What Do Baby Blue Belly Lizards Eat?

The Western fence lizard, a lizard species native to California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho but found elsewhere as a pet, is also known as the California brown-cheeked skink or yellow-sided skink.

The name of this lizard, which is also known as a “water dragon,” comes from its distinctive blue hue on the neck and underside. However, his real name refers to his preference for sun basking on high places, such as a fence.

The blue belly lizard (Eumeces laticeps) is a type of spiny lizard that may be kept as a pet. One of the harder sorts of spiny lizards, it can withstand low temperatures. Provide your lizard with a big enough habitat, water, a heat lamp, and food, such as insects and invertebrates.

What Do Baby Blue Belly Lizards Eat?

In the wild, Baby Blue belly lizards eat a wide range of insects, including an assortment of bugs. In small lizards, baby crickets and ants are among the species that they consume. The blue belly lizard’s appetite increases as he grows larger, and he will consume bigger creatures such as spiders, mealworms, earthworms, waxworms, grasshoppers, and bigger-sized crickets, and grasshoppers.

In captivity, a blue belly requires the same diet as in the wild. When the weather makes it difficult to come across these foods in the garden, many of them may be found at pet stores. They obtain water by drinking puddles or licking dew from the leaves of plants.

What Do Baby Blue Belly Lizards Eat as Pets?

Occasionally, young blue belly lizards are kept as exotic pets. These reptiles must have diets that are similar to their natural diet, which consists of a variety of insects. Waxworms, beetles, ants, and cricket flour are some excellent options for captive blue belly lizards.

Spiders may also be utilized in place of live prey for many species. Just like in the wild, they may serve as a good food source for snakes. If you’re concerned about feeding your blue belly lizard, talk to an exotic-animal veterinarian first.

How To Feed Baby Blue Belly Lizards?

The western fence lizard, which is commonly referred to as the blue belly lizard due to the blue stripes on each side of the male lizard, is a huge lizard. Blue belly lizards are able to survive independently from birth.

The fence lizard sometimes referred to as a Dune skink, is a tiny lizard that eats insect larvae, spiders, and other little creatures. The name fence lizard comes from the reptile’s practice of sunbathing on fences and hunting. The blue belly lizard is an indigenous creature that may be found in both natural settings and at many pet stores.

Place about 1 inch of dirt on the bottom of the aquarium. On top of the dirt, place rocks and wood. Sticks or ledges may be provided for the lizard to climb on. The branches might rest against one end of the aquarium walls.

To ensure the health of your lizard, add a little dish to the aquarium and fill it only partially with water. If the food’s moisture level is high enough, the water may not be consumed by the lizard. The water is a backup measure intended to guarantee that your pet is healthy.

Make a hide for the lizard. The food should be placed in the aquarium. Blue belly lizards eat ants, small insects, beetles, and baby crickets. Babies emerge at around 2 1/4 inches long. Baby blue belly lizards should be fed on smaller quantities of food than the jaw can handle. When the lizard matures, it may eat larger things like worms or maggots.

Dust the insects with calcium powder. When the lizard eats the bugs, it will absorb the calcium. Most pet shops sell calcium powder for lizards.

How To Identify Baby Blue Belly Lizards?

Blue belly lizards’ coloration varies, but it is usually blackish-brown, brown, or gray. The stomachs’ edges, however, are dotted with bright blue markings, hence their name. These blue components may be modest in the female but very evident and brilliant in males.

The average length of a mature blue belly lizard is around 2.2 to 3.4 inches long. They can be found in a variety of environments, including rocky ravines, meadows, and sagebrush. They avoid humid and wooded areas. These lizards are excellent climbers.

Baby blue belly lizards are likewise cold-blooded, so like other reptiles, they must expose themselves to the sun in order to keep their temperature stable. As a result, like all captive reptiles, they require a heat source in their enclosure.

In this scenario, the area beneath the heat lamp must be kept at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The remainder of the enclosure should be maintained at a temperature range of 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, but it cannot drop below 65 degrees at night. Keeping proper enclosure temperatures is a difficult aspect of keeping pet reptiles.

Because of the drier climate, it is critical to keep the space humid. Depending on your environment, you may have to mist the tank twice a day. The blue belly lizard requires UVB and UVA radiation in order to digest food and stimulate normal behavior as many reptiles do. Commercial reptile heat lamps also emit UV light, but if yours does not, you’ll need to install an additional UV light approximately 4 inches from the tank.

10- to 20-gallon screen-covered aquariums should be used as enclosures for these tiny grayish-brown lizards. The length of the lizard varies. They reach no more than 6 to 8.5 inches in length, making them perfect beginner reptile pets.

In the wild, a blue belly lizard’s coloration helps it blend in with its surroundings. Because these lizards enjoy burrowing, you’ll need to add a subterranean covering, such as sand, dirt, or cypress mulch. In fact, they burrow when sleeping. Because they adore climbing, branches and even plants are required.

How To Take Care of Baby Blue Belly Lizards?

Aquarium

A 10-gallon aquarium with a glass cover may be ideal for blue belly lizards. If your pet is tiny, opt for a 10-gallon aquarium; otherwise, choose a 20-gallon tank. Small lizards can be kept in a 5-quart tank.

All reptiles love to soak in the sun, so make sure to provide them with an area that is warm and chilly. The tank can be placed in partial shade if necessary; intense heat might dry out their habitat. The basking location should be at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with a tank temperature of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Misting their enclosure with water once or twice a day will keep the humidity at an optimal level. These lizards require UV rays and UVA and UVB radiation, which are provided by a 75-watt bulb; however, maintain the distance between the tank and light at 3 to 4 inches.

Many of these lizards are fossorial in inclination, which means when resting, they like to dig and bury themselves. Sand, unamended soil, earth, or cypress mulch may all be used to fill the tank for this purpose. It’s good to add twigs or branches in the tank since these creatures like to climb. Alternatively, live plants may be used to keep the humidity high.

Maintaining The Tank

After every grows, the water must be changed and the tank thoroughly cleaned. To decrease stench and grime, clean the tank every fortnight to three weeks. Replace the cypress mulch once a week, as well as any remaining leaves and plants that are dead. While cleaning your fish’s tank, take your pet out of the aquarium and into another aquarium or a safe place. Every day, replace the water in the blue belly’s cage so that it can defecate it, which can lead to illness and infections. Also, make it a habit to spray the cage twice a day, preferably twice daily.

Taking Care of More Than One Baby Blue Belly Lizard

If you have more than one blue belly, keep male lizards apart. Because males are known to fiercely defend their territory, keeping them together may lead to fights and injuries. So, keep the males in separate enclosures. Depending on the size of the tank, you may house two female lizards with one male. A 20-gallon tank can easily accommodate them, and there are good possibilities that they will breed in captivity, so make sure there is enough room for the female to lay eggs in the enclosure.

What Are The Natural Predators of Baby Blue Belly Lizards?

Blue belly lizards are frequently eaten by other animals. Shrews, eagles, and snakes are some of the most notorious predators of these reptiles. Blue belly lizards are very vulnerable to predation while basking on fences and stones, which is a major cause of death. Predators may locate them in the same places where they can see food.

Are Baby Blue Belly Lizards Beneficial For Humans?

The Western Fence Lizard is a unique lizard that may be found in abundance in the United States as well as northern Mexico. The wide-ranging Western Fence Lizard is a lizard that is commonly found in regions that include North Mexico and the American Southwest.

Its typical appearance in Bolsa Chica, backyard gardens, vacant lots, and yes, scrambling up fences throughout Southern California goes unnoticed because it is so commonplace that people simply notice it. The dusty gray wiggly little beings, which may reach a maximum length of two inches and are usually no larger than five to ten feet away, might elicit a similar response as a snake sighting; if they generate any reaction at all.

If they are real males, the little grayish creatures attract more attention from March to June each year. Males will frequently perch on block walls, high boulders, or dead trees and pump their upper bodies up and down in an attempt to entice any nearby females who may be waiting to be attracted.

The rest of the hide is completely covered in dark, gray, and/or tan scales patterning. Its back is a scattering of blue or blue-green scales amid the dust-covered black, gray, and/or tawny brown tones. If you’re attempting to determine the sex of a lizard, turn it over. You’ll notice an incredibly bright blue underbelly if it’s a male. Males display this coloration on their stomach and chins by performing physical push-ups.

Another oddity about Western Fence Lizards is their blood profile. The Western Black-legged Ticks, also known as Deer Ticks, that cause Lyme disease in California are the primary carriers.

Ticks that attach themselves around Western Fence Lizard’s ears to drink its blood are known as erythema migrans. According to research, a protein in Western Fence Lizard blood targets the bacterium carried by a tick infected with Lyme disease. The tick’s intestines are emptied of blood as a consequence of this advantage, and the ticks no longer have Lyme disease due to it. According to studies, rates of Lyme disease were lower in areas where Western Fence Lizards resided in California.

Despite the fact that this blood protein has not yet been developed into a vaccine to protect against Lyme disease in people, the possibilities are exciting. Nature is a brilliant chemist and has served as an inspiration for several medicines on the market today. As you walk the paths of Bolsa Chica and notice these typical reptiles, keep in mind that even the most everyday objects of nature have their own charm. Every living thing has its own set of characteristics that are remarkable and may one day benefit us in some way.