Chinese Crocodile Lizard — Fact Sheet

Shinisaurus crocodilurus · Chinese Crocodile Lizard

Full care guide and sources

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

A practical minimum for one adult is 120 x 60 x 90 cm, but layout matters as much as dimensions. The enclosure should provide a cool planted land section, a clean water section, branches above water, shaded retreats, and service access that does not require chasing the animal.

🪨 Substrate and furnishings

Useful setup elements include:

• a filtered water area with easy exits
• branches fixed above water and land
• cork, roots, and plants for visual cover
• a dry basking perch under heat and UVB
• shaded retreats near water
• protected heaters, cables, and pump intakes
• a secure lid or rim

Use materials that tolerate moisture and cleaning. Unstable rock piles and narrow underwater gaps can trap or injure the lizard.

💡 Lighting

Provide bright visible light and low-level UVB over part of the land and branch area. Plan around Ferguson Zone 1, with shaded retreats and water-edge cover.

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 26-28 °C
• Daytime air: 20-25 °C
• Cool zone: 18-22 °C
• Night: 16-20 °C

💧 Humidity and water

Aim for 70-90% humidity with strong ventilation and clean surfaces. High humidity should come with airflow, not stale air.

The animal must be able to soak and swim, but it also needs dry resting positions. Branches, cork, and plants should let it choose between water, damp edges, and dry elevated cover.

🪳 Feeding

Feed varied invertebrate prey every 2-3 days, adjusted for season and body condition. Suitable foods include crickets, roaches, earthworms, locusts where legal, silkworms, black soldier fly larvae, and other safe soft-bodied feeders.

Some natural prey may include aquatic animals, but feeder fish should not become the staple. They can introduce parasites, damage water quality, and skew nutrition. Dust or gut-load feeders according to UVB access and veterinary guidance.

🩺 Health — warning signs

Common failures include warm stagnant enclosures, dirty water, weak filtration, no dry resting site, poor UVB placement, overfeeding, parasite loads, bite injuries, and stress from forced cohabitation.

Watch for buoyancy problems, skin sores, swollen toes, cloudy eyes, open-mouth breathing, weight loss, refusal to use water, persistent soaking, or sudden aggression. Correct temperature and water quality immediately and involve a reptile veterinarian when signs persist.