Introduction
With one and a half acres of rain forest being destroyed every second and nearly half of the world species of plants and animals being destroyed or being threatened. Out of nearly 4765 species of Suaria (lizards) in the world. With the iguanians making up the predominate lizards of central and south America almost 400 species live in the tropics. There is a small family of lizards referred to as Polychrotidae witch is comprised of 6 [ad#Google Adsense]species in the neotropics. They manages to survive a small species of arboreal lizard that inhabits prime rain forest of Brazil, the Amazon, Sao Paulo, Ampa, Roraima, Trinidad, Guyana, Ecuador, and Colombia. Having several names. Monkey lizards, Many colored bush anoles, and marbled bush anole this relatively small extremely arboreal creature equipped with a fully prehensile tail, excellent vision, and a solid bright green coloration witch feeds on a variety of insects that it encounters midlevel of the rain forest canopy. Discovered in 1758 this little Polychrotidae witch is comprised of six Polychrus species is very difficult to detect while comfortably living in the rain forest. Its not that they are rare but rather more difficult to identify in the canopy then others. It is perfectly suited for an arboreal life style and is quite content when in captivity if provided the proper environment.
Behavior in the wild
There is not truthfully that much known of the behavior or activity of Polychrus marmoratus in the wild. It is very difficult to detect these lizards in the trees. Perfectly matched with there environment and that the animals move very slowly except when detected. Animals have been caught breeding in the wild but reports of sighting are very rare. These animals are able to lighten and darken there body coloration when they are changing moods or feeding and can remain extremely still when encountered.
Captive care
When I first acquired my first female marble bush anole. I was fascinated with the domineer and intelligence that theses little lizards display. They have quite the personalty and are very quick to make judgments. I was also faste with a difficult dilemma. Hearing how complicated it is to properly acclimate these little lizards into captive I had to decide what road to choose. Already countless hours of experience working with extremely shy and difficult to maintain species I went about this by providing as much space and creating the most appropriate environment possible for this animal. Taking care of de parasiting and proper hydration first to help minimize stress and trauma before the animal became adjusted to a captive life style. Equipped with all the needs necessary and having access to all the bells and whistles if needed. I heavily planted the environment and equipped the enclosure whith the best lighting possible that would simulate the animal’s natural environment. Simplicity is best when dealing with most difficult species. Most people think you need to have the elaborate support systems and digital this and fancy this. Don’t get me wrong all of that stuff is great and helps make jobs easier, but sometimes and for some particular animals proves to be more strenuousness then helpful.
Having traveled to areas where observed wild polychrus lizards I was able to get a better idea of the natural environmental needed that I had to address. Enclosure space was a very important area to cover. Bigger is better. Some animals require having a smaller area to live in but certain creatures such as Polychrus lizards need a rather roomy enclosure. As stated before I planted as many plants and put as many vines and branches as possible into the environment. The front of the enclosure was covered with a dark window tint to help cut back on the outside activities that could possibly prove more stressful then necessary. After the first initial stages of hydrating and standard quarantine were over I could really start to focus on natural behavior. One important area to consider is that Polychrus lizards live relatively mid level in the canopy and drink from rain water or droplets left on ferns and various vegetation. When in captivity they will be oblivious to any standing water left in the cage. I included a bubble dish in the enclosure to stimulate drinking response and this method worked beautifully. During the early morning before the lights kicked on I would heavily mist the enclosure for about 10 minutes off and on to get drinking response. This was than later repeated after dark.
This particular lizard requires multiple rain cycles in there environment they are very prone to dehydration. I was using temperatures in the low 80’s at night to mid 80’s and low 90’s at there basking spot with relatively high humidity in the mid to late afternoon. This temperature seemed to work rather well and they quickly adjusted to this captive regiment Once the animals started showing signs of acclimation I began offering food from tongs, this was first rejected. I decided to just put a few insects crickets, grasshoppers, and various grubs on branches witch then would stimulate a better feeding response. These lizards are extremely geared towards movement. I started noticing that the insects were disappearing in the enclosure and animal was gaining small amounts of weight. After about a month of offering food in this manner I then approached the tong method again. I was greeted by a very interested face and with a couple of wiggles and fake movement on vegitaion in the enclosure and branches she began to eat when offered off of the feeding tongs. I repeated this method for about 4 months and the Polychrus lizard became more and more used to my presents in her enclosure. I later was very fortunate to locate 1.2 more Polychrus marmoratus and eagerly purchased them. After about 3 months of quarantine and using the same methods that I spoke of earlier I introduced them into the larger enclosure witch housed my first female. This was very interesting within the first initial hours my long-term female began to establish domonice in her areas right away. The male was still trying to take all of this activity in and was pushed around pretty easily by her. There seems to be no biting in aggression with this species rather color changing and throut puffing. The other two females found there own suitable places to call there own. With in the first 3 months I began to notice a social structure in the group one male and three females. The larger female is the leader of the pack you could say. She eats first and she goes were she wants. The male began courting behavior in this time with in t his initial acclimation period. Bright displays of colors and flaring of his dulap. The female was not impressed so he would every once in a wile sneak up behind her and try to mate but she being twice his size easily pusher him away. Continuing on properly maintaining these rare little creatures I have high hope for producing them in the near future. Having worked with these lizards for a little over a year and experiencing there little quarks and unique behavior a rank them in my opinion extremely unique and displaying more intelligents then I have seen in many different lizard species.
