人工饲养条件下胎生蜥蜴蜕皮行为的观察

Molting Behavior of the Common Lizard(Zootoca vivipara) in Captivity

2014年5~8月,采用直接观察的方法,在实验室条件下,对胎生蜥蜴（Zootoca vivipara）的蜕皮行为进行了观察和研究。结果表明,胎生蜥蜴成体在繁殖期间（6~7月份）的蜕皮次数为0~3次,不同性别之间的蜕皮次数没有显著差异,且蜕皮次数与个体的体长、体重无关。成体的蜕皮周期不恒定,最短为8 d左右,与仔蜥的蜕皮周期基本相同。仔蜥的蜕皮行为与其异速生长有关,且随着蜕皮行为次数的增加,蜕皮过程的持续时间逐渐减少。胎生蜥蜴成体的蜕皮一般较为完整,除一小部分外,均可翻转后完成蜕皮,而仔蜥不翻转,这种特殊的蜕皮方式可能与人工饲养条件有关,也可能与胎生蜥蜴栖息地的气候条件、行为策略等因素相关。

The molting behavior of common lizard（Zootoca vivipara） was observed directly in the laboratory from May to August, 2014. These lizards were transported to our laboratory in Harbin and were housed in the communal cage with moist soil, grasses and pieces of clay tile provided as shelter sites. Food including mealworm larvae（Tenebrio molitor） and house crickets（Achetus domestica） with multivitamins and minerals and water were provided daily. Hatchlings were collected, weighed and measured. These measurements were repeated every 15 days for both new hatchlings and adults. Molting behavior, molting process duration and cycle of the lizards were record at 8：00, 10：00, 14：00 and 16：00 every day during this study, respectively. All statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS 13.0. We used linear regression analysis, correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance（ANOVA）, and LSD test to analyze the corresponding data. In the paper, values are presented as Mean ± SE, and the significance level is set at α = 0.05. The molting of adult common lizards ranged from 0 to 3 in their breeding period（from June to July） with no any significant difference between gender, and no positively correlated with body length and body weight（Table 1）. Most adult lizards was usually completed moltling process within one day（Fig. 1）. The duration of molting was not difference significantly between males and females（Fig. 2）. The shortest molting cycle of the adult lizard was 8 days with variation. Four moltings were observed on new hatchings during the study period with intervals 10.62 d, 8.38 d, and 8.39 d（n = 42）, respecetively. The molting behavior of the neonate lizard was correlated to its allometry and the lasting time of molting was negatively correled with the molting times（Fig. 4）. The molting behaviors in the common lizard may be associated with the artificial feeding condition, or with the original living environment as well as their behavior strategy and other relevant factors.