ARMADILLO GIRDLED LIZARD

Keeping and breeding the armadillo girdled lizard in captivity.

By Ivan Neizhko and Oleksii Murushchak at BION Terrarium Centre.

The Armadillo girdled lizard (Ouroborus cataphractus) is a medium-sized lizard that is found along the west coast of South Africa, from Little Namaqualand, Northern Cape Province (Orange river basin) to the Piketberg Mountains in the south, and up to Matjiesfontein in the western Karoo river basin.

Its common name relates to a specific defensive position that the lizard uses for self-defence. If threatened or under attack, it bites its tail making a “ring” of its own body. In such a position, the lizard can defend itself with its spikes more effectively and escape down a slope by rolling. In this manner, the lizard resembles the mythical Ouroboros (snake from Scandinavian mythology) and the mammalian armadillo. These visual similarities give this species its taxonomic and English common names. This defensive posture protects the lizard’s soft belly, which is its most vulnerable area.

This species, until 2011, was known as Cordylus cataphractus. It is endemic to deserted areas of South Africa (Succulent Karoo biome in the Northern and the Western Cape provinces of South Africa), where it can usually be found among rock crevices, stone outcrops, mountain slopes, stony cracks and hills. There they can easily hide between the elements of micro landscape and sparse shrub vegetation.

O. cataphractus are diurnal reptiles that live in social groups. Sometimes, groups consisting of several males and females can have up to 60 individuals. However, a more typical number is three-six individuals (one male, his harem and juveniles). Intragroup communication signals include head bobbing, tongue flicking and tail wagging. It has been shown that groups are not necessarily composed exclusively of family units and inter-group movement is high. In fact, some females, males and juveniles can move from group to group. This movement occurs both during, and outside of, the mating season. Males are territorial. In groups with multiple males, space is partitioned among them. Although there is some aggression between males within a group, it is much lower than the aggression shown towards an outside male. Females and juveniles do not have established territories. Males defend areas that include more than one female. Females move between different territories, mating with multiple males”

The size of adult individuals can range from 7.53 to 10.50cm

(3.0-4.1in) in snout-vent length (SVL). Total length can reach up to 20.15cm (8.05in). The colouration of the body is rather homogenous being light brown (sometimes yellowish) to dark brown. Ventral part of the body is yellow with a blackish pattern, especially under the chin. Rows of spiny scales cover the neck, body, tail, and limbs. Such scalation in combination with behavioural peculiarities prevents many potential predators from seizing or swallowing these lizards. Males are slightly larger than females, with broader heads and more prominent femoral pores. If pressed gently, hemipenes of males will appear at the tail base, but only a skilful and experienced keeper or a vet should do this. An X-ray examination is another option to determine sex. The head and tail are flattened, allowing it to squeeze into rock crevices. Jaws are very strong and the tongue is darkly pigmented. Limbs are of moderate length and digits are unreduced. O. cataphractus can drop its tail when in danger (autotomy) and can grow it back, but very slowly.

However, in captivity if scared, they may bite their own tails in a defensive pose. The spikes of the tail can damage the lizard’s throat and inner area of the mouth causing subsequent health problems – mainly stomatitis.

These lizards are omnivorous. Although, if available, the species will feed on a variety of arthropods, the southern harvester termite (Microhodotermes viator) is the species’ main food source.

O. cataphractus is listed on the IUCN Red List with an “LC” label – “Least Concern”. Previously this species had “VU” (Vulnerable) status due to smuggling, but after the import had been restricted and O. cataphractus was included in CITES (II) – the population recovered and its IUCN status was changed accordingly. O. cataphractus is listed as "vulnerable" in the Red Data Book of South Africa and is protected by law.

Keeping and breeding requirements

We have kept and bred Armadillo girdled lizards since 2000. Since 2015, we have kept our animals in wellharmonised pairs or groups. These groups are quite complicated to form and can take time. A group could include a pair (1.1), a trio (1.2) or several males and females (1.3; 2.3). During the formation of the group, be careful, as regardless of gender, the group may not accept one or more of the individuals. In fact, recessive individuals are not let out of the shelter by the dominant terrariums of 90x50x50 cm (35.43x19.68x19.68 in) per group (1:3) or (1:2) If more shelters are offered and the size of the terrarium allows - the group can be enlarged. A large number of shelters (shards, flat stones of the “torn stone” type, from which shelters are formed like a pyramid) is strongly recommended. The shelters should be formed tightly to prevent falling elements that can injure or even kill the animals. Armadillo lizards have a habit of hiding in cracks, so the shelter should be moderately cramped. Rocks are required for basking places. A water dish with fresh, regularly changed water should always be present inside the terrarium. We use a well-packed clay layer of 2-3 cm (0.78-1.18 in) as a substrate.

We provide a 12-hour lighting period during breeding season 7:00 am to 9:00 pm (14 hours from March to December), UV lamp (ZooMed 10.0) or fluorescent lamp. We also place a 40W incandescent lamp above the basking area. If possible, we use an LED daylight lamp for more intense lighting. Daytime temperature is maintained at +26 - +28°C (78.8-82.4 °F), and at - +22 - +24°C (71.675.2 °F) at night, and the basking point is at about +35 - +38°C (95.0-100.4 °F). These lizards do not like too much heat so the basking spot should be situated in one corner of the terrarium. The opposite side should provide a cooler, ambient temperature, providing the necessary temperature gradient, where the animals can choose the most comfortable conditions. Basking usually takes place in the first part of the day, while the rest of the daytime they spend under the shelters. Humidity is maintained at 50-60% with two sessions of light spraying in the morning and evening.

Diet

The main rule with this species is that the diet should be as varied as possible. O. cataphractus is the only species of the genus that also feeds on plants. Live food items include house cricket (Acheta domesticus), banana cricket (Gryllus locorojo), bimaculatus cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus), Turkestan cockroaches (Shelfordella tartara) and, occasionally, freshly shed morio worms (Zophobas morio) and wax moth larvae, but moderately as these are very fatty foods.

Salad mix includes dandelions, nettle, hemp, coltsfoot, wormwood, alfalfa, knotweed, clover, as well as flowers of acacia, roses, blackberry, hibiscus, mallow, linden, aspen, and echinacea (spring-autumn period). Dried food remnants must be removed as the animals will not eat them. Additional plant matter offered in the active season consists of lettuce, Chinese cabbage, dill, parsley, sprouted mung beans, basil, carrots (finely grated), arugula, celery (root and leaves), spinach, cilantro, broccoli and cauliflower, young bean leaves, etc. All ingredients should be finely chopped. During winter dormancy (2.5 months), the lizards don’t receive food at all). Insects are given once every three days at the rate of 5-7 pieces per individual. Salad is offered every other day. Food is offered daily to the babies.

All insects should be gut-loaded before feeding to the lizards. All food items (insects and salad are dusted with vitamin-mineral supplementation (Ca with or without D3 depending on the presence of UV lighting). Sometimes we add bee pollen to the salad.

Breeding

Proper winter dormancy is essential for successful breeding. We hibernate O. cataphractus in the same groups as they live during the breeding season. We never separate the animals (except in situations of clear aggression). Winter dormancy lasts for 2-2.5 months from the middle of December to the end of February. The process is carried out in plastic containers 50x30x15cm (19.68x11.81x5.90in) with lateral and apical ventilation holes. The set-up for hibernation includes a water dish with fresh regularly changeable water, paper as a substrate, and shelters according to the number of animals, but not less than two (Fig. 4). During this time, the animals do not receive food. Two weeks before hibernation, we make a smooth decrease in daylight hours (heating as well) up to four hours a day in the terrariums with breeding groups and stop feeding the animals. This will help them to empty their intestines. During winter dormancy, we provide an ambient temperature of +16 - +18°C (60.8-64.4°F). Some breeders provide information about successful hibernation at +12°C (53.6 °F) which coincides with the climatic data of the area where lizards live in the wild. However, even during winter O. cataphractus should have a place/time to warm up. Some breeders turn on the lighting and heating for 3-4 hours per day if the animals are kept in the same terrarium as during the breeding season. In our approach, animals are transferred to plastic boxes, where any lighting is absent. We solved this problem using a heating cable. This cable is connected to a timer and goes under the row of wintering boxes along the same side. Every day the cable is switched on for 3-4 hours, so the animals can warm up on the part of the box heated by the cable. Animals are checked regularly and the air is changed as we open the lid. The process of waking the animals up from wintering is directly opposite to the winter preparation process. After the end of hibernation, plentiful spraying (sprinkling) of water in the mornings is very important. It is necessary to continue sprinkling after wintering for three months, until the mating period.

O. cataphractus become sexually mature at three years of age. However, they gain adult size at the age of two. According to our observations in captivity, and the reports of some colleagues and sources, the male can mate shortly before wintering (during the preparation period) and soon after hibernation (Fig. 5). In the first case, females might spend winter dormancy being gravid and give birth to the babies in May-April. In the second case, we found the babies are born mainly in September-October. This can prove that the changes in lighting period and temperatures are the key factors to trigger mating behaviour. Gestation lasts about five months.

A female gives birth only once in a season (they are ovoviviparous). The litter typically consists of one baby. In rare cases, there can be two babies at once, but, in those cases, they are weaker and smaller. Sometimes females take a break from breeding for one season. For the first few days, we usually keep babies with their parents. Then there are two options to choose from:

1) The babies can remain in the group which, according to many breeders, has a positive effect on reproduction. As these animals live in groups, an increase in the group is always a good incentive. However, there are disadvantages to this approach, because if the group wants to expel the baby for any reason, it will be difficult to notice as the animals are secretive which can lead to fights and injuries.

2) New groups of three to four babies can be formed, then reorganised as the babies grow and their sex is determined. Sex is determined after reaching adult size (at the age of about 2 years), and, as stated above, by pressing on the base of the cloaca and eversion of the hemipenis in males.

The average weight of newborn babies is 7-8g. Their total length is about 8-9cm (3.14-3.54in). In 2020, we got one baby from our breeding groups. However, in 2021, when we switched from wintering only based on decreasing photoperiod to wintering based on both temperature and lighting decrease, we got four babies and one born dead in late spring.