A bright green arboreal lizard with blue spots along its stomach is called an emerald swift. Due to the green plates that coat their body, emerald swifts are distinguished by their spiky look.
The emerald quick lizard is a resident of Central America’s rain forests, where it eats insects and spiders and enjoys sunbathing.
Once the right environment is constructed, emerald swifts are popular terrarium display pets and quite simple to care for. Emerald swifts can quickly adjust to their captivity by maintaining the ideal temperatures and humidity levels.
Emerald Swift Summary
| Typical Name: | quick emerald, green spiny lizard |
| Biological Name: | Malachitic Sceloporus |
| Natural Environment | environments in the mountains, forests, and woodlands of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Mexico’s Yucatán |
| Adult Height: | 6 to 8 inches |
| Typical Lifespan: | 5-10 years |
| Diet: | Insectivorous |
| Housing: | A single adult needs a minimum enclosure of 20 gallons, full spectrum Lighting for 12–14 hours per day, ambient daytime and nighttime temperatures of 75–80°F, and basking temperatures of 90–95°F. |
| Knowledge Base: | Intermediate |
Origin
From southern Mexico to Panama, the green swift (Sceloporus malachiticus) is a native of the tropical and subtropical woodlands and cloud forests.
These lizards resemble fence lizards, which are widespread in the southern US and have a similar body form and spiky texture on their scales.
Although emerald swifts are quick and active, they like to spend their time in the sun after hunting for insects in the morning.
The emerald swift shelters higher up in trees, beneath rocks, in burrows, or under logs if it gets too hot outside or if it senses danger. In order to sleep at night, emerald swifts withdraw.
The majority of adult emerald swifts sold as exotic pets are captured from the wild.
Since most emerald swift lizards aren’t docile, they are typically maintained in captivity as show reptiles rather than as pets that people can handle.
Manifestation and conduct
The emerald swift is named by the vivid emerald green color of the reptile.
While the female emerald swift can range in color from brown to green with darker spots, the male lizards have some variation of blue shading on either side of their belly.
The green swift has a short, slender tail, a sharpened head, and a compact body with conspicuously extended toes. Emerald swifts have hard, pointed scales covering their bodies, giving them an armored look.
Being diurnal, emerald swifts are active during the day. They start looking for a secure area to spend the night in the late afternoon.
Size and Duration
As adults, emerald swifts can reach lengths of 6 to 8 inches from nose to tail. Typically, adult male emerald swifts are bigger than females.
It is challenging to estimate the emerald swift’s lifetime because they typically enter the pet trade as adults.
A well-cared-for lizard can survive up to five years if it adjusts well to life in captivity. The average lifespan of captive-born emerald swifts is ten years.
Temperament
The majority of iguanas and lizards, including emerald swifts, require a calm setting. When startled by abrupt sounds and movements, such as when a predator approaches, the lizard may get nervous.
Because male emerald swifts are very territorial, it is important to only house a male and a female together while housing them. Male emerald swifts will fight if confined together.
Emerald swifts are typically obtained from the wild, so they aren’t domesticated and don’t want to be touched. Biting and flighty behavior might develop as a result of being compelled to tolerate human touch.
Emerald Swifts’ housing
Since they live in trees, emerald swifts need basking rocks, but they also like a terrarium with furnishings that mimic their natural habitat’s forests.
Embedded Size
A single emerald swift is best kept in a 20-gallon terrarium. Because these active lizards prefer the room to move around and scamper, if housing two emeralds together, increase the tank size by at least two to three times.
Preferable enclosure dimensions are 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 18 inches tall.
A long, narrow terrarium is ideal for simulating the lizard’s natural habitat because it has ample length for tree limbs, height for plants, and floor area for sunbathing pebbles or a heating pad.
Depending on how many plants and other decorations you add, enlarge the tank. Because they will cheerfully climb to the terrarium’s edge and can flee if a branch provides access, be sure to install a screen cover to keep your emerald greens within.
Lighting
Utilize a UVB bulb in a reflecting fixture, a daylight-spectrum lamp, and a halogen heating lamp to satisfy the emerald swift’s requirement for sunbathing.
The halogen heating lamp prevents overheating while reproducing the warmth of the sun indoors.
The emerald fast needs proper lighting to produce enough vitamin D3, which promotes healthy bone growth.
The emerald swift will rapidly experience aberrant bone growth or weakening nails in a tank with poor lighting. The lizard’s capacity to climb can be significantly impacted by a vitamin D3 deficiency.
Use mercury bulbs to provide the enclosure with consistent UVB light. When you aren’t home to take care of your emerald green, put these lights on a timer to maintain regular lighting.
Set your lights to come on for 11 hours in the winter and 12 hours in the summer. This will assist in regulating the lizard’s hormonal cycles because it most closely resembles the amount of natural light present in the green emerald’s native habitat—the tropical rainforests.
For greater heat and light, the basking lamp should be positioned 11–12 inches above the basking area.
Thermodynamics and Humidity
There should be two temperature zones in the terrarium for the emerald swift. 75°F should be the average temperature in the “forest” region, which should also be adorned with huge rocks for hiding and branches for the lizard to climb.
An 80°F temperature should be maintained in the space used for basking. The tank temperature may decrease at night when the lights are turned off, but it shouldn’t fall below 68–69 F. An all-night heating pad is required in cold climate zones to maintain the proper temperature ranges.
Every day, spritz your emerald swift as well as the plants and branches in the terrarium to improve humidity and reduce needless shedding.
Make sure the enclosure’s humidity is consistently between 60% and 80% using a hygrometer; picture a tropical rainforest. The “sticky” humidity zone that is clammy but not wet is what the emerald swift need.
In order to acquire an accurate humidity reading, place your hygrometer in the center of the terrarium.
Substance and Adornment
To provide a secure landing area for the lizard in the event that it were to accidentally fall off a tree branch, the substrate of the emerald swift’s terrarium should be soft. Without growing mold, cypress mulch and orchid bark increase humidity.
For an even better substrate for generating humidity, include some green sphagnum moss. When the tank is misted, extra water will be absorbed by the substrate and released as water vapor when the heating pad is heated. The substrate should be layered three to four times thick.
Add a number of large, flat stones to provide the emerald swift with a place to rest. To assist you create the ideal basking area, you may also purchase a synthetic basking rock that is the size of a heating pad.
Create an intriguing place for the emerald swift to climb and explore by adding branches, green plants (fake or genuine), and logs to complete the rainforest setting. The humidity levels rise when real flora like ferns and anthuriums is present.
Finally, include a sizable cave-like place where the emerald swift can hide during the night. Choose some split bark logs with natural openings where the emerald swift can hide if you don’t have a man-made lizard cave.
Cleaning
Every day, wipe up water messes and urates in the terrarium and take out any feces. If the water bowl is filthy, clean it with a disinfectant safe for reptiles, then thoroughly rinse it before adding fresh water for your emerald swift. Verify the walls and the plants for mold growth.
Twice a month, give the terrarium a thorough cleaning. Put your emerald swift in a safe temporary container after gently removing it from the enclosure. After that, empty the terrarium of everything.
Rinse the décor well after soaking it in a 5% bleach solution. The water bowl should be cleaned with the reptile-safe cleaner, thoroughly rinsed, and let to air dry.
Take out and discard the substrate. Use hot water and a 10% bleach solution to clean the terrarium’s inside and exterior. Before adding new substrate, embellishing the terrarium, and reinstalling the water bowl and your emerald swift within, thoroughly rinse the cage and allow it to dry.
Swift Emerald Care
Emerald swifts need care that is on the intermediate level. Make sure these lizards only consume insects that are the right size, have access to fresh water, and receive a calcium and vitamin supplement with every meal. Handle the emerald swift carefully since it can be unpredictable and aggressive.
Water and Food
As insectivores, emerald swifts should be fed a variety of insects, such as mealworms, mealworm beetles, hornworms, discoid, dubia, red runner roaches, waxworms, black army fly larvae, and crickets. The size of the insects shouldn’t exceed the distance between the lizard’s eyes.
Adults should be given as many insects as they can consume in 15 to 20 minutes every other day. Emerald fast young need to be fed twice daily. To prevent your emerald swift from gaining weight, remove any extra insects that the adult or juvenile lizard doesn’t consume in the 15 to 20 minutes.
In a big, shallow dish, the emerald swift needs clean drinking water. The bowl’s broad surface area contributes to the terrarium’s increased humidity. Every day, the emerald swift should have fresh water, and the bowl should be cleaned with a disinfectant safe for reptiles on a weekly basis or as needed.
The emerald swift also has to be misted twice day with room temperature water in addition to the fresh standing source of water.
Handling
The emerald swift can be handled gently and briefly, but only when necessary, such as for terrarium upkeep or cleaning, or when the lizard is getting a checkup. The emerald swift will become stressed from overhandling.
The emerald swift is a speedy and agile lizard that tries to escape when restrained by wriggling and squirming. Make sure the emerald quick can’t escape your hands whenever you need to manage your lizard. For the best handling experience for both you and your lizard, heed these precautions when handling aggressive emerald swifts because they might bite you:
If you must handle your emerald quick, approach it cautiously and place your hand beneath its belly. With your other hand, create a “cage” over the top of the lizard to softly but firmly hold it. To avoid contracting Salmonella, thoroughly wash your hands after handling the emerald quick.
Typical Health Problems
Bone deformation brought on by inadequate lighting is one of the most prevalent health problems affecting emerald swifts. The emerald swift’s body won’t manufacture enough vitamin D3 if it doesn’t receive enough radiant radiation from its basking area, which will result in its bones being mushy and malformed.
To help enhance the emerald swift’s vitamin intake and synthesis, you should change your UVB bulb with a higher-quality product. This will help treat swelling legs and limbs that result from vitamin insufficiency.
Other medical conditions include:
- Runny tummy: Your veterinarian should be consulted if a bacterial infection has resulted in poor digestion since specific medicine is required.
- Respiratory illness: Lizards like the emerald swift should breathe evenly and have clear nasal passages. Consult your veterinarian if your emerald swift suddenly starts to breathe laboriously because this could be an indication of a respiratory condition. In the terrarium, excessively high temperatures or humidity can result in respiratory illnesses. In addition to calling your veterinarian, change the tank’s settings and confirm that your thermometer is still correct.
- Body sores are frequently the result of a failed attempt to remove skin. It’s possible that the tank’s environment prevents shedding. To soften the skin that is about to be shed, increase the humidity and create a bathing area where the emerald swift can bathe. To aid in the shedding process and help release the old skin, add a shedding box filled with moss.
Requirement for Supplements
Every feeding must include a dietary supplement containing calcium and vitamin D3 to stop the emerald swift from becoming malnourished, which could result in metabolic bone disease.
You can apply supplements in the form of a dust to the prey before feeding it to the emerald swift. As an alternative, choose to give your emerald quick a weekly dose of a reptile multivitamin.
Breeding
Set up a sizable tank that is ornamented with numerous branches to breed emerald swifts. To keep the soil moist, humidity levels should always range between 60% and 70%.
The daytime temperatures should be the same as for a non-breeding tank, but the nighttime temperatures should be colder.
Put at least one breeding pair, or numerous females with one male, in the tank. In a tank with other males, there may be violence and territorialism.
The male will begin courting the female once the tank’s conditions are ideal, performing species-specific head bobs, tail licking, head butting, and a slow-circle mating dance. The male bites the female on the shoulder while they are copulating.
The emerald quick gravid female expands during pregnancy, and as delivery time draws near, you can see the babies moving through the gravid female’s belly skin.
Ovoviviparous, emerald swifts give birth to 6–15 young at a time. They prefer a location that is concealed by branches during giving birth.
Feed the young animals tiny insects twice daily, and mist the tank regularly to maintain humidity in their habitat.
How to Select and Purchase an Emerald Swift
The majority of emerald swifts are caught in the wild, and while they can be bred in captivity, it is sometimes not practical or as profitable as buying the lizards.
Verify the dealer’s importer’s license is current before buying any emerald swifts, and find out whether you need a lizard license in your state.
It is a good idea to confirm that the lizards you intend to buy have been vet-checked and are licensed as a safe species by your local parks and wildlife because any lizard can carry salmonella.
If you decide to buy an emerald swift that was domestically bred, take careful to look at the breeding facility. Does the breeder adhere to all guidelines for caring for and reproducing emerald swifts?
You might end up buying a sickly emerald swift if they don’t.
After deciding on a breeder or importer to buy from, check out the lizards for yourself. Do the lizards appear to be in good health, or do their limbs and toenails have swelling?
For an emerald fast lizard, budget between $24 and over $100. The lizard’s colors, age, and size all affect how much it can vary in price.
Emerald swifts in their juvenile stages are less expensive, whilst adults with more vivid colors command a greater premium. The availability of specials for a group or matched breeding pair is common.
