There is a lizard fast on the open spaces of the former Union quite often. Its main habitats are steppes, forests, mountains up to 1.5 km high. This reptile prefers dry, sun-warm places. Her brownish or greenish-brown color allows her to camouflage well in grass and stones.
These lizards live in pairs, hiding in minks at night, under the bark of stumps or under stones. There they usually hide for the winter. In males, the color can vary from pale green to black, and females are usually content with shades of gray. The quick lizard living in the southern territories has a more saturated color. If the individual is young, it can be distinguished by gray or brown color and three stripes on the back. Adult lizards, especially during the breeding season, are brighter: males are painted in saturated green or olive, and females are painted in bright gray or brown. The body length of the lizards reaches 25-28 cm. The minks in which they live, they dig themselves or use those that remain from other animals.
In the afternoon, the fast lizard is very active. When she hunts, she does not move away from her shelter by more than 10-15 m. If she is in danger, she flees. To disorient the enemy, she constantly changes direction. No wonder this reptile got its name, because it is really very quick, nimble and nimble: it not only runs very fast, but also jumps high, and even climbs branches. She needs the ability to jump in order to catch flying insects such as flies and bugs that she eats. In the branches, it usually hides from dangers, since the lizards themselves are very actively eaten by many birds, snakes and small animals.
If you pull the lizard by the tail, it will drop it and run away. However, she discards her tail when she is really very painful: a reflex is triggered. Therefore, if you have such a lizard at home, keep this in mind. Of course, over time, the new tail will grow back, although it will be slightly shorter than the previous one, but is it worth it to hurt your pet, just to look at it?
If you decide to get this lizard, create all the necessary conditions for it. First of all, purchase a 30x40x50 cm terrarium. You can also take an aquarium of the same size, but drill holes in the side walls so that the air circulates. At the bottom you can put dry leaves, moss, straw, sand. But the best thing, of course, is to try to repeat the environment in which the fast lizard lived, before it came to you. Make a place for her where she can bask under the lamp, like in the sun: put a smooth stone or an earthenware vessel in an appropriately sized terrarium. The temperature for reptile content should not be lower than 25 degrees. Also make her some nooks so she can hide there. Place a small container of water. Lighting should be required, but UV lamps (5% marking) must be used. Such a lamp turns on for 12 hours during the day, but it needs to be changed periodically (once every six months), because after this period the production of the required amount of UV radiation weakens.
In addition, light attracts insects, and the lizard only needs it. But do not hope that at home she can feed herself, so provide her with food: flies, butterflies, grasshoppers, spiders, larvae, worms, etc. You can still buy crickets for her, they are sold in pet stores and are happy to eat a lizard. It is desirable that the "food" was still alive, before the fast lizard will deal with it. But do not feed it too often with mealworms , as this can lead to lipidosis (obesity of the liver). Feeding is done daily, for one feeding, you can give from 5 to 10 insects (depending on their size). Leaving food in the terrarium at night is not recommended.