily,astheyoung,oncehatched,need
to be removed immediately so that they
don'tdamage theunhatchedeggs.Rearing
theyoung isusuallyproblem-free,but they
need to be kept somewhat damper than
adults. Intraspecificaggression isonly slight
among juveniles,sotheycanberearedtoget-
heruntil sexualmaturity.
Outlook
Atpresent
Latastia longicaudata
is regularly
availableandatareasonableprice inthepet
trade.Itwouldbenice ifthissituationwasex-
ploited by terrarium keepers in order to
evolvebreedingprotocols for these lovely li-
zards.Becauseregularbreedingandpublica-
tion of the associated observations made
couldbeveryhelpful inansweringthenume-
rousopenquestions regarding thesystema-
ticsof
Latastia longicaudata
that cannotbe
clarifiedby fieldobservations (for example
thegeneticsof thecolorationand thescala-
tioncharacters).
If youarenow filledwith thedesire tokeep
andbreedCommonLong-TailedLizards,your
petdealer canundoubtedlyorder them for
youfromatrustworthywholesaler,forexam-
pleTropenparadies inOberhausen,Fax+49
0208-665997
Lexicon
CommonLong-Tailed
Lizard
Latastia:named inhonorof Fernand
Lataste (1847 - 1934).
longicaudatameans "long-tailed".
The subspeciesnamesandersonii,
lanzai,and revoili areall honorifics.
Thename ”Long-TailedLizard” is apt,but they
shouldn't be confused with species of the
genus
Takydromus
.
Literatur:
Bedriaga,J.v. (1884):DieneueLacertiden-Gat-
tungLatastiaund ihreArten (L.Doriaen.sp.,
var.Martensim.,SamharicaBlanf.undBoscai
n.sp.).Annali delMuseocivicodi storianatu-
ralediGenova20:307-324
Bischoff,W. (1991):ÜbersichtderArtenund
Unterartender FamilieLacertidae.4.DieGat-
tungenLatastia,Meroles,Mesalina,Nucras,
Ophisops,Pedioplanis,undPhilochortus.Die
Eidechse1 (4):17-25
Boulenger,G.A. (1920):Monographof theLa-
certidae,Vol.1.London,352pp.
Boulenger,G.A. (1921):Monographof theLa-
certidae,Vol.2.London,451pp.
Largen,M.J.&S.Spawls (2006):Lizardsof Et-
hiopia (ReptiliaSauria):anannotatedcheck-
list,bibliography,gazetteer and identification
key.Tropical Zoology19:21-109
Parker,H.W. (1942):The lizardsof BritishSo-
maliland.Bulletinof theMuseumofCompara-
tiveZoology41 (1):1-99
Reuss,A. (1834):Saurier.MuseumSencken-
bergianum1 (1):29-58
Rogner,M. (2001):PraxisRatgeber Eidechsen.
Frankfurt amMain.152pp.
A secondpoint of enormous importance is
thecorrect substrate.Themajorityof lizards
fromdesert regions regularlybury themsel-
ves, partly for thermoregulation (to avoid
greaterheat),partlyasprotection frompre-
dators (at night),partly formoisture regula-
tion.Asmentioned,drinkingwater isonlyra-
relyavailable.Butdesert lizardscanalsotake
inmoisturefromthegroundviatheirskin.To-
getherwithwatercontained inthe food,soil
moistureprovidesanappreciablepartofthe
waterrequirementofthe lizard.Thesubstrate
in the terrarium for Latastia longicaudata
shouldthusbearound10cmdeepandcon-
sistofdiggablematerial.The ideal isa sand-
soilmix in the ratio3:1 to8:1,dependingon
theamountofclay inthesoil.Thesoilwillpre-
ventburrowsexcavated fromcollapsing,the
sandwill prevent theentire substrate from
compacting intoa rock-hardmass.The ideal
issoil fromtheupper layersof thegroundas
itwillberich inmicro-organismsthatwillen-
sure thebreakdownofdroppingsandurine
so that the substrate doesn't need to be
changed for years.Anydroppingsvisibleon
thesurfaceofthesubstrateshouldberemo-
vedonce aweek.Themoisture in the sub-
strate should be arranged such that it is
slightly(!)dampatthebottom,becoming in-
creasinglydrier towards thesurface.
TheTerrariumshould includeplentyof cover
(branches,rocks,bark,tussocksofgrasses),as
theselizardsdon'toriginatefromsandydeserts.
ThetotallengthoftheCommonLong-TailedLi-
zard isupto40cm,30cmofwhich isdownto
thetail.Theterrariumshouldprovidethelizards
withplentyof room tomoveand ideally the
bottomareawillbenolessthan100x50cmfor
long-termmaintenance.However,itcanbesen-
sible toacclimatize the lizards insmallerquar-
ters,wheretheywill losetheirshynessappreci-
ablymorequicklyandwhereitwillalsobepos-
sibletomonitorthembetter.
Maintenanceandbreeding
Latastia longicaudata
isnotespeciallysuscep-
tible to disease if the important night-time
drop intemperature isobserved.These lizards
arebestkeptinpairs,asmalesinparticularcan
bequarrelsomeamongthemselves.Itisimpor-
tantalwaystointroducebothindividualsatthe
sametime.Shouldasubsequentchangetothe
populationbenecessary, then the terrarium
shouldbecompletely re-arranged inorder to
avoidover-aggressivebehavioronthepartof
theestablished individual,whowillregardthe
terrariumas itsprivateterritory.
These lizardswill eatall theusual living food
insects, which should be regularly treated
withvitamins.Youcanalsooffer sweet fruit
(over ripebanana) occasionally, as some li-
zards likethis.Awaterbowlwon'tcomeamiss
and shouldbe refilledeverydaywith fresh
water.Awaterbowl containingdirtywater is
far more dangerous than an occasionally
emptyone.
Inorder to triggerbreeding in
Latastia longi-
caudata
you should keep them somewhat
cooler (useaweaker spot-lamp) andwitha
reduced lightingperiod (8hours) foraround
threemonths (January-March) and then re-
turnthe lightingperiodto12hoursandraise
the temperature.Theclutchcomprises5-12
soft-shelledeggs.Incubationtakesplaceout-
side the terrariumat24-28 °C inamoist,bre-
athablesubstrate(Vermiculite,Seramis,orthe
like).Theyounghatchafter 8-12weeks and
oftenhavebright red tails. It is reported that
theeggsoftenhatch irregularly,that isasin-
gleclutchover aperiodof several days.And
