Author: deschdodo

Evolution of a Lizard Room XI: Butterfly Cages

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On December 30, 2011

In Research Methods

An A. distichus futiley searching for possible escape routes.
A cage within a cage
Most butterfly cages are easily collapsable (though not always, as this picture indicates), making them convenient for storage.
We have at least six butterfly cages (seen collapsed and stacked here).

When handling lizards in the lab, it’s important to minimize the chances of a crafty critter escaping.  Collapsable “butterfly cages” are a convenient and thrifty way to ensure the security of your lizards during cage maintenance, egg checks, lizard-handling, and feeding.   Before removing the egg laying cups to see if any eggs were laid, for example, we generally place the Kritter Keeper housing breeding animals into a butterfly cage to ensure that any animals springing out don’t get very far (this practice, of course, will prove unnecessary once our room is entirely converted to new custom cages).  In addition to their many uses in the lizard colony, we also use butterfly cages extensively in the field as temporary housing or to sort animals sampled throughout the course of a day.  The cages we use are only around $20 each and they’re well worth the investment for any lizard lab.

Evolution of a Lizard Room, Part X: Custom Cages for Breeding Experiments

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On December 28, 2011

In New Research, Research Methods

Rows of new cages being assimilated into the Glor Lab.
A recently completed cage ready for occupants. Note feeding hatch at top of cages.

The past six months have seen some radical changes to the lizard breeding cages used in the Glor Lab’s lizard room.  Because our space is very limited we needed new space-saving cages to accommodate a growing lizard population and to conduct additional breeding experiments.  Construction of new cages also afforded an opportunity to improve upon some of the problems with our old breeding cages, which were just the typical Kritter Keeper cages available at your local pet store.  Dan Scantlebury led our efforts to design new cages that improved security, eased access for feeding and other tasks, and minimized the space each cage takes up.

The new cages are composed of custom cut plexiglass and feature a front opening door secured with a magnetic latch.  Front opening doors are helpful because most anoles tend to shoot up and out of Kritter Keepers when you pull the lid off; in the new cages they tend to run to the back of the cage and escape less frequently.  On top, the new cages have a screen lid as well as a mini-hatch that can be opened at feeding time to supply crickets or other food items.  Where we once had five Kritter Keepers we can now have eight custom cages with similar internal volumes (due to the fact that new cages are taller and deeper than the Kritter Keepers).  Complete details on how to make these cages will be included in a post by Dan sometime after he gets back from his current field trip.

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