| general
|
| description |
It has a flattened body.
The nasals are separated by the rostral and the frontonasal.
There are 5-8 occipitals. The dorsal scales are spiny,
in 24-37 transverse rows (see Subspecies). There is a
pair of enlarged preanal plates, and only males have 7-13
femoral pores on each thigh. The tail has whorls of, large
spiny scales. The back is dark brown to black, with varying
degrees of yellow spotting and/or barring. |
| distribution |
 Eastern
Africa
(eastern escarpment from Ubombo Mountains in Zululand,
through Mpumalanga Drakensberg, to the Soutpansberg in
northern Province) |
| adult
size |
SVL 105-130 mm, max SVL
142 mm |
| hatchling
size |
90 - 130 mm |
| subspecies |
warreni, depressus, barbetonensis
|
| housing |
| natural
habitats |
Terrestrial;
Montane, well-wooded rocky outcrops, rocky mountain slopes,
favouring deep cracks in large boulders that are sheltered
by trees |
| cage
|
Cage needs not to be very
tall since it does not climb much. Inside it should be
various sizes of rocks. Project the basking spot upon
a rock is preferable. (e.g. Wooden
Terrarium, Glass
Terrarium) |
| substrate |
gravel, fine sand (e.g.
Repti sand, Calci-Sand) |
| activity
period |
Daytime (diurnal);
12 - 14 hours each day with direct natural sunlight or
UV lamp (e.g. ReptiSun 5.0,
UV Heat Bulb) |
| temperature |
38 - 43 ¢XC -- basking
spot (e.g. Basking
Spot Lamp)
29 - 35 ¢XC -- cooler area (e.g. Daylight
Blue Bulb)
18 - 24 ¢XC -- at night (e.g. Nightlight
Red Bulb, Infrared
Heat Lamp, Ceramic
Heat Emitter) |
| humidity |
30 - 40 % |
| water
dish |
Optional. a small water
dish (e.g. Rock water
dish) can be left in the cage sometimes but not all
the time |
| hiding
place |
Optional. Possibllites
include caves (e.g. Habba
Hut, Heat Cave), etc |
| diet |
| wild
diet |
Carnivorous (meat-eating);
large invertebrates (beetles, grasshoppers, etc.), small
land snails, small lizards and even frogs |
| captive
food |
insects and worms |
| reproduction |
| reproduction
|
viviparous; bears 2 -
6 young are born in late summer |
