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From: tortorino@hamstr.DEC
Newsgroups: net.pets
Subject: Vivariums
Message-ID: <2234@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 18-May-85 15:46:04 EDT
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Posted: Sat May 18 15:46:04 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 20-May-85 20:08:30 EDT
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Anyone out there a lizard fancier?  My son and I just got involved recently.
I was trying to discourage him from wanting a rabbit (we live in an 
apartment complex), so I picked up a book on unusual pets, figuring that
it would explain how difficult rabbits are to keep clean.  I didn't expect
that we would both become enthralled with the section on vivariums.  

For those of you who have never heard of them (I hadn't until recently),
a vivarium is an old aquarium set up as a specific environment for the pet
you wish to keep in it.  You can have a desert vivarium, a rain-forest
vivarium, tropical, etc.  One of the easiest is the desert vivarium, and
that's the one we chose.  I already had a leaky aquarium, complete with
light.  We bought light bulbs, some #3 gravel, a piece of driftwood, a
large piece of slate, a thermometer, and a leafy plant, plus a critter
called an anole.  The anole is a carnivorous lizard, about 5 - 6" long,
and they do extremely well (so I hear) in a vivarium.  They have often
been sold to people as chameleons, as they do change color at times, but
only from light brown to dark brown and occasionally to bright green.
They are tamable, and ours has already begun climbing up and down our arms.
They eat only live food, generally, so we bought some unsuspecting crickets 
for him.

The leafy plant was specifically for the anole, as they do not drink their
water from a dish, but off the leaves of the plant.  All you do is mist
the plant daily.  The large piece of slate was to lean up against the side
of the tank to make a sort of "cave" for the lizard to go into if he wants
to get out of the light.

Setting up this vivarium has proved to be quite educational for my son as
well as for me!  If anyone has any info (the books don't tell it all!),
please send mail and let me know.  Any questions, I'll try to answer as
best I can.

	Sandy Tortorino