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Atlas / Library / Agamidae / Oriental Garden Lizard
BeginnerDiurnal · active nowIUCN LC
Agamidae

Oriental Garden Lizard

Calotes versicolorกิ้งก่าสวน / กิ้งก่าหัวแดงChangeable / Bloodsucker

Photograph: Devika M B · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Oriental Garden Lizard is diurnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Arboreal · warm · humidFrom the sheet: warm end 35–41°C, 24–28°C, humidity 60–80%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 102 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/calotes-versicolor

‹ All husbandry guides
warm end35–41 °C
Humidity60–80 %

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
24–28°Ambient
35–41°CBasking surfaceMeasured on the surface under the lamp, not in the air. It is not drawn on the rail above: that scale is the air the enclosure holds, and a basking surface sits far outside it.

One ambient band, 24–28°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet statesbasking 35-41 °C / ambient 24-28 °C

Humidity

60–80%Target RH

The sheet states60-80%, brumisation quotidienne.

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m30–40 cm
1520100400 cm
30–40 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Family / Order
Agamidae / Squamata
Origin
Adult size
30–40 cm incl. tail
Lifespan (captivity)
4–7 yrs
Activity
Diurnal; arboreal
Temperament
Fast, skittish: display species

How common this animal is

21,006Live individuals in declared US trade filings

NOT a measure of how many are kept. These filings count animals shipped for any purpose, including the food trade and laboratory supply, and they are United States records only. The three largest volumes in the source belong to a food frog, a bait species and the standard laboratory amphibian.

US Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS declared wildlife import and export records, as compiled in the received dataset

Enclosure and conditions

Basking
32–35 °C (90–95 °F)
Ambient
26–30 °C
Night
20–23 °C
Humidity
50–70%
UVB (required)
Diurnal — needs UVB
Min. size
45 × 45 × 60 cm vertical, planted
Furnishings
Branches, vines, foliage
Water
Misting + dish

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Diet type
Insectivore (occasional greens)
Staple insects
Crickets, roaches, mealworms
Calcium
Dust + UVB; multivit weekly
Frequency
Juv daily; adults every other day

Behaviour and handling

HandlingMinimal: skittish, may drop tail
CohabitationSolo: males territorial
DisplayBreeding males flush red head/shoulders
DefenseFlee, gape, bite

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
4–7 yrLifespan in care
42–49 dIncubation
10–20Clutch
4 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Oviparous
Clutch
10–20 eggs
Incubation
~6–7 weeks

Common health problems

Metabolic bone disease
Signspoor UVB/Ca
PreventUVB + calcium
Stress
Signsfrom over-handling / small enclosure
Preventhands-off, plant heavily
Parasites
Signscommon in wild-caught
Preventchoose captive-bred; fecal test

When to see a vet

This is not veterinary advice. If red flags appear (open-mouth breathing, months of weight loss, 'stargazing', persistent regurgitation) consult a qualified exotic (herp) veterinarian. Quarantine new arrivals 30–90 days.

Good to know

  • The 'bloodsucker' name comes from the male's bright red head in breeding season: it does not suck blood.
  • One of the most common lizards across Thailand: often seen in gardens.
  • The 'bloodsucker' name comes from the male's bright red head in breeding season — it does not suck blood.
  • One of the most common lizards across Thailand — often seen in gardens.

Common questions

Does it suck blood?

No: the red head is just breeding colour.

Handleable?

Better as a display species: it's fast and shy.

What it needs

A heat sourcebecause temp — basking 35-41 °C / ambient 24-28 °C
A thermostat to regulate itbecause temp — basking 35-41 °C / ambient 24-28 °C
A thermometerbecause temp — basking 35-41 °C / ambient 24-28 °C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 60–80%, brumisation quotidienne.
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet states no size

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

  • Vertical planted terrarium 45×45×60
  • UVB + basking
  • Thermostat
  • Branches & foliage
  • Calcium + multivit
  • Feeder insects + mister

Sources

Care4Lizards — Oriental Garden LizardBackwater Reptiles — Calotes

Others in this group

Bearded DragonPogona vitticepsMasked Horned Tree LizardAcanthosaura crucigeraRankin's DragonPogona henrylawsoniFrilled dragonChlamydosaurus kingiiOrnate UromastyxUromastyx ornataSudan UromastyxUromastyx disparEgyptian UromastyxUromastyx aegyptiaSailfin DragonHydrosaurus pustulatus

What this sheet states

85%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 6 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: enclosure size audit. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.