Category Archives: Lizards

Gila Spotted Whiptail

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Let’s see what’s up in the Las Vegas area this week, OK?

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Today I went to the Cerbat Mountains in Arizona and saw this reptile. This lizard is usually found in relatively open and sunny areas, often in the vicinity of pine trees. It is an alert, day active, fast-moving ground-dweller.

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It forages for a variety of insects and spiders by rooting around in leaves under bushes and digging in the soil around the bases of rocks.

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Whiptails have distinctive pointed heads and very long, whiplike tails.

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Here’s a pretty crazy thing about these reptiles: All Gila Spotted Whiptails are female. Eggs are unfertilized and hatchlings are clones of the mother.

Third Eye Herp
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Coast Range Fence Lizard

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Are you ready to spend a week in sunny California? Let’s see what wildlife is stirring at this time of year.

First up is this Coast Range Fence Lizard. Fence Lizards have overlapping, pointed scales and are part of a large family of reptiles known as Spiny Lizards. They are also commonly called “swifts” because of their speed.

Largely based on temperature, individuals can lighten or darken considerably; when individuals darken, their markings become difficult to see.

This lizard is conspicuous and common. It’s usually found on or near the ground, in rock and wood piles, tree trunks, and the lower branches of shrubs. And of course, basking on wooden fences.

Males have iridescent blue throats and bellies and do “pushups” flash the bright color to court females or defend their territories from males.

Adult Coast Range Fence Lizards measure about six inches in total length. They seem to prefer elevated basking sites where they can keep an eye on their territory and watch for insects. Here’s a couple of babies that hatched last year.

These reptiles may be beneficial to man in a way other than eating many insects. A protein in their blood kills the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease. Further studies of this reptile may result in a eventual cure to Lyme Disease.

Third Eye Herp
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Five-lined Skink

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Skinks belong to a superfamily of lizards with about 1200 species, their family the second most diverse family of lizards, exceeded only by geckos.

The Five-lined Skink is one of the most common lizards in the eastern U.S. They are ground-dwelling reptiles that prefer a moist, partially wooded habitat that provides cover as well as sites to bask in the sun.

The bright blue tail can be detached if the lizard is attacked by a predator. The tail will twitch for quite some time while the lizard makes its escape.

As their name implies, Five-lined Skinks have five light lines that run down their backs and tails. They tend to grow to 6 or 7 inches in total length.

They will often climb dead trees where there are a lot of insects, which are their main source of food.

Third Eye Herp
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Eastern Collared Lizard

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If I has to pick my favorite desert lizard, it would probably be the Collared Lizard. Today I went to the Cerbat Mountains in Arizona and found a species of Collared Lizard that I’ve never seen in the wild before, the Eastern Collared Lizard (previously I had found Great Basin Collared Lizards).

Why do I like these lizards so much? Well, with their oversized head, ability to run on their hind legs and their immense appetite for other lizards – they remind me of a miniature Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The two distinct black “collar” markings on its neck is what gives this lizard its common name. It does not hesitate to bite when captured and it can easily draw blood with its powerful jaws. Though it is wary, agile and quick to avoid being caught. This one that I caught today was mild mannered.

This reptile is primarily an inhabitant of rugged terrain with numerous large rocks or boulders that can be used for basking spots and lookouts. It is a decent-sized lizard, often more than a foot in total length.

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Alligator Lizard Eggs

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Alligator Lizards get their name from the square-shaped scales that they have on their back. They’re a relatively common lizard in the western United States. I’ve found quite a few of them in Northern California. A few years ago I brought three of them back home and set them up in this terrarium.

I was pretty sure that I had a male and two females, but I’ve never seen any breeding activity. Today was a nice day to put the lizards on the deck in a screened enclosure, so they could get some fresh air and natural sunlight.

While they were outside, I cleaned the lizards’ tank and I found eight eggs! I now have them in an incubator. If they hatch, it will be the first time I’ve ever produced Alligator Lizards.

If you’d like to see some photos of wild Alligator Lizards, check out my Herping California Pics.

Third Eye Herp
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