Last updated 6 June 2021: repaired broken links.
The following pages are dedicated to lizards, their natural
history, family relationships (taxonomy) and care in captivity. Not
all lizards make suitable captives, and one of the aims of these
pages is to help people find animals that are suitable and will not
be unhappy in captivity rather than those that will quickly cause
problems and possibly unhappiness. Whether captive or living in the
wild, however, all lizards are interesting and all are worthy of
respect: they are after all a fairly ancient and successful group of
creatures.
When I first started these pages a few years ago the intent was to focus on captive care and maintenance. This is still important, but I have included more on taxonomy and the different species. Most people will never keep more than a few species (which for most of us is probably quite right) but we can still admire from afar the rest of the family, whether seen in the wild, in the zoo or simply in pictures. Indeed, the keeping of any animal in the home or garden, whether a lizard, cat or frog, should fill us with at least respect if not awe for the rest of nature's creatures (or the Creator's work, if you like).
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If you've never kept lizards before..... |
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Size
Matters: the pros and cons of large, small and medium-sized lizards
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My personal experience of the following: |
Some other species: |
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Leopard Geckos (Eublepharis macularius) |
Laudakia [Agama] stellio, the Hardun |
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Fat-Tailed Geckos (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus) |
Pseudopus [Ophisaurus] apoda, the Scheltopusik |
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Plated Lizards (Gerrhosaurus major) |
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Savannah Monitors (Varanus exanthematicus) |
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Golden Skinks (Mabuya multifasciata) |
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Cunninghams Skinks (Egernia cunninghami) |
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Eyed Lizards (Lacerta lepida) |
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Jones' Cordylids (Cordylus sp) |
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Tokay Geckos (Gekko gecko) |
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Ruins Lizards (Podarcis sicula) |
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Ocellated Skinks (Chalcides ocellatus) |
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A rough guide to the different Lizard Families |
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an ongoing guide to the many different gecko species |
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Plated Lizard Guide |
a guide to members of the family Gerrhosauridae. |
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A Guide to Lacertids |
and other members of the family Lacertidae |
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A Guide to Agamids |
the family Agamidae, including bearded dragons, water dragons and sailfin lizards |
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A Guide to Iguanids |
an overview of the family Iguanidae, including iguanas, anoles, collared and leopard lizards, swifts, earless lizards and horned toads |
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A Guide to Skinks |
the family Scincidae, including Bluetongues, Pinktongues, Monkey-Tails and Pinecones |
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A Guide to Anguids |
the family Anguidae, including slowworms, glass lizards, galliwasps and the scheltopusik |
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A Guide to Tegus, Teiids, Spectacled Lizards and Microteiids |
the families Teiidae (including the tegus) and Gymnophthalmidae |
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The Family Varanidae |
those famous monitor lizards |
Issues for Lizard Keepers - things
(and lizards, and people) to be aware of
A guide to some published lizard articles
Lizards and Islands - a look at the unique lizard species that live on certain islands throughout the world.
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