Expert: Thea - 2/25/2008

Question
QUESTION: u probablyd ont no anything about north weastern fence lizards and tree lizards but if u do plz answer me. i have 3 little blue bellies [fence lizards] in a ten gallon tank witha repti sun 10.0 uvb bulb and a 75 watt zoomed reflector. latly iv seen these little tree lizard [i do no the actul name] runing around and i was thinking maybe i could catch 1 and put him in with the blue bellies. if i wer to do it i no i would have to put them in a biger tank like a 20 galon and get a climing branch. but the real quetion is wether they would be alright to gether? i have noticed that the tree lizards are a litle skitish and blue bellies to be teritorial so maybe it wont work? but plz get back to me thnk u

ANSWER: Hi Nick, I'm not as lucky as you to have those species running around outside my house as I live in Canada but I do know a bit about keeping them in captivity.
I really think the little tree lizard would be very stressed out by living with the three fence lizards even in the larger tank, especially if or when the fence lizards are adult size. Small lizards that are common prey of other animals tend to be very skittish as you noticed. The tree lizard would likely live in constant fear of the fence lizards which would not be a very pleasant existence.
I think it would be a good idea to move the three fence lizards up to the 20 gal regardless. I'm not sure if they are full grown yet but they will need that space if or when they are adults. You will have to determine whether you have more then one male in group. Two males will likely fight once they are mature.

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QUESTION: thnk u for the advice.i aculy had 2 male fence lizards in the same tank and i noticed some tention so i released the other and there doing fine now. although the orante tree lizard [i found out the name=)] is most likly to big to be eaten he still would be kinda[most likly] stressed to the fact there r others way biger in the tank. i also have a old 20 gallon laying around il put them into that one.

Answer
Hi Nick, I agree, the tree lizard would very likely be under a lot of stress in that mixed tank and constant stress will easily kill a reptile. Even if the fence lizards never had any intention trying to eat the tree lizard he would never stop thinking that they might!