Viviparous Lizard Care Sheet

[snowgoose]

With thanks to daftlassieEmma here is a viviparous lizard care sheet. Feel free to add more info or comments

Common Name: Common Lizard, Viviparous Lizard

Latin Name: Zootoca vivipara ( formerly Lacerta vivipara )

Native to: Europe and Asia.

Size: Anything up to 18cm long although usually 10 - 16cm ( including tail )

Life span: Longest recorded is 12 years.

General appearance: Females tend to be slightly larger and stockier than males. Often having an olive green-brown body with marked ridges and a reddish belly although appearance may vary and colours can range from deep-purple brown through to a yellowish grey.

Housing requirements:

Enclosure: An enclosure of 36x15x12" is fine for a pair. Anything larger is obviously an advantage.

Temperature: The ambient temperature should be about 15° - 18° C in summer with a basking site being about 32° C. During the winter the tank can be reduced to a temperate of 5° - 10° C without the need for a basking spot. Humidity should be kept constant by spraying every 2 days.

Light: I recommend a UVB source emitting about 5 - 10 % UV.

Substrate: Sandy Soil mixed with either Coconut fibre or peat moss, with a ratio of 2:1 will be fine with a depth of about 6-10 inches

Environment: These lizards should be provided with plenty of places to hide, burrow and climb. Some flat rocks for basking and hiding under are a bonus along with a few small live plants.

Diet: Ants, Beetles, Common green grasshopper, Field grasshopper, Flies, Meadow grasshopper, Moths, Slugs and snails, Spiders and harvestmen. Food may be dusted with something like Nurobol if required.

Water: This should always be fresh and provided in a shallow tray / dish allowing soaking if required.

Handling: This should be kept to a minimum, although if you are handling be very gentle as they have the ability to drop their tails.

Maintenance: The enclosure should be spot cleaned daily. A thorough cleaning should be performed on a regular basis. A 5% bleach solution is an excellent disinfectant. Be sure to thoroughly rinse the enclosure before replacing the substrate and placing the slow worm back in the enclosure. Hand washing after handling the lizard or any cage furnishings is essential.

[wolves121121]

they will also take any shop brought livefood of a suitable size

[axorozzas]

I'd also like to say a bit about ants.

People may be tempted to feed lizards a base diet of ants, as they are so commonly found. This shouldn't be done as their nutritional value is very low even for their size.

Personally, I wouldn't feed them ants, but you're right in saying they will eat them.

Also it's advisable to look up beetles before you feed them to the lizards, as some species (such as ladybirds and lilly beetles) are toxic.

[Javeo]

How about hibernation?

[daftlassieEmma]

Originally Posted by Javeo

How about hibernation?

temps should be between 5 and 15°C leading up to, during and after hibernation

for hibernation itself they should be placed in a cool, dark place where they will not be disturbed

[ip3kid]

can you keep males together?

[haunted-havoc]

It is against the law in Britain to kill, injure, sell or trade in zoocota vivipara. The law is more strict in Northern Ireland and are protected against killing, injuring, capturing, disturbance, possession or trade.

so all zoocata vivipara all WC. I read that it is legal to sell them after (at least) 5 generations of captivity. but i have been unable to confirm this.

most WC do not do well in captivity, and often die of stress. just a word of warning but very good information here. i too have been researching this species so just wanted to put up a warning.

[jeweled lady]

It is also best to keep Lacerids in a outdoors vivaria. They require high UV and will live for years with this arrangement. It is also highly advisable to let then hibernate naturally in this environment. This stimulates breeding in the spring.

[kettykev]

Surprised that nobody mentioned the Slow Worm reference at the end.

[Anthony Laing]

Originally Posted by kettykev

Surprised that nobody mentioned the Slow Worm reference at the end.

I was confuded about this too