Hello everyone. I recently bought an adorable lizard from a pet store I trust (healthy, well-cared for fish and herps, and knowledgeable staff who are also fish and herp owners themselves). I have a bunch of spare supplies at home (tanks, substrates, light/heat, decor, etc.) just sitting in my closet, and I wanted to get a small, inexpensive lizard that I could set up for (since I was part of the NJ faculty lay-offs, I recently had to decide against a larger, expensive reptile until I have a secure job back).
I saw this cute little reddish-colored lizard that the store had just gotten in as a kind of 'armadillo lizard'. I went home and did some research and learned that it's probably a 'forest armadillo lizard'- cordylus tropidosternum, which is a related species that pet stores label as just armadillo lizard since the 'true' ones are so rare and expensive.
Either way, it looks like a little armadillo with her plated back, even if she doesn't roll into a ball :-)
I mainly wanted to find out if it is definitely a Tropidosternum or not. It seems, unfortunately, hard to find info on this genus anywhere. But, from pictures and info online, it seems that mine is the 'tropical/forest' one, although I have seen some 'jones armadillo lizards' that look almost the same as well.
I have had her for almost 2 weeks now. (I don't know if it's a she, but from the bit I read, females have slender heads and chubby tummies, where males have wide heads and leaner bodies. Mine has a slender head and chunky tummy. But I doubt that is 'official' sexing info anyway)
I also hope that her set up is correct for her species since the info out there is sparse.
I have her in a 15 gallon tank. sand-soil substrate. a pile of slate which gives her a basking temperature gradient on the slate ranging from the mid 90's up to around 103-105. The cool side of her tank is 80. Night temps around 70-75.
She also has a branch that she likes to hang out on, or use the underside as a cave, a couple of plants, and a bowl of water she likes to lay in to soak. I spritz the tank in the morning as well.
I have been feeding her crickets, mealworms, and baby dubia roaches.
She is about 6 1/2" total length, which I read is full grown for them.
She is also quite skittish.