Emerald Swift
(Sceloporus malachiticus)

Emerald swifts come from Central America and are an emerald green in appearance with a stocky body. Emerald swifts will grow as large as six to eight inches in length. Male emerald swifts will often have a bluish hue to the scales with a bright blue underside. Female emerald swifts are slightly smaller and have are bit more gray with brown spots. Female emerald swifts rarely have the bluish underside that the male emerald swifts have.

Difficulty

NOVICE to MODERATE: Emerad swifts do require specialized lighting and may not be the best reptile to keep if you are new to keeping reptiles and amphibians.

Requirements

An enclosure, such as:

• Glass or acrylic aquarium (30 gallons or larger, depending on the number of emerad swift s kept) with a secure lid with clamps

Substrate, such as:

• Bark mulch
• orchid bark
• ground coconut fiber

A heating element, such as:

• UVB emitting bulb
• Incandescent heat bulb
• Ceramic infrared heat emitters

Enclosure

A pair of emerad swift s should be kept in an enclosure no smaller than a 15 gallon aquarium. Taller enclosures are better as they allow you to fill your enclosure with plants or other types of ornaments to allow the Emerad swifts space to climb. Male emerad swifts can only housed together in large enclosures as they are territorial and will fight over the limited amount of enclosure space in smaller aquariums. Male Emerad swifts can be kept with one or more female Emerad swifts and any number of female Emerad swifts can be kept together. Obviously, larger enclosures are needed for larger groups of Emerad swifts.

Substrate

The substrate or bedding that you use is one of the most important parts of your emerad swift's home, since your emerad swift will be spending much of its time on it. Bark mulch, orchid bark, ground coconut fiber, and peat moss can all be used to help create a naturalistic enclosure for your emerad swifts. These substrates will help to maintain the 60% relative humidity level for the emerald swift. Other substrates such as newspaper or paper towels can also be used. If using naturalistic substrates be sure to clean it often to prevent mold and bacteria growth.

Heating and Light

Daytime temperatures for emerad swift s should be 70°F to 75°F with basking temperatures of 90°F to 95°F. Nighttime temperatures should be 65°F to 70°F. Emerad swifts also require ultraviolet (UV) light which can be provided with fluorescent UVB bulbs or mercury vapor bulbs that can also provide heat for the basking spot. Basking temperatures for your emerad swifts can also be achieved using incandescent bulbs, infrared bulbs, or ceramic emitters if using fluorescent bulbs for UV light. Under the tank (UTH) heaters can be used to raise the ambient temperature of the enclosure if needed. Heat rocks, heat caves, and other similar items should never be used under any circumstance since they can cause serious burns to your emerad swift.

Diet

Emerad swift s are insectivorous and will eat crickets, mealworms, waxworms, cockroaches, fruit flies and other small insects. All feeder insects should be properly gut-loaded prior to feeding to your emerald swift. Offering a variety of different insects will offer the best diet for the since different insects have different nutritional values. Avoid overfeeding s by only be offering only as much food as they can eat inone sitting.